Spinning in the Dark

 Last night we had a rather wicked monsoon storm.  Over 32,000 homes and businesses in Tucson lost power.  A special thank you needs to go out to all he crews and staff of Tucson Electric Power Company who cut their weekend short to work through the night to get the power restored to the greater Pima County area.  There were still pockets of power outages this morning.  However the vast majority of businesses and homes had their power restored.  

Now it’s the turn of the cable companies, phone companies and data processors to fix their end of their share of the damage so businesses can run smoothly again.  I know that this will involve replacing some electronic equipment and rebooting other equipment.  This always takes longer.  

What we were doing during all of this.  We were out to dinner when the storm hit.  I just watched the very heavy rains while eating dinner.  It was not until we got closer to home that we saw and had to drive around tree branches that had snapped off of the trees. When we got to the house we realized we had lost power when we couldn’t open the garage door.  

John got all the flashlights ready.  He even had one that was powered off a drill battery.  It was too dark to knit because all of my projects are currently using dark yarn.  So I took my flashlight and grabbed a bowl of spinning.  We moved to the back yard to cool off.  The backyard was cooler than the house. I managed to spin almost 3 rolags in the dark.  I was using one of my Golding drop spindles.  I would highly recommend this spindle for spinning in the dark. The grove can be felt by finger tip. It’s very well balanced. The hook is very easily managed in the dark. Below is a picture of last nights spinning.  For a very low light spin, I am happy with the results.

A Side Effect of Looking for Craft Supplies

 I found another UFO today. This one was a coaster project. One of the two coasters was halfway done. I finished the one that was halfway done and started the second coaster aka mud rug. I am using hand spun yarn made on one of my drop spindles. Finding the UFO was unintentional, what I was really looking for was a Navajo weaving needle that was between eight and 10 inches long. Obviously I did not find the weaving needle. I don’t think I have one.

Since I will not be going to any more yarn festivals this year I hope to source one or 2 Navajo weaving needles on line. Wish me luck.  If you know a source, please let me know  

I have found that weaving during the day makes knitting easier at night. Did you know that weaving uses more yarn than knitting. To my family that must be a plus. Another plus is that if you would like a unique one of a kind gift for the holidays I will be selling the pair as I have all the coasters I need in the house. They are made from wool which will help absorb moisture. The pair will sell for $25.00 which includes postage in the United States. After I finish weaving the second one, I will wash them in hot soapy water to set the weaving. Then they will be trimmed. And ready to go. Email me if you would like them.  Then I will mark them pending until payment is received. 

A Crazy Lady

It is the beginning of February, you would think that I could leave something like a drop spindle in my car. Not today, it was in the mid 70's so the closed car would be in the mid 90's, much to hot to leave my spinning equipment in the car. Wood tends to warp in the heat, and it does not take much heat to wreck a spindle or a spinning wheel.

So when I went into the stores to do my errands my drop spindle bag went with me. I always tell someone on staff what the bag is full of and offer it up for inspection if they want. At Target I ran into a fellow spinner who like my roving. At the office supply store the cashier thought I was a little on the harmless crazy side to care so much about a "silly" piece of wood.

In other news the band aide's came off my hand today. My right hand is still stiff and swollen. I am trying to move my hand a little more each day. I also think it is time to start rubbing lotion into the scars and break up any scar tissue that is forming. This is a months long endeavor as I recall.

As my hand is healing I am getting a little more energy. So hopefully I can get the things done that I put on hold before the hand surgery. I think I will start with the dinning room table. Then move to the kitchen counter.

Day 2

Today is day 2 of no knitting and both hands in splints. This is the result of the flare up.  The positive of this is that my hands are doing better. I can actually feel them tonight. I also got caught up on errands. Cleaned and organized 2 shelves of the computer desk, which resulted in a full basket of recycling. Organized some Old Pueblo Knitting Guild paperwork. I also walked over 10,000 steps today. This does not mean that I am not yearning to get my hands back on the knitting needles, but I know that I have to wait until my hands feel better. This is the really hard part. I like instant gratification.

Tomorrow the 10 bags of yarn and knitting needles that were donated to the Guild will leave the house. Hopefully not much will come back. Afterwards I also get to teach someone how to use a drop spindle over at Grandma's Spinning Wheel on Tanque Verde. I am so excited.

It is time to call it a night. I have another busy day tomorrow.

A Day in Pictures