Moving on

Okay, I managed not to kill The Youngest yesterday, but it was a close call. As Marie pointed out in the comments yesterday, yes, things went overboard and I stooped down to his level. But in my defense, the child pushed very hard with both me and his teachers yesterday and not all over food. Basically, if something could be argued about, he did. It was a long damn day and I'm thrilled that it's over. My mom actually called today to find out if the child survived. I was more worried about me surviving yesterday to tell the truth.

Today was much better. Except for taking the Eldest to the doctor, that wasn't fun either.

Moving on.

This is what I meant to show you and discuss yesterday before a certain three year old got me sidetracked:


I finished this batch of batts. The camera washed it out a bit, The batts are a lovely burgundy and black color in real life. This is 8.8 ounces of domestic wool and mohair that was purchased from the Sheep Shed Studio. It was originally black and white and was dyed with koolaid. It will probably take forever to get it all spun up, but it'll be a fun forever. :)

Pssst. Don't tell Widget the cat, but Roxie the puppy is almost touching her (it won't be pretty once she realizes it):

Child Rant

My day has totally sucked. The Youngest chose today to push every button on every adult that he could find. He told his teachers to "Shut-Up" and then refused to do anything that they told him to do. Can you guess how incredibly embarrassing it is that you can't control your child when you're not around him? I can. not. control. him. I have no idea how to get it through his little stubborn rock-hard head that he needs to learn to mind the grown ups.

As soon as he got home he was disciplined. Then he refused to eat lunch. Fine. I put him down for his nap without it. He refused it when he got up too and told me no in no uncertain terms to my face. Fine. Discipline ensued. I put dinner and his lunch down in front of him tonight at supper and told him I didn't care which he ate as long as he ate. Temper tantrum ensued. More no's. He was disciplined again. An hour later he is still staring at his food.

Now it's basically his will versus mine. I'll be damned if he wins this one. He may still be sitting at the dinner table til morning at this rate. I can totally see why parents go off the deep end with their children and make the five o'clock news, I really can.

It's Here!

The Fancy Kitty Kitten Drumcarder finally showed up on my doorstep this afternoon at around 4pm. I spent most of my day sitting right in front of the window looking for that big brown truck to show up. How pitiful is that? Then, to top it off, dinner will now be late because I had to break out my new toy and play with it.

I heart this so much! Here it is straight out of the box:


And here is my first lumpy bumpy beginner's batt (run through 3 times):


I used some roving that I had dyed a very long time ago and never really liked. I like it much better in the batt and can't wait to see it spun up. Once I finish carding up the rest, I'll get out the wheel and see what it looks like.


On a side note, this past summer my Mom shelled a bunch of purple hull peas. She and I "cooked" up the hulls and I stored the juice for later use. Last night was the later use. I heated it up, added vinegar and put some white roving in and let it sit all night. I was really surprised. It came out a pretty tan, but not at all what I expected. I still have some of the juice left and I'm going to play around with it some more and see what I get. Here's the result:


I have to go cook now before the family shoots me and then have to go play with the carder some more. Bye!

Jam Packed Weekend

On Friday I ordered my drum carder! Woohoo! It should get here sometime tomorrow. In honor of it's showing up on my doorstep, I ordered a couple of pounds of fiber from Sheep Shed Studio to dye and play with, so you should see some fresh dyepot pics soon (especially with all the Easter egg dye going on sale in a week or two). It's absolutely killing me. I want it, and I want it now! I'm taking temper tantrum lessons from the three year old, is it working or should I put a little more whine in there? :)

Here's the latest pic of the Owl Sweater:


I've finished about 4 more inches since I reported to you. Last week was so busy with getting ready for yesterday's performance that the knitting got back-burnered.


The performance went great. I didn't blow my solos, so I consider that a plus. My go-go girl outfit got rave reviews. Here I am in all my stage makeup after the show:

Here's a shot of the group on stage - that's me in the blue in the center. Different costume. I wore about five of them last night.

I did get to mix two of my passions (theater and spinning). We did a Les Miserables medley and I had a ton of time to sit on stage so I took a basket of wool and a spindle up there. It actually looked authentic. What else would a poor woman of that time have done but make her own yarn for her family's clothing? Of course, the hubby didn't get a pic of that one. He was at a really bad angle for it and was wrestling the Youngest to keep him from running up onto the stage with mommy. It was the first time he had seen me do anything like this.

Anyway, it's been a busy weekend and I'm glad it's over. It's time to get back to dull routine around here so I have time to play with my new toy. :)