spinning?

I tried out the spindle that I won from Trek and loved it. This is not to say that I was any good at using it. I did discover that it maintained its momentum much longer than the other spindle that I have which made things much easier.


I have yet to master the trick of the long draw needed for spindling. I totally get the short draw for wheel spinning, but alas, without a wheel, I am spindling.





The "yarn" (if it could truly be called by such a lofty name) is lumpy, bumpy, thick and impossibly thin all at the same time. As you can see here, there is a slight issue with the amount of twist in the yarn.

The last photo is after a quick dip and before I weighted it to dry overnight. Who knows what it will look like in the morning. I have a distinct feeling that I will need to wind this one by hand...

BTW: Hi to everyone who made their way over her from Heddy's blog. Please stop back again - we're pretty nice here at House of Wool, but who wouldn't be with the wool fumes?

Also, I have created a shop site on Etsy and updated my website. With a bit more shameless self-promotion, stop over and take a look at both sites. If you see something on the shopbagtelle.com site that you would like to purchase, let me know and I will set it up on Etsy for you. (There are a couple of popular styles that I can't guarantee to have in stock all the time.)

So far, so good

First off, a little housekeeping. Ali is running a contest. Stop over and enter.

Second, if you haven't yet entered my contest, please do.

Third, I have selected one of the prizes for the contest, but you will just have to wait and see.


Today I started my new job and it seems like it will be a pretty good fit. From what I can see, everyone is busy, but not frantic. I didn't see too many faces walking around with a look that is just this side of panic/terror. At any rate, I liked it enough to go back a second time. This is partly because they are offering a paycheck (yea!), but mostly because there is free pizza for lunch tomorrow.

Caleb started his new daycare and it is going okay. He is settling in well and it seems that he is starting to make new friends. I think the adjustment is hard for him because he had so many friends at the previous center and because he has been out of school for 8 months.

I need to keep this fairly short as someone else has staked a claim on the computer.

This is the week

This week is a big week here in the House of Wool.

Hubby starts school again after a semester off. (He was very ill in November and spent the last 8 months on leave).

Caleb starts his new daycare tomorrow and is thrilled. But I have a feeling he is a bit confused, thinking that he will be starting 4K at the "big boy school". After many explainations, I'm still not sure he gets it.

And last but not least, I start my new job on Wednesday. This means that I get a day to myself. More or less.

1. I have to drop Eric off at school because is car is in the shop.
2. Then run to the pediatricians and pick up the last bit of paperwork for daycare.
3. From there, Caleb goes to his first day at the new place.
4. Lucky me I get to come home and clean remove a layer of grime from the floors.
5. If all goes as planned, I have an appointment in the middle of the day.
6. After which, I should be able to pick up my new business cards. (yea!)
7. By then, it should be time to pick up the kiddo and hubby.
8. Home to cook dinner and collapse.

Hmmm, so much for a nice quiet day to get things done...

Don't forget to stop over and enter the contest.

What would you call it?

Yesterday Caleb was drawing with chalk on the driveway and I found this:

What would you call it?

Let's turn this into a contest, shall we? Submit your guess as to what this is supposed to be in the comments by midnight June 30th. The winner will be selected at random from all of the submissions and a little gift will be sent your way.

I saw the light

Today is a happy day all the way around. Hopefully, this will signal the long-awaited end of my general state discontent and bitchiness. As you can imagine, my family hopes the same thing! Because I am a bit scattered, I will be doing the bullet point post.

• Happiness the first - I am starting a new job on the 27th, pending the drug test. Unless aliens happen to inject my veins with something in the next few days, I should pass with flying colors.
• Said new job comes with health insurance that starts on July 1. Whoo-hoo. Only one month of COBRA.
• The hours are great - 8 to 4:30. I don't think I will really miss the hour lunch, given that I can sleep a few extra minutes in the mornings!
• Walmart, Target and the grocery store are all at the exit I will be using for work, so it will be easy to do a quick run.
• Caleb starts his new daycare on Tuesday and he is excited about it. More than I am. Me? I am a sniveling wreck just thinking about the fact that he will have to go through the process of making new friends. Ironically, it just occurred to me that I will be doing the same thing at the same time. How dumb am I?
• Happiness the second - bagatelle is doing pretty well. On the trip that we took to waterpark hell the Wisconsin Dells last week, we stopped at 2 different store in small towns along the way and I sold to both of them. I have sold back nearly 50% of what I have put into the business so far. Not to bad for just 6 months.
• While in Baraboo, I found the cutest yarn shop. Seriously. If I could have moved in I would have. I was seriously irritated that I didn't have my camera with me. She had a fantastic selection of Cascade, just as good as Lakeside Fibers in Madison. For the Harry Potter fans, she is getting the new book and the corresponding Cascade that has been specially dyed to match the house colors. With those, I think she said she would have around 100 colors in stock! The shop also boasts a gift shop and coffee bar, a sofa or 2 and 2 HUGE kitchen tables in one of the best lit shops I've ever seen.
• Happiness the third - I think the universe is trying to tell me something. Today I received this from Trek. It's my prize from the contest she was running. It is a top whorl spindle and just under an ounce of chocolate brown roving. This must be the kick I need to learn to spin.

all's quiet on the blogging front

I'm guessing that the recent quiet from knit bloggers is due to unusually nice weather rather than their sudden demise. We're planning on taking advantage of it as well and are heading to the Wisconsin Dells today for a short stay at a water park. It is an actual city that is on the Wisconsin River. It used to be a quiet place full of cabins that you could rent. Now it is Water Park/Tourist Trap Hell. Everything is overpriced and crappy. But Caleb loves it and we found a sweet deal. The newest thing is that the better resorts are building indoor and outdoor water parks on their property so you don't have to leave at all. The are great but run about $200/night.

The job hunt is going very well and with a modicum of luck, I should be employed by the end of the month. Currently, there appear to be 4 strong contenders.

One company told me that they are putting together an offer. I really liked the people I met and the atmosphere seems very good. However, the pay will be my rock bottom minimum and a huge step backwards.

The second is in telecom and the base salary is okay with a commission structure. I don't clearly understand how much selling is required for the position and that makes me nervous. I am the only candidate that has been presented for this job and it seems like a lock. I just need to meet a couple more people face-to-face and they will be putting together an offer that same day. Why they can't give me the offer now if they are sure it will happen, I don't quite understand.

I had two other great interviews this week. One is in HVAC and I should find out today or tomorrow about that. This one is currently my top choice. The pay will be outstanding and the people seem really nice. The company is growing and the person who currently has the position is semi-retiring and they decided to add another full time person rather than just replacing him altogether. I see this as having a great resource on hand to help during the first few months in a new position.

The last opportunity is seems like the best fit, but the commute will be about 40 minutes each way. It is really just too far for me - I hate the thought of leaving Caleb in daycare that much longer every day. They have asked me back for a second interview and I will go on it just because I can't afford to rule anything out.

Hopefully this all goes well. We will most likely need to have COBRA for the time that I am off of work because of Eric being ill last fall and I don't relish the idea of having to pay that huge premium more than one month.

Dreamin' large

I was reading through my bloglines this morning when I came across this post that intrigued me. Over the years, I have given my dream home lots of thought. Mostly when I buy a losing lottery ticket and am waiting not-so-hopefully for the actual drawing.

For the most part I don't want anything too extravagent (unless we win the lottery - then all bets are off). Honestly, I would rather live in a smaller house and be able to do more things then be saddled with a mortgage that strangles us. That, and I am not keen on cleaning. Give me one or two extra rooms - these can be converted attic space or a finished basement - as long as it is clean and dry - I'm good.

But my ideal crafting room is pretty clear in my mind. It would be sunny and well lit with full spectrum lighting. Yarn and fabrics would be displayed beautifully in cubbies and shelves along a wall. In plastic to keep them clean, of course.

I would definately need both a sewing machine and a serger. The work space for sewing would also have a table with a permanently mounted self-healing cutting mat.

This would also be where I would have my spinning wheel and drum carder. Yes I know I don't spin yet, but I've tried it a couple of times and I enjoy it so much. It is another of the things that my hands just seem to know how to do. It just makes so much sense to me. Of course, I haven't done much and the fates will smack me for sounding cocky.

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I haven't been knitting much for myself, but have been whipping out the washcloths and felted hats. My goal is to have have about 30 hats for the fair and at least that many washcloths and handbags. Right now I am currently at about 25 washcloths and 7 hats. I've also have an inventory of about 15 bags. It doesn't sound like much, but it is quite time consuming to get all of them made.

Not much progress has been made on Sizzle, but I am feeling the need to get working on it. I really want to get it done before the end of the month so that I can wear it during the summer.

desperately seeking mojo

As I am sure is obvious - I have lost my blogging mojo. If found, please let me know. Rewards available.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record - life has been crazy. I finally reached my breaking point and left my job last week. This is good and bad. I get to spend some time with the family before Eric goes back to school at the end of June - good. But, we don't have health insurance at the moment - bad. I have more time to interview - good. None of my suits fit properly anymore - bad.

Overall, I am SOOOO much happier. It really is the best thing for our family even if the next bit could be a wee bit scary.

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Most of what I have been knitting of late has been for profit and I have been sewing quite a bit also. To date there are over 20 washclothes knit for the craft fair in November. I have also been working on a few other things. Now that I have a bit more free time I will try to post more regularly.