So last night I dug out some wool that I got last year on ebay when I was a new spinner. It was "raw wool" which means it hasn't been washed. It still smells like...sheep. And sheep that need a bath!

I followed some instructions for washing wool from one of my books and have now washed several double-handfuls of wool. It's a lot more fun than I expected - it's greatly satisfying to see all the lanolin and muck (mostly vegetable matter) go away and leave black and white wool behind. Martin has been very kind to let me take over the bathtub for doing this all weekend - though I'm washing the wool in plastic tubs within the bathtub, so they can be moved when necessary.

In other news - my brother Chris and I just successfully tested out Skype! We talked for about 50 minutes for free, with very minimal amounts of dropped audio and no real echo to speak of. I was very pleased and I think he was as well.

And - today is our annivesary! I will try posting a photo of our anniversary dinner. We like to go travel for our anniversary but since I'm in the middle of ILR I haven't got my passport. So we went to a local Japanese restaurant:



Oishikatta desu!

It's Friday afternoon, our anniversary is tomorrow, and Martin and I are both over our colds! Yay!

And this weekend I plan to reacquaint myself with my spinning wheel, and possibly with my sewing machine too. it's been making small noises of loneliness over in the corner of the dining room.

The last time I got sick was the flu in November. It coincided with a long weekend trip down in Dorset. I spent about four days on the sofa - not exactly what I had planned for my days off.

Last weekend I got sick again, and didn't get to do any fun stuff over the weekend. I really should have stayed off work a bit this week to recover but there was too much going on that I couldn't miss - special events, evening class, an extensive eye test at the work clinic, and tomorrow I'm teaching some tutorials. I feel like I got cheated out of my weekend though - I want another one please!

Last night Martin got whatever it is I've got. We had thought that he had already had it last week in a milder form, but apparently not. He's off sick today. I'm slowly on the road to recovery so fortunately I will be able to take care of him. (We always try to stagger our illnesses.) We were talking about this timing thing last night, as this is twice now since November that I got ill on a weekend and he got ill the following week, resulting in him staying home from work. He says he's got the timing down better than I do.

Other news - on the 2nd we have our 2-year wedding anniversary, and both my grandma and my great-aunt have a birthday - there's a party in New York but I can't go. And next month I am taking a class to learn how to knit socks! I think that will be a really cool thing to know how to do.

So I've recently been doing lots of online shopping - mostly because I hardly do any in-person shopping these days. (The vast majority of my local shops either sell mobile phones or clothes - neither of which are big-ticket items with me!) I thought I'd take a moment to inform my "reading public" of some of the lesser-known items that I have come across lately and really like.

Comfort Saddle - This is a special bike seat that is designed to be much more comfortable. It's true! I'm still getting used to it but it was definitely a good buy for me. http://www.comfortsaddle.com/

Woolee Winder - One of my all time favourite craft items. This is a special attachment for a spinning wheel that makes it easier to spin. http://www.thewooleewinder.com

UK Counties jigsaw puzzle - I feel like I'm in first grade again, trying to learn my geography. There are over 80 UK counties and I only know where a handful of them are. But with the help of my new "tray" jigsaw puzzle I am learning them relatively quickly! http://www.queenswoodpuzzles.co.uk/misc/counties.htm

The OWL - This is a very nifty device that tracks how much electricity you are using. A similar thing exists for Americans on Thinkgeek. http://www.theowl.com/

Cat Mood Necklace - Inexpensive and lots of fun. A colour changing cat necklace! http://www.thecatgallery.co.uk/acatalog/Jewellery_Accessories_Other_Jewellery.html

Zoom H2 Handy Recorder - The next step in technology after my minidisc recorder. This little unit has multiple built-in microphones and records directly to mp3 or wav file. It's fantastic for recording live music! http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/

Crochet Lite crochet hooks - light up crochet hooks! Yippee! I like things that light up. Here's a random place to get them: http://craftdesigns4you.com/supplyshop2.htm

I was hoping to spend less money for a few months...doesn't look like it's working! I'll have to get more things listed on eBay and Etsy (avanutria.etsy.com) to compensate.

I love my spinning wheel.

Last night Martin was at his Morris dancing group so I spent some time upstairs with my spinning wheel. I had mostly-filled a bobbin over the weekend with some multicoloured wool and was working on a bobbin of white wool to ply it with.

As I was working I glanced at my four bobbins: one about 3/4 full of grey Jacob wool from my last project, one mostly-full of multicoloured wool, the bobbin of white that I was working on, and a bobbin about 1/3 full of mixed green and white merino from a few months back - I had been practicing with those colours.

I realised that without any empty bobbins, I wouldn't be able to ply my multi-and-white mix. But I didn't have anything else that would be suitable for plying together. Then...inspiration struck! I pulled out one of my spinning books and looked up the instructions for "Navajo Plying"

Navajo plying is cool. You can make a three ply yarn from one strand - normally you need three strands for that, and I haven't done three strand plying yet. (My Woolee Winder bobbins don't fit on my Lazy Kate, unfortunately.) I gave it a try last night with the practice bobbin. It was fun, and surprisingly effective! Unfortunately as I was getting toward the end of the bobbin (and thus my earliest attempts) there wasn't enough twist in the yarn and it started to come apart before I could ply it. Oh well - it was still fun!