Fiberaddict's Fiber Fumblings

After contracting the plague December 25 (we are STILL coughing from that!), things are ticking along OK. Himself is doing.....better. Not a LOT, but hey - any improvement is good! Unfortunately, SG borked the insurance (when you wait until Jan. 1 to call the company to, y'know, see about plans for the current year.......) so we are in limbo and I can't get his meds filled. :BIG sigh: Anyway.

One of the things his therapist told him to do was set up "Mastery Tasks" - something that he can't do perfectly the first time, that he's interested in. He decided he wants to cook...so every Monday is His Night. We have had some AWESOME meals! Chicken potstickers with tzatziki sauce (OMG that was YUM!), fish, mac and cheese (that's on tonight menu, again, because it's just so good!)...and desserts. Oh, the desserts! Chocolate cream pie that is SO good! And a deep chocolate cake that.....oh, my. He wants to do another meal this week - some sort of French Toast. I baked a loaf of bread today for him to use for that. :lol: 2 weeks ago he made me lunch - Greek meatballs and salad, with Tzatziki sauce and flatbread. Yum! I'm trying to get around to making some Feta to go along with this....(the blueberry muffins last week were also good, and I don't like blueberries!)(And, I should mention that all of this is FROM SCRATCH. Yeah, the grocery budget is shot, but.....YUM!)

My Studio.....the roof blew off a few months ago. The builder doesn't stand by his work. We had a contractor come out Saturday; it was definitely NOT installed correctly to begin with. SG wants tin this time - I am OK with that. I'm just tired of the blue tarp of dismay. :lol: Nothing inside got wet, so that's a plus. I almost have it - dare I say it? - organized now. I need to slipcover the sleeper sofa and make some throw pillows, and use up a LOT of fabric (I have.....a lot of smaller amounts that won't fit in the table. Useful amounts, so I can't justify tossing....) SG bought me 4 alpaca fleeces off of CL (they are YUMMY!) for $30; that was fun trying to Tetris them in there. :lol:

I have a plan for this year - I am focusing on jeans/capris/shorts (same pattern, different lengths) and bras/panties. I need these - I have enough dresses and tops now, so I need to get with the program. My waist is 2.5" smaller now (how'd THAT happen????), but the dresses will still work. I'm sick of sweat pants, so I need to get sewing!

SG is sorta, kinda "over" working as an electrician. Sorta. Seems that one of his coworkers told him he was stupid to NOT use his IT experience (um - I've been saying that for over a year, now!) and that he should go do that again, as it pays better (yeah - he's making $15/hour now; contract IT jobs start out at $40/hour.). He was all amazed at the thought - go back to IT! Why didn't he think of that?! :bangs head:

Herself is scattered. She goes from jewelry to polyclay to resin crafting and can't settle. She wants to do cosplay, but I told her SHE has to do the sewing. I have plenty on my plate. To that end, SG went a little nuts on the last Great Courses sale - he bought "me" 2 sewing courses: "Fitting all by Yourself" and "Sewing 101". I've told Herself she needs to watch them with me.....so far, no good. I'm working on it. (He also bought me "Continental Knitting", because I need to switch up how I knit, and I can't get it by myself.)(Yes, we still have the streaming. :lol: I have almost finished "Law School for Everyone"; Himself and I are almost done with "English Grammar Bootcamp".....yeah, we like learning here.)

I think that brings us up to date now. I've been making more bath/beauty products - I think I've nailed my face cream and cold cream now, just need to tweak the body butter a bit. Then I need to work on a shampoo/conditioner. I'm trying to get away from all the unpronounceable chemicals here.

Wow, it's been a month....let me fill you in on our doings:

No, wait - it's too much. Let me sum up:

1. Himself is.....well, Himself. He's started social skills training, and has had 1 meeting with the therapist assigned to him. That.....didn't go to well; he doesn't like her. She - get this! - has NEVER SEEN STAR WARS. This is an issue........:sigh: He starts with the medical side on it Tuesday.

2. Herself is OK. Stressed over her brother, of course. I'm trying to get her into the same program.

3. Me. Hanging in there. Over-booked, but it's for the kids, so I'm OK. I've made 10 batches of soap - so far. I finished my "Skywalker" socks (Mark Hamill breathed on them! :squee!: /fangirl ), started and finished a pair of Firefly-themed socks, and am halfway thru a pair of Shakespeare-themed ones. Why Shakespeare? Because....

3a. This weekend is Dallas Fan Days. Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor) was supposed to headline; Yawn. I was going, but not to see him - he and the Ponds RUINED Dr. Who for me. :shrug: However, he cancelled, and they brought in 10. David Tennant. Oh My GOSH! David-freaking-Tennant! Mr. Scottish Shakespearean actor!!!!!!!

3b. I ponied up extra $$$ to get a "Gold" pass for this con - after the Mark Hamill fiasco (HOURS in line!), I swore never-again. The Gold pass gets you in all 3 days (we only went 1x, so that was a waste), PLUS 5 line jumps. Meaning - NO long waits!

We got there yesterday at 9:30; the doors opened at 10. *I* could have gone on in, but wanted to wait with SG and Herself (we could honestly only afford 1 gold pass.) We went straight to the autograph floor, and found Tennant's line. Since we had a gold pass, we went straight to the front (along with about 50 of our newest best friends. :lol:) He was supposed to start signing at 10:30; at 10:20 he arrived to a loud, long, cheer and started signing.

By 10:40, we were done. He is a VERY lovely person - he was friendly, actually *looked* at each person in front of him, and made small talk with ALL of us. Herself made a "Tiny 10" for him - he was gobsmacked. Asked if it was Fimo (well, yes/no - it's actually Sculpey, but that's basically the same thing), then asked if it was really FOR him, to actually TAKE home (yup!), then said his kid(s) would LOVE it. :squee!: It was great! (and, honestly - worth every penny we paid!)

We spent a few more hours there, shopping and talking with folks. Himself stayed home (he was pre-alpha testing a game), but he had tentatively requested a light saber - IF I could find either Kylo Ren's or Vader's, and ONLY IF it wasn't "too expensive". "It's just going to, you know, sit on my shelf, so I don't want you to spend too much. I really don't want you to spend...anything...but.....I.....I wouldkindaliketohaveacoollightsaber. If that's OK....."

My baby (who never asks for anything, and refuses to let me spend money on him) actually ASKING for something? You KNOW Mama's going to do whatever she can to fulfill THAT wish, right? Right. He now has an Ultra Saber "Chosen One". :snerk: In a nickel-plated finish (because SG insisted, and paid for half of the saber, so....Sure!) He was totally thrilled when we got home - he actually LEFT his game to admire his new saber! (That's BIG. Really, really BIG.)

4. Slowly working on getting the house in order. The kitchen is DONE, the family room is almost done, the dining room is...well, done, but I need to get the donate pile out of there and to the donation center. The Game Room is a DISASTER, but that's not my problem - that is SG's room. He said HE was in charge of it....so *I* am leaving it alone.

5. I need to find a new calendar/schedule app. Preferably one I can have color-code appointments so I know at a glance WHO I am hauling someplace. Bonus points if it lets me also schedule chores. DOUBLE bonus points if it is "cross platform" - meaning I only need to buy it once, but can run it on my iPad, iPhone and, maybe, my MacBook. Off to the App Store I go!

Sorry it took a month.....but seriously, life is packed right now.

Friday evening we ended up at the ER with Himself. He had a major mental breakdown......he's been diagnosed with severe depression and social anxiety. I have to start making calls tomorrow - he needs professional help. :sob:

Anyway - I'll be away more than usual, I think. He's OK right now.....but he's pretty fragile.

let me count the ways....:lol:

My over-the-top, absolutely, most favorite treat is Baklava. LOVE it! Unfortunately, over the past decade or so, I've become allergic to honey....which is a MAJOR ingredient in Baklava. Whenever we go to a Greek/Middle-Eastern restaurant, I have to make a choice: Is the Baklava worth the itching?

Mostly, it's NOT. So I have to settle for something else - usually good, but not Baklava. (Sometimes, I decide that it is....and I usually spend the next 8 hours or so itching and miserable. :sigh:)

So. Last year, my darling boy discovered Yakan Root Syrup - supposedly a good substitute for honey. For the past year, we've tried to acquire some - usually, when I had the money, we forgot about it.

Until last month. I found the syrup, on a day I had the funds, and it was LOCAL. Yesterday, he asked if we could see if the local Wally-world had Fillo dough...it did. I read the box - it's leavening-free!

Guess what my darling boy did for me yesterday? He made me a batch of oozy-gooey, sticky, absolutely YUMMY, honey-free Baklava. Mostly by himself! :huggles:

Next time, he wants to reduce the water to try and make it less soggy. I want to try crushed pecans instead of walnuts - BUT. This stuff is awesome. And yummy. And true to the "real" Baklava taste. :mmmmmmmm:

So. Mom's a very happy camper right now - and my diet is out the window, because I have a pan full of Baklava to devour. :lol:

has been....interesting, shall we say. I guess somebody invoked the old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times" because, folks, it has been Interesting.

Especially Wednesday. It was Herself's braces OFF! day. SG was home, so I invited him out to lunch with us after. Himself decided last minute that he didn't want to go - it was Star Wars day, after all, and he had just bought some "new" SW games that he HAD to play. I pointed out no lunch; he pointed to the freezer. :lol:

So. The 3 of us went. While they were trying to get the impressions for her retainer (2x on the bottom, *4* on the top!), my phone rang. It was Himself......

Seems that right after we left, Chloe started barking. And barking. And barking. He went outside - she was "playing" with a turtle. He, being a soft-hearted kid, pushed her away and tried to get the turtle to remove it. Chloe lunged at it; he shoved her away again. She lunged again, and Bree - who had been standing there watching - decided Chloe needed a lesson in minding and lunged for her.

Only, Himself was in the way. Of 2 very large dogs. :sigh: Bree got him on the hand, and immediately backed off. He got knocked down and trampled a bit, but managed to get into the house and on the phone with me before starting to panic. *I* started panicking, but managed to hide it, thank God.

I went out to the waiting room and sent SG to the house. He picked up Himself, came back and got us, and off we went to the ER. :sigh: 4 hours later, Himself was OK - no stitches, just 2 bad puncture wounds on his left hand, 1 on his elbow, and 1 on his right arm, plus a lot of scratches from Chloe's claws.

We got home (finally!), and I went to look for the turtle. Which was on the back porch (Chloe had brought it there) with 2 punctures in it's shell....turns out, it wasn't a cute l'il turtle that needed saving. It was a demon-spawn SNAPPING turtle that deserved everything it got (sorry, y'all, but I have been chased by a snapper before. They are EVIL - and if IT had gotten hold of Himself's hand, things would have turned very bad, very quickly.

Anyway. Good news is that (besides the world having 1 less snapping turtle) I had drug my Pax Eire socks to the Ortho with me (I have been studiously IGNORING them lately. I went off them, and couldn't drum up any knitting mojo.).....the time in the ER? Was prime knitting time - see here:





They are nice socks - Cashmere/Merino yarn! - but....I just lost interest in them mid-way down the foot of #1. Sometimes that happens.....:shrug: I have started another pair (What???? I Knit. Except when I lose mojo - but it's back for now.) in a nice, over-spun Merino in a lovely turquoise color way. We'll see how long it takes me to work them...:lol:

I had started another apron.....today I put the binding foot on, cut the bias strips (but not very....um...accurately. :sigh:) and took it for a test-sew. That foot is da Bomb! But you have to pay a lot of attention to it, and the resulting bias binding is only 1/4" wide. I have discovered that I prefer 1/2" wide binding.....and that if I don't pay close enough attention the binding gets screwed. :sigh: That apron was a fail, and is now in the trash. (No, seriously - I didn't feel like trying to seam rip 2 yards of binding; I tried and the edges of the apron started seriously fraying. :sigh:) I'll reattempt that apron later.....lesson learned. :lol:

Gotta do some knitting - Shabbat Shalom!

because boy, have I got photos for you!!! God is good - and I'll show you THAT in a minute! :lol:

First up, let me catch you up on the sock knitting front. (Because I am ALL about the socks, right? :lol:) Let's start with the Yaacov socks, V.2.0 (which Herself STOLE from me. :humph: :lol:)





Except for the spots where the colors ran together, I am *very* pleased with these. We dyed the yarn ourselves, and it pretty much worked out. I figured out where we went "wrong" (and, let me say that the original socks, the ones in the book, have areas of colors running together. So, in that respect, we HIT it out of the park. *I* however, want a pair with NO or very little blurriness.) You'll note that they match *exactly*, which was also part of the plan.

Herself is totally enthralled with them, so they are still a win. :lol:

Next up, the current sock - I give you Socks to Knit While Bored (aka: Sherlocked!) :lol:



I am...not following the pattern exactly. I know, I KNOW - but...I really, really HATE trying to purl color work. I can do it, but...I don't LIKE it. And I'm not really sure I have enough of the black yarn dyed up to do solid-color heels (the toes WILL be solid, because I think it'll look better.)....so color-worked heels were always the plan. I knit 2 rows....and decided to sub the heel from Maurits (remember the neon lizards? THAT heel. :lol:) You knit the heel flap and gusset AND instep at the same time; you decrease all the added stitches away and get a triangular thing going on on the foot. I think it'll look cool, so....there ya go. :lol:

And now.......well. I browse CraigsList quite a bit, usually just the Free and Arts and Crafts areas. Thursday I hit A&C, and saw an ad for "Free Clay!", so I clicked on it. It was from a teacher about 1 hour away who is moving, and decided she didn't want to move her pottery clay. I called. She said "Well, it's only about 200 pounds of clay, but I just don't want to bother moving it. I'll just buy new once I get settled (? Um.....that's still moving 200 pounds of clay, right? Whatever....). We made arrangements to pick it up yesterday, and Herself got moderately excited.

Well. Um. We got there yesterday AM, and...um....well, here - have a peek:



This, my friends, is "200" pounds of clay. Plus 50 pounds of Air-dry clay, 2 5-gallon buckets of pre-mixed slip, and.....oh my gosh, probably another 10 gallons or so of colored slip. And some tools. And some plaster of paris to make molds. And....I honestly don't know what all else. I just know that the back of my Jeep - which can hold 25 bags of horse feed, or 2 square bales of hay (with some room left over) or a wolfhound, or a full-size pregnant Nubian - is FULL. Today I HAVE to rearrange the Studio - SG is going to bring home a set of shelves tomorrow to put this stuff on - because....well, it can't stay in the Jeep. :lol:

The lady also gave us a lead on a consignment shop that sells artwork; we went and had a good long talk with the proprietor. Herself is......mildly anxious, excited, and scared about this. I have a contract that we are going to look over......this could be good for us. The proprietor is also interested in my soaps and handwovens...so. We'll see. I HAVE to get the loom unearthed so I can get back to weaving...it's been far too long.

Anyway, what a HUGE blessing this is! Clay isn't *that* expensive, but.....it's not super-cheap, either. All of this is the same firing temp as her porcelain, so she can make stuff out of both and fire them at the same time. And the glazes will work on both. :happy dance:

Guess I'd better get to work - we have a LOT of rearranging to do!

:lol: Anyway...

Herself has a week of doctor's appointments next week. Monday is a Gyn visit (to try and figure out WHY the BC pills aren't doing their job of regulating her cycle), Tuesday we have to be at the Med. Center in Mesquite at *8* AM for the start of a test/scan on her thyroid (the endo checked her levels last week, and did some "new" test - low and behold, her thyroid levels were *high*. :sigh:); we have to be back at 2 for the scan, then Wednesday we have to be back at 8:30 for the final scan. Thursday we see her GP.....needless to say, school has been cancelled for next week. :sigh: Glad we homeschool!

Just turned the heel of Yaacov sock #1. My gauge is all over the place - i was supposed to be at 3" and 32 rows.....um. I was at 3" at 24 rows. I fudged it - knit to 30 rows so I can pick up the required 16 stitches on each side of the flap. I tried it on - it DOES fit, thankfully! I am going to push and try to get this pair done this week, so I can take a NEW sock along on Tuesday (I think we'll have to hang out at the Med. center, because it's an hour away - gas is an issue. :sigh: Ah, well - let's pray they figure out what the heck is going on with Herself, because she's miserable. (Oh, and the endo put her on thyroid meds. :sigh: Fun stuff....)

We started Joshua this week (TorahClass for the win!). Looks good, so far. I really like how Mr. Bradford goes into the traditions and culture of the time period, and brings the NT into it. Fascinating stuff!

Gotta run - have a Jedi outfit to finish, as well as a new knitting bag. (What? I found Star Wars fat quarters at Wally-world......and 2 fat quarters are just enough to squeak out a large bag. And......Star Wars!!!!!! :lol:)

OK, so Herself is moderately better. Doc appt. yesterday was honestly a waste of time - we learned NOTHING. And nothing was done - just "come back in 6 weeks for more blood work" :bangs head: At least she sees a "specialist" on Tuesday....maybe we'll learn something then.

I finished sock #1, and am on the leg of #2. I am itching to dye up some more yarn to kit up yet more socks....but I am fighting the urge. I need to knit more down, first......maybe. :lol:

Tomorrow we go to pick up a sewing machine cabinet/table....I want to move my White (30-ish pounds!) into the house, as I can't sew in the Studio. No room! I found a cheap, antique cabinet on CraigsList - hope it works. (No picture....but the lady is nice, and it's CHEAP.) Not sure where I'll put it.....ah, well. Such is life, right? :lol:

Himself got his forge, and promptly freaked out. :rofl: I'm working on him......

Shabbat Shalom! See ya on the flip side!

which is normal, right? :sigh:

Herself had a doc appt last week...she's got something going on with her thyroid. She has an appt with an endocrinologist on the 9th to see what we need to do. Fun - and worrisome! - times!

Goat kids are doing well. We have dried up Annie - leaving me with 3 on the stand - because she couldn't get on the stand by herself, and she got diarrhea, which is BAD for goats. Her milk production had dropped to nearly nothing - which is unusual for her - so, I made the call. I put her on some loading doses of antibiotic, and have been forcing hay and grain down her. :sigh: She's out right now, eating weeds. I'll put her up shortly - it's Not Raining now, but it will rain soon.

We currently have a very pissed off sparrow fledgling in the Studio. He (she?) fell out of the nest yesterday morning and Chloe grabbed him. We got him away from her, but it seems like his leg may be broken. So, into a shoebox in the Studio he went. He's active - he got out of the box for a few hours last night - and has his first flight feathers, so maybe he'll make it. I hope so.....

I will have photos later - they're on my phone, not my laptop. :sigh: I'll transfer them over at doe point soon......

Updated count:

doelings: 4 (+1 dead)
bucklings: 1 (+2 dead)

So.....as you know, I induced Risky Saturday evening. I did it after a LOT of soul-searching; her due date (day 150) was 5/10; they can go 5 days before - 5 days after (but after the fiasco that was Mocha and Annie a few years ago, NONE of my goats will go more than 36 hours or so over their due date.) SG and I had a HUGE fight over this, but Risky had started showing signs of early labor on Monday (pawing, avoiding the other goats, not *eating*) and by Saturday all she was doing was laying in one sot moaning. I decided that having her pop on day 144 (which would have been today, and still early) would be better than making her wait any longer. (When you induce, you give them Lute. 36 hours later (or so), you have babies. I NEVER do it willy-nilly, I always make sure we're within (or close) to day 145 or later, and I make sure I have a damn good reason to induce. This year, I did Inara, because we weren't going to be home on her due date (she went the day before), I did Annie (because I will NOT let her go over - she's a smaller goat, and I don't want to lose her like we did Mocha), and I did Zoe because she was due tomorrow, and, again - we aren't going to be home.)

( Cut because it got long. Click here! )

Oh, and to top it off? The insurance adjuster came out on Friday, and not only were the barns damaged, but we need a new roof. :fun: And it's my fault that the adjuster came out.....even though I simply did what I was told and reported the barn damage. I......don't get it, but such is life.