IndigoMuse Knits

Monday, May 09, 2005

Ssssomebody Ssstop Me

So I couldn't go to Maryland for that which will remain nameless. I sent Zira and am eagerly awaiting her report. Instead of stewing in the juices of my own resentment, I went insane with a newfound addiction - FLEECE. I've bought five fleeces and am bidding on another on Ebay. I can't help myself. I'm totally in LOVE with the process. I call it the "Cinderella factor". You transform these sometimes dirty, smelly, greasy blobs of fluff into the most beautiful, gossamer beings. However, my obsession was put into check by my darling husband last night while he watched me cleaning the third of the five fleeces that had just arrived in the mail. Excerpt from our conversation...

DH: You know, there are these places and I know we don't really have one here in Salem but they have them in Richmond and Virginia Beach. Maybe you've heard of them. They're called YARN shops. And you're not going to believe it but they carry wool in the form of yarn that's already been washed, spun, and even the twist has been set (he was showing off his newly aquired fiber knowledge of the process). I can take you there and buy you some. We really CAN afford it."

IM: (not looking up as I admired just how soft the newly washed Corriedale was) Uh huh. So what's your point?

DH: Do you do this because you can't afford to buy yarn?

IM: No.

DH: Why play with gammy, dirty wool then?

IM: Because the pleasure is in the process.

DH: Hmpf.

IM: Its sorta like with you there are these places where you can take the cars and have them washed, vacuumed and dried in a matter of a few minutes instead of several hours (which is his weird hobby as of late).

DH: (smiling and changing the subject) So what was the last knitting or spinning project that you actually finished? When are you going to finish my vest?

IM: Doh!!!!

Good point, touche. I haven't finished too much of anything. I have serious fiber ADD. I have knitting knick knacks all over the living room floor (its a wasted room in my opinion since no one uses it) AND all over the place in my still unfinished knitting ashram. There's dirty fleece sunning on the family room floor and clean fleece drying on the kitchen counter. Rogue and the DH sweater have yet to be completed (no use rushing since fall is several months away) and several felted projects are scattered in bags. I need some serious fiber focus. It doesn't help to read about all of your fiberexploits from this past weekend. And it also doesn't help knowing that my grant funded position might be up in a few weeks. I'm stashing now for potentially leaner times. Or so I keep telling myself. Boogie explained my addiction best in her latest post. I'm a junkie too. Sign me up for a little of each please.

Here's a little sample of what I've been playing with. The photos don't really show the fawn color of this beautiful corriedale. It really isn't that dirty or greasy and just needed a light wash.

Raw fleece and some sorted batches that were waiting to be washed:
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Close up of the crimp on the fleece
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Washed, dried and a few combed locks (the gray swatch is from another corriedale fleece that I played with over the weekend).

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Don't I sound like I know what I'm doing. I'm sure that I've botched the lingo or didn't explain something properly. Anyhoo, I'll have a ton of corriedale that I now need to decide what to do with. I love to felt with it (which is originally why I bought it) but am unsure if I can do that to it. For now, I'm content to just play with it :)

For those of you who went to that which will remain nameless this weekend, Zira was in the trusty company of dear Heather and her sister Kelly. Thanks again for letting her tag along. I've seen a couple of Zira sightings in blogland but no official submissions to the contest. If you've seen her out there or have photos, email me your links so that I can start posting them. Have a wonderful week and enjoy the beauty that is spring!

9 comments:

Colette said...

I met Zira on the grass - she was quite lovely and seemed to be having lots of fun!

Shannon said...

I utterly understand! and Corriedale is my all-time favorite! :)

Anonymous said...

You'd better be careful what you post or you'll have some competition on those ebay fleeces! Just kidding... at least for now. Spinning up already prepared rovings is about all I can handle for now, but I'll get there, hopefully. I can totally see myself in your situation with fleece drying in every corner of the house.

Anonymous said...

Tanya...Zira is even more adorable in person. She took a liking to me & wanted to come home with me for a couple of days...but she knew you would be sad. :-)
I loveved her outfit & her nave ring. I showed her mine!

Anonymous said...

Hi - you've already seen my pic with Zira on my blog - can I be considered officially entered in the contest now?

Anonymous said...

hi!! just wanted to drop you a line and tell you that Zira showed up on my blog!!! That girl gets AROUND! She's soo cute and her outfit was ADORABLE!!!

:)Lara
http://knit.vibegrrl.com

Anonymous said...

I couldn't stop you -- I have the same condition!!! I have fiber ADD too, and 12 projects on needles at any given time, and bags of fleece and yarn hidden in every cabinet and closet in the house. We're about to move, and I lose a studio in the new house -- which means the sheer volume of my addiction inventory is going to be made known. Friends will be moving us, and they will see the full extent of my problem... My husband will have grounds for challenging my ability to ever buy yarn or prepped fiber or fleece ever again, and I'm still young!!! There is still so much yummy stuff out there to be had!

Gail said...

Love the monkey on your blog.

I haven't been seduced by the fleece yet, or the need to spin. Hopefully it won't happen because I don't need any more stashes to hide.

Iraitzaldi said...

Good blog post