whackadoodle coconut

didn't think there would be a part two.  however, receiving more wooly goodness tuesday and getting my spinning schedule worked up there is a need to update! I picked up one of these (actually two) of the Woolery's Spinzilla special Spinzilla 2017 Fiber packs. it is so soft and gorgeous i person.  this is the first time I have ordered fiber online and wasn't sure if I would like it. usually, I'd rather pick up fiber in person, so I can feel it and get an idea of what it looks like in person (colors, texture, depth, etc).  and the personal experience is better.  plus when my hubs goes along, he likes to help pick out colors and new fiber to challenge me with. I also purchased the Spinzilla 2017 Colorway from Sweet Georgia called fire starter. with eight fiber selections to work through this year, I'm really looking forward to the fun.  my goal is to reach 5456 yards (8047 meters) worth of spinning.  that's a 5k (3.1 miles)!  last year ...

it's that time of the year again ...Spinzilla!  Very excited about this year because I have a better plan for prepping my fiber and my goal is within reach of last year's final yardage. UPDATED: here are some pics of what I began (and finished) for the pre spin to ensure that my wheel is working properly and I remember how to spin.  I opted for finishing the fiber that I had already began to spin, but was trying my patience and needed more work. picked up a cat/dog brush to help work out the compaction in the fiber you can see the little dreds there. fluffy little clouds of fiber, after being worked through with the brush singles waiting to be plied finished plying and ready to be measured and wound I am starting this year with - some warm up spinning (see above), clearing my bobbins, attaching new leaders, and buying new fiber that will be a delight to spin. last year I fell short by a couple bobbins, so I immediately bought more afterwards...

just last week the hubbinator had to go to Brea, CA.  I like going along and seeing what's around and staying in a hotel, watching TV, swimming in a pool and working out in the gym (yuck!, but I do it anyway). this short trip we stayed at an embassy suites in Brea, adjacent to the Brea Mall.  we visited several comic book stores - yay for comic crawls! - made some time for the Richard M Nixon Presidential Library & Museum , stopped at the California Oil Museum in Santa Paula and at Kula Revolving Sushi Bar. I love museums. like, I really love museums.  have I told you about the time we went to the John Steinbeck wax museum in Monterey?  that's a story for another time.  the California Oil Museum is just that. a museum that talks about oil in CA.  I've been to the oil museum in Bakersfield and it's huge.  I mean 3 buildings at the fairgrounds and outdoor exhibits huge.  and it was interactive.  now this is Santa Paula we're talking ab...

it's that time again and I am excited to share with you the most recent location for the comic crawl.  last year the hubs and I did several comic crawls throughout the Los Angeles area.  this year we decided we would do Bakersfield since we wanted to eat at a particular restaurant there, Wool Growers.  you can read about the restaurant review at my cookinator blog. comic lovers, here is Bakersfield. Stop 1: Silver Wolf Comics a smaller shop with a lot of cosplay stuff and statues.  not a lot of comics.  what they did have was what I consider the "top ten" variety.  basically the big name comics from the major houses.  they also had a smaller selection of back issues. we purchased a zatana statue of her coming out of a spell book.  it is one we haven't see other places. this is how we decide what we want to get on our comic crawls, unusual items we haven't seen on our local spots or items we have been looking for and haven't found ...

well, it has. and I do. since the winter swap, there has been Christmas, an insane amount of gingerbread cookies, lots of rain, sickness, not a good effort to train for a 10K coming up and a root canal.  that might be it.  but for today I am glad about that root canal. think I'm nuts?  well, if you have had one, you know that when you're in pain it's a relief to be out of pain and then in a different kind of pain.  the kind of pain that you know will go away with a little time and some advil.  it was close to a month of waiting for appointments and follow up checks to see which tooth it was and whether it might go away on it's own, then referral to a specialist and then for the appointment for the actual procedure.  that's a long time to have tooth pain, especially the kind that hurts with cold and hot temperatures. so, not I'm recovering and loving that I can swish my mouth with cool water, drink icy drinks, eat hot soup, enjoy hot coffee instea...

I received my package in the mail from my swap partner this weekend.  so awesome to see the work she put into it.  I really enjoyed opening everything. from left to right, a light blue beret in the pattern "Thicket", handmade card telling me more about my swap partner and the handmade gifts, hand dyed local Polworth fiber for spinning, coffee/chocolate bar from Boulder Co, handmade leaf and fox stitch markers, and a project bag with a dalek stamped on the front. this was a real treat to receive.

my first spinzilla event and I did great!  I spun 3257 yards of yarn and at this point not sure what I'll do with it?!  some I will use in color work for a sweater I have in the queue and others not sure at all.  there's a lot of wool, some mixed with silk and alpaca.  I have some gradients and solids.  all of which I am quite proud of.