Can I just say now how cranky hand carding makes me without a drum carder? The mere thought of it makes me extremely cranky.

The first week of high school has gone swimmingly for Josey. His school is amazing, and I was informed yesterday that he wants to play bass guitar. Bass. Rhythm is genetic, I’m sure I read that somewhere (or just made it up) so obviously he got all his good genes from me. Of course, general awesomeness is also genetic (citation needed) so that was from my side of the family too– I knew my baby was too smart to be a drummer.

Deb from Come Yarn Over left a message for me asking if I could make my little sheep with tape measures inside as customers were asking for some. I haven’t called her back yet. First because I wanted to get a tape measure and see if it was possible (it is) and second because I wanted to blog about it.

This is the difference between men and women. Women think it’s a super cute idea and want to know if it’s doable, and if it is what kind of variations are possible. I’m going to paint with a broad brush here but in general crafty women get cerebral about design and want to help troubleshoot.

Men on the other hand (crafty or otherwise) overwhelmingly turn into immature little boys that think all things potentially butt-hole  related are fascinating and immediately suggest that the fob for the tape measure should come out of the sheep’s butt. This idea is generally hilarious to the men folk, and they think it awesome and good. I have no idea why but every single man that has heard about (prior to my prototype) or seen (post prototype) the sheep tape measure project has insisted that the tape should come out the sheep’s ass.

Here’s the deal fellows, if you want a tape measure to come out a sheep’s ass then you can order one ($9 + shipping) from me special. Email me. Otherwise they are going to be nice and not have anything come out the ass.

My singles from the dyed roving are coming out a little fuzzier than I’d hoped. I’m  adding a little extra twist for a harder more defined yarn. Sometimes dying does a little to correct the texture, this time that was not the case– I’m sure I’ll live through it. Pretty sure at least.

Today is Josey’s first day of high school. I think I can say with some certainty that he’s taking the transition from home-schooling to high school better than I am. Pretty much any casual observer could say that, since I’m the one freaking out and he was (as usual) all not freaking out.

Theresa definitely has talent working with dyes and raw wool, and it was a delight to spin up with this batch.

I didn’t have to go overboard with pre-drafting, for the most part I just unrolled and drafted straight from the top. I could have probably added a bit more twist and gone for a harder better defined yarn– but I didn’t, still I’m pretty happy with the way things turned out.

There it is on the bobbin. And here it is as a finished skein:

I’ve tried to get back into a regular pace with life which given my short attention span, it probably only surprises me that I haven’t quite got a grasp on it yet.

I pluck it right from the tiny sheep in my living room. Where he got it was from FiberOptic on etsy. He’s a wise little sheep with very good taste.

My other fiber order got lost in the mail.

This is a 50/50 blend of bamboo and merino, handpainted in shades of brown, deep brown and black.

This is exactly how I like my coffee: Rich and full of wool.

I’m spinning it up as a lace weight because I feel the need to do some lace knitting coming on.

Superstition from FiberOptic.

I just finished the two on the left (the one on the right is from before.) The new skeins are sock weight, and Navajo plied to keep the colors in solid blocks.

I am also working on buttoning up some sewing projects. First there were the needle rolls:

Even though this one has my knitting needles in it, I’m keeping one of the other ones, my needles are purely for display purposes.

I feel so organized.

And then there were my bloomers  and chemise. Those are finished now, but I’m still holding off on the hardware for a corset. Should a busk and boning magically appear on my sewing table that would be finished next, but I’m not going to count on it happening any time soon. I finished my last corset by gutting the hardware from a bustier, for better or for worse, I’m all out of bustiers that I’m willing to chop apart.

So that’s pretty much it for now, at least until I run into some more slightly less than finished projects.

The Black Coffee roving from FiberOptic is almost sock yarn now.

Please excuse the greenish hue, my camera does that under fluorescent lights. The greenish hue doesn’t exist in real life and I’m sure it could be corrected in Photoshop except that my attempts at correcting it turned out far worse than the original.

Note to self: If I *must* own expensive software, I might want to learn how to use it before it is obsolete.

At least I managed to get an accurate picture of the finished Dragon Tile.

I was worried that the red wouldn’t stand out against the gray background but it seems to stand out just enough.

Good lighting didn’t hurt either.

I’m itching to do some botanical dissections in thread. I’m thinking pillow covers.

The above paragraph probably explains why my husband rarely buys me flowers or houseplants doesn’t it?

I’ve shocked it in hot water and cold, thwacked, soaked, and snapped the snot out of this yarn so that it’ll be as tough as the hubs of hell.

All the torture has felted and blossomed it just a little, forcing the merino to contract and lock together while the bamboo fibers loosen just slightly and giving it a slightly heathered appearance.

Pardon the extra sheen in this next picture, the yarn isn’t quite dry yet, and my photography skills still need improvement.

Because extruded bamboo fibers are clear (like polar bear fur) when the yarn is completely dry it should look like silk because of the way light reflects through the individual strands (think less like fiber optic cable and more like seeing a crayon through a quartz crystal), but keep most of the insular qualities of merino wool. The drape will be a compromise of the two fibers in the blend.

I probably spend way too much time looking at yarn through my kids’ microscope huh?

I’m saving up for one of those microscopes that I can hookup to the USB on my computer because I’m way too lazy to do sketches and scan them. In case you’re wondering, extruded bamboo fibers look a lot like nylon while bast bamboo fibers are much more interesting (and far less yummy and spinnable) under a microscope because there is a recognizable cellular structure, and when backlit on the slide bleached bamboo bast fibers make pretty rainbows.

Doesn’t this look like fluffy shiny deer guts? The effect is far more realistic in real life than I was able to capture with the camera. I thank goodness that the smell is not that of authentic intestines.

One of the things I like about dying silk is that it’s fairly goof proof so long as I give the dye enough time. It can be treated like an animal fiber and put into acid dye, or like a plant fiber and soaked in soda ash. I ended up using scarlet RIT dye (which is a little of each type of dye), warm water and giving it a good three hours soak before pulling it from the dye pot.

I can’t believe how paranoid I was the first few times I handled the stuff and how casual I am with it now.

Spun up it makes a more attractive and much less graphic yarn. It’s almost appropriate for Valentines day.

When I have my second bobbin full I plan to ply it, but it is so tempting to leave some portion as a single to weave in with the flax that is currently languishing on the other wheel.

During our morning errands I grabbed a set of paint brush pen things and a sketch pad for Lexi.

I’m undecided on whether I was an extremely clever or extremely as a mommy. Yes, she is covered with crayola product ink, no it is not on the walls (yet.) Clever or foolish? I may have to review that question next week.

One thing I can say about Lexi’s artistic endeavors is the girl is bold and she likes her colors. I think she should take over picking my fibers and dyeing them for me, what do you think?

I present to you “Abcapoo” a work in progress by Alexanne Meyer.

It’s still winter and I live  in a valley. I should know by now that the day light will always be a little shorter for us, I just wish it didn’t feel like I live in a cave all the time, even when I’m outside.

I’m into spinning again full swing. Unbleached tussah silk. Laceweight. Yum. Georgia has a new hobby as well, she likes to run around the room catching the little smokey wafts of silk that float in the air when I’m pre-drafting, and then having me extract the drool slimed silk from her gaping maw.

We discovered earlier this month that Georgia was anemic, since starting her on some high calorie puppy food and iron supplements she’s become downright hyper, or more accurately, she’s acting like a healthy young dog. It’s a nice change.

I worry a little when she engages Greta in play, because Great Dane play usually means running around, tackling, stealing prized items, more running and more tackling. Greta turns 11 years old in the spring, and even though she’s healthy– I still worry that Georgia’s playing will be too much for her, but so long as she doesn’t mind and no one gets hurt I stay out of it.

Josey’s dog, Lucy, is a digger. She’s also smallish (well, at least compared to my Great Danes of course. Sunnie the lab can legitimately be called my husband’s little girly dog compared to my dogs right?) I’m currently obsessed with teaching her to use her digging powers for good and not evil. More specifically, I want her to empty the clean clothes from the dryer into a laundry basket strategically placed at the opening of the dryer.

The routine is something like this, clean Lucy’s paws and check her nails. Open dryer door, put basket in front of dryer, put dog in basket, tell her to wait. Take hard dog biscuit and put under clothes. Tell dog “Laundry time!” when dog digs (in search of sub-par dog biscuit) click and treat (with a bit of tripe or liver). Have dog sit and wait, shove clothes back into dryer, give cue again (Laundry time!) and let dog do her thing, click and treat. After a series of successful attempts, randomize the treats. Observe as husband walks by with a curious look on his face. Make resolution to clicker train husband. Take dogs for walk. Fold laundry.

I know, Lucy is Josey’s dog so he should be working with her, and for the most part he does. I find it too hard to resist the temptation when there are juicy behaviors just begging to be shaped into cool tricks. Emptying a dryer may not seem uber cool to the casual observer, but as the main laundry doer in the household– I appreciate all the help I can get.

Besides, I hate it when people get a kid a puppy and then refuse to help with it at all beyond feeding and vet bills. That’s how perfectly nice baby dogs get shoved out into the backyard and forgotten until they become a noise violation. Lucy is, to put it mildly, extremely energetic. The above picture is Lucy at 10 weeks old (and my shop space which has since been cleaned up.)

She has the most adorable pouty lip doesn’t she?

Lucy’s momma is a Springer Spaniel, her daddy a breed or mix unknown. I don’t even know where to start guessing. She bounces like a boxer, leaps like a Jack Russel Terrier, barks like a beagle, plays like a pibble, and sets up like a german shorthaired pointer. Maybe daddy was a dog of all trades?