Sunday, January 23, 2011

Fail (and a success)

I picked up a long abandoned spindle today and spun for an hour while we listened to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on the radio.  The spindle had quite a bit of fiber already on it, but I thought I could add a bit more before winding off.

I was wrong.

The spindle was too heavy for the size of the thread.  It fell to the wood floor, bounced, and repositioned all the fiber.  I tried to make repairs, but finally gave up.  I took it to the ball winder to try to wind it off, but gave up.  I pulled the yarn off the spindle, admired it, frowned a bit, and gave it a toss in the trash.  

It was pretty, though, wasn't it?



Paul and I were able to go out for some snowshoeing.  
(Girl of the House, who spent the past two days at ski meets, declined the opportunity for more outdoor time.)



We found a den in the pasture.  
Coyote?  Fox?  Anyone know the distinguishing characteristics?
I love the indentation in the snow where the critter lay and soaked up the sun.



We'll keep an eye on it and see what we can determine.

And a success!



Hedgehog mittens from a kit by Morehouse Merino.  
Very putzy knitting, but definitely the way to a 15 year old's heart.


3 comments:

Rani said...

Wow. That spinning debacle says a lot about your calm energy. I think I would have done the same. No use crying over spilled milk, eh?

Darling mittens.

Patti from Far, WV said...

I'm making the same hedgehog mittens. Did you also find them to be loose around the wrist? What size did you make and for what age? Would you make them smaller next time? I'm about to rip them out for the third time and make them smaller to fit my 26 year old daughter!

Tonyia said...

Patti,

Looking back and counting stitches, I must have made the adult medium size for my 15 year old daughter. We both have fairly large hands, though. I had the correct pattern gauge. I counted, I have 36 rows of quills from bottom to top. Maybe a few less rows (2 or 3 rows) would make them a little less long. My daughter can get her fingers into the head area pretty easily, to make it move like a puppet. But a few less rows would make it easier. The wrist isn't tight, but I wouldn't say they were loose. I can stick a finger in there pretty easily whle she has them on, without stretching out the mitten cuff.

Hope this helps?!
Tonyia