Wooly outing

Today my lovely friend Miss D & I represented the Lismore Spinners & Weavers in a demonstration & display of all things fibrey. Is that a word? If not, I declare it one now. (In my special little world anyway!)

The Cape Byron Rudolph Steiner School was having it's annual spring fair & we were invited to go along too.

They made us a sign!

We had a wonderful spot under a lovely big leafy tree, so we had shade all day. The weather was gorgeous - not a cloud in the sky.

It was just the two of us, which is all we thought we needed. Wrong! The place was PACKED! So between demonstrating spinning (I LOVE demonstrating spinning!), giving some free newbie spinning lessons (thanks Miss D!) and explaining what we had on display (shawls, hats, skeins, unusual fibres, crocheted garlands, felt) we were pretty much run off our feet.

Oh - and the box with the L plate? We made up some loo roll & paddle pop stick knitting nancys. I thought it'd be a cute idea, & it's something I've done before with the Victorian Spinners Guild with great results. Not so here unfortunately. Although they were free to anyone who wanted to learn, we didn't have many takers. Ah well, live & learn.

Oh - again? The wheel that bit me is the one in the front. It proved to be somewhat unco-operative. Maybe it's turned evil because it's tasted human blood ...

Baby things

Finally my finger feels good enough to knit. Yay!
So I celebrated by whipping up this little cutie:

It's called Milo & it's constructed using one of my new favorite methods. Top down, in the round, & NO SEAMS!! Just darn in your beginning end, & your finishing end & you're done! Gotta love that. Although I didn't have time to block it nicely before it had to be given away.

I'm now working on another baby thing, this time Sweet Pea. It seems to be taking forever to get anywhere, so I hope I can finish it before bubby arrives. I think I've still got about 10 weeks up my sleeve, so that should be plenty. I was originally thinking of something else, but I found this book & nearly lost my mind with the cuteness. (Miss SJ? - I've lost your mobile number when my phone chucked a tanty & deleted my ENTIRE contacts list. Not happy!)

Worst. Injury. Ever.

Ok maybe not the worst ever.

I was cleaning up one of my Spinning Group's wheels in preparation for a demonstration outing at Cape Byron Steiner School next weekend, when the treadle flicked off it's hook & eye attachment, bending back my right index fingernail with it. Owww! I was quite surprised I didn't swear given the level of pain. I guess I was too busy curling my body protectively round it (& not breathing. At all.) I finally gained the courage to look at it, thinking the whole nail must have come off, or at least ripped substantially. The nail's still there - and in one piece! Miracle. There's a white line half-way up my nail where it folded (ouch) & quite a bit of blood at the time, but other than that - not much evidence of trauma. However it is VERY sore, & I appear to be somewhat of a slow learner.

Sigh, bored. I know, I'll knit!  ... ow - bugger.
I'll send a friend an sms! ... ow - bugger.
I'll knit a sock! ... ow - bugger.
I'll open a can of soft drink as a treat! ... OW - bugger.
I'll knit a cardigan! ... ow - bugger.
How about some of blankie? He's soft! ... ow - bugger.
Oooo I know! I'll check my emails & surf the net for a while!! ... ow - bugger.
Maybe if I knit something small, like a flower ... ow - bugger.

You don't realise how much you use the tip of your index finger on your dominant hand until it hurts every time you do. Here's hoping my finger heals quickly. My knitting is a form of sanity saving for me & I'm not always a nice person to be around if I can't knit ...
(Just ask my beautiful daughter what I'm like when I'm in between projects!)