Busy Busy Busy

Time is flying by and there's so much to be done. I feel like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Went to the Torrance Fiber Festival yesterday with some pals from my local knitting group and spinning group. There is some overlap. We had a great time, started with breakfast, drove to Torrance, shopped and had a late lunch. I didn't buy much, but did treat myself to a beautifully dyed roving of 50/50 silk and yak from Red Fish Dye Works. They also have some of the most wonderful silk yarns. I really wanted to buy a kit for making this splendidly simple a-line silk cardigan, it was sooo pretty. I decided I would wait until next year, because very soon I expect delivery of my new spinning wheel. That means I need to pay for it.

It's called a Pocket Wheel, designed and crafted by Doug Dodd and I think it is the most clever little wheel I've every seen. I've been waiting for a while, and last week I learned my wheel is in production. I can hardly stand it.

I finished knitting my dog hair scarf. It is the first finished object I've made with my own handspun yarn and I am pleased with the result. I have enough left over that I can knit a pair of mittens or maybe a hat, I haven't decided yet. I've also spun and 2-plied a nice little 50/50 silk and cashmere roving from Abstract Fiber. There's enough to make a small scarf or a self indulgent pair of fingerless mitts. I'm leaning towards mitts right now.

The woodworking class continues, but I don't really have any progress pictures. First the lumber looked like big rough pieces of wood, then smaller, smoother pieces of wood. And then even smaller pieces of wood. It wasn't until last week that I even had enough piece to put together, and with any luck I'll be gluing the carcass together this Thursday. Yup, that's the official name, carcass. I've learned that mistakes in cutting pieces of wood are much more permanent than mistakes in knitting sweaters. Some mistakes can be glued back together, and other mistakes just become smaller pieces of wood that might be useful as something else.

Saturday I went to a woodworking show, and I was kinda underwhelmed. It didn't seem nearly as fun and lively as a fiber festival and I didn't see anything that begged me to bring it home. Maybe as I get more experience these things will see more exciting. I do have some tools already, I was able to retrieve some of my grandfather's hand tools. Chisels and hand planes and brace and bits and some other odds and ends. They all need some TLC, but Russ, my woodworking instructor says many of them will be worth the work. And I'll end up knowing all about the right way to take care of them.

Today I removed all the old caulking from the bottom of my shower and put in new caulk. Removing the old caulk took hours, and some of that stuff was so hard it seemed fossilized, or at least calcified. I'm glad its done, because I really don't want to think about it for another 10 years.

Tomorrow I volunteer at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. 

Other than buying supplies, I've done no work on repairing/refurnishing the old furniture. It would be good if I did some research first because I've got questions like; should I glue the lifted veneer down before I try refinishing (a yes, I suspect), is there a way I can tell what kind of glue was used under the veneer last time it was fixed? I know my grandmother had the desk refinished and repaired about 15 years ago. I'm really hoping hide glue was used, as it can be re-glued to itself. Wood glue has to be cleaned out first. That sounds like more work, but even worse it sounds like more chances for me to mess something up.

Lining up the to-do list at string, fluff and random stuff