Indiana Jones and the Maker of the Wool Yarns

I went on a date today. Ok, ok, so I took myself out. Big Man is out of town, and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Yes, it was predictable. Yes, it was cheesy. Yes, I loved it. I'm one who gets easily lost in movies, and I laughed, cried, got excited, got scared, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Karen Allen is adorable, I love Harrison Ford, and I'm developing a deep abiding crush on Shia LaBoeuf (hooray Transformers sequel). Oh, and Cate Blanchett does crazy woman perfectly. She's seriously freaky. I am disappointed I can't watch it again right now, and I think I'll take Big Man to see it when he comes home. OH! AND, the Janitor is in it! (Go watch Scrubs)

The only bits I didn't like ****SPOILERS**** were Mutt's ridiculous monkey scene (though it was a nice reach back to Marion calling the monkey their baby in Raiders) and the bit at the end where Indy says *twice* that knowledge was their treasure--I get it, Dad, I have to go back to school (insert eye roll). Also, and not that I disliked this, but there were some bits that were very much like The Mummy movies (Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz). I've always felt they drew heavily from Indy, but the bits with the city spiraling away as well as some of the other action bits felt like Stephen Sommers did them.
****SPOILERS OVER****



I inadvertently prepared for my "date" by watching Indy as I spun today (on an unrelated note, spun always seems wrong for the past tense of spinning yarn. I desperately want to say span). I always like to watch series of things or related movies as I do fibery activities.


This was spun while watching the Last Crusade, and plied during Raiders. The wool was dyed by the fabulous Ginny of Fat Cat Knits, and I added in some gorgeous copper flash angelina. Note that this is a small skein of leftover yarn that wouldn't fit on the bobbin. I'm thinking of calling it Arabian Nights, but I'm not sure.



These weren't spun today, but are leftovers from other yarns. I'm going to start offering baby skeins in my shop so that people can get a taste of my work before committing to a whole skein. These are also all FatCatKnits colorways (I love Ginny :) ).

click to see the details up close!

The single for this was spun *ages* ago (perhaps April? maybe March), and when singles sit for too long, they tend to lose their sproinginess (technical term). During almost two viewings of Raiders (yes, I was too laz...involved to get up and change the disc) I added some twist back in, and then decided it wanted to be a coiled yarn. There still wasn't enough sproing for proper coils, so it turned into one of the coolest yarns I've spun, in my humble opinion. I just went a little crazy, and anchored it every few inches.
What this photo doesn't show are the wonderful purples and greens throughout the skein (another FatCatKnits colorway!) and the gold violet angelina added in gobs. Wait till you see the "real" photos in the shop! I don't know if I'll be able to part with this one, and I think I'll need to spin up some more singles to try to do more of this style of yarn.

Remember your first?

Your first handmade purchase, I mean! I don't remember my very first, but I do recall the first time I had to explain to the Big Man why I was buying several skeins of handspun yarn at once, with no project in mind:

me: But honey, they're one of a kind!
him, skeptically: ok....
me: Really, they're functional works of art! I mean, there will never be another yarn just like this one. And look at the colors! They're gorgeous! If I don't buy them now, someone else will, and I will regret it.
him, sensing a losing battle: ok....

I think I chose wisely, don't you? These lovelies are from Handspun And Dyed Too, who makes a mean fluffy single, and has now added art yarns to her repertoire. Check her out--she's responsible for my addiction to handspun and dyed yarns!
Besides, almost all these yarns have new homes now in the form of pocket scarves (just the pink/orange/purple darling needs a loving owner). The brown and blue one even lives in Australia!

What was your first? Did it speak to you? Or was it just pretty? Why do you like buying handmade?

Voyeurism...

I think one of the things I like best about reading blogs is the way you're able to peek into the author's life. I think it's human nature to want to know about the "hidden" bits of other people's lives, even if it's just what they had for breakfast or what their sheets look like.

Here's a random peek into my life: the suncatcher hanging at my front porch, crafted by the talented Jenifer Eadington




My dad's squishy, floppy, ridiculously sweet and lovable cat George (named for George of the Jungle--he's not too bright)



The big man and I (I'm standing on a step here)



Possibly my favorite yarn that I've spun--roving handdyed by the talented Krista McCurdy of Pigeonroof Studios

Welcome to the world of tomorrow!

Well, I've finally got a blog. There are often times when I think I'd like to write something down, or tell family or friends or customers. Now I can.

I reckon this will be a spot for random thoughts, announcements about the shop or new products, sharing the adorableness of the little grey cat....well, anything really. Thanks for stopping by!