The Sky is blue,

Pointer

the ground is white. Although there is a tiny bit of tan peeping through the south bank above the road here across from the shop. Just in time to get covered up again tonight and tomorrow, no doubt!

I know some people are getting stir-crazy, and although I'd love to be able to open the shop again, I have plenty to do. I finished typing the family history and set up a web site for it; more on that later when I see how the finished product looks. At the shop we're creating havoc, tearing apart the book room to make room for LOTS more yarn. More about that later, too, when we have things a bit more organized and stuff starts coming in. I'll be putting some sneak peaks here.


Ravelympics project!

So, since this is winter and I have soooo much free time, I decided to enter the Ravelympics challenge, egged on a bit by Natalie. Since I never do anything by half, I decided the challenge for me would be to finish spinning this lovely California Variegated Mutant fleece by the end of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Two weeks. Seven and a half pounds. Yeah. It's supposed to be a challenge! If I get it done, a portion of the sale of the skeins will be donated to Special Olympics. I started when the torch was lit on Friday at 9 PM. This morning I finished the first bobbin and started the second. And of course, during the time I'm spinning this fleece I'm working on a special order for 300 yards of pure black angora yarn on the other wheel!


It'll be a wrap

Since I couldn't start the Ravelympics project and I don't like taking the Reeves wheel out in the cold, on Thursday for stitching group I started on the Every Way Wrap by Okim Park that was published in the Fall, 2009, edition of Interweave Knits. So far I'm loving the fabric. The yarn is some of my handspun; a Corriedale fleece from Rising Meadow Farm. She's one of my favorite fiber producers and this was a lovely fleece in fawny tan with some darker patches.

I can't say that anything else is really going on. Mostly winter is a round of taking care of animals, keeping the house warm, reading and catching up on things. While I'm spinning and knitting I've been thinking about things I'd like to do to make the house more comfortable for spending so much time here next winter. With three dogs, two cats, me and my projects and Dad the downstairs is just a little crowded! Snug, I guess, but no one has room to stretch out. Lily and TJ are loving that I'm home so much, though.

I've been enjoying the box of books my aunt send down, especially the Rex Stout mysteries. Nero Wolfe is the man. Some of the titles were new to me and others I hadn't read in years. Makes me want to dig out my Stout stash. Instead, I've been reading through the rest of the stack my aunt sent. Right now I'm reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and I think this is one that will stay on my shelf. It's a gentle story, just about a boy's journey, but there are such depths to the tale. I think I will want to read it again and again.

Oh, yes, and yesterday Natalie and I recorded Episode 17 of the podcast. She's thinking she's lost her knitting mojo and I still need to find mine!