That's Better

After my mopey post on Friday, I grabbed some yarn I'd been staring at forever and started making this:

I finished it about 36 hours later, mainly because once Dizzle knew it was for her, she kept cracking the whip, shouting in her cute little toddler shout "Sweater! Mine! Now!" If one must have a slave driver, a cute one that gives you bear hugs anytime you ask is always a good choice.

I realized today (again home and sans vehicle) that I have no appropriate buttons, so I made little toggles with 3 inch i-cords, knotted on each end, and I think they look rather cute, so I don't think this will ever get real buttons. The yarn is handspun from the HelloYarn fiber club, and the pattern is Ann Budd's Child's Circular Yoke recipe. All the details Ravleled here.

I think that served as just the trick to waken me from my attempted hibernation. I was glad to hear from all your comments that I'm not alone in the hunker-down instinct once it gets cold.

Wintery

I'm already feeling the inward pull of winter. I don't want to DO anything. This weeks cold weather has me wishing I could stay in my jammies all day. I didn't even get up the energy to go to spin night last night, my sacred ME time that I never miss unless I am forced to. Just didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of getting there even though I know from past experience that I am always glad when I get there.

I feel mopey and dopey, I have all day at home today - with no car even, so no excuse not to have the dye pots going all day, having fun in the kitchen, but when I think of the "work" part of it - pulling out the boxes of stock dyes, rooting around for my pots and paraphernalia, I just inwardly go "Meh."

I know, I am so inspirational, turn away, lest you be tempted to soar to such heights! That said, before my funk set in, I did spin up a little scrap roving from the shop, about 1.5oz of this deep beauty (merino/tussah silk - there is still a2oz braid in the shop if you like it):



Which I spun into wildly erratic singles which I wound them into a center pull ball and held doubled to knit a pretty little neckwarmer. This has actually been the bright spot of my week - it makes me freakishly happy every time I put it on. Don't you think this would be a great sweater? I am really tempted to dye up a huge batch to spin for a simple sweater - wouldn't that be a beauty!



And Miss Dizzle likes it too, she keep swiping it and saying "my hat!"

Wee Babies

My last dye-day was dedicated to getting a bunch of top done to make these little cutie pies:


These are wee sample braids of Rambouillet Top for the Phat Fiber Sample Box, first edition heading out in January. I love the idea of the sample box, having seen one for other crafty artists, but this is the first fibery one I've been aware of. Not sure when they go on sale yet, but there are loads of places to stay informed - the blog, the Etsy shop to purchase, and even a Ravelry group. The samples already submitted are pretty tasty looking, and more are rolling in each day.

The theme for January is "Wintry Mix", and I created this colorway with that in mind. I named it "Ice Queen" for its pale to deep blues, icy pale green and white. It was hard for me to dye large amounts of fiber all in the same colorway - I tend to do just 4 or 8 oz at a time due to equipment and space contraints, but I'm getting better at reproducing results and am being more disciplined in taking notes so I can even repeat after the fact - imagine that! I have 2 full 4oz braids of this color in merino that will be shop bound as soon as I can photograph them and list them.

Feeling it

I never talk politics here. I contemplated a post yesterday, but didn't have the energy. I literally felt manic and nauseated all day yesterday. I knew I cared about this election, despite studiously trying to ignore the media coverage (when I didn't I ended up shouting at the electronic devices that brought me the coverage - pretty silly). What I didn't know is that I've been holding my breath waiting for this for a while. I went to bed last night knowing it was looking good, but still not trusting the outcome, still not breathing.

I breathed deep this morning. I am filled with a great wash of relief and a deep sense of hope that things might be ok after all. I'm freaking tearing up everytime I think about it, and I am usually pretty "cool" about these thing. I am bouncing through my day, despite having to get up and on the road hours earlier than usual. Thank you, thank you, America for feeling the hope too and standing up for the change we all deserve.