the movers come on Thursday.

I think we’re ready.

sort of.

floyd certainly looks stacked and ready to go.

1. Let house sit on the market for 13 months.

2. Sell house out of the blue.

3. Agree to find new house and move in 28 days.

…Now.  Which one of these boxes has my knitting in it?

Friends, I am a lucky girl. Just look at the booty I got from my fabulous Knitty Spinning SP:

This is from a gray Corriedale/Romney cross named “Black Betty”:

And this is from Martha, a black Corriedale:

And then finally ther’s Purl, a white Corrie/Merino cross:

All of it lovely and soft with amazing crimp! It came in a big grocery bag that was fabulously stanky and lanolin-greasy… like a big bag of popcorn at the movies. Mmm. I can’t wait to dig into this stuff!

Speaking of spinning… I recently had a little crisis of faith regarding my Louet Victoria portable wheel. I wasn’t using the Victoria to do the traveling that I had initially thought I’d do, and the Victoria just wasn’t my ideal choice of a second stay-at-home wheel. So I got it into my head that I wanted to trade in Vicki for a Lendrum Complete. I figured that the Lendrum could be used with the plying head at home, and it’d still be portable enough for the once or twice a month that I go to a spinning group or to teach a lesson. So I got together with the lovely Carmelnap, who had a Lendrum in Brooklyn and not enough space to keep it, and made the trade for this:

And I absolutely love it! It spins like a dream. Compared to the Schacht it is sooooo easy to spin on this wheel - it’s not finicky at all, yet the end product is just as good. (I probably feel like the Schacht hates me because I’ve got it set up on double drive and the Lendrum is run Scotch tension, but Dang I really prefer the Lendrum right now. I just can’t stop spinning on it, which says a lot given how lackadaisical about spinning I was there for a little while.)

One thing to know about the Lendrum, for those who are shopping for portable wheels, is that it’s BIG. It’s taller than my Schacht Matchless and just a little less wide; because the wheel leans toward you at an angle, I have the sense that it has an even larger footprint. But it does fold down flat quite neatly, so it still works well for me as a travel wheel when I need it. It’s just that if I (like Carmelnap) was looking to shove it under the bed in my Brooklyn apartment when not in use, I might not feel the same way.)

Here’s a little sample of the sort of thing I’ve been up to:

Now think slinky ladies of the 1930s… that’s all I can say for now, so stay tuned!

So I’m not dead! No, really. …Please, do believe me when I tell you that I’ve missed you. If y’all feel the need to give me a big old pimpslap for having been gone so long, I understand. I deserve it.

The last few weeks have been filled to the brim with sheer craziness. In a good way. The sad part is that I can’t tell you about a whole lot of it, just yet. So rather than try to retell the long and partially top-secret story, I will instead regale you with some random tidbits.

- Blue Sky Alpacas is the shizzle. Have you knitted with this stuff? No? Run out and buy yourself some. Seriously. I’ve been swatching stuff with it for a couple of weeks and it is nothing short of spectacular. It’s all good - the Alpaca Sport Weight is incredibly nice - but I am especially fond of the Royal, which is 100% Suri alpaca of a grade so rare that it must be gently plucked off the eyebrows of only the most pampered beasts. Or something. Wherever they get it, it’s astounding. The cotton is pretty danged nice too.

- The llamas and alpacas at Maryland Sheep and Wool back in May were ridiculously cute - dare I say redonkulous? - as evidenced by these photos:

The sheep were off the cuteness scale, too:

And then there were the baby goats. Goodness gracious were they cute! Even though this one looks like he’s in goat prison, he’s still awful cute:

Okay so these are oldies, at this late date, but you must admit they’re goodies. And I have a lot to tell you about, dear reader, so bear with me through a little catch-up.

- In vintage news, turns out the Vintage KAL is now linked to the V&A! I think to celebrate… I smell a contest brewing.

- I’ve recently become one of the lucky folks to end up on Ravelry. I can see how it’s an addictive little site… I could spend hours there, if only I had hours again! If you’re waiting, I won’t tell you not to whine and moan, because I whined and moaned incessantly until I got in. But don’t get too mad at the people who run the thing - apparently they’re busting butt. They say they’re about to quit their day jobs to run Ravelry full time, so that ought to speed up the process considerably.

More later, chiclets, as I get some photos uploaded! And soon, I promise this time…

is still in service!  I swear!

I have a good project that I can’t tell you about… but you’ll hear more later!  I promise!

In the meantime, enjoy this wonderful website - you’ll find loads of interesting vintage patterns there!  I’ll be back, better than ever, soon….

xoxoxo,

kristen