December 26, 2002

We had the first White Christmas since my freshman year in college. It was
beautiful, even if it was messy driving into Mom's. We had a wonderful morning
- grown children mean that you can open presents at 11:00! I made baked French
toast and a breakfast casserole the night before so when everyone woke/arrived
I popped them in the oven and they were ready for brunch when we were finished.

SPINNING

I love the BEAST!! I ordered 3 pounds from John
and I'm having so much fun spinning it up. I was thinking of a blanket with
Lambs Pride as a warp, but both of my sons have fallen in love with it. They
want a big bulky sweater. It is incredibly soft, despite looking like it would
be coarse and scratchy. (close up picture)

I
spun a bobbin on Christmas Eve and another one last night. I spent less than
2 hours spinning and about an hour to ply it all. I think they call it Tiger
Cat too. It has streaks of brown and black, along with gray and white wool and
mohair. It's great for immediate gratification!

WEAVING

I've brough down bins of yarn from the attic and I'm sorting through them today.
I know I have enough for a few blankets, so I'll get them divided and in bags
according to projects. Tomorrow I'll start winding the warps so they will be
ready to go.

I've done one doubleweave, but
I didn't use a floating selvedge on the fold. It was a little tight, so I pulled
out two warp threads and it looked pretty good. (I also forgot that I needed
to put another stripe right on the fold so it looks a little funny spread out
- however, it is usually bunched up on the sofa so that's not a problem) This
time I think I'll try fishing line, but I'm worried that I will have to pay
too much attention to going over and under it. I guess it's worth a try.

This afternoon we do another Christmas celebration at my sister's. If I eat
much more I won't be able to get in my loom to thread!