Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Fiber for the Holidays!

There was a lot of fiber to round out the holidays.

From Mom:


(Short Attention Span Theatre #6)


(Discotheque)

Both are from Gaslight Dyeworks.

From Missy, Sean, and Matthew:


(Lake Michigan)


(Black Rainbow)

Both are from UniquelyYoursDesign.

And just in time because I finished with the first batch - installment two of the Baby Cakes!


Yay! I can't wait to see what yarn this will all turn into.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

New Home


(Outside)


(Living room with view of the patio through the slider)


(Looking towards the kitchen and front door from the living room)


(Kitchen)


(Stairs to the bedrooms on the second floor)


(Smaller bedroom, which will be our office)


(Upstairs hallway - stairs on the right, bathroom on the left, small bedroom behind, larger bedroom in front)


(Bathroom with cool red sink)


(Larger bedroom)


(Pseudo-finished basement)

Friday, December 19, 2008

Holiday and the Fuzzy Kitty and Spinning

I've been too busy to post. We're closing on the condo on Monday and that, along with work, has taken all my focus and energy. I'll post pictures of the condo on Monday - better ones than I took on the tour.

In my free time, I have been spinning. I spun up the Baby Cakes for this month's club. Here are some random pictures of them.



I also spun up the Rain Puddles 'n Rubber Duckies roving I had - colonial/merino.


I am now working on some merino I had - a colorway called Springtime. I am trying to not feel bleak because of the winter setting in.


Finally, Seth got me this roving. It's called Brain Pop and is very, very exciting!


Although we are closing on the 22nd and moving on the 28th, Seth decorated the apartment for the holiday season. I am glad he did - it looks great.



Of course, our lovely fuzzy kitty got into everything!



I hope she has as much fun exploring the new place next week.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Setting the Twist

I realized today that I have a couple of pounds of hand-spun that I never set the twist on. I dislike having to set the twist. It is analogous to all the finishing that has to be done on a knit sweater; something I dislike so much that I only knit blankets, which almost never need any finishing.

With spinning, when I am done, I want to be done. I have a product. It looks finished. And yet, it's not - the twist needs to be set.

I decided today to quit my procrastinating and get it done. I would do a massive setting of the twist, using the bathtub. (I do not know if it's bad form to put different fibers and dye lots together in a tub, but it's efficient.)

I piled all my fiber in. It looked like this.



I let everything sit for 20 minutes while collecting copious hangers and towels. I then took the skeins out of the tub, squeezed out the water and hung them to dry. This took over half and hour. Now my bathroom looks like this.




I also have clothing and towels scattered all around my apartment as I needed a lot of towels to dry the yarn and didn't have enough spare hangers to hang the yarn. It will probably take a while to dry because it's a rainy day today, but I have the fan in the bathroom going to expedite matters and have hope that the apartment will be organized again by the time Seth gets home.

In other fiber related news, I spun up two of the Baby Cakes last night.



Great fun! I can't wait to do the next four. Plus, I have another dozen coming in the next two months. What a wonderful gift from Seth.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Meanwhile, I've been Spinning...

We made an offer on the condo in Amherst yesterday and today it was accepted! Mega-joy! I think things will now get crazy busy, as we plan to close in under a month.

Meanwhile, I've been spinning.

First, I spun the Silverado in Color in bulky weight singles.


Next, I spun the Cotton Candy from way back because Seth really loved merino tencel when we were at Rhinebeck. (He said he wants me to make him a blanket out of this, but I only have 4 oz.)


Going forward, I plan to spin this:


These are called Baby Cakes and are 0.5 oz fiber batts from loop (on Etsy). Seth got me a three month subscription to the Baby Cakes club for November - January, as an early-middle-late Christmas present. Off to spin!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Echo Hill

Today, after work, we went to view a condo at Echo Hill. This is right in our old neighborhood in Amherst from when we lived at Rolling Green. I used to walk back in Echo and think how lovely it is. So what of the condo? Absolutely love it!

Here are pictures. (It's a link.) The pictures aren't very good, and don't do it justice. Two garages for cars, refinished wood floor throughout, new cabinets and appliances in the kitchen. A finished basement (with washer and dryer hook-ups). A lovely back patio all enclosed. The cool red sink in the bathroom. I especially love the brick walls that crop up. Actually, I especially love everything.

We're looking at two places in Easthampton on Saturday, but this Amherst condo is a real contender...

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Condo

Seth and I are thinking of purchasing a condo. We want to build equity and have a place of our own. We're working with a realtor. Today, we looked at our first place! (We don't want to do to much before we talk with a bank and get pre-approved.)

We looked at a place at Hillcrest Park. Click here for pictures. (n.b. Some of these pictures seem random, but I wanted to look closely at cabinets and windows.) This condo is a two bedroom, approximately 1,200 square feet, and is located in South Hadley. It's along a lake, hence the lovely view off the back deck. My favorite part is the washer and dryer - I really don't want to pay (or have to go to another building) to clean my clothing anymore.

We're very excited but need a lot more education. We're attending an information session on Thursday, have e-mailed a banker about meeting to discuss mortgages, and plan to through to a multi-part first time home-buyers program.

It's a lot to think about but, as I said before, very exciting.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

And now...pictures of a cat who is not Lily?

I went home this weekend. I have been trying and trying to get pictures of Mom and Greg's new (as of around Mother's Day) kitten, Logan. She's always on the move, whether it's climbing on the roof or pulling feathers out of the turkeys that live in the backyard. Still, I tried to capture her likeness.


Here, Logan is about to enjoy a good bit of literature. By that I mean, she will shortly be gnawing on this book.


Ooo, Logan just ate something yummy. Could she perhaps have been partaking of Greg's unfinished eggs?


Like any good cat, if there is a clothing item that you lay on your floor momentarily, Logan will sit on it.

Well, now, I'm off - I have to start spinning this!

(Silverado in Color by Copperpot)

Friday, October 24, 2008

In Unrelated News

The Crab Nebula roving is all spun-up and plyed.



Also, courtesy of Seth, our bathroom is re-done. Didn't he do the best job!



Finally, "Oh, that kitty!"