T.G.I.F.

Happy Friday Everyone!!!! Now I don’t want to jinx it, but they are actually predicting good weather here this weekend!!! So very exciting!

Last night I went to the spinning group at Mind’s Eye, we had a blast! Such a fun group, If your not there you are definitely missing out! Unfortunately, when I got home I found that DH hadn’t put the A/C in the window while he was home during the day! Yuck!! So even though it had cooled off outside the inside what terribly hot and stuffy! Thank goodness the downstairs neighbor was around! He came to my rescue by carrying in and installing the A/C for me, at 10:00 pm no less! Thanks to him I was actually able to get some much needed sleep last night!

Tonight we are headed to a friend’s house for DH’s god-daughter’s High School Graduation party. We haven’t seen them for a while so it will be nice to visit and catch up. Saturday we will be doing the usual errands and what not in the morning and then we are meeting friends at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the afternoon. This truely is one of my favorite places anywhere. I just love the calm, cool atmosphere and the beautiful garden, not to mention all the fabulous works of art to be seen everywhere in the place. If you have never been, I highly recommend it! After that we are headed to their place for dinner, which I’m sure will be lovely as they are wonderful friends and great hosts. Sunday I’m planning to get some knitting done, a bit of cleaning around the house, the ususal laundry etc. and perhaps even some spinning! If we can get the yard mowed (currently standing hay, much to the delight of the bunnies) I might even take the wheel out there and work on it! Hmm, some homemade ice tea, let the bunnies out for a run and work on the jacob fleece I’m spinning . . . this is sounding better and better!

On the knitting front:

The purple purse to match the tank top has escaped from my head and onto the needles. I’m thinking of keeping it simple, just a rectangle with a triangular flap and a button or something to hold it and an i-cord strap.

Secret project part 2 is coming along nicely, I love the texture of the yarn so that makes it easier to pick up even in this heat . . . . I’m not rushing too much since it will be too warm to really use it for a few weeks yet . . . but I’ll keep you posted.

I want to start on the blue top listed at right, but I’m hoping to spend some time working on that purple shawl first. I’d like to get that finished off before I start another bigger projects. If I can stick with it and get that done, then I can do something new and then I can take out something else from the UFO pile . . . my plan is to alternate if possible between the UFOs and the new ideas so that maybe the UFO pile will shrink. I also really want to start on the holiday projects. I’ve started getting some ideas but I need to get a few done if there is any hope of it happening in time. I know I can’t be the only one who waits till September and then doesn’ t have things finished. How many of you have given someone a ball of yarn wrapped up nicely for Christmas? I really hope not to be doing that this year! We’ll see!

I haven’t picked up Marianna’s socks for a while now. I only have 1 heel and a cuff to go (they are toe-up) but I just can’t seem to knuckle down and finish them. Maybe this weekend I’ll find an hour to finish them off. Not that she will be able to wear them in this heat, but it would be nice to finish them while they have a chance at still fitting!

Silkworm UPDATE:

We are nearing the end of the spinning! There are only a few dozen worms left to go as of this morning and I expect a number of them will start today. I’ve been choosing cocoons to let hatch for breeding next year’s stock; I started with the earliest spinners (definitely want the ones that go first!) and have chosen a number of the largest cocoons from the rest of them. Those are now housed in the same aquarium while we wait for them to “hatch” and the remaining worms are in the cardboard things from soda cases. I’ve given them an number of egg carton bottoms to spin on and that seems to be working well. I do have to “pick” the started cocoons out once a day so that we make room for the rest to start. Those are just placed in a basket for now. I’ve figured out how to tell when they are done spinning with out “candling” every single one with the flashlight. Once they start to change to a moth, if you pick up and gently rattle the cocoon just a bit you can hear if they are “rattling” around inside at which point you know they have started to change and you now have as much silk as you will get from that worm. I am still considering letting the rest hatch just to avoid the picking dead bugs out of silk thing (esp. since I haven’t finished the ones I started the other night which are now in a ziplock in the fridge, add that to the list for this weekend ;)

Okay, off to work, lots to do today! Have a great weekend everyone!