long time gone
I went and looked and saw that it's been two months with no meaningful updates, so I thought I'd take a page from naamah_darling's book and try to update this thing every day this month. Dunno if I'll meet that goal, but it can't hurt to try.
Lots has happened; I went out to Wyoming and visited with Dawn and Joe for a few days, and got to see Doc and Sylver and Jae and Momma Lynne while I was there. I'm taking a math class (M365, Stats & Probability) with my one-free-class-per-semester staff benefit, but I'm flunking it hardcore--partly cause it's been so long since I've had to use that part of my brain, and partly because I have no time to really study it. Luckily there are no consequences whatsoever for failing it; I don't need the credits and I still get the fee courtesy regardless of what grade I get. I don't know if I'll take anything next semester or not; I'm pretty disappointed with myself over this.
I took the kittens in for the Big Snip, but had put it off so long that Fleur went through her first heat cycle before I could get them in there. Fortunately it was only a few days long, and I was able to make myself scarce for most of it. I did, however, get to witness a few Lesbian Cat Porn Interludes--Tatiana was way too interested in the smell of the heat pheromones and Fleur was way too grateful to have any attention at all paid to that portion of her anatomy. Result: obscenely hilarious.
That was going on over Eroticon weekend, when I was crazy-busy finishing up my corset. I actually got all the supplies to make a proper one this time, made out of brocade and lined and with a busk and lacing bones and all. I got spiral-steel boning too, but unfortunately got some measurements wrong on the pattern and had to revert to the half-inch zip ties I used on the first one I ever made. I found out at the last minute that I'd placed the shoulder straps wrong; I had them on the outside of the underwires when they needed to be on the inside, so I got to spend Saturday morning and afternoon cutting them off, fixing the cut places, and remaking them in the right location. It turned out looking pretty awesome, but I found out painfully why bra underwires have so much padding on them--I didn't use any beyond the fabric itself and a layer of bone casing, and after four hours in the thing I felt like my boobs were about to be sliced right off my chest. Owwie. I think it's going to need some semi-serious modding before I'll be willing to wear it for any length of time again. It can be done, though.
In other crafty stuff, I've developed a sudden obsession with handspinning. I blame the Yarn Harlot. I'm too tired to dig out the camera and post pictures tonight, but I've spun two decent-sized skeins on the drop spindle. The first is pretty uneven, but that's to be expected for a beginner, and the fleece is a lovely cream color. Unfortunately I forgot to put it away one night while it was in progress, and the cats got into it and destroyed the last third or so of the roving before I could spin it up :( Oh well, guess that'll teach me to be more careful. The second one is from a huge batt of pin-drafted Icelandic wool; I stubbornly forced the drop spindle to hold it all in one enormous long single, and then plied it back on itself all in one piece again. That was another lesson learned; it is really not worth the hassle of that just to try to get the yarn all in one piece. Learn to splice. But that was much, much finer and more even than the first batch; right now it looks like about a sport weight, but that might change after it's soaked to set the twist. The second skein is actually enough to make something out of, but it's kind of a dingy white color (there was some gray mixed in with the white wool), so I'm going to make the time to Kool-Aid dye it sometime this weekend. I also got to practice on a spinning wheel at Yarns Unlimited last weekend; as long as I provide my own wool they don't mind if I learn on one of the store wheels. It was on a Saturday afternoon so there were plenty of friendly folks around who helped me learn the ropes, and by the time I worked my way through about an ounce and a half of roving I was doing pretty well. The bobbin-full is still sitting on the wheel at the shop; I'm going to try to get back there this weekend and Navajo-ply it, cause I've been wanting to try that and you can't really do it on a drop spindle.
I'm itching for a wheel of my own already--the drop spindle is the finest in Bronze Age technology, but it's awfully slow. But the good wheels start at $300, and the one I really want is $500, so that ain't happening, at least for a while; I have more important things to save up for. Greg said that he thinks he can MacGyver me one up out of the crap in his basement, and having seen his basement, I was inclined to agree. And even if we fail, it should still be an interesting project, and it's not like there's really anything to lose by trying.
Very tired now. More tomorrow.
Lots has happened; I went out to Wyoming and visited with Dawn and Joe for a few days, and got to see Doc and Sylver and Jae and Momma Lynne while I was there. I'm taking a math class (M365, Stats & Probability) with my one-free-class-per-semester staff benefit, but I'm flunking it hardcore--partly cause it's been so long since I've had to use that part of my brain, and partly because I have no time to really study it. Luckily there are no consequences whatsoever for failing it; I don't need the credits and I still get the fee courtesy regardless of what grade I get. I don't know if I'll take anything next semester or not; I'm pretty disappointed with myself over this.
I took the kittens in for the Big Snip, but had put it off so long that Fleur went through her first heat cycle before I could get them in there. Fortunately it was only a few days long, and I was able to make myself scarce for most of it. I did, however, get to witness a few Lesbian Cat Porn Interludes--Tatiana was way too interested in the smell of the heat pheromones and Fleur was way too grateful to have any attention at all paid to that portion of her anatomy. Result: obscenely hilarious.
That was going on over Eroticon weekend, when I was crazy-busy finishing up my corset. I actually got all the supplies to make a proper one this time, made out of brocade and lined and with a busk and lacing bones and all. I got spiral-steel boning too, but unfortunately got some measurements wrong on the pattern and had to revert to the half-inch zip ties I used on the first one I ever made. I found out at the last minute that I'd placed the shoulder straps wrong; I had them on the outside of the underwires when they needed to be on the inside, so I got to spend Saturday morning and afternoon cutting them off, fixing the cut places, and remaking them in the right location. It turned out looking pretty awesome, but I found out painfully why bra underwires have so much padding on them--I didn't use any beyond the fabric itself and a layer of bone casing, and after four hours in the thing I felt like my boobs were about to be sliced right off my chest. Owwie. I think it's going to need some semi-serious modding before I'll be willing to wear it for any length of time again. It can be done, though.
In other crafty stuff, I've developed a sudden obsession with handspinning. I blame the Yarn Harlot. I'm too tired to dig out the camera and post pictures tonight, but I've spun two decent-sized skeins on the drop spindle. The first is pretty uneven, but that's to be expected for a beginner, and the fleece is a lovely cream color. Unfortunately I forgot to put it away one night while it was in progress, and the cats got into it and destroyed the last third or so of the roving before I could spin it up :( Oh well, guess that'll teach me to be more careful. The second one is from a huge batt of pin-drafted Icelandic wool; I stubbornly forced the drop spindle to hold it all in one enormous long single, and then plied it back on itself all in one piece again. That was another lesson learned; it is really not worth the hassle of that just to try to get the yarn all in one piece. Learn to splice. But that was much, much finer and more even than the first batch; right now it looks like about a sport weight, but that might change after it's soaked to set the twist. The second skein is actually enough to make something out of, but it's kind of a dingy white color (there was some gray mixed in with the white wool), so I'm going to make the time to Kool-Aid dye it sometime this weekend. I also got to practice on a spinning wheel at Yarns Unlimited last weekend; as long as I provide my own wool they don't mind if I learn on one of the store wheels. It was on a Saturday afternoon so there were plenty of friendly folks around who helped me learn the ropes, and by the time I worked my way through about an ounce and a half of roving I was doing pretty well. The bobbin-full is still sitting on the wheel at the shop; I'm going to try to get back there this weekend and Navajo-ply it, cause I've been wanting to try that and you can't really do it on a drop spindle.
I'm itching for a wheel of my own already--the drop spindle is the finest in Bronze Age technology, but it's awfully slow. But the good wheels start at $300, and the one I really want is $500, so that ain't happening, at least for a while; I have more important things to save up for. Greg said that he thinks he can MacGyver me one up out of the crap in his basement, and having seen his basement, I was inclined to agree. And even if we fail, it should still be an interesting project, and it's not like there's really anything to lose by trying.
Very tired now. More tomorrow.