Zwool, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways!

Three-way swirl, colored Corriedale x and white Corriedale from my sister-in-law. The white fiber seems to form a glowing halo around the darker fiber, and it looks like the swirl was random, so as I spin up the roving, the yarn will change color. Oh this'll be so fun!

This is so good, let's see it in detail! It's just amazing! I didn't realize that they would blend it like this - I just figured they'd dump it all in at once, so this is thrilling for me. (And yes, I am easily amused.)

Scoured Shetland - I've had this laying around for a while, and I needed it scoured. There are burrs and grass in it, but I can hand pick it out. I figured the mill wouldn't want to take time to do that, and I really didn't want the VM crap evenly distributed throughout the fleece. (Just an observation: they must have some huge washers out there in Michigan. This is the contiguous fleece, not the small handfuls I can do at one time.)

A-may-Zing! Romney roving - I love this so much I've even bird's nested some already! This is more fiber I've had around for a while - purchased directly (via the Internet) from the shepherdess. It had some grass in it, and I just didn't want to deal with the aggravation of scouring and hand-picking it, so off it went to the mill.

But lest we forget our humility, please observe the bag of Shetland. What do you see? Let me zoom in for you.

Yes, condensation! Living in the air conditioned paradise I call my family room, I forget that, when you take a plastic bag of dark fiber into the hot sun, water condenses on the inside of the bag. Why is this bad? Mold, felting, and just plain skanky smell. I'm smarter now, and might even remember that at some point.

I dumped the fiber and am now airing out the bags in the kitchen and the sheep fiber is hangin’ with the mohair.

This is why we need to remodel and clean out the garage. If we had a patio room, I could spin there. If the garage were cleaned out, I could move crap from my office into the garage and move my craft stuff into the office. (Heck, it’s supposed to be a home office, why is it not holding the home business?) I could then clean out the dining room of craft stuff and consolidate in the newly refurbished office (just needs stuff that’s not mine removed and some rearranging). I have this fantasy that, if we can clean up and do the remodeling we’d planned at the beginning of the year (before we both though we were going to lose our jobs and before I caught every cootie on the planet), I’d have more space. Only time, and the completed remodeling, will tell.

I think John may be at the brink of approving the bathroom redo - it'll have to be done after we get back from Oregon (he has to take vacation, we have an unused trip to take, and I really like Oregon) and before we go to the UK. It’ll be nice to have a shower I can clean and sinks that operate properly. Since we’re well in to this rant here’s my list of “wanna have done:”

• Solid surface in kitchen
• New oven/stove (aluminum)
• New kitchen sink (aluminum) and snazzy faucet
• Patio room on back of house
• Solid surfaces in master bath
• Redo master shower
• New sinks/faucets in master bath
• Paint trim on house

The longer we wait, the more stuff ends up on the list. Well, that’s part of the joy of home ownership – in for a penny, in for a pound… of flesh!