buzz

Something I've been waiting a long time for has finally arrived.


It's the 70/30 merino/tencel spinning fiber that's been on back order for a month or two. I did manage to procure some 50/50 merino/tencel from Little Barn in the mean time, but it's not as soft as I would have expected, and the tencel is in streaks rather than all blended in.
The new stuff, on the other hand, is the fiber of my dreams. I bought some that somebody else dyed at a festival, and it's been my quest ever since to get some to dye myself. Here it is! It was delivered to my office, which was nice since that's where I usually am. When the secretary called down to tell me it had arrived, I said "SWEET!" She said, "What?" She also thinks it's really funny when I say "dude."
Anyway, here's a closer view.


It's not that yellow in person, but it is very luminous and exceptionally soft. The only thing I've spun that's softer is alpaca, and even that is not much softer. (I haven't done any silk, though, so I can't speak to that.) I can't wait to dye this!

look who's famous

Ok, not really, but something I wrote is in Amazon! Check it out: Exploring the relationship between cohesion and complexity.: An article from: Journal of Computer Science

This is an article from my dissertation, which was published in a real paper journal several years ago, but somehow it's still really exciting to see something of mine on Amazon.

(No yarn today. Sorry.)

kitting night!

I went to knitting night last night! It's the first time I've been in weeks, and it was really great to be back. It was a small crowd, but no less fun. I was really happy to see everybody again.
Unfortunately, the yarn doctor was not in, and the end of my blue singles did not get found. I guess I'm just going to have to make one and wrestle it out--everything I grab seems to immediately go under something else, a sure sign that it can't be the one with the end and a harbinger of much frustration in trying to unwind this darn thing. Definitely not happy about that.
But whatever, knitting night is a night to forget all your cares and just knit. I'm still working on the alpaca/merino scarf.


This yarn is still an absolute dream, but I must confess I'm getting a little bored with this project. I guess it worked--its purpose was to get me feeling comfortable/practiced with knitting again. I even incorporated some of the pattern from the Feathery Lace Stole, the project I'm in training for, into the scarf. It was shy, but trust me, it's there. I was having a ton of trouble with it before, but it seems pretty easy now. I think it's partly that I was knitting a lot tighter, but as I've gotten back into practice, I've loosened up. I'm surprised the scarf isn't a funny shape as a result, but it isn't so far. Also, this yarn is just really easy to work with. It's Plymouth Yarn Suri Merino, and it is incredibly soft and luscious in addition to being a dream to knit. Also, it has alpaca hairs that stick out and act as the perfect disguise for any cat hair that may get incorporated into the scarf. What more could a knitter ask?

the ongoing saga of the unfindable end

Well, I tried the scotch tape. I tried the old toothbrush. I called in all the king's horses and all the king's men, I jumped up and down and did a find-the-end dance, and I still can't find the darn end of that blue yarn! I don't even know how it happened--normally when I break my single, it's on my side of the orifice, and the end is just hanging there, easy to find. And this wasn't in the midst of making a bunch of tiny skinny air yarn--all the yarn I can see on the bobbin is good, solid yarn. It must have gotten snagged on something, but still, you'd think the end would be pretty easy to find, or at least possible to find! Anyone out there know, if I arbitrarily make an end, will that make this significantly worse?
I finally gave up and started spinning the purple part of the Stargazing roving on another bobbin. I'm going to take the problem child to knitting night tonight and see of one of the talented folks there can help me.
Meanwhile, even the frustrating blue part is very pretty and soft, and this purple part is so luscious I want to eat it. (I must be part cat.)


I had semi-resolved to ply everything immediately upon spinning it so I don't end up with all my bobbins full again, but I just expired in the middle of spinning this last night, so there it is, still on the bobbin. Maybe I should just buy another set of bobbins? Oh wait, that would probably make this worse, not better.

workin' for the weekend

Anybody else really glad it's Friday? On top of the accumulated tiredness from the rest of the week, it's dark, raining, and chilly here. This is a day made for staying home with some cocoa, a kitty cat, and a good book (or some knitting!). Too bad I have to go to work.
I did get a little spinning in last night--I just couldn't resist the Stargazing fiber.


I wanted to ply whatever I did, but it was getting late, I was getting tired, and then the yarn broke and I can't find the end. It will just have to wait.

spinning--yay!

Every time I go to a festival, I always buy something for myself. This time I was pretty much stuck at my booth the whole day, and (not that I'm ten kinds of stuck on myself or anything) I didn't see anything in the neighboring booths that I wanted more than my own dyed stuff. So for my treat this festival, I bought one of my own rovings.



It's called Stargazing because it reminds me of some fabulous old memories. My undergrad school is way out in the country, and if you climbed the hill behind the college, there was an open space where you could see everything crystal clear: the constellations, the Milky Way, and at least one shooting star per night. Looking at the stars there with a certain someone--some of the best times in my life.
So I picked out a Stargazing roving (there are two more, which will be appearing on Etsy soon) and started spinning. I usually dye spinning fiber in one long progression instead of smaller patches of color to give the spinner ultimate flexibility: spin it as is and get one long progression of color in your yarn, or tear off smaller chunks and alternate among the colors as you spin. I decided to go with one long progression, and I started at the caramel end.



The rest of the deep dark sky colors remain to be spun, and if I wasn't already late for work, I'd do it right now. This fiber is super easy to spin, which I was very pleased to verify, it's fabulously soft, and I just love the colors. I'm doing Navajo ply again so that the colors line up without any effort on my part (and I don't need three free bobbins). Bliss.

still recovering

Phew! I finally got everything inventoried and put away from the festival. The trip wore me out more than I realized--I didn't even go to knitting night, just went home and sat on the couch with my kitty cat, then went to bed early. So tired.
I did get some nice spinning in when I was at the festival, and it's got me re-hooked. Also I have two empty bobbins now, and just a tiny bit of leftover alpaca on the other one. Yay!
First I finished the BFL from the roving I dyed a month or so ago. It has been sitting around on the bobbin as singles for weeks, and then I plied about five feet and got tired, so it was sitting there in progress for another week at least.


This turned out not to be very good yarn. It will be better after a bath, but that doesn't solve everything. The singles broke about eleventy-billion times when I was trying to ply them. Not that much fun. Also, when I got to the purple singles that were on the bobbin before this stuff, I just went ahead and plied them too, so this dark moody yarn suddenly turns purple at the end. Whatever. At least whenever people were in the booth watching, it mostly behaved--it saved its serial breakage for when I was alone. Very polite.
After that, I wanted something really cheery and easy to spin, so I got out some carded roving from Little Barn.


I totally love this stuff. It's easier to see in person, but this yarn varies from green to teal to purple, and it's all subtle and random changes. It will make a fabulous something. I still have more of this fiber, too. It is awesome.
While I was spinning this, a lot of families came by with small children and asked me to explain what I was doing and how it worked, which I really enjoyed. The best part was when one lady was talking to her kids, and she told them about yarn, and making yarn, and all that, and then she said, "See? That lady just sits there all day and spins yarn!" I couldn't resist responding with "It's a good life." I just thought that was hilarious. I wish I just sat around all day and spun yarn! But actually, I discovered at the festival that even spinning is not fun for eight hours straight. I'd be willing to bet it still beats computer science, though.