What I listen to when I mow: The Ultimate 5th Dimension

Even in the years when I didn't move unless I was on fire, I liked to mow the lawn. I never spent any time analyzing why a deeply sedentary person actually enjoyed pushing a loud, heavy machine over tall grass, I just enjoyed it. I enjoy it even more these days when I'm a little more in shape, and I can plug the earphones in and sing away at the top of my lungs (we're out in the country, I am not offending any ears)(and since I cannot carry a tune even if it's handed to me in a bucket, ears would be offended, believe me).

Lately my grass cutting music of choice is The Ultimate 5th Dimension (Amazon link- not so you can buy it, but so you can listen to clips if you like: http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-5th-Dimension/dp/B00008W2NU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1214833414&sr=8-1 ). There are plenty of familiar ballads, but it has a good beat and you can mow to it.

I'm from the 5th Dimension era (though I can only remember Marilyn McCoo and her husband Billy Somethingorother, and have no idea the names of the other 2 guys and gal), so this is the music of my adolescence, but even without the nostalgia factor, I think it holds up pretty well. Their cover of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In is a classic, no doubt. And they had hits with other covers: the Mamas and Papas Go Where You Wanna Go, the Association's Never My Love (a nice take on that song, which I prefer to the original), Brooklyn Bridge's The Worst that Could Happen, and Workin' On a Groovy Thing (written by Neil Sedaka and Chet Atkins, a pair I never suspected of working together, much less on a song like this).

But mostly their music was originals, and since it was the 60's, a lot of it was about love, sex and... you thought I was going to say drugs, didn't you? Nope (though anything associated with Hair certainly carries the whiff). Liquor.

Yeah, in the era of LSD and pot, The 5th Dimension often sang about getting blotto. On cheap wine no less. You might assume that Stoned Soul Picnic was about drugs, but stoned also meant drunk when I was in high school, and drinking is what this song is about. It also brings up a very specific memory of swimming in the Pilchuck River after berry picking (no booze involved, sorry to say), and it always makes me smile (and only very recently did I realize that there was no line about *trains of parcels*, though I ask you, does that make any less sense than *trains of blossoms*?). Sweet Blindness is only about getting drunk, and it's hard to interpret Paper Cup as anything but a description of a descent into hopeless alcoholism. The females are the lead singers on most of the drinking songs, which is odd (though it certainly works musically).

Though the tempo and melody often belie it, most of the sex/love songs aren't of the happy variety: Bacharach's One Less Bell to Answer, Wedding Bell Blues, Last Night I Didn't Get to Sleep at All, Carpet Man, Puppet Man, and my favorite on the entire CD, The Girls' Song (by Jimmy Webb channeling Burt Bacharach). If I Could Reach You is a lament that can be boiled down to I'm doing it with you (you just know that's the way the narrator puts it), why don't you love me? Every time she sings "to love you good enough on the outside, to make you feel it on the inside, maybe I could make you stay", I say to myself (because that's the way I roll when I mow), "Give it up, Honey, that never works."

But the 5th D could get explicit too (or as explicit as they could get on the radio in the 60's), Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes's "tunnel with a pendulum beat" always gives me a chuckle.

Sure, they had their token protest songs (Save the Country), and environmental bits in Ashes to Ashes, but mostly the 5th Dimension was about pop music. Enduring, drinking, flirting, yearning for the one you can't have, lawn-mowingly good pop music.

The only dud on the whole CD is a previously unreleased cover of Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye, which was unreleased for a reason- the whole song is off. The emphasis is on the wrong lyrics and the entire rhythm is thrown off as a result. But I just skip that one, and get back to the rest of the album.

Speaking of which, the grass is tall today. I'd better get to work.

Mystery Balls

Our morning routine these days involves a 2+ mile walk/jog. We head up our driveway, which is a half mile gravel township road, another half mile north on Highway 281 to the implement dealership, a half mile back, and then I jog down the driveway by myself and then back to meet up with my husband, whose knees don't agree with jogging, and then we walk the rest of the way home together. It's a good enough workout (I'm 55, 3/4 of a mile running, even at my snail pace, is plenty), and our summer has been a long time coming, so it's not too hot yet (though the mosquitoes are awake and hungry).

On our walk, we love to watch the slow changes in the countryside- the emerging soy beans, the wheat headed out, the tent caterpillars in the crab apple trees along the highway. We watch the birds and the clouds, and the traffic (which has lessened considerably in this era of $4 per gallon gas). And we play Spot The Balls.

Hundreds of them. Little white balls, scattered all over the highway shoulder and into the ditches (though the ditch grass is too high to see them there now). They're made of either ceramic or porcelain, uniformly sized, about 1/2" in diameter. Some are new and unmarked, some are pitted and stained. A few, here and there, are cracked in half.

We've asked around, and no one knows what they are, or where they came from. Obviously, they blew off (or dribbled from) a passing vehicle. Someone suggested the Ethanol Plant (about 2 miles up the highway, and another mile East) as a possible source, though that person did not know what little balls had to do with the ethanol manufacturing process.

We're stumped. Anyone got any notions of what these are?

It's not cheating...

...if you get a gargantuan amount of book work done during the day, and then play in the evening. So what do I knit, when I'm not knitting socks for the sock book? A sock, of course.

This yarn is 3-ply handspun from Yummy Yarn's So Far Away BFL roving. I love love love the colors, and how this yarn is knitting up. The stripes are beautifully distinct and BFL (my first time with that fiber, as roving or yarn) makes a great sock yarn: it feels durable, but it's bouncy and sturdy. The close up scan shows the colors perfectly.

And on the spinning front- Twisted Fiberarts always sends a little sample skein or hank along with orders. I have a couple of little yarn hanks in different colorways and blends (dyed to be self-patterning on the small scale, which is totally cool), and this is my second little roving sample hank. It's Circle, a colorway that I love- bright blue, green and purple. The fiber is Lively (superwash merino) and it spins like buttah. This little skein is 15 yds of 3-ply, and I will probably knit a teeny little sock with it for a Christmas ornament, or a package tie-on.

On the wheel at the moment- Twisted Fiberarts Sherwood Sleek roving. Sherwood is a fantastic colorway of greens with bits of pink, blue, purple, coral, and charcoal. The Sherwood yarns are self-patterning, and the roving is dyed in the same colors, though not at a regular repeat. This fiber blend is merino/tencel, and you can see in the pic how shiny it is- like silk or kid mohair. It's beautifully dyed and prepared, and I am spinning it very fine. I haven't decided whether to 2-ply it for lace, or 3-ply it for something else (it doesn't feel right for socks- it's very slippery). This blend is not for beginning spinners- it's easy to overspin (I have a couple of corkscrews on the bobbin), and the fibers are fly-away (and they always fly right to my mouth). But it's gorgeous, and the yarn is going to be beautiful.

More Stashy Enhancement

Though my spinning passion lately has been for hand-dyed rovings, my heart still thumps a bit over natural wool colors. This multi-colored Shetland roving came from Shunklies, in England (link in Stash Enhancers). I've never spun Shetland and am looking forward to trying this. Shetland wool is theoretically very *grabby* and it's the traditional yarn used in Fair Isle Sweaters. Also theoretically, knitters cut steeks in Shetland wool without reinforcing them and the steeks don't ravel. I don't intend to put that theory to the test.

Yummy Yarns (from BC, Canada- link in Stash Enhancers) came through again- I don't think I've seen a single one of their dyed rovings that I don't want. These 3 new ones are totally gorgeous- there's Ianto, which is dark purple Finn lamb (oh so soft); Juice Glass, which is green/yellow/orange BFL; and an untitled Corriedale that is neon turquoise, pink and yellow. All are 4 oz, and all are destined for socks, or at least sock-weight yarn (Juice Glass and Neon will be spun as 3-ply self-striping, I'm not sure about Ianto. I might just 2-ply that and let the purples/blacks mix and blend randomly).

And here's a totally gratuitous shot of The Great Railing 'O Rovings. I decided that they could be displayed the same as the spun yarn. L-R: 3 from Twisted Fiber Arts, 4 from Yummy Yarns, and 2 from A Knitted Duck. I pet them every time I walk past, just like I do the yarn.

On the far left, the handspun yarns are: Yummy Yarns Patootie and green coordinating, Yummy Yarns So Far Away (on the needles already- pics tomorrow). To the right of the rovings: Spindle Spun Riot Bamboo from Butterflygirl Designs, and the natural colored cormo (the subtle color changes show up more in that shot than in any I took specifically to show the color changes).

Hydrangea

At last- handspun yarn that can actually be called laceweight (and it's more than 100 YPO!). I spun up the Hydrangea roving (lovely subtle blues, purples and greens) that I got from A Knitting Duck, as finely as I could, and then 2-plied it. The resultant yarn is 3.8 ozs and 497 yards! The blues, purples and greens blend beautifully, and the colors should dance through the lace scarf that I intend to knit with this yarn.

I am thrilled with how this yarn came out and am eagerly looking for a suitable scarf pattern (though what I should really do is figure out an original Hydrangea-looking lace repeat on my own) (in my spare time, you know). Any pattern suggestions out there?

Another thing I did while I had no internet service

I finished my Ravelry socks- knit with 3-ply handspun yarn made from Ravelry roving (in a merino/bamboo blend) from Twisted Fiberarts. I think they turned out beautifully, with nicely repeating stripes and everything. I have some yarn left over, maybe enough to knit a pair of fingerless mittens (especially if I do the cuffs in a coordinating color).

Though I only have a couple of hours in the evening for recreational fiber play, and most of that is taken up with spinning, I wound yarn for the next Cheater Socks- the So Far Away handspun yarn (3-ply, roving from Yummy Yarns) is up next. I am excited to see how this yarn knits up.

Didja miss me?

I sure missed you all. It's good to be back.

Happily, Qwest got the new modem to me a day early, and I got it hooked up and installed (I feel like such a Techie) and I'm back in business. Though I took advantage of my inability to waste time online by working on that deadline thingie that has been hanging over me for the last 6 months (I have decided that my next book is going to be One Size Fits All- no more head-exploding number crunches for days on end as I size out patterns), it was still a long slog without e-mail, or blogging (mine or all the others I read), or ebay, or Etsy, or Ravelry. And I was so disappointed to learn that Twisted Fiberarts had a pre-order while I was out of commission, and I therefore missed getting a skein of Netherfield sock yarn. Again.

On the plus side, I had ample time to discover that I will never win Spider Solitaire. And I now know that the lumberyard parking lot is the place to swipe a bit of internet access in an emergency (I'm hoping it was just rude to do that, and not actually illegal).

modem toast

i'm in the lumberyard parking lot piggy backing on their wireless. my modem burned out and a new one won't be here until wednesday! catch y'all on the flip.
we'll see if i survive that long without ebay....

Stashy Enhancement

My order from Twisted Fiberarts came yesterday! If you're any kind of a sock knitter, you need to check out the amazing, fantastic, beautiful hand-dyed, self-patterning yarns and fibers that Meg, Aggie and Anne produce. (link in Stash Enhancers section- check out the colorways link and prepare to be hypnotized)

You have to practice patience for these yarns- colorways are only available a few at a time, and a limited number of each yarn blend and color is up for grabs in any one ordering cycle, and if you don't grab nearly instantly (within a day or so of availibility), you're simply out of luck. Each order is dyed specifically for the customer, so it can take up to a month for the yarns to arrive (unless you're lucky enough to stumble across one of their unannounced Instant Gratification sales, which I was. Once).

But, oh, these yarns and fibers are worth the wait. Yesterday's package contained a skein of the Giles colorway (gold/blue/brown) Kabam (merino/bamboo) sock yarn, and a hank of Giles roving in Puffy (superfine merino); a skein of Sherwood colorway (greens/roses) in Playful (merino superwash) with a small skein of rose shades for contrast heels and toes, plus a hank of Sherwood roving in Sleek (merino/tencel- I can't wait to spin this stuff- I just want to lay down and nap on it). As with my other orders from Twisted, the yarns and fibers are beautifully dyed, and the colors are even better in person than on the monitor.

My shipment also came with a teeny little sample skein of Warlock (charcoal/purples) in Arial (a lightweight superwash merino), and a little sample hank of Circle roving in Lively (superwash merino).

The first socks I will cast on after I finish the sock book, will use Twisted yarns. I will be very interested to see how their dyed sock yarn compares to my handspun yarn in the same colorways (it'll be similar, but different enough- and I get double the pleasure: spinning the yarn, and then knitting with it).

Check them out- you'll be entranced too.

Camels and Flowers

I finished spinning and plying the Camel/Wool blend from my friend Dana. As I spun last night, I noticed some longer, straight brown fibers in the mix, which I think are llama. And I also found some straight yellow strands that I am pretty sure are mohair. So it's actually Camel/Wool/Llama/Mohair. Whatever the composition, it's gorgeous. The 2nd skein was 1.5 ozs and 168 yds (wahoo!!!! over 100 YPO!!! Finally!!!), so I have a total of 328 yds and 3.2 ozs (the 2nd skein put me over the top on YPO for the entire project) of pretty fine yarn (maybe not officially laceweight, but it's much lighter than my usual sock yarn). That's enough for a nice lace scarf. Lately, I've been drawn to lace, so I'm going to look around for more patterns (or maybe come up with one of my own from the stitch dictionaries that I have laying around everywhere).

Next up is some hand-painted domestic wool roving (my guess: Corriedale) from A Knitting Duck (link in Stash Enhancers). This subtle colorway is called Hydrangea, and she captured the perfect blue/purple blend of those flowers. I'm spinning it pretty fine, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I haven't even decided if I am going to 2 or 3 ply it, though I do know that I am not going to worry about preserving the color separation. I love the soft blending of blues, purples and greens in this roving and want the yarn to do the same.

Healthy Recipe- Spicy Chicken Dinner Salad

I dare you to eat this entire salad. The picture doesn't do it justice- trust me, it's yummy and very filling.

Spicy Chicken Dinner Salad

Serves: 4

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp chopped garlic

4 chicken breasts, cut into 1/4" slices

assorted spices

Spicy Sauce of your choice

1 bag of Salad greens (lettuce, carrots, cabbage)

1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

4 radishes, sliced thin

4 ozs Cracked Pepper Cheese, cut into small pieces

2 medium tomatoes, cut cmall

croutons

1 tbsp Lite Salad Dressing of your choice

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add chopped garlic and cook until you can smell them (you'll know when that is). Add chicken and saute 5 minutes, or until almost done. Add your spicy sauce (how much depends on how spicy you want your chicken- a tbsp of Tabasco will do the trick nicely) and whatever other seasonings you like (I always use Johnny's Salt). Simmer chicken in the spicy sauce for a couple of minutes, then turn the heat off and cover the pan. Let the chicken rest and cool while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Divide the bag of salad greens into 4 large salad bowls. Divide the sliced cucumber, radishes, and tomatoes and add to the salad bowls and stir. Sprinkle the tops of the salads with the chopped hard-boiled egg and cubed cheese.

Add 1/4 of the cooked chicken to each bowl. Top with a package serving of croutons, and the Lite salad dressing of your choice (I prefer Lite Ranch).

Calories (with dressing and croutons): 374

Carbs (with dressing and croutons): 15 gr

This is a low carb meal, so you can also serve a slice of garlic bread (depending on brand, add another 120 calories and 15 gr carb). You may want to skip the croutons if you're also serving garlic bread (the croutons are 4-6 gr carb just by themselves)

A Word From Their Sponsor- Arby's 5 Buck Roundup

The Setting: Interior, Arby's restaurant (I assume)

The Players: Young Ordinary Uniformed Girl, working behind the counter; Dweebish, Chinless 30-something Guy at the head of the line, talking into his cell phone.

The Action: Dweeby guy is blind as well as chinless, because despite the fact that he's looking directly AT the menu (and need only glance at any of the windows, where posters touting the whole promotion are doubtlessly tacked), he still asks YOUG what an Arby's 5 Buck Roundup is. She dutifully rattles the list off, item by item, which he repeats into the phone word for word (wasting easily half of the 30 seconds in repetition, though I suppose some psychologist assured them that we'd remember it better if we heard it twice).

Why The Hate: DCG selects his lunch, presumably on the order of whoever is on the other end of the cell phone, clearly and decisively flips his phone closed, and then looks directly at YOUG and says, "I love you." YOUG, instead of rolling her eyes, or calling the manager because Some Creep is making inappropriate comments, looks back at him and says, "I love you too." At which time DCG fumbles and says that he didn't really mean to say it to her.

What We Learn About Society as a Whole From This Commercial: Young counter girls secretly yearn for declarations of affection from any male, and (this is a fairly common commercial theme) males are pretty stupid.

Rating on the Hate Scale: 2 out of 2 Popcorn Chicken Shakers for $5

New Feature- commercial reviews

I miss snarking on American Idol, and there are no other reality competition shows that interest me (though I do have multiple crushes on the Alaskan Crab Fishermen and Mike Rowe). I don't miss the fixed Tuesday/Wednesday deadlines (have enough deadlines in my life right now, thank you very much), but I do enjoy writing about TV. I spend a lot of my viewing time yelling at the screen about stupid commercials, so they're a logical target. Commercials I hate. Commercials I think are funny. Commercials I love (not too many of them, alas). Commercials I just want to talk about. The posts will be titled "A Word From Their Sponsors", and tagged with the word *commercial* for easy searching. Look for commentary here at irregular intervals, and feel free to post your own thoughts.

Camel Lace

Though my recreational knitting centers around stockinette (for stockings, go figure), cables and Fair Isle, I have lately found myself intrigued by lace. Not that I have a recreational knitting life these days, but I've done a few lace socks for the book, and the fear of making intentional holes in my knitting has nearly disappeared. I've spun several sets of yarn specifically for lace knitting, and I am really looking forward to knitting for fun again (after July 11- I keep repeating to myself, after July 11). This latest yarn will make a gorgeous, light lace scarf, I think.

This is a fiber blend from my friend Dana- it has dyed wool (not sure what kind), and natural down from her camels (they call that color camel for a reason). It's more rusty than the pics look, and it's spun fine enough that it should drape beautifully. This skein is 1.7 ozs and 160 yds (still not 100yds per oz), 2-ply. I have about 1.5ozs left to spin, so I'll have around 300 yds to play with when I get done. I can't wait to get to it.

Speaking of the Stash

Look what came in the mail today! These rovings (unspecified wool breed- feels like Corriedale to me) were hand-painted by alittlequacky at The Knitting Duck (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5058318 ). The colors are fantastic, and the wool feels soft.

Lately, I've been Navajo 3-plying yarns for self-striping socks. But I might just spin and 2-ply these yarns for tweedy colors. Either way, they'll be beautiful.

Included in the package was a very cool little glass piggy stitch marker.

Wahoo!

Why I Need a Huge Stash

I finished spinning and 3-plying the Corriedale Patootie roving from Yummy Yarns. I ended up with 252 yds (and nearly 4 ozs, more than I thought I had), which is just exactly enough to knit a pair of socks for me, but not enough to feel good about it. I mentioned finding, or dyeing, some coordinating roving to spin for the ribbing, heels and toes, and I fully intended to do that until I passed by my Great Railing O'Yarn (for the future stranded sweater) and spotted a skein of already-spun yarn that is the perfect shade to go with Patootie.

This yarn is merino/silk, and it's spun more finely than the corriedale, so I will have to double the strands, or jockey the stitch numbers to knit the ribbing/heel/toe with much smaller needles and more stitches (I think I'll double-strand, that'll be so much easier).

I bought that roving at the North Country Fiber Fair a few years ago, with no specific project in mind. I knew the right one would come along when it was time. And it did.

Which is why I need that wool room, full of unused commercial yarn, full of unspun roving, full of undesignated handspun yarn. And it's why I need to go shopping for more. Right, honey?

Thursday Tab- Abbott Playroom Dolls, Baby Cut-Out Dolls 526-1

Here's another book from my Abbot 1944 Playroom Dolls Boxed Set (with 5 small uncut pd books). This book is Baby Cut-Out Dolls #526-1.

For some reason, I whitened the background on page 4 without saving the original version. I tried to bucket-fill it back in so it would match the other pages, but it didn't look right. Sorry about that.

I don't think most of the toys will fit in the toy chest, but it's a cute idea.

Click on images to enlarge, right click to save as jpgs, print from any graphics program, clothes on plain paper, covers on card stock.

Patootie-er

I love how this yarn came out- my Navajo 3-plying is slowly improving. My joins are getting better though I still have a tendency to crowd the plying at the joins, so there are often little *bunches* of twists in those spots. But overall, the yarn is smooth and even, and the color separation is nice. This yarn is Corriedale, so it's not quite as bouncy as BFL, and it's a tad heavier than the So Far Away yarn. This skein is 1.5 ozs and 82 yds, and I only have 3.5ozs of roving, so there isn't going to be enough yarn to make a pair of my usual socks when I get done (I need 250 yds of fingering weight yarn for a pair to fit my size 8 1/2 feet).

Now, I can knit a smaller pair of socks (lots of people on my gift-list with smaller feet). Or I could make socks with shorter cuffs. Or I could find (or dye) and spin some complimentary roving for ribbing, heels and toes (it would feel like cheating to use commercial yarn with the handspun). Or... and this is a revolutionary thought... I could not knit socks with it at all. I could make mittens. Or a hat. Or, well, something that doesn't cover feet. If I could remember how to knit anything but socks.

just because it makes me laugh...

Cutie Patootie

It wasn't that I got tired of spinning the Shropshire- I did spin another largish skein (3.2 ozs, 101 yds, 2-ply, worsted weight), and it came out well (just a tad darker than the first one, though that didn't show in any pics. I assume that's because the roving came from assorted sheep, not a single fleece). It's just that the Patootie roving from Yummy Yarns called to me.

Patootie is handpainted Corriedale, which is a little more coarse than the BFL rovings (also from Yummy Yarns), but still soft enough. And it's a pleasure to spin. I was able to divide the roving into equally matching color repeats (2 strips per bobbin, with the leftovers to be spun into a single small skein for toes and extras). I have already spun up a bobbin full, and it's waiting for me to 3-ply it (after I finish the sock-book work for the day).

It occurred to me that though they were dyed by different people, the Patootie roving, and the Twisted Fiberarts Ravelry roving are much the same- pink bordered by black, separated by green. The Twisted is boldly colored, and the Patootie is pastel, but they're the same theme. And I imagine that I chose both (outside of the fact that you buy whatever you can of Twisted when it's available because it's not available often) because I have always been drawn to watermelon colors- and these are definitely watermelonish. I've designed watermelon socks, watermelon sweaters, and I've spun watermelon yarns. I just like watermelon, I guess- so dyers, if you want to lure me in, mix up those pinks, corals and greens.

Dyeing Silk with Kool-Aid

A few days ago, I mentioned that I planned to spindle-spin the green and pink silk hankies that I'd gotten in a trade, and then ply both with silk from some white silk hankies that I had on hand (to extend the yardage- even as finely as I am spinning the green hankie, I'll still be lucky to get 200 yds from it)(which will add out to about 500 yds per oz, so we're talking very fine yarn here).

I didn't really want to ply the dyed silk with undyed, so I decided to dye the white silk hankies with Kool-Aid (to my Granddaughter's delight). We soaked the hankies in warm water in my plastic dye buckets (left over ice cream tubs, from back when we ate enough ice cream to have multiple tubs left over), and then added 2 packets of Kool-aid (Lemonade, and Strawberry Tea) to each bucket, along with a glug of Vinegar. The vinegar probably wasn't necessary, since Kool-Aid is plenty acidic on it's own, but it didn't hurt. I didn't care if the hankies came out mottled, so I just sprinkled the dry powder directly on the wet silk and stirred.

Then I microwaved each bucket to heat-set the dye: 2 minutes on high, 2 minutes rest, repeated 2 more times. And then we let the hankies sit in the water until they cooled completely.

Kool-Aid dye won't exhaust (the water won't clear), so there was really no way to tell when the hankies were *done*. After a couple of hours, we just dumped the cold water, and rinsed the hankies thoroughly (especially the red one- it took forever for the color to stop running, and I'm not sure I got it all out even yet because the wooden clothespins were stained when we took the hankie down).

Wet silk looks like something the cat threw up, but it regains its former sheen pretty quickly. We gently smoothed and stretched the hankies back out into their former square shape, and hung them up to dry. Within a couple of hours, they were soft and fluffy, and gorgeous. Ready to spin.

A note about dyeing: even though all of the ingredients in this dye job are edible, it's still a good idea to use only dedicated pots and utensils for any dyeing project. It's also a good idea to have a *craft* microwave that is not used for food (I have one for melt and pour soap making, that I use).

And a note about Kool-Aid: this stuff, wet or dry, will stain and dye everything it touches. Wear old clothes and gloves during this process, unless being a splotchy pink intrigues you.

Shropshire

I wracked the recesses of my mental hard drive and could not come up with a single song reference for the Shropshire wool that I am currently spinning. I got close to 1.5 lbs in a trade for some ginned cotton (the silk hankies from a couple of days ago were also part of that trade) and after spinning very fine wools (the sock rovings, and the Cormo) and threadweight silk on the spindle, it was nice to tackle something a little sturdier.

Shropshire is a Down Breed, and they're raised for both meat and wool. Down breeds are fairly common here in South Dakota (Suffolk, Hampshire), though I don't think I know anyone raising Shropshire, which was once the most common meat sheep raised in the US. The wool is short stapled (1"-3") and very crimpy and bouncy. It's not soft like Merino or Cormo, but it's not incredibly scratchy either. It spins into a lofty, bouncy yarn that is very good for outerwear. An added bonus for Down Breed wool is that it is extremely hard to felt- nigh on impossible, which means that anything I knit with this yarn should be machine washable and dryable.

The pencil roving has been nicely prepared, with very little VM (veggie matter- hay and other bits), and the wool spins easily, though I need a pretty heavy draw to pull it in. I'm spinning this yarn thicker on purpose, for a more worsted-weight yarn (mittens, hats, etc). I love the oatmeal color- I think this yarn might look very good with a cabled design. I have enough roving to make about anything I like (outside of an adult sweater), so I'll just spin for awhile, until I get tired of it, or some other roving speaks to me (or my order from Twisted Fiber Arts arrives- with 2 new sock rovings).

This first skein is 2.2 ozs and 93 yds of 2-ply yarn. It should knit up fine on size 5-7 needles.

Healthy Recipe- Desert Gardens Dips- Chive & Garlic, Jalapeno Vegetable

This is more of a recommendation than an actual recipe, since I basically made up these dips exactly as directed on the packages, though I used Lite Sour Cream, and Lite Miracle Whip rather than Mayo (yeah, I know... abomination... but Miracle Whip is the sandwich spread of my youth and I have always preferred it to real Mayo, though most of my friends cringe at the very thought).

Anyway, I found these dip mixes at the grocery store today- both from Desert Gardens ( http://www.comfortfoods.com/products.php?brand=dg ) and decided to try a couple. I chose Chive & Garlic, and Jalapeno Vegetable, and mixed them as I mentioned above, with Lite Sour Cream and Miracle Whip, chilled for a couple of hours, and then served them (in the *good* dishes, as you can see) with a plate of fresh veggies for dipping. They were a big hit- the Chive & Garlic (the bowl to the right) was light and tasty, and the Jalapeno Vegetable (on the left) had a nice bite to it.

Of course, these dips would be great with chips (if we ate chips these days, which we don't), and I suspect they'd both be really good with smoked salmon... I wish I had some smoked salmon right now.

Serving Size: 2 tbsp

Jalapeno Vegetable: 53 calories, 2 gr carb (more calories if you use real mayo and sour cream, but the same carbs)

Chive & Garlic: 40 calories, 2 gr carb (ditto on the above parenthetical note)

Neither the veggie calories nor the carbs will add up to much, but keep the totals in mind if you're doing the diabetic thing.

Doesn't Anybody Stay In One Place Any More...

(that's what happens when you spin roving called So Far Away)

So, I finished spinning and plying the So Far Away roving. This is my first time with BFL, which has long been touted as perfect sock wool. I loved spinning this roving- it was perfectly dyed, and the fiber nearly spun itself. My Navajo 3-plying is getting better, and though the yarn is (still) not 100 yds per oz, it's fairly even, and a good fingering weight for socks. I should be able to knit this up on Size 2 needles with my usual generic sock pattern (56-60 sts, 16 rnds ribbing, 6" cuff, short row heel, 6" foot, Star Toe). It should knit up in stripes of teal-y blue, yellow-y green, and butterscotch. And the 2 larger skeins should match up, stripe-wise, fairly well. The last little hank won't match the striping of the bigger ones, but it'll just be for toes if I need it.

I ended up with 3.8 ozs of yarn (started out with 4ozs- some always vanishes into the ether) and 275 yards of 3-ply yarn, which is enough for a pair of socks for me. I'll have some left over, which will go in a pile for future *crazy* socks.

The roving came from Yummy Yarns (link in Stash Enhancers), and I think she has more on hand. I am seriously eyeing her Lemongrass roving.