Where the Hell Did My Weekend Go?

It's a blur.

On Saturday, I had breakfast with a friend from knitting camp who was in town. Then I worked all day, including teaching a Learn to Knit class (very nice students, fun class). Then I had to rush straight home because Wes was gone all day escorting a visiting filmmaker around town. Wes had talked one of his co-workers into babysitting the boys for six hours. When I got home I found my 7 year old and the babysitter slumped on the sofa playing Gamecube (the babysitter's) with my five year old hopping up and down like an over-caffeinated monkey. Wes had ordered pizza for them too. I told my son that if he had spent six hours doing nothing but play videogames and eating pizza than he was ready for college. He grunted.

I spent the rest of the evening at home spinning the silk/merino blend. I should point out that the photo I posted may be a bit misleading. I am using my jumbo flyer so the yarn is pictured on a jumbo bobbin. This makes it look like I'm spinning much finer yarn than I really am. The yarn I'm spinning will be a thin fingering weight when plied, I hope.

Today we had a screening for Sneak and no babysitter. Our regular Sunday babysitter had the nerve to graduate from high school and go to college. So the boys came with us. They kept our guests pretty well entertained by doing things like announcing they had to use the potty at the top of their lungs. Once the screening was underway I brought the boys home. I was spinning at my wheel when my 7 year old came in and started asking a lot of questions about spinning. Then he said, "Can I try it?" I looked at the silk/merino in my hands and the yarn on the bobbin. I cringed. Then my drop spindle caught my eye. I leapt up and grabbed some coarse wool a friend had given to me. I started to show my son how the spindle works. After about six seconds he got bored and wandered away.

This lead to a major spinning revelation on my part. Lately I keep reading* things about holding the fiber in your non-dominant hand while drafting with your dominant hand. I had been doing the opposite and felt that it would be very awkward to switch. When I was getting ready to use the drop spindle I took my roving and wrapped it around my left hand and tucked the end under my watch band like I was first taught. It took me a moment to realize that I had been taught to draft with my dominant hand but somewhere in my self-taughtness switched. So I spent the rest of the day spinning the silk/merino the other way with no trouble at all.

So I was spinning all day. Expect for a quick trip to the mall to get an armband for my iPod nano and some groceries. I also brought dinner to my friend who just had a baby. The new baby got her hat and even tried it on for me (I failed to photograph the hat or the child). And then 9 pm rolled around and I wanted to watch "Desperate Housewives." Why, I don't know, because the show is just not that good. But my Replay TV records "Law & Order: CI" at that time slot and if I want to see the housewives I need to remember to go upstairs and turn on the TV at 9. How old fashioned. Usually I bring my knitting. But that spindle with the coarse wool was sitting there where my son and I had left it. I brought it with me instead and spun on it for an hour. Now I have to remember how to Andean ply.


*My boss was given several years of old Spin Off magazines. I've been borrowing them.