Well, I've been a blogging slacker. I *sniff* returned my wheel! And I have gone for two WHOLE days without spinning. We went to Maine last weekend, and I didn't bring my wheel on that trip either. So it has been a strangely spin-less week around here. I did take the kids to Webs on the way home from work Tuesday (BTW, the renovation looks fabulous) to return the wheel, and I told them I was going to try to buy another wheel when we were there. They said they wanted spinning wheels too. Eleanor, surprisingly enough, would like a PINK spinning wheel (or "pinning wheel" as she says), and Henry, not to be outdone in the gender conformity department, has requested a blue spinning wheel. So, I've got the order in now. I'm going to Webs tonight for the knitting drop-in, and Barbara, the owner, says she'll have a Lendrum set up for me to try. If I like it, I'll buy it. If not, I have another scheme up my sleeve to get a Louet, but it will take a while, probably so long that I won't be able to spin anything for the Big E.


There has been a bit of a discussion about entering spinning in fairs on the Spin List, and I mentioned the Big E, thereby garnering lots of competition for myself, LOL. I may end up delivering and/or picking up skeins for some of that competition, grin. The nice thing is that they have a beginner's class for spinning, so that makes me more inclined to try it out. I have mixed feelings about entering my spinning for competition. It sounds like fun, and it would be a treat if I won a ribbon, and the feedback might be useful from an instructional perspective, but I'm not sure that's how I want to see my spinning. I'm not sure the technical side, particularly in the finished product (as opposed to learning techniques that might make it easier to work creatively), is what I'm after. I'm not sure that anyone else's opinions about my yarn matter--it's whether *I* like the yarn and whether *I* am inspired by it. Of course, if I ever get to a point where I want to sell my handspun yarn, but honestly I don't see that being any kind of big business for me.


I'm also thinking of doing the Spinning Bee, which seems like a lot of fun, but I'm worried that it will be only experienced folks who are "speed spinners" and it will be embarrassing to be a newbie doing it. OTOH, I think the kids would get a big kick out of watching me participate, and it would be fun as long as it's a mellow, fun kind of thing. Well, in the meantime, I need to actually get my hands on a wheel, or I won't have anything to show!


As for knitting, I'm finishing up a sweater from an old issue of Interweave Knits. I lost the magazine, and I wasn't even sure how the neck should look. Luckily, I was saved by my buddies on GLB-Knit and Spin-List and I now have copies of the pattern (which, I think, should be legal since I did pay for the pattern in the first place). Turns out it's a 2x2-rib mock turtleneck. I am glad I used the yarn I did--a 50-50 alpaca/wool (I'm pretty sure--also no labels to be found!), which is very soft. The original pattern is for a mohair blend, but I think that might not be so nice next to your neck all day. Anyway, I'm really excited about it. Too bad it's hot as blazes outside! :)


Work is really heating up these days. I've got a bunch of tight deadlines, so perhaps less time for blogging in the next few weeks. But I'll try to take pictures of anything I knit in the wee hours!