Spinning my life away!

Hey Kate,
I LOVE our new layout! It's so pretty! Thanks so much for doing that - it looks so much cleaner and easier to read. :)

Your grandfather is now a writer? How awesome! I have a particular fondness for old people, particularly old men (they're so adorable!) and I think it's GREAT when they do things to make themselves happy. My grandfather is a very cool old man and he's currently really into gardening. I don't have a current photo of his garden, but I'll post one soon. He had an enormous and wonderful garden at his home, but when he and my grandmother moved into a retirement community, he left all of that behind. The facility had a very derelict little patch out in the back, though, and they let him take it over and use his complete discretion. It's wonderful, and it's all he talks about nowadays. It's full of bulbs and perennials and roses and herbs and it's beautiful.

So, I have a few updates in my life. First, Dan quit his job! He was tired of being beaten up all day by the students without any staff stepping in to help, so he decided it was time to find a new job. He has sent his resume out all over the country, so who knows where we'll be living in a few months time! It's exciting and a little nerve-wracking but very good. I want him to be safe and happy at his job. :) Now I will have to find another job, though! I love working for my boss, and hopefully she can help me find something in the fiber industry wherever I end up.

Second, I've finally rented a spinning wheel and have made my first wheel-spun yarn! I'm renting a Louet Victoria, which I quite like, and I had a few lessons with a local fiber artist, Brooke of Tactile Fiber Arts. So, this first yarn is undyed BFL from Brooke. I have 336 yards of a sport-DK weight yarn (I haven't checked the WPI) and I couldn't be happier. I'm currently spinning up some undyed Finn wool (it's a creamy white color) and will use them both to make some colorwork mittens for myself and Dan. What do you think?


Lastly, I finally finished my Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I'm mostly happy with it. I used Queensland Kathmandu DK yarn and size 3 needles. I went down to size 2s for the button bands, and I meant to for the neckband but I forgot. I may go back and re-do it. We'll see. No pictures of me wearing it because I feel fat right now. ;)




So that's all from here. I hope you and Simon are doing well! Have tons of fun on your trip to the UK, and hopefully I will still be in California long enough to see you at GA!

*hugs*
Kristen

So, My grandfather has taken on a second career as a writer. He's actually quite good and has self published a few books on Amazon! A few weeks ago he asked Simon to help him set up a blog, but since Si is no blogger I'm blogging in order to see which platform might be easiest for him to use.

But, I figured that as long as I was here I should actually take the time to respond. First, you looked beautiful on your special day. I'm sorry that I wasn't there. :( I'm so looking forward to the chance to see you in June. My ticket to GA is booked, and now I'm just working to get the return flight sorted.

I have been thinking about your previous post. Here's what I have come to...

1) You are so right. The black, while near and dear to my dark little heart, is unattractive. We need something with a little pep if we want to be readable. I'm going to play with it today and see how long it takes you to notice it! :P That said, I do actually like our layout. I think we could use a different, catchier sub heading, but all in all it's not tooo bad. The deed is done and I'm liking what I see but I still don't think it's perfect. Go ahead and fiddle with it yourself, or let me know what you think about this. ;)

2 & 3) First and foremost, I want the blog to be a place for us to leave messages for each other. If other people are interested in our lives than they are free to read. I'll link to it in Ravelry and that way we should get a little more traffic. To keep it interesting I think there should most definately be at least 1 picture per post keeping in mind that the reality is the more the merrier up to a point. A post a week sounds good, I think I can actually keep up with a 2-4 posts a month commitment. Anything more than that would be overboard on my end.

So, with all of that in mind. Here's my post.

It's a terribly gray day here in C'burg. Not at all inviting. It makes it difficult to get any work done. If I had my way every day would be overcast without rain. If it's too sunny it's hard to stay focused and if it's too rainy it's hard to get motivated. Maybe I need more caffeine....

Last weekend I attended graduation (here) and the wedding of my childhood best friend (away). The weather was much nicer but all of the preparation for the wedding and graduation means that I haven't really had the time to knit that much.

Alison was an incredibly beautiful bride and knowing that she loves photos I'm going to assume that she will forgive me for posting just one little photo here. It's not the best in my collection but I think it might be the best shot of her.

Alison is one of the kindest, most wonderful people I know. We met through our parents when we were both in kindergarten and although our friendship has had its ups and downs I have never considered her to be anything less than my BFF. :P She is the kind of person who has a million and one spectacular friends, so I felt honored to be asked to actually be in the wedding. It was a wonderful day, possibly a more beautiful wedding than my own. Her husband is pretty awesome and hopefully if I'm lucky Simon will agree to go to Houston with me to visit them.


My current project is the Rambling Rose Cardigan by Martin Storey. When I began I worried that the small needles and fine yarn would equal extreme boredom but I am so excited to see how it turns out that I am really enjoying the project.

So far I have managed to complete the back, and I'm about 3/4 of the way done with the left front panel. I wasn't a fan of the roses on the original cardigan so I have decided to leave them out. In my mind it's the blueberry cardigan anyway!

This Friday Si and I leave for the UK for a week and a half. After much planning and preparation we are taking Joe and Rachel with us! I promise to take a million and one pictures to share. I received a fabulous digital camera as a Christmas gift this year (Nikon P5100) and my goal is to learn how to really make it work for me. The manual is going on the trip as in flight entertainment. ;)

Now, I'm off to revamp our blog. Let me know what you think!

Love always,
Kate