My First Handspun Yarn

Addicted. This is my first handspun yarn. I bought the fiber from Copperpot on Etsy. This colorway is called "Cry Baby" which is composed of hot pink, charcoal, and pale blue. Most of her colorways are blends of wools such as merino and colonial so I cannot really say what this one is. But I do know that it is simply beautiful - especially given that this is my first handspun yarn. The singles was spun counter clockwise and then plied clockwise. Since starting that singles I have learned that most people put a clockwise twist on the singles and counter clockwise for plying. I will adhere to tradition in future yarns just to simplify everything. Seeing the picture of this yarn makes me feel so content...it is beautiful to see. Very, very beautiful. And the yarn itself feels so soft. I am totally hooked on spinning yarn.

Day Two

Ok. I've decided. I'm going to try to learn something new about "blogging" each day that I post. If at all possible, today I'm going to learn how to post an image. After all, what fun is it if I cannot put up lovely photos like the other people do?? Plus, I have a master's degree in photography from way before there was such a thing as digital photography. I think the same rules of composition and lighting should apply. It is an empirical question - one that I am ready to attempt to answer here.

So here I am trying to post a pic. I knew I was going to try so this morning, I took a photo of Cody curled up in my temporary bed on the floor. He is such a sweetie. Just now, I took a photo of our cat-in-a-box, Pippi. You know, she is the kind of cat who precisely fits her body into any box that she can find. Her new favorite container is a basket on my daughter's bedside table. Also, I took a photo of the grey, wool yarn that I am learning how to spin with the cute book that I am reading on spinning yarn - Spinning in the Old Way by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts. It is perfect for me since I'm such a spinning novice. She tells the story of spinning without getting too heavily into doing it a specific way. The author includes some sweet quotes about craft that appear to have come from Soetsu Yanagi, The Unknown Craftsman. Now, I am ready to post the photos. And I even see a little button up there to click in order to post the photos. It looks like it will be easy enough to post them. Only now, I cannot figure out how to get the pics from the camera on to the computer. Where is my teenager when I need her?

To answer your question: "Yes, I have plugged in the cord to the USB port so that photos can be transferred from the camera to the computer." She just got home and, in a flash, she showed me how to load the pics to the computer. Now, let's see if I can do the rest. Well, as you can see above, the photos all got posted. But why did they post way up there instead of down here where I am working? Let's see if I can get one to post here where I want it. Nope. Can't do that yet.

Names for use in my yarn plan....whorling tides, spinning tides, u-knit-versity, peacework, whirling piece, ewe-knit-versity. Didn't get any extra exercise today, but did steam veggies for supper in order to break the bad food cycle. That's all for now.

And So It Begins

I'm glad that 2007 is over. And so is much of the stress from a year of transitions. Here, I don't want to describe the many sorrows we faced last year. I do want to focus on all the good that I anticipate in the year 2008. In the big picture, this year we will elect a new goverment whose first job will be to repair the damage done to our country by the current regime. As Americans, we have to do better that this. We can, and surely, we will.

On a much smaller scale, my current job is shaping up to be a very good situation. I'm a health psychologist with the VA healthcare system. It is a good job, and I appreciate the mission of helping those folks cope with chronic illnesses who have served our country. I truly enjoy serving the very men and women who put their lives on the line so that I can sit smuggly at home saying that I don't believe in war. It works for me - it is part of the cyclic mystery of life.

Lastly, but certainly not less importantly, my daughter is happy here in our new situation. As all mothers know, we can only be as happy as our children are. My daughter is happy here. My happiness follows hers. She turned 17 a few weeks ago, and I clearly see that we are on the other side of most of her adolescent rebellion. I feel it drawing to a close. Now we can both relax. I can breathe again. That's good because I was getting fairly exhausted from holding my breath so long.

That is a brief history of me. Wait, can that be all there is to almost 50 years of life? Yes, I will be turning 50 in a few short weeks. As a gift to myself, I am taking my daughter, her boyfriend, and me to New York City for a long weekend. NYC is wonderful this time of year. We will eat in great restaurants, shop in wonderful stores, walk among busy crowds, hail taxi cabs, see a show or two, go to musuems, and celebrate each other's company.

"When I turn 50" I used to tell people "I will learn how to play the violin." Turns out, that is not going to be true. As I turn 50, I am instead learning how to spin yarn with a top spindle. Last week, I drove to north Alabama and learned to spin from the wonderful people at Little Barn. My knitting began 11 years ago when I was in graduate school in Kansas. I bought some yarn at the fantastic Yarn Barn and took a knitting class there. Then, my mother and I spent hours together knitting as she was dying of breast cancer. I miss hearing the sound of her needles clicking beside me as I knit. But I know she is there anyway. Plus, I have a business plan in mind so that I can spin and knit and play with yarn to my heart's content as a tax deduction. But more on all that later.

I wanted to make sure that I wrote something today. I didn't want to procrastinate any longer. Here are my goals for the year 2008:
1) Continue to help E become the amazing young woman she is meant to be. I love her.
2) Develop colorful yarn business.
3) Return to fitness, working out, and healtful eating habits.
4) Keep the house clean and organized.
5) My Secret Goal

Journaling is something that I have not done in many years. Certainly, I have never engaged in such a potentially public form of self exploration. I look forward to seeing what happens.