I am bitter

Today was one of those beautiful rainy, over-cast days which always inspire me to work with all of my fibery things. Spinning wheels sat beckoning, soft fluffy rovings spilling invitingly out of nearby baskets; bags of freshly washed wool waited patiently by the drum carder; my knitting sat in progress on needles, both current projects calling to me. All I needed was a nice cup of hot coffee and a comfy spot near a window to enter fibery bliss.

But my baby is teething.

Of course, on the best of days, the most I can hope for is a few rows of uninterrupted knitting, but today, I could get through only a few stitches before having to tend to one of the kids, so I gave up. Oh well. One of these days (hopefully before I lose my sanity), they'll be old enough to undestand that Mommy is not to be disturbed when she locks herself in her fiber room.

So, here's what I accomplished this past week in the late evening hours after the kids went to sleep:

I pulled my rovings out of their post-dyed, matted state into a semblance of their former, fluffy selves. I'm thinking that I like this dye job after all. We'll see how it all spins and knits up.

I started knitting the merino sock yarn I dyed. I'm not really liking the diagonal effect the colors are doing, but I'm too lazy to break the yarn and start it at a different area to break up the effect. I'll work on figuring out how to dye to make a more random color repeat.

Oh, I actually ended up changing to size 0 needles for 7 1/2 stitches per inch. A knitting friend of mine just informed me that, with the same yarn, she's getting 10 stitches per inch with size 3 needles! So, who's the freak here, her or me?

And congrats to her for completing her first-ever sock!


I finally tracked down some Woolly Nylon for reinforcing my toes and heels. While in the check-out line, and trying to convince my 3-year old that he really didn't need 3 bags of candy, I decided I HAD to have this candy:
Isn't this just the cutest mint tin you've ever seen? I know I'm gushing, but I love this thing. I'll be offering mints to strangers on the street just so I can admire it. I still don't know why I only bought 1, but I'll be heading back pretty soon. If anyone is interested, I got this at JoAnn's for $1.99. It took the edge off having just dealt with 2 grumpy boys who were fresh from daycare, eager to get home and stuck in a craft store with their frazzled mother who had to search the entire store for just one spool of thread. Hmmmm, maybe I have already lost my sanity.

And, yes, I am still working on the Cozy Cardi. I cast one of the sleeves and have gotten about 2 inches done. I'll post a pic when it looks a little more spectacular.