Sickness, socks, and spinning

For the first time in quite a while, I was too sick to knit. Nasty GI bug finally got me. It got many of the children I work with, but we had a week with no more incidents and I got too confident. Sunday night was the great karmic smackdown! The bad news is I was in bed for as almost twenty-four hours (haven't done that since my month of bed rest when I was pregnant with twins). Normally, even when I'm sick, I don't stay down. This time, I couldn't sit up. The good news, I feel much better and what ever bulk I'd added due to Holiday Treats... is gone.

I've tried to make up for lost knitting and spinning time. I'm on the home stretch of my second "smitten" sock! Still enjoying it, although I'm annoyed that I clearly went off "random" somewhere and spun waaay too much red/pink on one bobbin for a while.



Right now, I'm spinning some more chaos with a slightly more controlled environment. I have two ounces of seven or eight different rovings and batts. I haven't done any dying for myself in over a year and this little bit of fun has inspired me to do it again. Now that I've seen all those lovely random pairings, I'm ready to make some on purpose. A whole skein even.

Eowyn is still intrigued by Cocoa. Part of her interest seems like natural dog curiosity, the other part seems more, um, predatory. As a dog, Eowyn has quick, powerful movements and I would rather be cautious with her around Cocoa than sorry. When I was young, we had an Irish Setter (Ginger) and a guinea pig and this dog was terribly confused by the pig and thought it was her baby (same color).
Ginger would lick it (all the while the guinea pig was squeaking indignantly) and push it up under her with her nose to try and get it to nurse. There are cases where dogs and small animals can be friendly. I just don't think Eowyn is like that. See how "curious" Eowyn is?



And she seems to know she needs to feel guilty about it. Look at how she hides her eyes!



Eowyn is just as stubborn as every other living thing in this house. Tonight Chicky said, "I let her sniff Cocoa and Cocoa licked her nose!" Cocoa does lick Chicky (which is weird, I've known at least twenty guinea pigs in my life and none of them licked people!) but licking a dog is another thing. And an Unsafe Practice at the very least. The boys and I have stressed to Chicky the need for caution with both of them in a small space. We'll see how it goes.

Fiber-luscious weekend

I have been up to my elbows in fiber this weekend. Almost no knitting and all spinning. I managed to finish spinning and plying my scrap bag from funky carolina.



They came out to about 634 yards, 17-18 WPI, and a little over eight ounces. I wish I had kept a better eye on Chicky - she took a lot of the lovely darker blue-green scraps. I love the random spinning and plying.



And a better picture of funky carolina's superwash merino "remand" colorway. This came out to 243 yards and 15 WPI after plying.



I found this picture of the kids when we were at the Outerbanks a few years ago. I wanted to make a card out of it or something, but never got around to it. It's still one of my favorites.



Chicky is in the middle of a tea party with all of her stuffed animals and Cocoa. The animals are all very well behaved and sitting quite proper on the edges of the blanket. Cocoa has a very special "chair"



I'll giver her credit, she is a very mellow guinea pig (other than her short track racing in the middle of the night). Sure, she's nocturnal, but when Chicky's around that pig has no rest during the day and she takes it well.

Wee sweaters & Cocoa

To start, here are the wee sweaters I've made so far. Morgan pointed out that these do not need to be limited to Christmas at all. The use of "regular" sock yarn makes them appropriate year round. Thank you, my son.







Today, the children and I went to see The Golden Compass and enjoyed ourselves. I love the books and was happy with the screen adaptation - Lyra had some lovely knitwear, I must say. Hey, could I just knit for movies? If that's a job, sign me right the fuck up, please. We also had a theological discussion on the way home (about the movie, not the knitwear). I had debated whether or not to read the books aloud to the children for that very reason. I thought that the scope was too big, and purposefully not giving them any particular religious instruction would have been a hindrance in this case. Don't ask me why the movie was ok when I wouldn't read the book. I've changed my mind, that's why. Now, happily, they have decided it's next on the list of Books Mom Reads Aloud. Yea!

After much wheedling and pleading we have new guinea pig. We have had many guinea pigs in our lives over the past decade. Chicky is a small animal whisperer. Really, they love her. She asked for a new pig, had enough money saved, and has promised to clean it's cage and feed it (when she is here). I have the pleasure of introducing you to the sweetest cavy this side of the Mississippi, the lovely Cocoa.



Her right side



And her left



Guinea pig love is here.