Sushi, Customs, and Fredie

This was one hell of a Monday

4 hours in and I was ready for Tuesday
Luckily, fiber makes any day better!

Check out my Sushi yarn!

This is fiber from (RuLeOuT): fIBer AdDicTiOn NOS

And I finished my Entrelac scarf!!

I haven't blocked it yet, but this is made of 100% yarnspun on my Turkish spindles!!
Mostly my beloved Jenkins family.
But a few were done with my newer additions from
IST Crafts and the Spanish Peacock.

All of the fiber used in this yarn came from special places!
Most of it came from Phat Fiber boxes, some
from yarn stores that I have visited recently,
and even some that I mixed up on my new drum carder!

I would love to tell you where all the fibers came from
but I would never get them all right!
If you recognize your stuff, let me know and I'll add a shout out!

Notice the Sushi yarn (from above) that I used to finish out my scarf?

Also notice how my spinning became finer and more refined as I went.
This has been a true learning expierence.
I've really only been spinning since December.

I think I've come a long way for 6 months!

This is picture is because it's pretty
and also for those out there who might
wonder what the fiber looks like before it is spun!

This is from SilverSunAlpacas

Also, any sucky Monday
that ends with a package like this on your door step,
can't be that bad!

This is a new little discovery that I came across a few weeks ago.
Its the United Kingdom sister to the Phat Fiber box!

The Fibreholics Box!!

The samples are each a bit bigger but you get fewer of them in a box.
All super squishy and lovable!

Plus they are the perfect size for my next project.(which I will tell you about later!)

Oh and my crazy day landed me at the Volkswagen dealership
because Fredie was broken and I had to get him fixed
(for a small fortune)

For those that haven't met him yet,
This is Fredie!!!

He likes coffee and he's always taking me on crazy adventures!

So, I briefly considered trading him in today.
I know it's crazy.
But in all fairness, I've had so many little (but expensive) problems
with this car from day one.
But like an abusive boyfriend, I still love him dearly
and just can't seem to leave him.
It makes me sad to think about getting rid of him.
And I think the only thing that could possibly replace him
is another Bug, maybe in another color, like RED!

I have to give a shout out to the team at VW Audi, Huntsville.
They really took care of me today.
(except for the hole in my wallet thing,
but I don't blame them for that)

When I returned to pick up Fredie,
Jeff greeted me with "did you bring Leroy?"
What? Huh?
"how about Jenkins?"

Turns out I had a Chrome64.com keychain on Fredie's keys...

Who knew that anyone would actually go to
my website because of one of these??

Kind of cool!
and I always like it when I find out that random people
are reading my boring nonsense.

so anywho...

Reggie (from the sales floor) worked all day,
looking at options all because I woke up and had a whim.
Jeff (from service) saved me a bundle
by coaching me through changing my headlight!
And then Jeff and Portia (from parts)
gave me a sweet deal on this super cool bag!!!

I mean, it was just sitting on the shelf, calling my name.
It knew it was mine!
Portia and Jeff agreed!
Thanks Guys!

And it looks like my UK Fibreholics goodies
were meant to live in this bag!
So it's perfect!

I'll just throw in a spindle or two and I'll be good to go!

Never Turn your Back on a Jenkins

Well...

Funny things happen when you put a bunch of Jenkins in a Train Case together unsupervised...

I spun half of this batt (from my earlier Fiber Studio post)
on Chuck... then later...

I found that Chuck had taken a liking to my new little Kuchulu.

Who I have been informed, is named Sally.

And this was the result:

So I spun the other half of the batt with Sally's shaft.

And all I can say is

This is the coolest spindle I own!!!

It's small, compact, spins like a demon,
and I can pack on twice as much fiber as I can on Sally.

Do you ever find yourself in the strangest of situations?

after recovering my passport and successfully flying to Germany,
I lost my ATM card in a machine in Frankfurt.

I also discovered that the place I was planning to stay,
was suddenly very very far away.
But a very kind person made arrangements
for me to stay in an apartment here.

It was a mile and a half away from
my newly discovered destination.

So I walked, every morning, and every night.

But I was very VERY thankful to have a place to stay.

This is the path that I walked and it was dark and creepy.
And at times, I felt like I was in a scene from the Blair Witch Project.

Or at least some B grade horror film.

I imagined how it would all go down
if I suddenly vanished from this earth
because some psycho jumped from the woodsand ran off with me...

All they would find is poor little Leroy,
All alone in the woods
Probably scared, cold, and naked.

But no one snatched me and
I was never chased by a chainsaw,
so all is well =)

It even looked creepy in the daylight.

Not really sure what this was.
There were several towers like this one.They looked like guard towers...

But to make up for the creepy,
I was greeted by this lovely view in the morning walks!

And a few kitties!

Excuse me Mr. Kitty, do you speak German?

Mitzi Mitzi Mitzi

Do you know "Worst Hunter Cat?"
You look like you might be related.

Plus the birds mocking you in the trees,makes me think you do.

AND THERE WAS A POPCORN MACHINE!!!

I want one of these in my house!

OK, back home

And I have to tell you about this little bear.
No idea why I have to tell you, I just do.
I have a riding lawn mower and have a rather large yard
that I have to keep up.
It sucks.
I only cut my grass because society says I have to.
I would like to replace it with one of those great
rock yards like out west.
Or Astro Turf!
But I have grass and my neighbors give me dirty looks if I don't cut it.
So I was on my riding lawn mower,
writing my name in my yard...
(I may have to cut it, but I do not have to go in straight lines...)

And I saw something in the grass.

I stopped and picked it up and it was this little bear.
He was filthy, completely covered in mud.
I assume he was a dog toy in his former life.
So I rescued him and put him on top of the mower until I was done.

But then later, I was trying to cut around a tree.
I went under a limb and the next thing I know,
bear parts are flying everywhere.
I had knocked the poor guy off and decapitated him.

I was so sad.
So I picked up all his pieces and brought him home.

I removed the stuffing,
ran him through the washing machine a few times.
And then restuffed with fresh stuffing him and stitched him up!

He seems to be recovering ok.

Now onto yarny stuff!

I made a wonderful discovery on Ravelry this week!

People like to trade!
And I have lots and lots of Fiber related goodies to trade!

So, I traded a ThreadsThruTime Tiny Spindle for a new Jenkins Kuchulu!!
All of the Kuchulu's are numbered and this is #21!!
I think it's pretty cool to have one of the very first ones!

Leroy is #193

(We haven't decided on a name yet...)

And this is my new IST Crafts Spindle
This is really a great spindle!

(also un-named)

I won't say that it's better than my Jenkins,
but it is just as good!

They are different
(I promise to provide a full review of all Turks
that I have tried, sometime in the future...)

And here is my custom made Spanish Peacock!!

It's so pretty!
It also falls into the category of at least as good as my Jenkins!

Zed sporting a full 4oz!

That later became a hat,
that is too big for me.

So, if you know me,
and your head is bigger than mine,
and you like this yarn,
we might be able to work something out. =)


Zed again

with my first handspun yarn
from one of my very own batts!


This is the ThreadsThruTime Tiny spindle
that I traded for the Kuchulu above!

Good Trade!

Knitting on Airplanes

OK so I hear this all the time and it kind of drives me crazy.

I was in a yarn store in South Carolina earlier this year (with a flat tire) and I heard an older women speaking with complete certainty that you CAN NOT take knitting needles on planes.

To those of you who know me, you know that not allowing me to take my needles on board would be far more dangerous!!

Anyway, what got me started tonight was a discussion on Ravelry about taking Signature Needle Arts needles on planes. And I just had to throw in my two cents worth.

I travel a lot.

And by a lot, I mean A LOT!!

I always have at least 2 sets of Signature DPNs and my size 7 straight Signatures and usually a pair of addi lace circs.

Sometimes with works in progress and some times without.

I have NEVER (knock on wood) had any trouble getting through security. 9 times out of 10, the person in the seat next to me will say “they let you bring those on?” But, security and the flight attendants never say a word. Except maybe an occasional “how cool.”

While going through security in Munich once, I could see them eyeing my needles. So I explained what it was in German. They assumed I was fluent (it is very important to learn the knitting terms for any country you travel to) and they proceeded to tell me how cool that was, in German.

Another time, I had mistakenly left a pair of scissors in my carry on going through Munich again. They were like scrap booking scissors, with the pointy tips. They pulled them out, I was so embarrassed and told them they could keep them. They eyed them and then put them back in my bag and sent me on my way. When I got on the plane, the guy next to me was one of the 9 out of 10 when he saw my Signature straights. He just couldn’t get over the fact that they let me on the plane with my sharp pointy needles.

It took everything in me to not say “well you should see the scissors they let me bring on board!”

I never pull my needles or knitting out at security. And they usually don’t ask about them. Those that do are more intrigued than worried.

My advice, don’t bring unnecessary attention to them and be prepared to ship them home if they just won’t let you through security with them.

But seriously, I fly a lot, you really don’t have to worry about it!!!

IST Crafts Spindle Custom Made from the UK