Monday, June 29, 2009

Flirting with disaster

The universe seems to be throwing things at me lately. Item #1:

storm tree
The tree in our front yard was blown down in a wind storm a couple of weeks ago. I was actually home when it happened, and I didn't hear a thing. I didn't find out about it until the Professor came home later that evening and asked me when it had happened.

storm tree detail
The tree couldn't have fallen down more considerately. It didn't hurt anybody, and it didn't hit the house. Additionally, it stayed out of the street, our driveway, and our neighbors' yard. All in all, the tree showed admirable deportment. The irony is that we had already made arrangements to have it cut down when this happened. I suppose the tree wanted to go out on its own terms.

Item #2: This morning the universe threw me another curve ball. A small truck ran a red light and struck me while I was walking across the street between a parking lot and my office building. I'm fine—rather sore, slightly bruised, and more than a little freaked out, but otherwise I seem to be completely fine.
No one else was injured.

Anyway, now I'm wondering what's next in store for me. Lightning strike? Meteor hit? Locusts? Only time will tell.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Yardage recovered

Many thanks to those who commented on the last post and suggested—ever so nicely—that I need to get over myself and stop worrying about yardage. Point taken.

However, I seem to be back to my old ways.

fo swm ooak g/b swirl
Fiber: Fiber Optic superwash merino, OOAK colorway "Golds and Browns"
3 ply
462 yards
113 grams

asu sal5 swirl
Fiber: All Spun Up superwash merino top, May/June SAL colorway
3 ply
460 yards
113 grams

asu m gw swirl
Fiber: All Spun Up merino top
3 ply
580 yards
122 grams

aef fwb cb swirl
Fiber: The Arts at Eagle's Find fine wool blend top, "Cranberry Bog"
chain ply (Navajo ply)
416 yards
118 grams

Monday, June 01, 2009

Sucking yardage

It's no secret that I prefer to spin fine yarns, most often fingering weight. Normally I count on getting at least 400 yards out of 4 ounces of wool. Getting that kind of yardage is something I've come to take for granted. Well, I recently went through a period during which I couldn't hit 400 yards to save my life.

asu swm bogy swirl macro
Fiber: All Spun Up merino top
chain ply (Navajo ply)
340 yards
113 grams

sc swbfl carmen skein
Fiber: Sheepish Creations superwash BFL top, "Carmen"
3 ply
376 yards
123 grams

cmf swm gq swirls
Fiber: Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino, "Gypsy Queen"
3 ply
710 yards
226 grams

They're all good yarns, but really, where did my yardage go? I've thought of things I might be doing differently, blamed my wheel, etc. I still can't figure it out. My current theory is that the yardage was sucked into a parallel universe. It could happen.