Special Days

Well I thought I would only write about the numerous craft and homey type projects in my life on this blog, but there have been two very special days recently. The first was I finally graduated with my master's degree in clinical psychology! It took four years and lots of night classes, but it finally happened. Unfortunately, I realized at graduation that the batteries in my camera were dead. Doh! Luckily, one of my classmates took some photos for me. You can't see the fancy hood, but here is a picture of me and my friend Vicki. It's too bad you can't see the hood because it was kinda cool looking. The graduation ceremony was quite beautiful but very long...Luckily it was at the Civic Opera House which is right next to John's workplace. He came over for the ceremony and we went for a celebratory barbecue with my friend and classmate Sandi and her family. All in all a very good day.

The other special day, 6/22/08, was John and I's sixth wedding anniversary. Can you believe that! We decided to take a short vacation to Starved Rock State Park to celebrate. We stayed at the Starved Rock Lodge and went hiking at Starved Rock and at Mathiesson State Park. We had hoped to go kayaking but due to the flooding they were not allowing kayaks/canoes on the river. That was disappointing but we were able to spend more time hiking. Mathiesson was beautiful and the trails were just the right amount of challenge for us. We were disapppointed to learn that cable television has become nothing but home decorating and medical miracle shows. Everytime we have stayed in a hotel we have been able to watch American Chopper and Myth Busters, but there was sadly no sign of Paulie and Mikey, just really annoying people trying to remodel their kitchens and nauseating stories of people having limbs reattached. The dissapointment of cable tv was offset when we learned that fudge making is a specialty at Starved Rock. We had never seen such a selection of fudge and it was a great anniversary treat. My favorite was the mint and chocolate swirl. Don't be surprised if you all get some variation of it as a Christmas gift. Here we are at Mathiessen--you can just see the waterfall in the background.

Nameless Cat

So I really hope not to add cat collecting to my list of addictions, but thought I would post some pics of the new member of our family. Despite having two cats die prematurely, we thought we would try adopting another cat. This time we went for a younger cat (about a year) of course through our local cat shelter Treehouse Animal Foundation. They were once again great at helping us pick a cat that would be a good fit for our household. She is all black with adorable green eyes. Although she seemed playful but evenkeel at the shelter, she still has quite a bit of kitten in her. She has "crazy time" about three times a day when she runs wildly throughout the house. She plays endlessly but is very cuddly and can easily be picked up. She also likes sleeping on the bed and head butting us at 3:30am. You'll notice I keep referring to her as "she" because John and I cannot think of a name for her. Her name was Babel at Treehouse, but we can at least agree that we want to change it. Right now the front runners are Anabel and Mina. John says he wants to keep "researching" a good name, whatever that means. Willow has not quite warmed up to her yet, but tolerates her. She seems to want to play with her but is not ready to lower herself yet. Here is Willow showing the new cat how a real princess cat poses for a picture. The new cat is not very photogenic and won't sit still long enough to have her picture taken. The above pic was the best I could do and it required John to distract her. Will keep you all updated on the naming process.:)

The Orchid is Blooming!

I got this orchid for free when I worked at the pantry. It was a donation from Trader Joe's but it wasn't blooming and looked kind of shabby so no one wanted it. Actually there were three originally, but two died and this one survived. This is my first attempt at orchids and the roots had been cut since they were coming out of the pot. I don't know why the store did that as it clearly damages the plant. I've had this plant for nearly two years and this is the first time it has bloomed. I think the light in the new apartment is ideal for it. We used a black skirt as a backdrop and John took this picture. Some of the other buds have died so I think it might need some kind of fertilizer when it is flowering, but everything I read says something different. It looks really beautiful so I hope the other blooms open up.

Spinning

So I need a new hobby like I need an STD, but here we are. I decided to take a spinning class because I received quite a bit of free roving (wool that is ready to be spun into yarn) from a friend who used to raise sheep. I wanted to make some use of the wool so I signed up for a three week hand spinning class. The first lesson was pretty hard--it couldn't quite get the hang of drafting and my yarn is very uneven. Once we plied the yarn together it looked better and was more "forgiving" in places, but parts of it still look like dredlocks. Here is a picture of my first little skein of yarn. I have no idea what to do with it since it is so uneven, but I'm still very proud of it. I made this on a bottom whirl spindle, which came free with the class. The second lesson went much better and I started to see what I was doing wrong with the drafting. I also realized I wasn't putting in enough "twist" before I started drafting. My second yarn is coming along much better--you can see here it is much more even. The third lesson went much better and we mixed two different colors of wool together to get a variegated yarn. For this lesson I also converted a bottom whirl spindle that Aunt Julie gave me into a top whirl spindle. My instructor recommended a top whirl because it is easier to get a spin going and is overall easier to work with. I have to say I agree, plus this spindle has a fancier weight so it spins better. John added a hook to the top and carved a notch into the dish. I think I am going to cut off the wooden hook on the bottom as it is kind of useless. This yarn is turning out interesting with the two colors and is so far pretty even, although I am still getting a few nubs here and there.

For the class I bought the recommended "beginners wool" so these will all be small skeins when they are finished. My instructor said that I should be able to spin the roving that was given to me but it will probably be a finer yarn since it is from a long haired sheep. Once I finish these I am going to try to dye the roving with kool aid and see if I can spin it. I don't know that I would do this if I did not have a considerable amount of free roving--it just has not reached the point where it is enjoyable enough for me. Although I really like the idea of turning wool that someone I know raised into a wearable garment. Nice idea, lots of work.