Weighing in

Kelly's dad rescued this gram scale from a building that was scheduled for demolition--apparently they were just going to leave things in the building when the razed it. Imagine!
Oh, what good use I can put it to! At first it didn't work, but I had plugged it into an extension cord and I've noticed in our old house that some appliances are happier if they are plugged into the wall directly--like my scanner for instance. It worked for the scale, too. We're working on rewiring the house (when I say we, I really mean Kelly and his dad)--so eventually we'll have more reliable electricity.
So, I weighed my bobbins and determined that the bobbin that I thought needed more singles, actually was heavier. Of course, it may not weigh the same as the empty bobbin that I used as the zero. But I did learn that I had divided up the fiber pretty evenly just eyeballing it.
I wrote the weight of the empty bobbin on it and am looking forward to emptying the rest of my bobbins so that I can weigh them. Oh, the simple joys!
And this scale will be so great when I'm making beading kits.

So here are the stats on the yarn I've spun for Kelly's scarf so far:

Started with 247.2 grams of Andretti fine wool from dudleyspinner.etsy.com.
Spun one small sample of 40 yards at the photo shoot (singles 38 wpi, plied 25 wpi, 6 tpi, 9.4 g).
Split the remaining fiber into 2 sections.

First section: 117.9 grams
First singles bobbin: 35.6 g (fiber only)
Second singles bobbin: 41.3 g (fiber only)
Fiber remaining to spin from first section: 41 g.

Second section: 119.9 g.

Spun on my Lendrum DT at 10:1 ratio.

Beading is happening, too--but at a slower rate because of another weekend of illness--this time a respiratory infection with a high fever. Fortunately (so far) Kelly and I didn't get it, but poor little Hannah was miserable and so none of us slept much. I find I can spin on little sleep, but not bead. I think it has to do with blurry eyes. Hannah's getting better--her cough still sounds bad--but she's happier and has slept three nights in a row which is pure heaven.

My dad's birthday is this Sunday--but despite making a lot of progress on his sweater, I don't think it will be done. I am getting close, though. I just have the Left front to finish and I have a third of it done. Knitting is something that I can do while snuggling a sick kiddo.
Of course, I have to sew the sweater together--we'll see how that goes!
I hope you all are staying healthy and warm.

Happy New Year--18 days into it!

Happy New Year! I hope it has been a good start of the year for you. I was going to post a happy new year post earlier, but Hannah got the stomach flu, and then I did. Kelly, bless him, didn't get it, which was good because he was able to take care of his two limp-rag babies. We're better now, but it did take the stuffing out of us!

I've been doing a bit of spinning. It started at the photoshoot for the Spring issue--I needed to do some step out shots for an article on plying and so broke out some painted top that I bought from Dudley spinner on etsy. I've been spinning a little on it each morning as I wait for my chai to heat up and I listen to the news on NPR. What a nice way to start the day.

I think I may weave a scarf for Kelly with this yarn, though he has scoffed at the idea. He doesn't really wear woolens. But maybe a nice thin scarf to go with his new black coat would help win him over.


I think there is enough fiber to weave him a scarf and knit me a pair of socks.














I sold a bead embroidery kit on etsy and that gave me the funds to buy more fiber. I bought this lovely BFL roving, handpainted by Dragon Fibers on etsy (can you see the trend here?). It's dyed in a Frankenstein colorway. I can't wait to see how it spins up. But I'm sure it will be a while before I can get to it.

I've been making progress on my Dad's sweater--as Hannah winds down for the day, she wants to snuggle--so we sit together as I knit before I take her upstairs to read books and get ready for bed. It's a nice time. She has a circular needle and some yarn that she works on while I'm knitting--some day it will be real knitting.
In a meeting at work yesterday I finished the body to Hannah's sweater. Now I have to figure out how to add the arms. This is more yarn for Hannah's sweater (the orange yarn).
In another meeting at work I made progress on the second beaded scarf--the first one looks like a snowflake after I left it within Hannah's reach with the scissors.
And I've been working on a beaded piece--a commission for a friend. It is a very special piece--from the photograph my sister Julia took of my Grandma Helen holding Hannah shortly after Hannah was released from the hospital after she was born 6 weeks early due to my rupturing appendix. In the photo, Hannah is still on oxygen. Mary and I started talking about this piece before Grandma died in October. I needed some time before I was able to start it and Mary has been very understanding.

I love that I'm collaborating on this piece with my sister who is an amazing photographer. The time that I spend on it feels like time spent with all these people that I love.

Grandma Helen really didn't like that Hannah had to be on oxygen (which is very common in Colorado for premies because of our high altitude) and here she is shaking her finger and saying how she couldn't wait until Hannah was free of the tubes. When I see this photo I can almost hear her talking.