little bit of crazy leaking out

 I bet you all had just about given up on ever seeing any fiber content on this blog again.  Well, I fooled you . . . right? . . . no? You mean you all knew I was just a slacker and eventually I would post again?  Okay, that works too.

I signed up for the Tour de Fleece (ravelry), (there is another one, but this is the one I found out about first, so, whatever) and I’ve actually been spinning.  I KNOW, I’m shocked too.

Stages 1-5: July 5-9

Alpaca Merino batts purchased at Black Sheep Gathering 2008. The batts actually had quite a few noils/second cuts (or the merino wasn’t treated quite as gently as it likes to be).

Stages 6-9: July 10-13

Finished spinning the DragonFibers Merino/Bamboo, I had prolly finished 1oz of the 4 before the start of Tour de Fleece.

Stage 10 and Rest Day 1: July 14-15

I thought the first rest day was on Monday, so I took Monday off, then I took Tuesday off, cuz, well, it was a rest day. 

Stages 11- 14: July 16-19

Spun up 2 bobbins of Romney to ply with a previously spun hand dyed roving.

Stage 15: July 20th

Ply and wash the Alpaca/Merino.  A bit ‘rustic’ but I like it.

Rest Day 2: July 21st

Already took 2 rest days so went ahead and spun today.

Ply the Merino/Bamboo and realize that the plying was very sloppy so you have to run it through again. 

Stage 16: July 22nd

Re-ply and wash Merino/Bamboo. 

Resulting yarn is a Sport wt. and ~360 yards.

Portrait of a Sheep with Ear Tag, Pennsylvania

The rules: Are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer. Play nice, children.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? 

10 years ago we were childless (and chickenless), hubby and I were living in Tacoma with two dogs and three cats,  I was commuting to Gig Harbor where I worked as a drafter for a local telephone company and I was really into scrapbooking.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order?

Laundry, dishes, finish building the raised garden beds,  clean off the dining room table, and bathe the kids.

3. Snacks I enjoy.

Yes.

4. Places I’ve lived-

Seattle, Edmonds, Seattle, Gig Harbor, Tacoma, Seattle, Lynnwood
(all in Washington State)

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Start up that fiber commune I’ve rambled on about to my knitting group.

6. What are some jobs you’ve had:

Babysitter, pizza maker, gas station cashier on the graveyard shift, retail (photo lab, book stores, Radio Shack, women’s clothing, craft store), drafter, and mom (don’t even try and tell me that’s not a job).

7. Peeps I want to know more about:

Emma, Betty, Annie, Terri, Debi, and Jeanne

Read this, it’s important.  If it makes you angry pass it on.

For St Patrick’s Day I made Irish Stew and GFCF Soda Bread.  It was yummy and I got to thinking about how I needed to start baking more, GFCF baked goods are quite pricey and not always tasty.  A quick shopping trip at Amazon and a GF baking book was winging it’s way to our home.  The next night the oven died in a arc of electric badness.  Oven . . . dead . . . shit!

A few of months ago, when we were replacing the dishwasher, we gave the replacement of the drop-in range a bit of thought and the plan, at that time, was to pull out the oven, trim the counter, cut out the filler piece under the front of the oven and slide in a freestanding range.  This morning we pulled out the drop-in and ran into a couple of problems.

(range pulled out and in the middle
of the kitchen, back taken off)

(Oh, look at the burned insulation!)

1) The drop in is hard-wired, a freestanding range needs an outlet. 

2) The cabinets were custom built and the bottom (shelf) of the cabinets on either side of the range runs all the way under the oven, not just the filler piece on the front of the cabinets. 

3) The cutout for the 30+ year old range is 2+ inches deeper than needed for the new drop-in ranges.

Our options:

1) A new drop in:  Replace the counter-top and install a new drop-in range.  Counter would not match the counter on the other side of the kitchen.

2) Free-standing range:  Trim laminate counter, remove cabinet trim piece from front of cabinet, hopefully be able to cut out the shelf that ran under the old range, wire an outlet for the range and slide in a freestanding range.  A lot of manual labor but least expensive, but if it didn’t work would lead to . . .

3) Free-standing range: Pull out all the bottom cabinets (and counters) on that side of the kitchen and replace them (probably with cabinets from Ikea), wire an outlet for the range and slide in a freestanding range.

4) A gas can and a match . . .

Well, last you saw me MIL was hospitalized, Dad was going in for brain surgery and I was knitting my fingers to the bone.  MIL is doing better, she’s in a recovery center . . . ummm . . . recovering.  Dad had his surgery and came out of this one better than the last, yay. 

Bubba brought home a cold/flu two weeks before dad’s surgery and I got it the week before.  I went into panic mode and after mega doses of vitamin C, Musinex, and Tylenol I was well enough to be at the hospital for the surgery, but no the blanket didn’t get finished in time.  The next plan is to give it to him for his birthday in a week and a half . . . hmmm . . . maybe Father’s Day.  It’s only about 50% done.

Hmmm, what else?

All my knitting friends went away for a retreat, but I had to back out since it was the week of Dad’s surgery, maybe next year. 

Oh, I started a chicken blog, because the world needs more chicken blogs.  hehe.

Update:  Looks like is just an infection, a big infection, but an infection none the less.  They are admitting her to hospital and pumping her full of antibiotics, this is better than what was first thought.

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Hubby just got a call from his sister, MIL has collapsed and is being taken to the hospital.  It looks like it was a stroke, we don’t know how bad it is yet.  Hubby is on his way to the hospital now, work was not happy when he called to say he wouldn’t be in tonight.