I Should Be Overcommited

I like to say yes to things.  Me please pops out of my mouth way too easily.  I am a joiner.  As of late I have committed to so many things that I should be committed - overcommited.

I have been signing up for test knits like a lunatic.  I have been promising handspun yarn to virtual strangers.  I still owe someone a knitted lace scarf.  Then... this:

A sample knit for Louet North America.  It's a nice shawl.  Now, for no other reason than I seem to commit at the worst possible times, I need to (get to?) knit it.  I do get to keep that lovely smokey grey GEMS you see in the photo as compensation though!

After I make it through this round of commitments I am committing to the commitments that count:
- Knitting for me.
- Spinning for me.
- And yes, NewFangledDad I will finish your sweater.  Finally.

One in a Thousand

My knitting and spinning time slips through my fingers like water.  Because of this:

The second I sit down to enjoy a fibery pursuit (or eat my dinner) a tiny person wants something, needs something or hits someone.  Every once in a while I want to flee far and fast.  Occasionally I find this - one photo out of nearly a thousand that The Tiny Dictator took with my iPad.  There were lots of ceiling shots, blank wall photos and solid black box after solid black box because she had the iPad laying on the sofa while pushing the button over and over and over.  But amongst those 997 shots of nothing was this gem.

I. Would. Really. Like. To. Knit.  Please go away.  But I can't say it.  Because these days are one in a thousand and they will be over before I realize I should miss them.

Holy Fricke!

It is nearly a year since Yarn School.

Nearly a year that I have been using my Fricke Enterprises S-160-Double Treadle spinning wheel.  I luuurve it.  No really, I do.  Compared to many other spinning wheels the Fricke is a hardcore bargain.  Inexpensive as it may be (relatively speaking) it was still a huge investment for me.  As the single income amongst a four person family the manner in which money is spent counts a lot.  Did I need a spinning wheel?  No.  Did I want a spinning wheel.  Yeeeees. 

NewFangledDad and I have been talking a lot lately about making intentional life choices.  Spinning is a quiet focused pastime involving fiber (OMG, I LOVE ALL THE FIBER).  Doing artistic things pleases me immensely and makes me less likely to ship the children away to the first willing buyer or smother NewFangledDad in his sleep.  My spinning wheel is an intentional life choice to avoid prison.

I have recently been thinking about acquiring a second spinning wheel.  Something for travel.  Something small and portable.  My love for Bernice (oh yes, I named her) has not diminished in the slightest - but now I want more.  Others.  Additional.  I'll fight the good fight and hold out as long as I can.  But spinning wheels make this: