Fiber Fever Friday #24

Happy Fiber Fever Friday everyone!

As I mentioned in my last post, we have had a lot going on... And it has not stopped.

Tomorrow we travel to Central Arkansas for a lecture by the Yarn Harlot! -- ...and then we pick up 4 rescue schnauzers for transport to Memphis -- one of which we will keep and foster.

Although early last month I finished those boot socks (Hooray!) and also my first fingering weight two ply yarn (see below), the last two months have been, more or less, knit free.  Seriously.  Since April 7th, I have knit 2.5 rows of a cowl.  That is all.

I have not been spinning either.  I really wish that I had, but... no.

The truth is that I have thrown myself into a new schedule to accommodate daily workouts at the gym before work each day.  So I have been getting up at 5 am, working out until 7:30 and then working until about 4 pm.  By the time I get home, settle the animals down and make dinner, R is home.  We eat, clean up and I have time to do some gym laundry before going to bed at 9 pm.  And then repeat, repeat, repeat...

There are weekends of course, but I can't remember the last one that we had free.  Too many errands, Guild events/work/meetings, house chores, etc...

So I have really only had time to knit at our regular Tuesday night Knit-night.  In the last four of those, I have knit a total of 2.5 rows on a new cowl.  The rest of the time I have been helping other knitters with their knitting issues (2 socks on 2 circs, crazy bad pattern directions, etc...) -- which is fine -- I don't mind doing it -- but it does not make for a productive knit-night for me.

Ugh.

Even when I have a few minutes at home, I find myself filled with a restless energy that will not subside until I go to bed each night.  Although this particular demon sleeps, it does not knit or find knitting soothing.

I don't know where it is, but I have lost my fiber mojo.  If you see it, let me know.


For now, it is Fiber Fever Friday and I want to show you the result of all that hard spinning work I mentioned above:

This is 100% Polwarth fiber dyed by Spirit-trail Fiberworks in the colorway Beach Glass.

As a two ply:

In the end, I got about 440 yards out of the 4 ounces that I spun...  I sent this to my best friend -- the one that taught me to knit and I hope she enjoys knitting with it!

Take it easy people and, as always, Knit Happy!


Joining Linda@Natural Suburbia for Creative Friday and TamisAmis for Finished Object Friday.
Be sure to check them out to see what they have been working on!

Almost, but not quite...

Good Lord.

I cannot believe it has almost been a month since my last post.  It feel like it has barely been a day and somehow at the same time like it has been years.

I promise to do posts on our adventures on most of these things but for my own sanity, I would like to give you all a summary of the past four weeks.

The first week of April my lovely wife, R, and I were on vacation in eastern Tennessee.  The area was beautiful, the cabin remote, the drive up to it terrifying.  We had a blast and, of course, bought yarn and fiber for spinning.

The girls were not happy to see us go:

The next week we worked, knit-nighted, etc...

We attended a Memphis Knitting Guild charity event kickoff which was a lot of fun -- SO MANY SLIPPERS!  And we celebrated, R's birthday.

I finally found a great gym in the area with many of the amenities our last gym offered.  So I have finally gotten myself on a decent workout schedule again.

Then we spent a weekend attending the first annual Gathering of the Guilds event in Jackson, TN.  We met many spinners, knitters, weavers, tatters, quilters, and those who participated in any and all combinations of those activities.  There were people there from Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi.  It was a great social event:

We picked up and delivered 900+ lbs. of fresh from the farm butchered beef that R's parents raised and had butchered this spring.

We also launched the new Memphis Knitting Guild website -- quite a nail biter I can assure you.

Last weekend we took our first MKG field trip down to visit the Coldwater Alpaca Ranch in Coldwater, MS and to witness their spring shearing.  After the ranch, we traveled to Oxford, MS for lunch and to visit the Knit1 Oxford yarn shop which the wonderful owner, Patsy, was willing to open just for us on a Sunday.  It is a very cute shop and I would encourage you to stop if you are ever in town.

That, thankfully, brings us to this week.  Monday we had our monthly MKG meeting and I was sick.  Tuesday we had our weekly knit night at Newk's (we are the Knit S.P.O.T.S. group on Ravelry) and I was sick.  Wednesday I returned to work just in time for our systems to be taken down for maintenance during the rest of this week.

The time came for the Southeastern Men's Knitting Retreat planning committee to begin work on this year's retreat so I have begun work on my tasks.

The MKG retreat that we have been planning is finally coming together.  I have found the resort, set the prices, and opened registration on that as of yesterday!

So much has gone on -- and now that I see it all in writing it does not look as exhausting as it was... Or maybe it does, I really cannot tell anymore. :-)

Did I knit? A little bit -- the socks are done and will be appearing next week for Ta-Da! Tuesday.  Spin?  Yes a little bit of that too.  I finally finished a present for a friend and she loved it!

I hope you have had a relaxing April and that much knitting has happened!

Knit Happy Everyone!

P.S. - The girls sure are happy to have us home...

Quiet

Hello All,

It has been a quiet week here on the blog but not at home.  We had family in for a long weekend and I have been feeling rather poorly of late with the spike in allergens -- all of which adds up to very little knitting time.

R and I leave town this Easter Sunday for a week long Smoky Mountain cabin vacation.  It should be a great time.  We have both been burning the candle at both ends for quite a while and are looking forward to some quiet down time.  I will post about it after we return -- with pictures, I promise.

In the meantime, have a great Good Friday and a wonderful Easter weekend!

Happy Easter, Everyone!