Not Much Going On

It's the first day of Spring Break, and I've enjoyed having DD home on a weekday. Well, it's not really break yet--kids were off school today for parent-teacher conferences, but it might as well be the first day of spring break for us. I'm not sure what we're going to do all next week, but I'm sure the time will fly by.

I've been spinning up that blue hand-dyed roving I got from Barbara, who it turns out lives close to my Mom and knows her. I'm going for lace weight, although I think it's going to be closer to fingering. I think it's underspun in spots for how thin it is, as sometimes it pulls apart when I pull it from the bobbin. Could be really interesting to ply it.


The color is just luscious! I'm going to have to play with a lot more dyed roving, I can tell.

I've got a little bit of unexpected "mad money" (as my husband calls it--for hobbies and such) and I'm having a terrible time deciding what to buy.

Here are my choices:

1. A book I'm coveting, Knitting in the Old Way by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts & Deborah Robson. I keep checking it out from the library, again and again. It's about time I got my own copy. Of course I haven't knitted anything using it, I just read it over and over again.



2. 
   Then there's this corriedale fiber.
   
   Two pounds of it, I'm thinking. I'd love to spin enough yarn to make a sweater for me, but that's probably a bit ambitious at this point. Still, I'm down to just 8 oz of fiber after I finish the blue hand-dyed roving. If I go for sport-weight or heavier, that'll last about a day. Of course I could actually use the yarn I'm making instead of making more. Nah! I'm having so much fun spinning!



3. 
   And here's something that's been tempting me for a long time, and is actually one of the big reasons I wanted to learn to spin in the first place:
   
   That's also from Copper Moose, one pound for $27.50 (with shipping). It's from Ashland Bay and I love that stuff. Not that I've ever spun it myself, mind you--I've just admired it from afar. I do wonder if I should wait, though, until my spinning is at a higher level. I think I'm doing pretty well for having gotten my wheel in late January, but I'm not sure my spinning talents are worthy of this yet. Would I be mad at myself later for spinning this up at my current skill level?

So there you have it. I just can't decide!

In other knitting news, I'm about 2/3 of the way finished with Greg's sleeves, and I have to finish the other half of the placket. I'm so close to finishing! I might actually manage to get it done in time for him to wear it for a day or two before the weather gets really warm. Dang, I've probably just cursed myself.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through the Diamond Madeira chart on my Shetland Tea Shawl, and I think I'm getting a handle on those funky yo-decrease combinations. We'll see.... I'm going to repeat the first half of that chart again to make that section a little longer, so I'll go through that tree-ish section three times total. Lots of opportunity to mess it up get it right.

My Hanging Garden Stole and Rose of England have been languishing in their project bags, woefully untouched. I'm not feeling too guilty though, since I'm so close to finishing Greg's sweater.

Thanks to all who helped me identify my mystery "weed," which consensus says is Henbit. It grows so fast, the lawn looks really unkempt, and I'm sure my neighbors don't like it. I was looking around the culdesac this afternoon and ours is the only lawn with weeds like that. Ack! Even the sadly neglected house next door has a weed-free (but totally overgrown) lawn. I see a weekend of yardwork in my very near future.

I'm going to go sit and spin (ha ha!) for a few minutes while the house is quiet, then I'm going to bed. Have a great weekend, everyone, and Happy St. Patrick's Day.