And then it was bedtime . . .

I was so good yesterday! I went to Weight Watchers and finally broke the plateau. After five weeks of good behavior and one week with no loss, I have finally broken the ten pound barrier. I was ready to start stripping to the skin if I didn't show ANY loss yesterday. Luckily it didn't come to that. Just shoes and sweater. And I went to the bathroom just before I left the house and went in without belt or earrings or makeup . . . Well, it WORKED!




Then I spent the rest of the day with my able assistants -















Transforming a pound of this,(Home cleaned, comercially carded roving, home-dyed with Rit)










into a pound of this. Yes, I know it looks like pony poop. I was too busy to take these balls of dark navy yarn outside to show them off properly. A pile of these little balls of singles looks like the residue of a Shetland left in the middle of the woad.












to this.

You know. this picture really sucks. Brief pause while I do better.









There we go! Since I hadn't managed to scour it well before I sent it in for carding (I had TWENTY FIVE fleeces for crying in the sink! You get BORED washing that much greasy wool!) it didn't take the dye very well. I took the 2 plied skeins into the bathtub with me for a through shampooing, and came out with slightly blue buttocks from the excess dye that came out. With my elfin charms, I guess you could call me a Pictsie. (Thanks to Terry Pratchett for the pun)

I think this yarn wants to be a rustic cable sweater. (For a child. Once we got rid of the excess dye and grease and grass and dead bugs, and short-cut neeps and noils, there is about 3/4 of a pound of material to work with. I learned to assess my materials by the poundage method back before Red Heart was putting yardage on the lables. I'm still stuck in looking for a pound of yarn to make an adult long-sleeved sweater.)

I always put at least one hugs and kisses cable into my cable-knit sweaters. And a panel of ribbing under the arms for fudge factor to help with the fit. After that, who knows?

I ended the day, knitting on the baby Surprise sweater and watching Dancing with the Stars - one of my guilty pleasures. Oddly enough, I find myself rooting for Billy Ray Cyrus, even though his dancing is a trainwreck and I'm not into Country Music. He just tries so hard! Laila Ali, Apollo Anton Ono, and Joey Fatone (of In Sync) are much better, technically, and they are a delight to watch. But Billy Ray is Everyman giving it his best shot with earnest good cheer. Go, Billy Ray!



As long as I was out in the backyard in my robe and slippers just now, I grabbed a chance to snap a shot of my new scented geraniums. Pepermint, rose and chocolate. Good luck to them! They're too delicate to winter over, so in the fall I harvest and dry the leaves. I also dry the petals of every rose that blooms on the property, and with a drop of scented oil and a handful of lavendar, it makes nice potpourri. (And it also makes great magic packing material for fragile objects. An estate-sale cup packed in fragrant dried rose-petals makes a rather wonderful Christmas gift for a young lady.)