Monday, February 12, 2007

Mmmm, so warm....

Pics of palm trees later, when I've dug out my camera. Yes, palm trees in Texas. There's a lot of stuff this Michigander doesn't know, and that's one of them. Palm trees? Florida or Hawaii to me. Now I'll probably find out that there aren't any in Hawaii, right? Oh, wait. There are. 'Kay. We brought warmish clothes, at the advice of one of the husband's local contacts, but lemme tell ya, 69 degrees is not cold. When we left Michigan, it was 15. We are very happy here!
Just before I left, my brother brought in the nicest box from the mailbox. All you people who wait for the mailman? We have a large mailbox. I didn't know I had a present out there! Amanda from BlackCats Handspun and Fiber had sent me an email asking what kind of fiber I liked to spin. I don't even know enough to know what to suggest, but then she sent me a huge box of roving!!!! I wrote on sticky notes what they all were, but I left those notes at home, so I shall have to do my best here! There is some beautiful merino, hand-dyed and handpainted, one from an online shop she bought at, and I'll include that name later. She painted the purple and pink roving, and sells her beautiful painted roving on her Etsy shop, tala.etsy.com. I'm so impressed with her entrepreneurship, and she does a beautiful job! Go check her out, ay? I'll wait...


She also sent baby alpaca wool, which was so. soft. I made everyone in the house handle it, along with the angora (a/k/a bunny magic), which I am so in love with I'm afraid to spin with it. I know I'll wreck it, and I don't know right now how to combine it with another fiber, so I'm waiting for more skill to fall upon me. There were silky pieces, and an awesome blend, which is the grey, neon green and black one. It is so cool.

The nice blue piece is a kind which has extra long strands, for easy spinning, and a sparkly substance in it, but I can't remember the particulars =(. I'll have so much to blog about when I find those notes. For now, I'm spinning the pale beige, pink and a tad green one. My singles this time are really thin, because I'm finding they really poof up on washing!! So when I think I'm spinning a nice worsted with the green wool, I'm actually spinning a bulky. Alarming!



Thank you all for the nice wishes on the trip. I'm looking forward to the day! The time change is a bit different here, as the infant got up at 3:00 a.m. and the other kiddies at 4:00. We'll be laying down for a nap later =) For now, breakfast at the "breakfast room" downstairs. Thanks to the husband's boss, big time! Our room has a living area, with microwave, fridge, t.v., couch, chair, the desk the husband and I are computer-ing at, then a bathroom, then a bedroom with two doubles. I'm in heaven here. Not to give too much financial info, but we don't get to take these sorts of vacations usually, what with three kids and me being a stay-at-home mom. So yay for the fam! More later, when we've been out enjoying the weather and searching for an accent. So far, haven't heard one. We're just above the border of Mexico, but they didn't know what a taco pizza was last night when we tried ordering one. See? Who knew taco pizza was a Northern Michigan regional delight? =)

Hey, found the camera! Singles, small as I can make without breaking them....

4 comments:

Tala said...

Oooooh! I'm so glad you got the box before you left! I literally didn't have enough money on me at the post office to ship your package priority, and when I heard you were going on your trip, I figured parcel post wouldn't get to you before you left! So I'm thrilled you got it! And I'm glad you like everything! Have fun on the rest of your trip, and have fun spinning!

Tala said...

Thanks for the compliments on the yarn (and letting me know my master plan for converting people into "spin junkies" one oz. of angora at a time is working!) It's a bulky, slightly thick n' thin yarn and it's going to yarnrescue.com for sale (as soon as she gets a minute to post them!)

AR said...

Sounds like you're having fun! It was 8 when I took the kids to school this morning!!

You're spinning so well! You're going to have to give me lessons, because I don't think I'm doing it right.

Miri Mack said...

Wow, what great roving. I'm nothing of a spinner, so I don't really know about the difficulty of different animal fibers, but I comepletely agree about the beauty of the angora. It's gorgeous. And palm trees would certainly be a gorgeous site now, too!