This is going to be a long one

One of the side-effects of not blogging for nearly a week is the extreme quantity of stuff to blog about. Trust that it was a good thing I didn't blog, or even email you back (I will! Soon!). The pain was easily managed with Vicodin (and friends), but the trade off? Swiss cheese for brains. I have no clear recollection of Monday-Wednesday, and Friday was really the first day I could carry on a decent conversation. On Thursday, I was trying to educate someone (yes, I'm sure it was as pretentious as it sounds) on the theories and usage of the distaff on a spinning wheel. I followed the mental thread in my mind as my mouth ran on and on, and just as I got to the real point (she was breathless with anticipation, I am sure)...nothing. I stood on the edge of a huge hole in my memory right where the information was stored. As the crickets chirped, I realized I had no idea what I was talking about. Good times.

In honor of my summer class' demise (I cried when it was done, tears of relief and thanksgiving) I am employing an outline:

What I Did On My Vicodin Vacation

I. Introduction (see above)
II. Body What I have been up to:

1. Spinning!

a. What you are seeing is 2-ply of that batt I picked up when I spun on my very first wheel. It has been fussing at me for a while to become Clapotis, but I've been resisting since almost every other knitter on the face of the earth seems to have made one. We shall see who is stronger.

b. And now, a gratuitous wheel shot:

c. Notice that one of the bobbins has wool still on it, and one doesn't. What do I do??

d. Oh! Her name is Edina. Not pronounced like the city, though, thankyouverymuch. Not only does the meaning suit both her physical origins in Eastern Europe, but her coming to me, too. *sigh* I love her.

2. Canning!

a. Technically, this was done last Sunday, but since I was racing to beat the clock on my turn-in-assignment page, I didn't take pictures:

Pickles-to-be from our garden, and pickled garlic-to-be from the neighbor. Somewhere in my Library Thing is a book on small-batch preserving. I highly recommend this if your garden doesn't produce 15 pounds of cukes.

3. Knitting!

a. Pouch. I received some dyed Mermaid Hair from Dragon as part of my amazing birthday gift from that girl (more on that later). Included in the package was a little compact mirror, with a kitty face on the reverse. Sadly, it had no case to protect it from the wilds of my purse, so I present Mermaid Pouch:

Very basic: 60 st on size 2 (3 mm) needles, with a load of kitchener. The idea came from Dragon, herself, and was exactly the mindless knitting I needed this week.

b. I know why they call it an I(diot) cord. I think I lost IQ points every 3rd row.

c. Coming soon: Bunnies! (intarsia, I think, though I still delude myself that I can strand them.)

(Are you still here?! The good parts is next)

4. Presents! (in no particular order)

a. From Kelly:

Some Blue Faced Leicester hand dyed by the Gabby Knitter, herself, two super-cool tea balls with Jasmine flowers inside (I'm a geek. I will take pictures when I make them up.) The card has this website on the back, and don't think I won't try to figure out how to buy some of these.

b. From Knitter Bunny:

That's some lovely Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in the colorway "Black Purl" (harrrrr!) What's that pink thing up top, you ask?



A prosthetic. I love the Knitter Bunny for this (and so does Mr. CygKnit.) I'm taking it to work tomorrow.

That's all I can do today. More tomorrow.