Whew!

I survived last night. Not only did I survive, but I think that it even went well! It was the first meeting of my field methods class, which I've been fretting about. The fretting has been due to several factors: first, I've never actually taken a good field methods class, and therefore have nothing to model; second, because of this lack of modelling, I have long had the fear that even though I do field research, I've been doing it wrong all this time, and now people are going to see just how wrong I do it (ah, yes, that beloved impostor syndrome); third, a friend of mine has agreed to be the language consultant for this class, which means that I've been worried that she would hate the experience and nevertheless be stuck doing it for 13 more weeks, not to mention that not only will my students have the opportunity to see me do everything wrong, but so will a friend of mine (the potential embarrassment factor increases exponentially). There are more frets, but those have been the biggies. Well, last night went swimmingly. I won't go into the details, but she had fun, the students had fun, and I was relieved. Whew!

Meanwhile, and thanks to Anne's gentle reminders of my good intentions, I started a pair of Paris-Roubaix mitts for Rick (yes, yes, they have been on my list of Things To Knit -- I just got distracted, in that way that I have, by shinier objects). I knitted away on them Sunday evening, and got through most of the first one, to above the thumb. Last night, I was distracted by another small project I needed to work on (more about that tomorrow), but today I'm back on track. Here they are so far:
And here.
(Yes, those photos were taken with PhotoBooth, why do you ask?) This pattern is a complete kick in the pants, because it is so simple, and the results are so nubbly and complex-looking. I'm using Plymouth Yarns Baby Alpaca DK, which is soft soft soft. I may have to knit another pair for myself with this yarn someday. Meanwhile, Rick is excited about them, I think in large part because they're named for a bike race that he loves, and because he got to share with me all kinds of interesting (you may imagine little quotes around that word, if you like) details about just how many miles of pavee are involved in that race. We're considering going up to the mountains to play in the snow this weekend, so if I can finish them, they will be put to good use.

Today is a perfect day to work on them, as I have a meeting, then my knitting group is having our lunch meeting, then another meeting, then Kivrin's dance class, all of which are excellent knitting opportunities. And I can bask in the knowledge that there is almost a whole week between me and my next opportunity to publicly make an ass of myself in my field methods class. Yes, life is good.

Rainy day

The rain has finally arrived. Or at least, it arrived late last night, gave us a little break this morning, and appears to be on its way back. Rick (who really wants to be a meteorologist when he grows up) has been heralding this rain for days, so yesterday we made the most of the non-wet weather and spent the day outdoors.

Oh, wait, before I talk about that, you want to hear about the knitting, right? Well, I stayed up late on Friday to finish the zigzag mitts, with which I have been completely obsessed. In fact, in spite of the fact that I officially gave up project monogamy after finishing my project for the Loopy Swap, I did not actually cast on for more than one new project, because I so very much wanted these mitts for myself. Mitts have to be the ultimate in instant-gratification knitting. I cast on for the second one around 7 on Friday evening, and was weaving in the ends by 11. During that time, I also played a game of Life (still officially the oddest game I can think of), got the kids to bed, and watched Monk (which flat-out makes me laugh out loud). Here they are:
Aren't they just the happiest thing you ever saw? (Don't I ask that about every project I knit? Clearly I am easily pleased.) I love this pattern. Love love love it. It was clear and simple, and it turned out so well. While it's true that the zigzags show up much better in a non-variegated yarn, these colors make me happy, so no complaining here.

To recap. These are the Zigzag Mitts, by Anne Hanson. I knit them in Fearless Fibers 55% mohair/45% wool yarn, in the Inspiration colorway, which has some of my very favorite colors in it (purples and sagey greens), and goes with all of the grays and greens and heathery browns I own. I started each mitt in size two dpns for the first pattern repeat, then sized up to 3s. While I was worried that they might be too tight, it turns out that I'm happy with them (thanks, btw, to all of you for weighing in on the issue; those of you who suggested wearing them around for a while were dead-on; the give in the pattern was plenty to keep them from feeling too tight).

So, yesterday's outdoors time gave me plenty of opportunities to wear them. First, I got up early to go for a nice long walk with a friend of mine. We try to go every Saturday, kids and weather and life in general permitting (read: we don't make it every Saturday, alas). Since it was early, it was chilly, so I got to wear my mitts, right up until our first full-speed uphill climb when mitts and sweater all came off.

Then we headed for the Wild Animal Park with Rick's cousin and her three kids; they've just moved into the area, and we know of nothing better to introduce a parent to than the WAP (as we affectionately call it) and the Zoo. We've had memberships there since we moved here (thanks to Rick's parents, who gave them to us the first year; as they are often travelling and generally busy, we immediately suggested to them that if they wanted to renew the memberships each year for Christmas and call it good, we'd be happy -- as this made them happy too, we've been members ever since). It was perfect weather for it, very unsettled and cool, which meant that the animals were out and about. The vultures were circling, and a docent told us that this is called a "kettle", when the vultures swirl about (like a boiling kettle), looking for the best place to wait out a storm. It's my new very favorite phrase: a kettle of vultures, how cool is that? The lions had just been given bones to chew on:
And there was a warthog meeting and greeting visitors.
Zoos in general inspire in me a batch of very mixed emotions. It bothers me to see animals locked up; it bothers me quite a bit, in fact. It really bothers me when people assume that just because an animal is locked up, it deserves to be tormented (we could talk about the tiger at the SF Zoo here, but we won't). Recently, the girls and I were at the SD Zoo, at the orangutan enclosure, and there was a woman standing there, "offering" an orang her sandwich through the fence, and then pulling it back. The orang finally reached down, picked up a piece of poop, and flung it almost straight up in the air, in a trajectory finely gauged to go over the fence and come down on our side. It only missed the woman by inches (ask me how bummed I was that it missed), and she was extremely upset. I so hope she heard me say, "You deserved that." I rarely opine at strangers, but really.

On the other hand, zoos to me are places of wonder. They seem to me to be the ultimate evidence of a world of infinite possibility. Any planet that can produce the armadillo (have you ever seen one walk?), the okapi, and the flamingo is a place that I want to live. Oh, wait, I do live there! How lucky is that? Any planet that can produce a talking ape is pretty impressive, too; what I love about zoos is that they are clear reminders, if we know how to look, that we are only one of an infinite variety of wonders, kin to them, and that they are as worthy of respect and vital to the future as we are.

OK, enough of the soapbox. Suffice it to say that we spent the rest of the day at the WAP, even after Rick's cousin headed home so her kids (younger than ours) could have a nap. It was some wonderful family time, a nice antidote to going back to classes and feeling a bit overwhelmed (more about that another day). And when we got home, having picked up the third Harry Potter movie for movie night, there were two packages waiting for me! Since the first was from the Socks That Rock sock club, I won't post about it just yet (and I'll warn you when I do; no spoilers here). But the second was a lovely surprise from Wanda.
That green square there is her new DVD on spinning; a perfect gift for the rainy day that today is turning into. And on top of it? Silk, people. Silk. It's gorgeous. I can't wait to try it out. I'm so glad that I didn't start spinning this on my turkish spindle:
Because my high-whorl spindle is already taken up with this (now I know why I bought two!):
Yes, that is the Lovely Linguistics colorway from Janice. Do spinners usually have more than one thing going at once? Is this another frightening opportunity to be promiscuous with fiber? Because while I still only have one project on the needles at this moment, I'm looking to cast on the STR socks very soon. Oh, the one on my needles? Anne's first Little Nothings scarf, in laceweight Malabrigo. Life is good.

Making my day

So, there's been a thing going around blogland, in which people are asked to nominate the ten blogs that make them most happy. I've been so enjoying reading everyone's lists, and each time I have thought to myself, "Thank goodness no one's going to nominate me, because I haven't the faintest clue how I'd pick just ten blogs to nominate!"

Then Bea nominated me.

I can't tell you how touched I am that she put me on her list. I wouldn't have had the faintest clue that reading my blog could make anyone happy, except maybe me (clearly not Atticus, who has climbed up onto my arms and is attempting to keep me from typing). The rules of the nomination are these: “Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.” This is not an easy thing to do, but I will try. I'm not going to post on folks' blogs, in no small part because at least a few of the people I've listed below are in full-blown overwork mode, so I don't want to put any pressure on them, but guys, if you want to play along, please do! I should say that another good thing about Bea nominating me is that I get an extra space on my list, since she would have been on it, but I know she'll understand me picking new people (if you don't know her blog, pretend she's on my list and check it out; not only is she a great knitter and seamstress, her dogs are about as cute as it gets).

Here's what I've got, in alphabetical order. I have tried to pick the blogs that I check in on each day, and if they haven't posted, I wonder how they're doing and can't wait to hear the news; these are some of the blogs that have led to me getting to know some wonderful people. (And yes, it's true, I do still check in with blogs through my browser; I haven't subscribed to any feeds, in no small part because I'm terrified of what it might do to my already-out-of-control inbox!)

Anne, at Knitting Sox Fan: A fellow teacher and mother, we met through our blogs. Anne has
encouraged me, talked me down from a few trees, and helped me to remember that I'm not
the only one juggling a little too much sometimes.
Anne, at Knitspot: Anne does an amazing job of letting all of us in on her design process, which
is truly a gift. The fact that she's kind and funny on top of it is icing on the cake. And the
photos on her blog are amazing and totally drool-worthy.
Annie, at Sheepish Annie: Annie's blog always makes me laugh, and reminds me that as tough
as teaching college students can be, I've got nothing on grade-school teachers!
Gwen, at SmallScars: Gwen's up in the Bay Area, and she totally gets why I miss the beaches I
miss.
Helen, at Chronic Knitting Syndrome: Helen has excellent taste in knitting books, and
gorgeous projects, and she makes the most addictive online puzzles ever. (I swear, I spend
almost as much time playing with them as I do reading blogs!)
Janice, at Rabbitch: Janice has inducted me to the Dark Side of spinning, and done it with
style. Any woman who has so much fun with words, dyes, and wine is a friend of mine. Not to
mention someone who is available for long and random email conversations at odd hours.
Rachael, at Cattywampus: I met Rachael when we both test-knitted Simurgh together, and she
never failed to check in to see how I was doing, and to be encouraging when I fretted; I love
seeing the projects that she knits.
Ryan, at Mossy Cottage Knits: Ryan's charity knitting is totally an inspiration to me. And her sense of humor invariably makes me laugh.
Stell, at Knit Knit Frog: Stell's a knitter and spinner in New Zealand, and I learn so much about
knitting as a process from reading her blog. I also get a great deal of support in that
mother/work juggle I mentioned earlier, since she's doing the same thing. (And not a little spinning enabling, too!)
Wanda, at Fiberjoy: Reading Wanda's blog always makes me feel peaceful. She has also done a
huge amount to facilitate my smooth entry into the world of spinning.

This choosing thing just about killed me! I didn't put a few people down whose comments and emails mean so much to me, just because I know they don't always get to post to their blogs as often as they might like (hi, Marianne and Tracy!!). Then there's all of the folks whom I'm just starting to get to know through their blogs and their comments here; I'm loving that process (hi, Willow, and Courtney, and Ellen and Jan, and Arwen!). And of course, I haven't mentioned the blogs I love reading that everyone loves reading, whose authors wouldn't know me from a bump on a log (which is OK with me, btw; one should not be obliged to know everyone who reads one's blog, just because one is a good writer) (hi, Stephanie, Juno, Wendy, and Franklin!).

I guess what this boils down to is this: I have had an amazing experience with blogland, and the folks I'm listing here are a huge part of the reason why. When I started writing, I had no idea if anyone at all would read anything I wrote. But folks like Anne and Tracy and Wanda started leaving comments and promptly supported me through Grandmom's health crisis last summer. And so many people kept me company while I sat trapped in the house with the kids during the fires. And everyone has been so willing to cheer along with me when I try something new and difficult (steeks, anyone?), and to commiserate when it doesn't go so well, and not to assume that I'm a snotty little git when I celebrate my successes. Thanks, guys. All of you make my day!

In the interests of keeping this from getting much longer, I'm going to post just one picture of my zigzag mitt. It's knitted in Fearless Fibers merino (I'll give you the full info tomorrow), and I'm still dithering about whether it's too tight, so I really, really need everyone's opinions. What do you think? It doesn't constrict, but it is most definitely form-fitting, and there are places where the stretch between the stitches leaves a small gap when I'm wearing them. Given that I know that air between knit and skin is what traps warmth, I'm wondering whether form-fitting mitts is a bad thing. On the other hand, I live in San Diego, people -- do I need to worry?
The colors here aren't showing as well as they could (I took this last night), but it'll give you an idea of how it's fitting. So, here's the question for the poll: do I cast on for the second, or rip this out and start again?

Kia says, "Who cares, Mama! When are we going for a walk?"

And so it begins

Well, classes have officially started (this would explain the paucity of posts lately). I had two today, and my last one meets for the first time on Monday evening. I so appreciated everyone's supportive comments on Monday (thanks, Willow, for reminding me that writing a syllabus is class prep for the first day!). Everything seemed to go fine today, all the students fit into the classrooms that I was assigned (you have no idea how bad it gets when they don't; I have to think of ways to be scary and mean so they'll drop, and I generally prefer not to scare them this soon into the semester. I save that for after the add/drop period)(you may imagine evil laughter here), and they appeared to be paying attention. At least, they mostly laughed at the right times, and not at the wrong ones (again, you'd be surprised how disconcerting it can be to have them laugh when I didn't intend to be funny).

Our new on-campus knitting circle also met for the first time yesterday. Only three of us came, but there are at least three more in the offing who got caught up in first-week insanity and couldn't make it. It's amazing how hard it is to find a place to meet on such a small campus; most public spaces are devoted to eating or studying, and there aren't a lot of them. Since the campus is relatively new, it's still growing out, and it's at moments like these that it shows. However, we took over a table in the study room over the campus Starbucks (sigh), and I'm hoping we didn't disturb the students there too much (every single one of them had taken at least one class with me; this is another thing that happens frequently on such a small campus).

I had also intended to go to the Palomar Weaving Guild meeting last night; it was their first evening meeting ever, and as I've been thinking of joining, but can't make their daytime meetings, it seemed like a good idea. However, I went out on Monday night to do yoga (ow ow ow; after not going to yoga for quite some time, I went Saturday and Monday -- ow ow ow), and yesterday afternoon involved great deals of running around to get Younger Daughter to and from her Irish dance class, and Older Daughter from chess club, and by the time I got home, I was not feeling up to driving to Escondido for a 7-9 meeting. The matter was clinched when I said something about it and both Older and Younger Daughter exclaimed, "But you were gone last night!!" If I'd been dying to go, I might have been able to resist their blandishments, but as it was, I caved.

We ate Chinese food, and then sat on the rug and played Life (I'd forgotten what a very odd game Life is), and I finished my knitting for the Loopy Swap, and started the zigzag mitts for me (in spite of Rick's very loud sighs; he's waiting for the paris-roubaix mitts for himself -- he'll just need to wait a tiny bit longer). I'm using the yarn I got from Fearless Fibers in the inspiration colorway (you should really check it out, it's gorgeous), and while I haven't gotten very far, I find myself charmed by the whole thing. I'm knitting a size small, and I'm a bit worried about whether they'll be big enough, but I'll finish one pattern repeat and then see where we are. I'm hoping that since the yarn is a bit thicker than specified, it'll work (I could always go up to size 3 needles, but I'd have to go find them...).
(And yes, that bag in the background is a Bea Binney original.)

So, that's about it. Nothing exciting, but I've gotten through my first classes, and I'm going to call it good.

Exciting package

The other night, we came home late from dinner and errands and grabbed the mail on the way up the driveway (we live 700 feet up, and I do mean up, an easement, so we tend to grab the mail when we're going in or out, rather than to wander up and down the hill to get it, lazy Southern Californians that we are). Rick hopped out to get it and got back in the car, not handing me the mail as he usually does. And I knew instantly that my package had come. Of course, he had to draw it out, make it last, and generally torment me, since he knows I've been waiting for it. Given that all he has to do is to hold something over his head and it's far far out of my reach, even if I go in for undignified hopping up and down, I had to browbeat him into giving it up. Which he did when I threatened to "lose" his new bike light before he has a chance to charge the battery. Heh.

The package was from Janice, and look what was in it!
Sock yarn. Isn't it lovely? The colors are just so warm and gorgeous; I'm looking through all of my sock books to try to figure out what the best pattern would be to show them off. Maybe some kind of linen stitch? I can't wait to knit it up! Of course, I will be waiting, since the package also included this:
My roving! It's Corriedale, and she kindly put the colorway name as "Lovely Linguistics" on the band (clearly, I am being indulged in the best possible way). It's some of her Raised by Woolves spinning fibre, and I adore it. I wanted something in my very favorite blues and greens, and Janice came through for me in spades; the colors are a bit washed out in that photo, so imagine them as richer and deeper versions of what you see. Thank you, Janice!! (If you want, you can even read about the dyeing process in her December 28th post, to which I can't seem to link; it involved gobs of merlot, which is undoubtedly why it's so perfect.)

My only problem is that I don't want to ruin it. I keep patting it, and laying plans. At this moment, the plans involve splitting the roving in two lengthwise and spinning each half, then plying them. I'm hoping I can get something in a DK sort of weight once plied, and then we'll see what I knit with it (maybe matching scarves for me and the girls?). My spinning has gotten quite a bit finer (as in thinner in the singles, not better), as the lesson I took made me realize two things: a) it is not cheating to use thinner pieces of roving to get thinner singles (where do I get these ideas?); b) I was letting twist into the drafting zone, which was making it harder to draft thin, because the yarn was already twisted.

I have finished the first half of the project that I can't post about right now. With luck, I'll have the second half done sometime this week, and then I can start knitting something that I can post about (I'm going to wind the Fearless Fibers yarn into a ball today, just so I'm really, really ready). I got some good knitting time in last night, as Younger Daughter and her friend who was staying the night voluntarily went to bed early. At about 8:00, they went and put their pjs on (without being asked), then came out and asked to be tucked in. I swear, I kept expecting the world to come to a fiery end, or for them to wake up at 10:00 and refuse to go back to sleep, or something. But no, they slept until 5:00 this morning when the alarm on the clock in their room went off (someone who shall remain unnamed but who was probably Younger Daughter had been playing with it), and then they went back to sleep until 7:00. Not half bad for a sleep-over. Rick is out right now dropping the friend off and picking Older Daughter up from the slumber party she was at where I know from experience she did not sleep at all. We'll be lucky if we get through lunch without some kind of major melt-down. I do believe that naps are in order.

I have achieved syllabi, which feels like a minor miracle. Classes start for me on Wednesday (I'm teaching a Monday/Wednesday schedule this semester, and tomorrow the campus is closed for MLK). I still have a mess of prep to do, and all kinds of other service obligations to get in order before then, but having syllabi makes me feel more like I have a plan (hush, no bursting my bubble here). As with so many things, this will last right up until the moment when I step into the classroom, where things happen over which I have no immediate control, but it's a good start.

Enablers, the lot of you

If you read the comments on the last couple of posts, you'll notice that not one single person said anything resembling, "Oh, no! No, you don't want to spin. No fun at all. You'll hate owning a wheel. Yup, yup, hate it. Better to just quite while you're ahead." No one. Not one single soul.

See why I love all of you? Rick laughed when I told him how much fun I'd had trying out the Ashford Joy. I don't think he quite understood how serious I was. I tried a couple of places around here to see if they rent (thanks for the idea, Willow!), but so far, no luck. The shop up in Temecula will let me try their wheels, which I will do at some point.

However, in the meantime, I busted a move on The Stockinette Slot, and it's done! Just in time for the start of the semester next week. (In fact, some people might suggest that my time would have been better spent busting a move on my syllabi. Those people would not be knitters.) I wet-blocked it last night, and then as usual, spent the rest of the evening and early morning wandering by it chanting "dry dry dry". I continue to do this in spite of a rather convincing body of evidence that it makes no difference in the speed of drying. What does this say about me?
Not so many good pictures, as it's me, myself, and I with the camera, but here:
As you can see, it has 3/4 sleeves, and is open in the front except for the clasp. This is intended to mitigate the warming effects of the alpaca. As is the little ventilation lace insets at the raglan decrease lines.
I am very happy with the way this turned out. It's simple, and it fits well, and I think it's going to go with a lot of what I wear. I'm a bit worried about the 3/4 sleeves with short sleeved shirts; I'm wondering how I'll feel about having my forearms just hanging out there for all the world to see. Is that weird?

So, to recap. This is the Vines Cardigan by Amy King, from The Knitter's Book of Yarn, size medium. I used Kraemer Yarns Alpaca DK yarn on US size 5 needles (Addis for the body and wood dpns for the sleeves). I used all of four skeins, and perhaps half of a fifth. The color of the yarn was Dark Gray, although I have to say that it looks like more of a dark heathered brown to me. The clasp I got at Schoolhouse Press; it's pewter.

Meanwhile, I am well on my way to finishing the first half of the last of my monogamous projects. This one is for the Loopy Swap, so I won't be sharing pictures (no spoilers here!), but I'll try to get through it quickly, and then my next two projects are going to be all about me! Mitts and socks, here I come.

This brings me to a question. I was reading lately on someone's blog (I could have sworn it was Stell 's, but when I went back to verify, I couldn't find it; am I delusional? was this an email conversation?) that she often knits things for herself, and that she'd met up with a woman who (as I recall, correct me if I'm wrong) was in a knitting group with some Americans who seemed to think that knitting regularly for oneself was in some way selfish. I realized as I was reading what she wrote that there is some part of me that feels that I am supposed to alternate projects for me with projects for other people. I'm not saying I always do that, just that the sense is there. Is this just me? If it isn't just me, is this a backlash among American knitters against a consumption-oriented society? Or is it the fact that many knitters are women and women are so frequently socialized to think that doing things for themselves is bad? Is it something else entirely? So my question to you is, what percentage of your projects are for you (I'm asking in percentages in case there are any of you out there who are embarrassed by the number of projects currently on your needles)? If you do tend to knit for others, what's the motivation? I confess that, for me, at least some of the motivation is simply that I live in a very warm climate and it pays to spread the wool-wear around.

We're in for a busy weekend, full of social events. Tonight we're having dinner with Rick's cousins who just moved here from Indianapolis. Tomorrow, I'm heading to the farmer's market in the morning -- I heard that there's now a woman there selling and spinning fiber. Then I'm taking a free yoga class at a studio that just opened nearby, after which I'll head home and grab Older Daughter to take her to a roller-skating rink for a birthday party. She's staying the night afterwards, so her friend's mom will bring her home. Then, we're having the younger sister of another girl who's going to the party come to stay the night here (her mother was worried that she'd feel left out), so Younger Daughter is excited about that. On Sunday, we're off to another joint birthday party that some close friends are having for their daughters (turning 7 and 13). Whew! Time to haul out the espresso machine!

P.S. Pam: Another linguist! You've definitely got me thinking about the [ch] vs [t] word-initial consonant on words for tea. Time to hit the OED (as if I needed an excuse). Thanks for the stockinette-stitch amusement!

Moral turpitude

There is dissension among the ranks. I swore that there was to be no casting on of projects until The Stockinette Slog has ground to its conclusion. No messing about with other yarns. No affaires des coeurs. No fondling of fibers other than those of the alpaca. The ranks disagreed with me, and after a massive insurrection, succeeded in winding a ball of yarn.
Things have gotten so bad that the yarn even made it into a bag, with the pattern neatly arranged to show the chart, needles and notions included. At that stage, however, I managed to reassert control, and have retrenched. The troops and I have recommitted ourselves to The Stockinette Slog (I know, you thought that would end with "to the asylum", didn't you? I like to keep you guessing), and refuse all further distractions.

Except maybe spinning. Spinning doesn't count as an immoral distraction, does it? Inspired by Anne, I went today for a quick lesson with a local spinner named Lila. I've felt like I've been doing all right, but there's something about operating in a feedback vacuum that I find disturbing, and I figured it would be all too easy to fool myself into learning some really really bad habits without some kind of reality check. The very nice lady whom I went to see said that, in fact, my yarn (she actually used the word "yarn", can you believe?) was looking pretty good. Practice, she said, practice; my biggest problem is that I keep letting a bit of twist into the drafting area -- in essence I'm spinning faster than I'm drafting, which results in some overtwisting of the singles. And then she skeined up my first yarn, the one I did on the turkish spindle with the lovely roving that Wanda sent (Lila said that it was balanced, can you believe? Something in my life, balanced? Who would have suspected?), and suggested that I wash it to set the twist. Here it is skeined. It really does look much more yarnlike this way, no? It turned out to be about 25 yards.
And here's what I've got on the high-whorl spindle right now.
I'm going to ball this and spin some more at about the same weight (note the way that I am fooling myself here into thinking that I have some kind of "control" over the "weight" of my "yarn". You do not need to be fooled by this; you are wiser than I.), and ply it. Then I might try to see if I can get a bit finer. I generally don't like knitting on needles much bigger than a 6 or 7; what I've got here is going to be more in the 13-15 range once plied. Bulky doesn't quite cover it.

After we played about with this a bit, she asked, all casual in that way people are sometimes, whether maybe I'd like to try a spinning wheel?

Hot damn, baby. Now that was some fun. I'm in very serious trouble. Somebody come save me before I start impulse-buying spinning wheels. See how weak the moral fiber is around here? Clearly, it needs to be spun and plied.