Dave comes home tonight (very late...) for the weekend. It's a short visit, just until Sunday eve... but better than nothing!

Miss my husband!

Plied up yesterday's bobbin and spun up enough for another...

Today, I spun up a bobbin-full, but had to card a bit as I went at the end... 

Here's progress as of yesterday:

You know... I seriously thought I'd posted here already - I have to post these pics in so many place!!

Today was fast and furious!  Started by plying the bobbin I spun yesterday, then spun and plied a second, AND started another bobbin!

Pre-Race pic showing my goals for Le Tour this year: Navajo ply 4+lbs of the gray Corriedale fleece at 9 wraps/inch (aran wt for you knitters out there!) and the blue on the chair is some beautiful superwash merino to spin up on one of our "special race" days, usually it's a high mountain stage. I'm in as a Climber this year, not a Sprinter, going for my goal not for distance and also on Team Shimmy-Chamois.



And for Stage 1 today - in beautiful Monaco:

A perfect approx 60g skein (about 96yds PLIED - so for you non-spinners multiply by 3 to figure yardage spun today + once more for the plying for total yardage treadled). It's right on gauge for my Dad's sweater!



Now I get to do this every day for three weeks excepting 2 "rest" days....

Le Tour de France and Le Tour de Fleece start in just a few minutes!  I'm ready to treadle!!

dave_b has a job!!  Now... it's not that easy - it's in Kenosha Wisconsin - better than a 6 hour commute. Needless to say studio apartment hunting is underway. If you know anyone around Racine/Kenosha who has knowledge we could use it!  I'll be staying here. We have a lot of work to do on the house before we could ever sell it (and we like it!) and my son has two more years of high school. Just no point. He'll be making a fair bit less, but what can ya do?  If something better comes along we'll cross that bridge!  Right now, it's a good company so we'll take what we can get. They are also used to folks from out-of-town so have arrangements for consecutive 10hr days over two weeks with a 4 day weekend in between!  Besides, it's not so far that in a pinch or an emergency he can't get here fast. 

I'll miss him horribly!  One short weekend and one long a month... I'll have to go visit him too.  At least I can working for myself!

I've been married to dave_b  ten years today! Heck, a bunch of you out there remember betting on whether or not we'd actually do it being at the time on opposite sides of the Pond!

Fun anniversary! Got to spend the morning at Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival and picked up a gorgeous silver-gray Corridale fleece which I am splitting with jenett ... it's really lovely, the sheep was coated and the fleece beautifully skirted, and a fantastic price!  Spent near an hour in the tub with the jets on when I got home, I was pretty chilled and achy. Then Dave and I went and saw Star Trek (a really enjoyable experience) and had dinner, sorta slumming it, at Ruby Tuesday - hey, great salad bar!

Dear Elise the wondrous jeweler is having a huge sale!

http://elisem.livejournal.com/1473318.html

Go look! Truly gorgeous stuff!

Well now!

A local esoteric shop  just took ALL my silk veils/sarongs/whathaveyous on consignment! Order in for more blanks and dyes...and ties :)

I also now have what can loosely by construed as a "job"!! Not only were they thrilled with the silks, when she found out I was an actual seamstress here eyes got big... "Do you, by any chance *hushed whisper* sew ritual robes??? "  Yeah, just a few!  "...and Tarot bags??" Uhm yes, lots!  She also has another request that I need a bit more info on but will likely do. More on that one later...

So yeah!  I've got some serious work! The orders were not small :)

I'm seriously happy! This starts into the realm of serious money not just pocket money to feed my other crafts. This will help pay bills.

Yes, I'm still sewing other stuff too - don't anyone think I'm "too busy" always ask!  Still do wedding clothes, garb, and general clothing, ritual wear (any variety any religion), and do all the embellishing myself (unless I get seriously lucky on fabric!)

Click on images to see larger!






( Pretty things for sale under here... )

I think it came out really well! Now to send it off to ciannait with fingers crossed that it fits...





Top is embroidered silk. Pants are embroidered velveteen.

elisem's piece "Nine things about Oracles"

About those Oracles
Stoned from smoke, or is that smoking stones?
Nine ways to one truth

Didn't get it. No clue why - overqualified? Too old? Treading on toes? One of the ladies was really fun and was good to chat with, the other was older and seemed to have very little sense of humor. I left the interview feeling quite positive so this was not a nice note to receive in the post today.

I'll know Tuesday!

About to head out for my first job interview in 11 years for an Historical Interpreter position.

http://www.rchs.com/gbbsfm2.htm

Quite an interesting place!

...that my Mum-in-Law loves me...

She just sent me 8 balls of Rowan "Cocoon" yarn in a color I can only describe as a gorgeous "thistle".

Yarn stuff, yeah.

The dear Lioness is having a big sale on beautiful shinies! Really, you *MUST* go look, if only to drool...

http://elisem.livejournal.com/1423888.html

This is not a good week for cats.

Hibernating somewhat, but not completely gone. I've been reading everyone's posts just not posting. I've a lot to put up in pics, but little inclination until the weather improves and my mood. My beloved husband is still looking for work - we got about 6 weeks and then we hold our breaths... The last thing I want to do is ask our folks to help out. My mom and dad are already planning to pay for my son's trip to France to visit them and take him to Italy or Germany. I was planning to join him... hah. I desperately want to get down to New Mexico again too, and it's cheap right now - but not a chance. Do I want to pay my mortgage? Uhm yeah. As it is we just had to put out that much to pay for 1/2 of my son's "new" French horn. A necessity actually - when it's what he intends to keep on with and do as at least part of a career we'll scrape.

I've been knitting like crazy. Just finished a really cool sweater yesterday eve. Have a pile of sewing just waiting on a couple measurements and another pile waiting until I get that last bit of an idea bent into shape. At least I'd feel more like I was contributing financially if I was sewing and teaching spinning again. Spinning - no one feels they can afford lessons right now. Heck, I had enough students last year to actually put it into our taxes!

Otherwise, it's snowing here again. Another month of winter. I get older on Friday. I still love my husband and son. I'm just so tired of getting kicked down just when we start to get a little ahead. This economy stinks.