Cute pups and children...and lots of fiber!

After a fun week, we're finally back in NY.  The rest of my family is still in NJ to visit relatives, but we went back home to help take care of these brand new little cuties:



(I took this yesterday when they were three days old -- today they look the same, only fatter.)

On one of the last days down at the shore, we all split up to do our own things.  My children and I went to a nearby playground, although that was short-lived; the sun was beating straight down on us, and there wasn't any shade over the swings and such, so then we visited a convenience store, where we picked up some milkshakes and lollypops.   We went back to the house to enjoy our snack in the shade of the porch off of our room.



I got two new spindles in the mail (I've been wanting Golding spindles for a long time now, and I finally broke down and brought two).



They really do spin better than any others I've tried.  I'm telling you, there's nothing like a Golding spindle, and it's totally worth the price.  To me, every other brand I've tried is just pure frustration, but the long spin time on the Golding spindles makes it a joy to use.

I taught my littlest sister Rachel to spin:



(They're still in NJ for the rest of the week, so I left her with about a pound of fiber and the larger Golding to practice with.)

Here's the finished Rosebud Corriedale (Spunky Club), 8oz, spun on my HitchHiker:


(The top skein turned out a bit more marled than I would have liked, but such is the nature of things when you take chances with a two-ply.)



To spin these, I didn't split the wool at all -- just pre-drafted it out "full strength" to preserve the longer color runs.  I was able to fit 4 oz on each bobbin, and then just plied them together.



It's a bulky two-ply.  I gave it a rough wet-finishing to plump the yarn up an toughen it a bit; this will be mittens and a hat for Daisy, so it needs to be as resilient as possible.

And...I picked up the needles again!  I'm working on my Auburn Camp Shirt again, but before I started, I had some untangling to do (sadly, Daisy had gotten a hold of my working yarn and clapped it about three times, rendering it almost hopelessly knotted up).  I don't know why I waste so much time untangling when I could just cut the yarn and make it so much easier for myself, but I just can't bear waste, and I hate weaving in ends that much.  (Although really we all know that in the time that it took me to untangle that ball, I could have easily woven in about a hundred ends...but let's not speak of it.)



Two final beach pictures, just because they're cute:



My sister Grace and Daisy -- squatting baby pictures are pretty much the best thing ever, I think.



My boys "keeping warm" on a blazingly hot day.

One final fiber shot -- I had a $40 fiber credit at Paradise Fibers, so I spent it on something that I've never bought before: batts!



Pure Merino from Hanks In The Hood.  I see some fun spinning in my future...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Alive and well down the Jersey shore

Thank you so much to everyone who's offered their congratulations. I'm still struggling with being tired and there are a lot of foods that I can't stomach yet, but having other people cook helps a lot. (It seems sometimes that the longer I look at the food, the less appealing it is, so if I actually have to prepare it start to finish, chances are I'm just going to eat a piece of fruit.)

Several of you asked if my husband would be home for the baby's birth. The answer is yes, I hope so. He plans to be home for R&R at Christmas, and hopefully all of the dates work out properly so that he can be there. He's such an integral part of my birthing process that I can't imagine him not being there. So I can say, "Hopefully, yes."

Something that may shock and astound you: I have not knit in over a week. In fact, I'm pretty sure the last time I picked up the needles was to finish up my (as yet unblogged) Loksins socks two Mondays ago at the fiber group I attend whenever I'm home. I know, strange. Instead, all that I want to do is spin.

Here I am spinning this morning.

I love the look on Daisy's face. She'd been happily sitting out there on the deck with me eating her breakfast, but just before the picture was taken she lost all interest in being pleasant.

I was working on the Rosebud roving that you saw on my wheel two posts ago -- it was going very slow as I learned the idiocyncratic nature of the HitchHiker, but now things are moving along at a much faster clip. It's still not nearly as efficient as my Lendrum back in Germany, but I did manage to finish up all of the Rosebud today, and now I just have to wet-finish it. If it's warm enough for the skeins to dry quickly tomorrow, I'll be able to take some pictures.

We've been having a rather lovely time here down at the New Jersey shore. A friend lent us their beach house, so we're within walking distance of the ocean, and have been going there every morning after breakfast.

Some of my favorite shots so far from the week:












(My sister Joy)


(My two youngest brothers Christopher and Joel, forever in search of trouble)


(Joy and my very pregnant sister Hannah)



Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some finished skeins to show you! (Oh, and maybe those finished Loksins...)

Blogged with the Flock Browser