[misc] Webs Road Trip

Took a short road trip with my sister on Saturday to go to Webs in Northampton, MA. It was a beautiful day for a drive.

I checked out all the new stuff in the front of the store.

All my purchases came from the warehouse because I'm frugal like that. I lots of sport- and dk-weight yarns. A couple random orange balls to knit pumpkins. And some fuzzy stuff to make teddy bears. I think I have enough yarn now to keep me occupied for a while. At least until the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival the first weekend of October.

On the way back home, we stopped by Whetstone Station in Brattleboro for lunch!

Everything was good- the beers, the smoked trout board, Korean short ribs, poutine, kettle chips, the weather, the view. 

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I've finished embroidering a couple more bundt bags. They only take a couple nights to do but I've got to set them aside- they're way too fun and distracting. I've got to work on the papillon shawl more (the rows are getting longer so it feels like progress is slowing down) and the Steotch 7 design. In fact, the shawl takes priority because I have to finish it for the fair.

[dyeing] Yarn Dyeing Workshop

On Sunday I went to a yarn dyeing workshop at Scratch in Lebanon, NH. There were maybe 10 other people there (mostly from the Green Mountain Knitting Guild, I think) and it was really fun.

First of all, the shop is really nice. Lots of fun yarn from independent dyers. Love the fun samples and projects here and there:

We received two skeins of superwash worsted-weight merino/silk and dyed with acid dyes. A sampling of different colors:

I went with blue/gold. I poured them in lines because I don't know what I'm doing.  

I did add some sprinkles of fuchsia to try for a specked effect but it was mostly lost in the final yarn.

The finished yarn:

I do really like it. When it first came out of the dye bath, I was like, "Meh, I don't know what to think." But I think it will be good knit up and I hope there won't be any color pooling because of the haphazardness of the dye application.

Oh and I did get a skein of Cat Sandwich yarn:

Because... "CAT SANDWICH". How can I not buy yarn with that name?

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I've been sick, off and on, since the last week of March. It's a little demoralizing. I'm overworked during the teaching weeks, I take some sick leave here and there, I feel like I'm getting better but I had chills last week and a hacking cough which seems to have peaked over the weekend. I'm stressing about it constantly, thinking, "I need to get better by such-and-such date because I'm teaching." But I'm not sleeping through the night (I haven't in weeeeeeks) and my body's tired and my mind is paranoid (is the water at work making me sick? is Rocky's cage in the house making me sick?). 

Now I'm currently stressing out about this coming weekend. "I gotta get better. I'm going to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I can't be sick. I bought a plane ticket. I have to go." I'm taking all kinds of medications (I'm paranoid that that's only prolonging things) and drinking tea nonstop. 

I haven't been doing much cooking because I haven't been hungry but I've still been crafting. I've made a bunch of small doilies that I finally blocked this weekend. I started some play crochet food for my niece's upcoming birthday. Lots of fun pictures to come...

We did go see Avenger's Endgame on Friday. I had to leave the theater about 8 times to go to the bathroom to cough (lovely) without disrupting other people's viewing experience. Because of that, I think we'll probably go see the movie again some time this week. Which is fine by me- it was epic and awesome and sad and happy and the greatest ending to the greatest movie saga of all time. Love x 3000.

[knitting] The Joy of Winding Yarn

Hulu recently added some seasons of Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting.



I think winding yarn and watching Bob Ross is just about the most relaxing thing for me. After I finished winding yarn, I laid down on the couch under a blanket and watched episode after episode. Dollar eventually came into the living room and asked what I was doing. I could only reply, "I'm... sooooo... relaaaaaaxed."

I signed up for another Joy of Painting class in April. I think I'm going to invest in some Bob Ross supplies to start painting at home- now that I have the episodes to guide me!