One Crazy Fiber Lady

Re-entry was tough.  There’s no getting around that.  Didn’t help that it snowed within the first week back and we won’t even talk about what happened this week!  All I can say is thank goodness for being able to work remotely.  Ugh.  The kids might be relieved to go back to school tomorrow as they get out of the trash the room/clean it cycle.   They are currently cleaning their rooms under threat of garbage pail currently.

I had a couple of inquiries into the status of the foot.  It is much better.  I think partially because it had time to heal, but also because I’ve chosen to ignore it.  Didn’t have much of an option on the cruise as our cabin was way in the bow of the boat and everything else was way in the stern.  There was a 1000ft walk to get just about anything. I wore sneakers and just took it easy.  The hardest walking was on the beach, but it was a worthy suffering We’re back to the point where the old right ankle is the more painful, so yes, life is back to normal now.

Yesterday, while the kids did this:

I played with this:

This is my new-to-me Baby Wolf!  I sold my LeClerc and used the proceeds to buy it from a friend (who was selling it to finance a brandy new 8H BW).  I got it last weekend and was finally able to play with it yesterday.  She’d left it warped so I could play immediately. How awesome is that???  I love it.  It has the Wolf Trap and the Stroller, so I’m  a happy camper.  I can keep busy for a long time with 4 harnesses.  I might pick up a small 8H table loom for those times when I want to do something more complex, but that can wait a bit.

When I was finished weaving, no I didn’t warp it for more.  I’m waiting for the warping reel I ordered to arrive, as well as a couple other doodads, I went back to spinning.  I’m in two spin-a-longs right now, so I have to get busy.  First up on the Schacht is fiber from Zarzuela Fibers that will be knit into a shawlette.  This is some superwash in “Purple People Eater” colorway:

I have one bobbin done and the second well underway.

In another project, for the Into the Whirled SAL, I’m working this yummy merino into a true three ply on the CPW.  Here’s bobbin 1:

Having only one bobbin is a bit challenging.  Now I’m really glad I bought that electric bobbin winder (which I used earlier in the day to wind my paper bobbins for weaving)!  I have a surplus of Kromski bobbins with 5 regular and a bunch of WW version.  I unwound this CPW bobbin onto a Kromski in no time with the electric winder.  It was awesome.  I finished up the second of three and am halfway through the third.  The CPW likes to spin FINE.

Work has been INSANE for me since getting back.  Shortly before the cruise, we had a little team re-alignment in the development group.  The five developers were split into two teams. Three were put on the User Story team which meant they worked on tasks towards adding new features to the software.  The remaining two were put on a Maintenance Team, to support customer service and fixing defects.  Lets just say I’m not writing new stuff.  I’m hunting and killing defects.  The split should be for the next 6 months to a year.  Could be worse.  It’s a less glamorous spot, but I’ve done worse.

My greatest frustration was that the other person on the team with me was terribly unhappy.  He was a software architect type person and miserable in the less glam role.  In many ways, he made my job harder.   On Tuesday, we had a company re-org. Several people were let go.  My Maintenance Team partner was one of them.  That leaves me as the only developer doing maintenance work.  To say I’ve been busy is a bit of an understatement!  My boss, when he sat me down right after my partner was let go, explained to me what was happening before I heard it on the street, so to speak.  Then he outlined what he saw coming down the maintenance pike.  It won’t be all defect work, but some smaller development projects geared towards empowering client services and customer support to do more things on their own and freeing me up from tasks that don’t really require a developer to do.  I’m content with that.

Off to play some Wii with the boy.

Craft on!

Where to begin?  It feels almost surreal to be sitting in my room again, computer with internet access near at hand, after 9 nights at sea.  Wow.  I figure I’ll give you a day by day run down of the trip.

Day 1 – Friday Feb 5th:  Departure day.  We left from Port Liberty, also known as Bayonne, NJ, on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas.  We had a family cabin in the bow of the ship, right below the bridge.  While this was a great spot for the view, it did have its dark side.  Here’s the view as we left NY harbor.

Day 2 – Sat Feb 6th:  At sea.   I don’t remember much of Saturday.  Unfortunately we sailed through the storm that pounded the east coast with snow.  This translated to 20ft seas and winds of up to 100mph.  I awoke in the middle of the night with the boat pitching rather violently in my mind.  There is where being in the bow totally sucked.  In the middle you get rocking and rolling, but not the up/down.  Blech.  I got sick.  Quite a few times.  Alex joined me for some joint sessions in the bathroom.  We skipped breakfast and headed for the Medical Bay where i got a shot for the nausea and Alex was given some benadryl.  The two of us slept off the rest of the day.  Kat spent the day with the folks who took her off for her first onboard show, which she loved!

Day 3 – Sun Feb 7th:  At sea.  The combination of lots of sleep and calmer seas made for a much better day for all of us.  The kids spent some time during the morning at the Adventure Ocean day camp until my father picked them up early as he was missing them.  He then took them in the kids pool in the aft section of the ship.  Kat was too short for the slide, so he went with her.  Poor little monkey.  Mom and I deemed it too cold yet to so we watched  In general, it was a quiet, relaxing day on board.

Day 4 – Mon Feb 8th:  4pm arrival – San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Monday was the first really warm day of the trip.  After breakfast, we joined the 0ther 3000 or so passengers on the pool deck.  I went with the kids on the slide and spent some time relishing the warmth.   We had lunch at the onboard Johnny Rockets.

I also did a little shopping on the boat and bought myself a new camera.  The poor little Elph had been showing some signs of age and I’d been considering replacing her.  I picked up an Olympus FE-5020 in the lovely purple color.  Being on the trip gave me a good chance to use it as at 4pm, we pulled into our first port of call, San Juan.  This was the view of the port area from our cabin.

We hired a cab for a trip out to el Morro, where I got to play with the new toy

And a rare shot of me…

I’ve been to San Juan before, but only very briefly to board the ship for my honeymoon cruise.  We never saw any of the island and certainly not el Morro.  It really is beautiful.  We did a little shopping, making stops at Radio Shack to replace the forgotten charger for the DS, and Del Sol for some color changing t-shirts.  This was a brief stop and the ship pulled out at 11 that night.  We were back long before that at 8 for a late dinner in the Windjammer cafe.

Day 5 – Tues, Feb 9th:  St. Thomas.  We arrived in port early on Tues, at around 8am.  Mom and I got up early, dressed, ate quickly and were out shopping in the Havensight Mall right next to the docks.  Mom bought herself the same Olympus that I bought on the ship (for a touch better price), while I treated my Rebel to a nice 75-300mm telephoto lens.  I also picked up a beaded/shark tooth necklace for Alex, and a set of hoop earrings for Kat.  Another visit to a Del Sol added a color changing t-shirt for myself.

Having shopped ourselves out, we headed back to the boat to meet back up with the family for a ride off to Magen’s Bay for the afternoon at the beach.

I was able to take this picture of the twins using my new lens  On the way back to the ship, the driver pulled into a lookout over the harbor area for photo opportunities.  Here’s our ship along the pier.

The beach was nice, but very crowded.  There were two other cruise ships in port with us, which made for a lot of tourists soaking up the sun.  Still, better than wearing a winter coat!

Day 6 – Wed, Feb 10th:  Dominican Republic.  Another day, another port of call!  We anchored off the coast of Samana in the Dominican Republic.   On the advice of our waiter, we opted for one of the ship sponsored excursions.  At 10am, we boarded a small speedboat and headed for the island of Cayo Levantado.  It was a 15 min or so ride from the boat to the island, and what a fabulous island it was.  The beach was magnificent.  The water was warm and calm.  Drinks were plentiful and served  Kat had a few braids added:

She totally surprised me and still has the braids in.  I figured they’d be out by dinner that night.  She wants to wear them to school tomorrow.  Good girl.

More pictures from our day trip:

We didn’t return to the ship until 4pm.  While I protected the kids pretty well, I was haphazard in my own use of sunscreen and managed to fry a good bit of myself.  Ouch.  Worth it though.  I love that little island.

Day 7 – Thurs, Feb 11th:  Labadee, Haiti.  This is the one stop that had me concerned.  I felt guilty about a stop that would have us frolic in the sun at a location where there was such misery not so very far away.  Labadee is RCI’s private beach area on the north side of Haiti.  The cruise line was invited by the Haitian government to continue to make this port call as it provides jobs and income for an area that desperately needs it.  So the stop is made and over 100 pallets of aid are offloaded from the ship.

There is a local artisan market on Labadee and I did my part for the local economy.  I came away with too large bags of maracas, carved bowls, necklaces and bracelets, as well as some metal work that I’ll be giving coworkers. (There’s a tradition of bringing souvenirs amongst the development group at work.)  We spent the remainder of the day snorkling and enjoying our last port of call.

Before too long, it was time to return to the ship..

Day 8- Fri, Feb 12th:  At sea.  As we spent the day heading north, the sea was getting rocky and the temperature was dropping.  The water was too rough and the pool was closed.  We spent most of the day sitting on the pool deck stubbornly hanging on to the last bit of non-coat wearing weather.  I started the day feeling a bit seasick again as we’d passed through a small storm during the night.  I found the back of the ship far more conducive to peaceful enjoyment.  It was mom’s birthday and she treated herself to some nice time at the salon for a massage.  Nice.  Sadly, the nausea prevented me from enjoying the broiled lobster dinner though in hindsight, it was have been enjoyable at least going down

Day 9 – Sat, Feb 13th:  At sea.  Our second full day at sea heading north.  We hit another huge storm during the wee hours of the morning.  I beat a hasty retreat from the cabin first thing in the morning before I could get queasy.  The family joined me in short order where Alex got sick again.  Poor kid really takes after me.  We commandeered a table in the Windjammer cafe where the majority of us felt good with a view of the horizon and the most reduced motion.  The kids did some of their homework while I read.  And because there was close proximity of food, we all sort of nibbled our way through the day.  A farewell dinner had the kids hugging our waiter and assistant waiter goodbye.

Day 10 – Sun, Feb 14th:  Port Liberty, NJ.  It was over far too quickly, especially with the seasickness a memory.

A short car ride from the terminal and we were home.  Sigh.

Lessons learned:

1. Alex and I get motion sickness.  Will need patches next time ( bonine and those motion bands don’t do quite enough)
2. Never get a cabin right in the bow.  Midship is the best place that is the area with the slightest range of motion.
3. Never get a cabin and either end of the ship as the stuff you want is always the other end!  There was a 1000ft walk between our stateroom and the dining room!

I can’t believe its over already!  I’m glad I had today off for the holiday.  Tomorrow is going to be tough!

We (the folks, the monkeys and yours truly) are off for a ten day cruise to the Caribbean. See you in 10 days! Ahoy!

I spent the better part of this weekend with spinning wheels.  I gave in to something I’ve wanted now for a couple of years.  Back when I bought the Vermont Wheel, I’d been looking seriously at buying a Canadian Production Wheel.  I’ve always loved the way they look, especially the Borduas wheels with the cast iron treadle.  And to spin with a humongous 30″ drive wheel?  Oo la la!

Anyway, I wound up buying the Vermont wheel then, which it turns out was modeled after the Paradis style CPW.  I still love that wheel and she is divine to spin with.  Not to mention, she’s a gorgeous cherry with the inlaid gold.  What’s there not to love.   But the cast iron treadle has been calling to me.   I joined the Rav CPW group and drooled.  And while enabling someone into a wheel, I finally got enabled myself when a “nest of wheels” appeared.

She arrived in a humongous box on Saturday…a F.B. wheel!  Cast iron treadle and all.  She was in some sad and dirty shape when I unpacked her…

The twins and I spent some time and elbow grease with Wood Beams cleaning and moisturizing here.  Still needs some work but you can see the rich color of the wood now..

(Please to ignore the hideous couch and 70s fugtastic shag carpet.)  Still needs some work (and further cleaning.  Can you tell which end of the bench Alex was working on?).  The drive wheel is a tad warped and she needs new bearings in the uprights, not to mention flyer repair.  It had cracked clear through.  I glued it and its drying on dad’s work bench now.  I need to hobble down there and check to see if the glue has held.  It also needs a new set of hooks on the flyer.  The “nails” are in the wrong orientation, overly bent or just plain missing.   I did get to do a quick test spin.  She is FAST.

Now that the urge to spin was a burning need, I went to the Matchless to finally finish up the red merino I’d been spinning on it forever.  Anyone who has seen me out and about with the Matchless in the last year and a half has seen this project in one state or another.  It started with bags of fiber from Little Barn at MDSW in 2008, having been inspired by Zarzuela’s Toney Road sweater.  I started spinning the fiber shortly after buying it in May 2008.  The mixed red was followed by solid red that I distinctly remember being very bored with at WOOL this summer and indulging in fiber that my fellow attendees brought.  Well Saturday night, I finished the last of it.

Yesterday I pulled out the Womack electric and got busy plying.  I’m not quite finished yet, but have jam packed 5 bobbins worth of two ply.  Three have been skeined up and measured approx 1190 yds.  I’m getting on average 400yds per bobbin.  Whew.

I still have 2 bobbins worth of plying to do.  I’m sooo happy to not have this hanging over my head and tying up the Matchless anymore.  I’m thinking maybe one of the sweaters in A Fine Fleece.  Need to check the gauge, but I’d love Fylingdales in that rich red color (picture is a little too bright.  The real color is a deeper more brick red).

Craft on!