Chasing Spindles 10 - Hitchin'-A-Ride To Hyrule Starts

Chasing Spindles Episode 10 - Hitchin'-A-Ride To Hyrule Starts

In this week's episode:

Monday:

On my way to catch my train, I saw something hanging from my gate. It was dark, so at first, if scared me. I saw it was a package!!! Got my fiber from "Sheep Of A Different Color!! Work was insane!! We had 3 code reds (which are fire). On the last code red, the alarm went off and so did the sprinklers in the dinning room. I don't like the procedures for fire at the place I work AT ALL. I don't feel they are very safe, and the scary thing is, the cooks there are not so great, so these fire codes happen quite a bit. I don't work for the facility, I work for certain patients IN the facility so I can say whatever I want and not worry too much about getting fired as long as I'm not being slanderous. As for parents' house, the day was pretty uneventful. I had brought some knitting and spinning to do, but didn't really feel like it. I ended up spending a good chunk of the evening just talking with my mom, which I don't really do often.

Tuesday:

Work started getting frustrating. All I'll say, is that when you're on a team, and some of the members don't do what they need to do to make the team cohesive, then everything falls apart.  After work, I ended up walking all over OC practically. I missed my bus, so I was early for the next bus, then saw the bus I needed pass as I realized I was on the wrong side all along!! UGH. The best part of my day was my little brother picking me up in his tiny little people car (by little I mean stick figure skinny person) and blasting Deadmou5 on the way home. That night I hogged out at Del-Taco. WOW ME!! WTHAYT (What the hell are you thinking)!! If you're gonna hog-out, there are much better tasting places to do so, than Del-freakin'-Taco!!!

Wednesday: 

Caught my train home, where I spun for like 10 minutes and tried to drown out the sound of this girl talking about her shallow self and how she broke this guys heart because he was a loser and she never really wanted to date him. UGH SHUT UP!! Is it wrong that I giggled when she went to get off the train (all cute walkin' in front of the guy she was chatting with and CLEARLY into) and the train lurched sending her plummeting down the 2 steps? Yes, but my super-ego needed her ego to be slightly deflated. It reminded me of when Goofy would fall down the steps in those old Disney cartoons. I really am sorry, because I'm a nice person and all, but I laughed. When I got home, I recorded the blurb about the CAL, and designed the graphic for the CAL. How do you like it? Let me know your thoughts below.

Thursday:

Worked on CAL stuff. On Tuesday I spent most of the day working on the CAL. All of the rules, guidelines, announcements, etc. Were posted on the blog as well as the YouTube channel. Not only that but I updated some stuff in the Ravelry group as well. After finishing all of this, I realized that all of the links for some reason, were broken. That means I had to go into each and every post and fix all of the links. So if any of the links are not working still, please let me know. The whole time I was doing this, I was hearing a strange sound. that sound was my dog. Apparently, her stomach was not feeling so well. I guess I will have to watch her for the next couple of days and make sure she is healthy. I usually wait about three days, if she does not get better in that time I will take her to the vet. That afternoon, I went to my landlady's house for tea. We often have times like this, they used to happen a lot more before my job got so far away. It was very nice talking to her as it always is. I spent the rest of the afternoon, evaluating about every single snack on graze.com.

Weekend:

The last part of my week has been mostly seeing that no body is really interested in the things I am doing as far as the crafting community is concerned. It is kind of disconcerting when beginning a new venture and finding it going so slowly. For now, my passion is what keeps me into what I do so for now, I will continue. If I'm completely honest, I think that's one of the reasons this episode was so short. Well, let's see how this CAL does…

Hitchin'-A-Ride to HYRULE!!

***Guidelines***

Starts: Feb. 1st
Ends: April-1st

Patterns:
KNITTERS: Josh's Link Hat & Triforce Scarf
Designed by: DIYOD
Cost: FREE
Knitters your pattern is here

CROCHETERS: Hitchin'-A-Ride
Designed by: Sharon, Cheek
Cost: FREE
Crocheters your pattern is here
Colors: Green and Yellow are OPTIONAL

SPINNERS: Your Guidelines are:
 MUST use Zelda colors: YELLOW AND/OR GREEN

Prizes Announced Feb. 1st on BOTH podcasts
Winners Announced on BOTH podcasts

***Rules***
1. Double & triple dipping ARE allowed.
2. You can post in BOTH groups.
3. You can only win ONCE.
4. MUST be a member of the group(s) you post in to WIN!!

Chasing Spindles - Hitchin' A Ride To Hyrule is HERE!!

Hitchin' A Ride To Hyrule is HERE!!!!

***Guidelines***

Starts: Feb. 1st

Ends: April-1st

Patterns:

KNITTERS: Josh's Link Hat & Triforce Scarf

Designed by: DIYOD

Cost: FREE

Knitters your pattern is here

CROCHETERS: Hitchin'-A-Ride

Designed by: Sharon, Cheek

Cost: FREE

Crocheters your pattern is here

Colors: Green and Yellow are OPTIONAL

SPINNERS: Your Guidelines are:

 MUST use Zelda colors: YELLOW AND/OR GREEN

Prizes Announced Feb. 1st on BOTH podcasts

Winners Announced on BOTH podcasts

***Rules***

1. Double & triple dipping ARE allowed.

2. You can post in BOTH groups.

3. You can only win ONCE.

4. MUST be a member of the group(s) you post in to WIN!!

Chasing Spindles 9 - 9 and 3/4

Chasing Spindles Episode 9 - 9 and 3/4

In this Episode:

Show notes will follow soon!!

For now what you need to know is:

***Guidelines***

Starts: Feb. 1st
Ends: April-1st

Patterns:
KNITTERS: Josh's Link Hat & Triforce Scarf
Designed by: DIYOD
Cost: FREE
Knitters your pattern is here

CROCHETERS: Hitchin'-A-Ride
Designed by: Sharon, Cheek
Cost: FREE
Crocheters your pattern is here
Colors: Green and Yellow are OPTIONAL

SPINNERS: Your Guidelines are:
 MUST use Zelda colors: YELLOW AND/OR GREEN

Prizes Announced Feb. 1st on BOTH podcasts
Winners Announced on BOTH podcasts

***Rules***
1. Double & triple dipping ARE allowed.
2. You can post in BOTH groups.
3. You can only win ONCE.
4. MUST be a member of the group(s) you post in to WIN!!

Musings By A Pixy

I recently told my friend that I'm having the best time spinning these days. At first, I couldn't understand why I have become so enamored with it again, but then I read a blog that sort of put things into perspective. The blogger talked about how when you spin, your communicating to the ancient worlds. I have always had a great respect for the tremendous time and effort people had to put forth just to have the smallest piece of material. However, I think it's more than that. Like the blogger said, when I'm spinning I can be anywhere at any time.  Spinning really does take me out of my mind to another place. I recently started looking at spinningwheels, but then I begin to wonder, if I get a wheel well I still have the same connection with spinning? The patience and time that it takes to form a single continuous strand of fiber connects you to your art. Is it the same for wheel spinners? Either way, I think when I do get a wheel, I will try for something sort of rustic. I don't think I will ever stop using a spindle however. I would be very interested to hear thoughts from other people on this particular subject. I sort of equivocate this topic with vinyl turntables versus the new style CD-J turntables or digital turntables of today. As a DJ, I will remain true to my vinyl roots, but who knows? I may make room for a new setup soon which is a little more up-to-date. I will however, never use a laptop. Not for "real mixes" anyway. :)

Chasing Spindles 8 - All Caught Up

Chasing Spindles Episode 8 - All Caught Up!!



In this week's episode:

Babely: 

Sunday - 

Said I wasn’t going to make any New Year’s resolutions, and I mean that, but I did go shopping and I did re-enter the world of healthy eating again. The crappy thing about spending so much time away from home is that I am kind of forced to either buy two sets of groceries (one to leave home and the other to take with me to my parents’ house) or eat as my family do. So, what I did was buy healthy food that is portable. Not only did I do that, but (as I think I may have mentioned earlier) I signed up for Graze. Graze (for those of you who may not know) is a service that sends you a box of healthy snacks every 2 weeks. I figured that if I could afford Netflix, I could afford to do something healthy for myself. So Sunday was the day to get my eating back in order.

Monday - 

So I packed a healthy lunch for myself and went to catch my train. So as I’m sitting on the train minding my own business, this lady comes and sits at my table with me. She proceeds to apply her make-up and her friend joins her soon after. The whole ride was so uncomfortable and awkward. At one point, I believe the two of them started texting crap about me because in my catty experience, the only reason you text someone next to you is to talk crap about the other person in your vicinity, right? So that was just odd. Later that night, I realized I forgot to bring a spinning project!! SO not happy.

Tuesday -

I casted on a new project. If you’ll remember, I had said I wanted to make a gray hat following the pattern I had done for the Zebra cowl. Well since I don’t have any LYS’s in my area, I went to Michael’s and picked some up. 

I started suffering from fiber withdraw. That would have made the cold gloomy evening go buy much faster. My parents’ heater is broken and it is REALLY cold where I sleep, so my mom tried her hardest to keep the oven on and warm the house. So instead of spinning, I sat by the oven and kept warm. 

Wednesday - 

Went home and was informed that I received a package in the mail, so there will be some Stashy Stashy later in the show.

Thursday - 

Today I woke up on the (mentally)adventurous side of the bed and started thinking about how I could began the process of casting on a pair of socks in the near future. DPNs scare me and I can’t do magic loop, so this project is very daunting. I can tell this subject will be continued in my brain for days to come.

Friday - 

Worked on the blog and youtube channel to try and make it look nicer for those of you who read it.

Saturday - 

Nothing but spinning and knitting…Mostly spinning. So, let's get on with the show!!

WIP-its:

1. Freeform Hat

I started a hat very loosely based on the Northern Autumn Hat

Lion's Brand Woolease thick and quick

Size 8 Boye needles

is turning out more freeform than anything else.

Whorlwind:

1. Rolags:

Name: Sleeping Beauty #1 

From: Fairytale Spun

Blend: Jacob, Faux Cashmere, Firestar, Heritage Locks, Wool Blend

Spun on: Pixy (my little blue top whorl spindle)

2. Kaleidoscope Batt

Name: set #13

From: Unwind Yarn Co.

Blend: Not specified 

Spun on: Ancient #1 (top whorl spindle)

Stashy Stashy!

1. Drop Spindle Kit

Lightweight blue spindle

From: The Yarn Marm

Outro:

You know how I do :)

Chasing Spindles 7 - SAS Short And Sweet

Chasing Spindles 7 - SAS Short And Sweet

In this week's episode:

This is actually last week's episode. I was going to addendum it on to episode 6, but it ended up being long enough to be it's episode. I have some finished spinning, and another FO to show you. Not many notes for this show because it is so short. However, I promise next week's show will go back to the nicer format. :)

Chasing Spindles 6 - Spinning Christmas

Chasing Spindles episode 6 - Spinning Christmas

In this week's episode:

Babbley:

So today’s show was almost called Idohwanna because I haven’t felt like doing ANYTHING this week. I don’t know why. I could lie and say the holidays made me lazy, but the truth is, I’m just in a blah mood. I haven’t wanted to spin or knit this week, but the show, as well as other podcasters keep my inspiration up. That is the only reason I am here with progress to show you. This week was easy as far as work goes. Very uneventful. I left for my parent’s house on Monday. 

Monday - While I was waiting for the train, there was this guy there hacking and coughing away. I was trying to stay clear of him so I moved, then he moved. So then I went to stand behind a planter to be away from him until my train came. I can not afford to get sick, because if I am sick I can not go to work and I can’t not go to work. Anyway, I find I love to sit at the top of the train. I really love the view from up there. I’ll try to show you a photo next week if I can, because I couldn’t get a good one this week. Anyway, I walked to the midway car and up the stairs to the top of the train, get settled to knit and watch my fellow podcasters when guess who walks into my car!! None other than hackycough man. Ugh! So I put up my scarf around my face and pray to the gods I don’t get his cold. I’m not a germaphobe, but I DO NOT want to get sick. I cannot miss work right now. So I get to the station and run to my bus which I made on time YAY! from there I went to work and it was a pretty easy day. Got to my parents’ house and…EVERYONE is sick! I can’t win! Thus far I don’t feel sick, but so help me if I do get sick…
Tuesday -  work was easy, because it was Christmas eve. A lot of the residents told me they had plans with their families which is always great to hear because so many residents at the last place I was at just kind of got dumped there by their families. So christmas eve and especially Christmas day were EASY. At my parents’ house I think all I did was sleep. I did do some knitting, and spinning, but spinning was kicking my ass! Even though I’m not a beginner anymore, I still get into funks where I can’t join and I have too much twist in my single and I got discouraged and gave up for the nigh. After we opened gifts on Christmas eve and everyone went to bed, I asked sillyfru who some of her favorite dealers were and she recommended Unwind Yarns Co. (craftygirl83) and GnomeAchers as well. Craftygirl83 told me via instagram she was having a sail so I went to her site and hella scored!!
Wednesday - Opened presents with my little brother, went to work and then I came home. I  picked up my spinning again to much better avail. I think I even had the desire to go back and spin the naked fiber too! That night I was kickin’ around Etsy and found Fairytale spun fibers and had me some fun!! :)
Thursday - It was tech day. I updated to the new IOS 7 on my iPhone 4 (but not my 4s as it’s jailbroken and I NEED this one to keep working on the current jailbreak). That night I decided to do some more spinning and was having problems with the yarn falling off the cop of my spindle as it is so full. I found this video on youtube by expertlydyed which shows this awesome trick. I’ll post a link to the video in Whorlwind.

Whorlwind:
There is progress on the naked fiber, but I don’t have it to show you as you’ve seen it before. Many many times at that. :)

Sunset is almost done, but as I said earlier, I was having some issues. For example, my cop is too full. The yarn near the hook keeps coming untwisted and getting all clustered. I was searching on youtube, and THIS VIDEO helped me out a lot! 

WIP-its
working on the new Zebra cowl for my friend’s Yule gift. Progress is soooo slow!! but I am doing fine! I am not following any pattern. Basically is 3 rows of 2x2 rib, 4 or 5 stockinette and back to ribbing. It’s great practice. This pattern is making me feel like I’m running in place however. I hate that I knit so slowly sometimes.

Cued Up:
Thank you to those of you who are being active in the boards!!! I’ll give it one more week before we do the KAL. 
Snuggles:
If you are doing Snuggles, please consider donating them to AFV of southern California. If you’d like more info PM me on Rav. or Plurk. 
Thanks!!

Outro!:
All the places you can find me.

Fiber Frenzy Addendum:

After I finished the show, I was told I had boxes waiting for me. Thus, I get new stash and YOU get a Fiber Frenzy Addendum!!

1. Fairytale Spun

These are multi-blended rollags of amazingness!!! These are my first rollags and OMG I can’t wait to spin them!!!
My mouth literally watered at seeing these!! Here are the blends, colorways, and best of all photos!!

Crayon Box: Merino, Angora, Faux Angora, Firestar, Cormo, Mohair Curls, Llama, Farm Wool

School Colors: Clun Forest, Merino, Llama, Teeswater, Standard & Farm Wool, Jacob, Romney  

Sleeping Beauty 1: Jacob, Faux Cashmere, Heritage Locks, Firestar, Wool Blend

Sleeping Beauty 2: Teeswater, Merino, Alpaca, Firestar

Unwind Yarn Co.
I scored 2 kaleidoscope bats!! I am loving these colors!!! These too are blended. Each bat contains 6 bumps of fiber. 

Set 11:

Set 13:

Such lovely fiber I can’t wait to spin them all!!!