“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” ~ Thomas Merton

I am one with my wheel. Ohmmm. (Its taken long enough, eh?)

Oh.. My.. How I loved spinning this, even though I was starting to get a tad bored towards the end of its 8oz. And the plying, took me several hours - ask me sometime about the ridiculous movie, Idiocracy, which I watched at 2AM while finishing this - or don't - I wouldn't recommend it.

But this my pretties, is true happiness. Because as far as spinning goes, when you combine it with my abilities thus far, it just doesn't get more perfect than this. For the interested, its blue faced leicester that I purchased at Rhinebeck from a bargain basket for a whopping seven dollars. It spun like a dream - its incredibly soft - its balanced. The only downer, is that I was hoping to squeak out 800 yards of dk for the lace wrap pattern, also purchased at Rhinebeck. By my measurement I have 740ish yards in a dk/fingering weight. I do have a little bit left on one bobbin still needing to be plied. However I'm certain it won't make up the 60 yards needed. No worries, I have 5 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in my stash, crying to be knit into that wrap.

Have a great weekend y'all.

Fiber enthusiasts will recognize this right away. They'll cringe and shudder. Heart palpitations will commence immediately as they scan their memory, trying to recall the last time they inspected their own wool stash for such unwanted house guests. They'll sigh, and say aloud with a frown, "awwww." Then they'll think to themselves, "better you than me sister."

If you, dear reader, are not a fiber enthusiast, this is what you call "Carla's Stupidity" or in layman's terms, "Moth Damage". This incident, is my own damn fault. I've let these awesome mittens, which Liz made for me last year, sit out in the open, near my knitting basket for far too long. I know, I was just asking for it. In all honesty, I don't think moths are the offending creature here, but rather carpet beetles, which are just as destructive in my opinion. I have yet to see a moth in this house, or evidence of the flighty disgusting, bad-for-my-stash varmints. But I have seen at least 3 carpet beetles since we moved into this home 20 months ago. We have hardwood floors, and no carpet.. go figure.

Since finding the remains of their gluttonous meal, I've inspected the stash. All of it. And I've found no other evidence of snacking. Somehow though, I'm not feeling any less assaulted.

In a few days, on Sunday to be exact, I will celebrate my first annual 39th birthday. This is a big milestone, no? Well, maybe it isn't since I plan to celebrate the same birthday every year from here on out.

So I'd like to entertain a little reversal here, and have a little contest. No answering questions, no donations to charities, just leave a comment telling me about a favorite birthday present you've received. I'll pick one at random on Sunday, November 4th and put together a little surprise package for the winner. See, as much as I love receiving surprises.. I adore putting together surprises for others. If the winner is a knitter or spinner, perhaps you'll get a nice fibery surprise in the mail. If you're not, maybe an Amazon or iTunes gift certificate... I have lots of ideas!

And here, I'll get you started. What is my favorite birthday present? Cassidy! She was born just a few months shy of my 30th birthday, and I had always wanted a baby before I turned 30 (weird.. I know!) But besides all of that, Richard and I were both surprised, since we had always thought our path to parenthood would be a difficult one. We were looking at facing lengthy and heartbreaking fertility cycles.. then there it was.. a positive pregnancy test, all on our own. And after a rocky first trimester, when we were expecting the worst to happen every day, despite bed rest and progesterone supplements, we were truly blessed... just in time to fulfill my 30th birthday wish.

Now, go, and tell me all about your favorite birthday present! As you can tell, it doesn't have to be a "thing", it can be "the perfect day", a great meal... anything.

P.S. Scorpios Rule!

What the hell is it? The cloud of germs hovering over Chez Martin, just.won't.go.away.

I swear its one virus after another. Back to back. No break. So bad that we had to cancel our trip south to spend the weekend with Kris, Roger and Owen (to celebrate O's birthday!) Poor Connor has fared the worst of everyone in the family, but the older three have missed 9 days of school combined in the last 2 weeks. To say nothing of the list of make up therapy sessions Connor has racked up.

Bleh!

So just in case you haven't figured it out yet.. this is the reasoning behind my blogging absence. Well, a majority of it anyway. I haven't been feeling great either.. but you get the idea, right?

Anyway.. I finished up the "Shimmer" Merino/Bombyx roving that I purchased from Jessie at A Piece Of Vermont. A delightful experience, though by the time I got to plying I swore my left index finger was frozen in the spinning position. This stuff was slick! That and I was experiencing some tension difficulties with my wheel. Not enough pull and take up, or waaay too much. But some advice from the Spin Tech forum on Ravelry resulted in a very surprising (to me) and well working fix. I swapped out my scotch tension spring, and replaced it with a rubber band. Instantaneous, and perfect tension. Wee!

Anyway, on to the braggy pictures..

With the flash, just so you can see the shine of the bombyx silk.

And here, without flash, so you can see the softness. I'm not sure of yardage, but there is more than enough here for a nice drapey scarf. You can be sure this skein won't sit and fester in the stash.. I really can't wait to cast it on.

Also worth noting, although it is typical of my skill level in spinning, meaning it has numerous slubby sections, this yarn is perfectly balanced. So balanced I nearly cried with joy.

Color me happy. Sick. But happy.

It was a rough drive down on Friday night in the pouring rain. But we soldiered on.. Diana, Becky, Liz and myself.. trying to get to the hotel in Saugerties to settle in for the night, knit, drink wine, and pray for a dry Saturday.

And dry it was. Look at that sky! This picture is from Saturday morning after our first sweep through building 29 (right next to the gate where we parked and entered.) See, no real crowds.. yet.

Diana and I sat for lunch at this spot while people watching until it was time to venture over to the spot between the food building and building A for the massive knitter meet.

I loved the striped sheep. S/he (?) even had a sign on the gate of the stall stating "this is a naturally colored sheep". And the baby doll sheep were interesting . They reminded me of Shetland ponies.

The meet outside the food building was overwhelming. So many people. If not for the Ravelry buttons, I might not have recognized some folks. I did recognize Susan immediately. And saw Carole from a distance, but never made it over to say "hi". Talked with Knitspot Anne briefly, but mostly stood and talked with Paul (who can be seen here in the last two pictures next to Diana.) Funny thing about me and Paul.. we went to high school together.. well sort of actually. He was a senior when I was in seventh grade. Anyway, Paul kept us laughing (oh my gaaawd did he make us laugh!)
I also talked with Vicki very briefly at the Seaport Yarn booth early that morning while watching the massive crowd fight over Socks That Rock at the Fold booth. I was hoping to run into Vicki again at the meet, but never did. I also met Kathy a little later while picking out lincoln cross batts.

Also at the meet.. I don't know her. But I was watching her spin with a drop spindle. Something I can't do very well, much less on the move.

This is Anne. She was my downstream pal for Sockapalooza 3. I was excited to hear that she had worn the socks I knit for her on her way to NY.. and they were even commented on by the TSA official during the security check. Cool.

Really awesome was meeting Nancy. Not only is Nance a frequent commenter here, but a person whom I consider a friend. The bonus was meeting Maribel and Nancy's son Avery as well. The bummer, not being able to spend more time with them.. or meet Rinaldo and Ian who were off having fun in the children's area.

Um, no. I didn't buy this. I wish. If I can ever afford a Golding wheel.. it will have hand carved dancing bears.

And lastly from Rhinebeck.. my modest haul. I'm still shocked at how little I came home with considering I planned on spending twice as much. The three solid colored batts are lincoln cross and oh my goodness, fluffy soft. They were purchased with the Fiber Trends felting starter kit at the Barneswallow Farm booth. A Grafton Fibers batt there in the middle. Eight ounces of Blue Faced Leicester roving in a deep shade of green (this was my steal of the day. SEVEN dollars for EIGHT ounces. It was tucked at the bottom of a bargain basket and I'm not sure WHY!) One skein of Aussi sock yarn in Faded Valentine from Seaport (who can't resist those colors for 13.00?) A beaded orifice hook, snagged for $3.50, but unfortunately too short for my Baynes (no worries, it will work on my next wheel!) And a pattern, Moon Garden Wrap from NatureSpeak Knits. I didn't realize until on the way home in the van that this pattern is written only, and not charted. Drat! I'll have to chart it out myself before starting.

We got home around 7ish on Saturday evening, exhausted. I even woke up on Sunday morning, feeling hungover, which Richard insists is the sign of a great weekend! I trudged through the morning however, sucking down coffee, so that the family could make its way to the state fairgrounds for the Alpaca Extravaganza.

And after looking at all the adorable fluffy sweet alpaca, we finished Halloween shopping..

Dylan and Connor in their chosen costumes. I'll rant some other time about how Spirit Of Halloween's prices are seriously marked up. Its Monday. Its over 80 degrees. And I'm still exhausted. Whew!

Lots of blogger friends

and a stunning view.

I'll post more later, including my modest haul. I'm actually surprised at my restraint!

Here it is Wednesday already. Two more days til we leave for Rhinebeck (WOO!) But I seem to have been thrown a curve ball. We woke this morning to the sound of Dylan running to the bathroom to vomit. Yeah.. ugh. Now experience tells me that by tomorrow, Connor will be sick. Then Alex and Cassidy. Followed by Richard and finally myself. Can I get some good thoughts coming my way that either A) I don't get sick or B) I get it out of my system before Friday evening?

But anyway, back to Rhinebeck

Oh wait, since starting this post, school has called and Cassidy has come home. This is oddly, good news. This means it will blow through fast and move on to someone else's home before Friday. Whew!

So anyway, back to Rhinebeck

Whoops. Gotta tend to sick kids.

I'll get back to Rhinebeck, maybe when I get back from Rhinebeck

Side note for my readers who are not familiar with what Rhinebeck is, or rather what it means. Imagine Woodstock. But replace the hippies with knitters and spinners. Replace the drugs with BlueMoonFiberArts and say, Grafton Fibers (my particular substance of choice) and well.. there you have Rhinebeck. And well, if still don't believe me, just check out Google's results for "Rhinebeck" when you search blogs

I've been forgetting to keep my camera out these days. Or maybe I'm just too busy, and forget.. In any case, I'm trying to get back in the habit this week.

With that said, look what Cassidy and I made this weekend..

We finally made sushi. As Richard called them, since they were California rolls lacking crab, they are 'fornia rolls. I also used some furiake that I purchased at Wegmans, but I think we'll skip that next time. It was a bit too "fishy". Next time, sesame seeds only. Oh, and I need to work on not overcooking the sushi rice. But.. Cassidy loved it.. making them and eating them. She even ate the leftover roll for dinner that night.

Gretel is done, and Cassidy loves it. I liked knitting it enough, that I will likely do another in the other styles. This is the "regular" style, but the pattern also offers the "fitted" or "slouch" versions. She did ask for a pompom to be added to the top, but I refused. Pompoms are fine for other hats, but not this one. Sorry Girly.

In other news.. its an exciting week here at Chez Martin. On Thursday we'll be driving down to Norwich to meet with Kelly, Corey and their children Morgan and Alex since they'll be visiting the area to attend a wedding. Why is this so exciting? Well Kelly and I have known each other for a very long time, but have never met! We "met" 10 years ago on a pregnancy list for babies due in September 1998.. and here we are, a decade later with 9 year old girls, Cassidy and Morgan.

Also.. Rhinebeck Baybeeeeee! I'm going!

I'll be riding shotgun with Diana down to NY Sheep and Wool.. the fiber mecca. Where I'll spend, hopefully not too much money, and attend the bloggers meet up. My plan.. because everyone keeps asking me, "what are you looking for? what do you plan on buying?" Honestly, I don't have a plan, though I'd like to test drive some other spinning wheels since I'm hoping to trade in my Baynes for a bit more serious of a wheel this year.

Wee! I'm uber excited. Talk about fibergasm!