UGH!

I can't do it all...I was spinning some roving I dyed and I want to spin four spindle cops full so I can cable them...I am knitting a shrug in Inca Alpaca that is sooooo soft....Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman arrived today...I still need to clean the kitchen after I scarfed one and a half calzones...Which one should I do? Hey, maybe that's why people had children years ago. I used to wonder how women had time to knit, create the Leaning Tower of Pisa out of macaroni with the kids, weed the garden, do the canning, the laundry, the cleaning, and cook "real" meals three times a day - child labor! Maybe I could train my children to cook, clean, and do the laundry and then I could spend all my "free" time persuing my favorite things. Huh. I don't think it would work. Chicky is pretty good at the dishes, but I'm sure the laundry wouldn't be sorted before it was washed, and I can't imagine the folding. The kids used to vacuum their own rooms, but I found the boys in their room checking the weight and size limit of the sucking power of my late 1970's model Electrolux and thought maybe that responsibility should wait for later - mostly because the vacuum needs to last another couple of decades.

I suck at prioritizing. I suck because mostly I prioritize so I know which items on the agenda I can procrasinate (and I'm always looking for a good excuse). That is all fine when it comes to housework, but totally blows when it comes to literary, fiber-y, and musical pursuits.

Reading progress

I haven't written about reading for a while now. I am still reading, I am also knitting and spinning which is taking giant chunks out of the reading time. I read before bed every night, but I often fall asleep and wake up with the book over my face.

Right now I'm reading Caliban's Shore by Stephen Taylor. This is an account of the wreck of the Grosvenor off the coast of South Africa in 1782. I must confess I've been plodding away at this book at a very slow pace for me. Much of the beginning of the book is an introduction of almost everyone on the ship and why they are going on the journey, and even part of their personal history before the voyage. It's interesting, but I want to know about the shipwreck, please. The kicker in this account is that it takes place before the whole "women and children first" deal. Guess who gets left on the shore by the captain (who sucked at commanding and navigating, by the way)? Yep, the women and children. The parts after the wreck happen are much more fascinating. These people made many bad choices once they reached shore and most of them didn't survive their mistakes.

Next in the book pile are Freakenomics, The Secret Life of a Knitter, and a couple science fiction books. I'd better get a move on because Neil Gaiman's new book, Anansi Boys is on it's way soon. Damn. So many books, so many knitting projects, so much fiber to spin, so many soccer games, and I have to make some money to support my habits, too.

The Man, the pictures

Here is my best picture of Steve (& Allison). I was not courageous enough to get "right up there" with a camera, and it's rather fuzzy, but you can get the idea.



A promised picture of the yarn that started out a fleece. I flicked, spun from the lock, dyed with Kool-aid and plied. I don't really like the texture of the fleece with Kool-aid - it feels like poorly permed hair to me.



This is BFL roving that has been dyed with Country Classics. I did several yard long pieces with different cold pour techniques just to see how they looked, and then did a longer piece in plain purple and plied them together.



As you can see, I've been rather camera-challenged these days. I must be mashing the button so hard I move the camera. Damn.

Long time, no post

I have been incredibly slack about posting and I even have some pictures to put up, but not today. Steve Earle at the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh was great. His songs sound just as good when he's alone on an acoustic guitar as they do with a bluegrass or rock band behind him. I would love to see him with The Bluegrass Dukes, but he doesn't seem to come this far east with them.

Aside from being distracted by current events: hurricane Katrina, Iraq, and two vacant seats in the Supreme Court, my life is very blessed and calm. One.org has a list of organizations that are taking donations for Katrina (including Heifer International and Oxfam America).

This past weekend has been full of spinning, a little dyeing, and some guitar and mandolin practice. Friday night the children and I went with our lovely friend, Becca, to see the Paperhand Puppet Intrevention at UNC. The children were mesmerized. I am not really a fan of puppets, but these were amazing and gorgeous. Check them out at paperhand.org .

Tomorrow, pictures.