Happy Oscar Day

The last 2 Saturdays we spent watching the Academy Award Nominees for best picture. I really have no idea which one is going to win, they're all good movies but none are great. The one with dramatic 'Oscar' power was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which wrung you out mentally. George Clooney was amazing in The Descendants, seriously he is more Cary Grantish every year. I think he's Cary Grant reincarnated. Hugo was touching, Moneyball was fun and really well done, it even made me root for the A's for the first and only time, but of course still not against the Mariners. I skipped Warhorse, I didn't think I could handle a war movie with horses dying. Too traumatic. Tree of Life was like studying a painting for 2 hours, complex and thought provoking but not for everyone. The Help was meaningful, better than the book in my opinion but rather Civil Rights light, I thought it could have been more dramatic, and would have been in reality. Midnight in Paris was a vacation, and The Artist was touching and heartwarming.

Of course the best part..

Of the movies...

Is the popcorn!

Ramses 8 Months

And with another new haircut. This one my own creation. Having a poodle is definitely an exercise in artistic expression..

Photo Fun

For Christmas I received a note entitling me to a new SLR camera so I could start to study how photography really works. I have outgrown my faithful P80, and was ready for the next step.

Today, my brand new Nikon D5100 arrived in the mail. Of course we almost immediately had to leave for lesson night, but I took it with me and had some fun taking random photos. Tomorrow the book comes that I ordered, and I can really get busy studying all the cool things I can do.

A lot of these were really low light, as I wanted to test that. And yes, we have wild turkeys in yards roaming the suburbs. It's rather charming, though slightly weird.

Yarn Flurries

Finally I finished plying the last of the 2nd bobbin of Cormo. I had a lot of help with this one. I take back what I said about Ramses growing up. He has grown up into adolescence. In the past 2 days, he has stolen more yarn, and found more dangerous objects to show me. And every time I'd sit down to ply he'd either get tangled int the yarn, or else he'd start bringing me tennis balls or toys. Or he'd come bouncing into the room with a skein of yarn, or a ball of roving in his mouth, and a sparkle in his eye waiting for me to chase him. Whatever the case was, I managed to get most of it plied during my DVR of Once Upon a Time (I think it's the proximity to Rumplestiltskin that makes me need to spin during that show) and then the rest today. I'm up to 740 yards now. I'm going to finish off the remaining fiber. I'm hoping for over 1000 yards. Upon reflection, doesn't this remind you of an early fall snow? White with just flecks of green.. Or a field of daisies. Ooh, I like that better. No flurries, just daisies...

I Have a Little Project...

That I can't tell anyone about. So here I am, I could write blog post after blog post after blog post about that project. But I can't. So I can talk about yarn. Except I need to take pictures. So instead here's a random thought post.

1. I'm up to 585 N-plied yards of the cormo/silk noil. I still have some left to ply and another 4 oz or so to spin. Any guesses as to how much I'll end up with? 
2. Tofurky Pepperoni Vegan pizza is surprisingly delicious and makes me feel like I'm eating junk food. It is best when eaten with Double Stuf oreos for dessert, which does make it junk food.
3. I visited Detta's Spindle last week. I need to go over there a lot more. Except then I'd be even broker. I went there because I had managed to fill all my bobbins. That, takes talent. And ignore the fact that I have 5 other wheels that had free bobbins. That would have been too much work.
4. It is still brown, dreary and cold here. But warmer than it could be and no snow. Still, brown, dreary and cold, with no flowers in sight.
5. I am going to make vegan truffles tonight. Yummy.
6. Ramses is entering his puppy teenage years. He is especially attracted to yarn attached to knitting needles. The cats find his ability to steal and spread the yarn randomly fascinating. I do not.
7. Did I mention that it's brown dreary and cold?
8. And I am bouncing up and down inside. Sometimes to Zumba, which is quite fun, but generally just about the Project.

Back to Normal

Ramses is growing up. Or else I am getting better at throwing a tennis ball while spinning yarn. In any case I actually have handspun yarn churning off the wheel again! Miracles do happen!

Bobbin #2 of a cormo/silk noil blend I purchased last year at the fiber fest.
I still have some more to go. I am try to get it all spun up before plying.

Falkland from The Spinning Bunny. 115 yards of bulky prettiness.

 

 

Merino/Tencel blend from Knitty and Color (Serpents Tail I believe)
This was the yarn that was meant to be plied with another bobbin of
pink. Evidently they objected to this plan since the pink bobbin disappeared
immediately upon this one's completion, only to turn up when I had finished the plying.
Oh well. I'm not sure they would have matched anyway.. 245 yards.

 

Silver Frost

Sorry for my absence amongst the generalities of life, my computer has been in for a face lift, debugging, defragging, and maybe defrosting.

The other morning we were treated to a lovely display of frost. So beautiful. So much better than snow.