Loot!!

Indulge me for a moment while I tell you about my clever girls.

First of all, Miranda made a cake.  A pirate cake!



Is that awesome or what?  The cookie crumb stubble really makes it for me, that and the Sugar Babies nostrils.

Lindsey designed and knitted me an iPod cover.  Out of embroidery floss.  With toothpicks.



Gotta admit it,we've all thought about knitting with toothpicks, but Lindsey is the only person I know to actually try it.  I asked her why she didn't just use some of my sock needles, but she said she was afraid I'd catch her looking for them and ruin the surprise.

My very last birthday present for this year came to me last night from Sarah Lou when I saw her at knitting night.  She sewed me a beautiful bag!!



It is lined and everything!  And that flowered material is a really soft corduroy. Thanks again, Sarah!

There have been a rash of knitter birthdays lately.  Karen's was a couple of weeks ago and I spun her some yarn which was enthusiastically received, but tragically went un-photographed.  Barb has her birthday later this week, so she was forced happy to wear a festive crown that Karen made during knitting night.  There may or may not be a photo of me in said crown as well, but you won't see it here.  And next week, it's Sarah's b-day!!  Yay for birthdays, cake, presents, yarn, and friends!!!

Unbeknownst to him, my husband purchased me a wonderful present this year.  I actually asked for this item for Christmas, but it had to be ordered, and that kind of advance planning does not fit into his gift-buying style.  If you can't find it at the mall on December 24th, homeboy ain't interested.  So I took matters (and the credit card) into my own hands and ordered my latest dream gadget.



Give up?  It's a drum carder!  Any random spinners who wander past will tell you this is super cool and an item to be coveted.  And it's mine, all mine!  Mwaa-haa-haa!

OK, let me 'splain.  Carding is when you comb out fibers to get them smooth and aligned in preparation for spinning.  The low tech way to do this is with hand cards, but those will only card a little at a time.  A drum carder can comb out a big hunk of fiber and turn it into a fluffy, well-behaved batt. 

Now, I have yet to buy any unprepared fiber that hasn't been combed yet, but you know I'll come staggering into the house with a whole fleece one of these days.  Until then, a drum carder is also ideal for blending different color fibers together.  And for my first batt, that is what I did.



This is only half of my first batt - I was so excited to spin it up that I forgot to take a picture!  I used a lot of cream and a little hot pink and purple and the resulting berries-and-cream colorway pleased me enormously.



Here's the single, still on the wheel.



Here's the finished two-ply, a sweet little 1.15 oz skein.

I'm fairly certain that I can fit much more that 1.15 oz of fiber onto my drum carder at once, I was just nervous about overfilling it and anxious to see the finished project.  My next batt will be bigger - FedEx is fetching me some solid colors to blend as we speak.  (Gotta love Etsy!)

Ocean-toes #2 is well underway, so I'll have a progress photo soon.  Then I'll finish Salto, and then I really want to use my birthday Wollmeise.  What do we think about this pattern?  Vote early, vote often.

Comments

[Kim]

Oh....Good for you! What a cool birthday. I'm yearning for that carder - I saw one last Friday and drooled!
Seriously, great cake and ipod cover - your kids are so thoughful.

[Pam]

Oh yes!

[Kate]

Ooh, we loves it, precious! (it's on my Rav-queue). And that colourway will be perfect!
You made out like a bandit on the birthday front.

[Jeanne B.]

Did I ever say Happy Birthday? I thought it... HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Lovely drum carder. You are becoming quite the spinner.