NotSoThoreau

I think this is working again. I just wanted to talk about the new Ply magazine. The focus is supported spindles, which means all spindles. It’s just wonderful. I think there must be three or four articles on Jenkins spindles. There was a time when I subscribed to SpinOff two years at a time. I’d devour each new issue. They changed the format, so they didn’t feature the readers’ projects. They featured “experts” instead. And I lost interest. I subscribed this year, because they gave me a cheap price, but I’ve yet to see anything interesting. I’ve been buying up back issues of Ply too. To me, a good spinning magazine should make you pick up a spindle and start spinning. I’m having problems getting myself to stop. I’ve started taking a spindle outside with me, when I take the dogs out back. And I”m determined to finish off the East Friesian wool as I’d like to knit a sweater with it.

I have a new pulmonologist at OSHU. I like him and I probably spent close to an hour talking to him. My lungs are worse and we have to get rid of all the birds, including my chickens. We think we’ve found a relative of Lon’s that can take them in. We are working on shipping the cockatoo out first. It’s going to be hard for Lon as he really loves Dewey, the blue and gold. But bird fancier’s can cause enough damage that your lungs don’t function and that’s deadly. I’m on a high dose of prednisone and have felt great. It’s so nice to have good oxygen levels. I was really struggling when I was trying to stay off prednisone. He said it’s likely I’ll have to take it the rest of my life.

No real progress on the house. I’m going to try and start working on packing this weekend. I picked up a new chair:

I had been thinking about getting a wingback chair, for knitting. I just was taken by this chair. I could tell it still had the horsehair padding. The seat is worn but it’s still very solid. It is a heavy chair and handmade, from the looks of the carvings. When I went get it, I was set to try and dicker for a lower price. It was in the second story bedroom. To get it down, the woman had to lower it down a step, while I caught it from the bottom. There were about twelve steps. I decided I was just going to pay full price, as I couldn’t have done it on my own. I really like the chair. I’m trying not to buy a bunch of stuff, but of course, I keep buying stuff. I have too many things packed up that I could use and it’s taking way too long to finish up the house.

The grandson will be a year old next month. I have a baby sweater to knit and also planned to do a teddy bear. I haven’t been knitting a lot, as I have a pair of socks with commercial yarn going and the Perfect Process scarf, which is handspun. I want to knit handspun socks, but am waiting until I finish something else. I think I am going to enjoy my handspun sock project. And I have my first Bosworth spindle arriving this week! I love the new wheel and I have plans to use it for some big projects. But it is so nice to be using my spindles again. My shoulder muscles would cramp, because my oxygen levels were too low. Now that I’m back to normal, I can just keep going.

It looks like I will be going to Black Sheep and I can probably spend some time there. Last time I went, I just wasn’t up to walking around and couldn’t get Lon to do much either. I don’t know yet if he wants to go with me. He hasn’t been walking that well. I have one of those roller seats and am trying to get him to use it. I am going to start taking a few days off as I really could use the rest.

I am trying to come up with a way to keep track of my spinning projects. I’d like to start doing sample cards. I’ve picked up a few odds and ends to try out. I’d like to be more consistent with my spinning. It’s so easy to lose track of your project when you don’t finish it quickly.