Snow Day

We got a bunch of snow yesterday/last night and school is cancelled. We are just going to stay in today so I figured it was time to catch up with some news and photos.

Kaitlyn's birthday isn't until the 18th, but we had a party for her 16th birthday here on Saturday. All the nieces and nephews had a ball on the skating rinks, while the adults stayed toasty warm inside. Her boyfriend Paul is having a party for her at his house on Saturday for her friends. On Sunday, her birthday (and my mom's) we will go out to dinner and spend some time with my mom and dad (who just got home from FL last night....home to a rude awakening of a snowstorm). My SIL's birthday is this weekend too, so hopefully we can get all 3 of the birthday girls together for a little celebration.

The party was great, except for one thing...I ended up being on crutches for the whole thing. My knee had been bothering me for about 2 weeks...I've been kind of limping around and favoring it a bit, hoping it would just feel better if I took it easy. Well Saturday, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen in the morning getting things ready for the party, then I decided it was time to get in the shower. On my way up the stairs I heard/felt a POP! in my knee, and excruciating pain followed. Pain that brought me to tears (which doesn't happen often) From that point on, I could not put any weight on that leg at all. Just try putting on a party from a chair. Not easy. I had to delegate everything for the rest of the day/evening.

Mike took me to Prompt Care on Sunday, where we waited over an hour before I saw the dr. He determined that my knee is sprained, but I don't have a torn ligament or anything like that. I got a prescription for an anti-inflammatory which seems to be helping, along with the brace that I have been wearing. I"m still babying my leg though, trying very hard to get it healed up because in 6 days I am going to visit my sister!

I am so excited! On Super Bowl Sunday Mike secretly got in touch with Diane, then got online and made me reservations to fly out there next week while the kids are out of school for mid-winter break. Kaitlyn, of course, is not happy about having to "babysit" Jake while I'm gone, but sometimes a teenager has to have a reality check...such as..."it's not all about you...all the time".

So on Tuesday I am flying to Omaha where Diane will pick me up and we'll drive back to her house in South Dakota. It's quite a drive, so here's hoping there are no weather events to screw things up. (Cross your fingers!)

While I'm there, she will have to work part of the time, so I will spend some time spinning on a wheel that she is going to borrow from her friend for me. Diane doesn't spin, but we both ordered some beautiful hand-dyed Targhee top from Spinning Bunny and I will spin some for her while I am there. We ordered Clematis, Tamarack & Spruce, and Roses for You. If you click on that link, scroll down to see the beautiful colors!

I fell completely in love with Targhee when I spun a few ounces that I got from my spinning teacher a couple weeks ago. It was just awesome! Here is that fiber all finished up. It's so squooshy!



Here is the plied version of the singles from the last post. I didn't know if I would ply it or not, but I think it turned out ok. I have no idea what I'll do with it.



Here is some Shetland that is from my friend Jenny's sheep. I also spun some of a darker Shetland that I am going to ply with this. I ended up spinning the darker one much thinner since it was 2 weeks later (I guess I'm already getting better at this whole process!)so the plied yarn should be interesting. I guess I'll have some of the darker brown left over to make into a 2 ply solid. I really enjoyed spinning fiber that came from animals whose home I have been to.

This Blue Face Leicester fiber came from Jane.


She sent it to me when I first got my wheel. She said someone had done the same for her...sent her some fiber when she got her first wheel, to get her started. I put it aside, wanting to practice first, not wanting to ruin it. It wasn't until I took it out of the bag recently that I saw the beautiful colors that ran through it. I thought it was just black or dark gray. I must say this fiber was prepared so well...there was absolutely no predrafting necessary and it yielded my most consistent yarn yet. I am pretty darned proud of how this turned out.

Until I started spinning, I didn't realize how differently different wool fibers feel and act. I knew Merino was a soft wool, but other than that, I didn't have any experience comparing Merino or Shetland or Targhee or Blue Face Leicester. I was amazed at the sheen and slippery feel of the BFL. I can't wait to make something really special with it.


And speaking of Merino, here is a beautiful Merino that I bought from Threadbear a couple weeks ago and have begun spinning. It's 8 oz. of beauty that reminds me of the desert. (it's a little more brown/rust than what it shows in this photo) I've got about 3 oz of it spun up. Now that I am getting much better at getting my singles thinner and thinner, I am realizing how long it takes to spin each ounce of fiber! I'm curious to see how many yards I get after plying this.

Isn't it purdy?