Recent Spinning

I cracked out my Kromski Symphony after several months a couple nights ago, and presto chango, I have 4 more ounces of spun up yarn! I got the fiber from Maine Woods Yarn in the colorway "Erin."

I'm spinning it up as a sort of worsted-weight singles, though the resulting yarn is distinctly woolen. No, I really can't tell you what my spinning technique is. It's whatever I developed when I started on a drop spindle -- a sort of lazy short backward draw.

I'm so proud of myself! I let the yarn sit on the bobbins for a couple nights to de-energize, and last night I washed the yarn and hung it up to dry and set the twist. (I felt especially clever, propping metal rods over the top of the shower between the wall and the curtain rod, to hang the skeins from there, so they don't drip over the floor.)

What should I make?

Wedding Progress

Tier 1
groom: √

Tier 2
wedding date: √
wedding location: √
reception location: √

Tier 3
Dress: √
Dress fitting: scheduled
shoes: ballet slippers obtained, but not completed
organist: √
service music selected: not so much
minister: √
service order: more or less
bridesmaids: √
groomsmen: √
DJ: √
music selected: working on it
menu selected: √
cake: not yet
rings: working on it
photographer: sorta

Tier 4a
Guest list: √
Addresses obtained: √√ (bonus check for hunting and pestering)
Save the Date cards: √
designed invitations: √
paper, envelopes, stamps for invitations: √
hand-addressed envelopes: √√√√√√√√√
sealed and stamped envelopes: √
mailed invitations: √ (almost all of 'em)

Tier 4b
Bridesmaids' dresses: √
tuxedos: silly lazy groom. no check.
Website: √
Registries: √
Local hotel info: √
Driving directions: √
Rehearsal dinner: in progress
Flowers: ... I don't really want real flowers because they die and cost more than the frigging dress... maybe I'll knit/crochet them.
Color-coded multi-sheet formulated Excel spreadsheet for RSVPs: √

Tier 5
Favors: got some ideas
Table naming scheme: again, some ideas
Centerpieces: 70%√
Card box: I have an idea. Just need time.
Guest book: ideas
Pen for guest book: √
Holder for pen for guest book: ideas
Cake topper: do I need this?
Gift log: √

Tier 6
honeymoon: If I make it through this, whatever happens after the wedding will count as a honeymoon by comparison.

RNEST April

RNEST has had another monthly challenge, themed "Earth Day / Eco Friendly." I made this nest, shown above, as my dedicated entry.

Then, on a whim, I threw in this cowl, since I made it with environmentally friendly yarn, and I think it looks awesome.


Keep an eye on the RNEST blog and vote for my entries if you like them!
*Edited to add: the RNEST April Challenge entries post is up here.

A Couple Things I Love

A quote:
Esther: First and foremost, there has to be passion. The world is full of stuff that nobody needs, dead stuff. When the passion is there, others will be able to see it too, and what you make will sell.
From the Etsy Quit Your Day Job article for Star of the East




This other Quit Your Day Job article about Dolan Geiman. He just seems like a groovy dude.




This project: turning the bottoms of soda or water bottles into a desk organizer. I'm working on it right now. I can always use more organization.




PhD Comics! I've recently re-rediscovered them.

The greatest non-action action figure

Sant Fe II: Convention Center

I really like the convention center in Santa Fe, much more than the one in San Diego, which was essentially a huge-beyond-all-reason hollowed- out cement block.

Here's one of the entrances. Adobe!


This is one of the halls. On the right are the doors to the room for the poster session and some of the rooms for the symposia and other presentation. On the left is a table with a constant supply of coffee, water, and soda.


In the main lobby there was a fireplace. I loved that fireplace! We weren't always sure that the heat was on in this place, so after a 2-hour long symposium, many of us would flock to the fireplace to warm our hands.

Santa Fe I: Around Town

Two Fridays ago I flew out of Rochester to Santa Fe (well, Atlanta, then Albuquerque, then took a shuttle to Santa Fe) for the American Society of Neurochemistry meeting (sounds pretty dorky, huh). All the science kept me pretty absent from the blog, and twitter, and most things internet. But here's the first part of an account of my time there. (I'm breaking it into several parts because I find blogger cumbersome when there are too many pictures.)

Part I: Around Town

This is the first thing I saw on Saturday morning as I stepped out of my hotel room. What gives? I thought Santa Fe was in the southwest, in the desert! Aren't the southwest and desert supposed to be warm and sunny? As it turned out, Santa Fe was mostly overcast -- I only used my carefully packed sunglasses for about 15 minutes -- and we got a couple inches of snow.


I walked by this wall on my 1-mile commute to the conference center every day. Yes, there was a shuttle, but it only ran at the very beginning and very end of the day, and I thought 2 miles a day would be good for me. I love this wall. I saw something new in it every time I passed it.


This is the plaza near the conference center. I was surprised at how pedestrian-oriented Santa Fe is. I had expected something like New York or Boston, or maybe San Diego, with tall buildings and nasty traffic. Actually, Santa Fe reminded me more of small-town Oberlin than any city I've ever known.
This plaza was cool. On Saturday there were vendors out on the sidewalks, and at night, they lit up Christmas lights in the tree branches.


This is a cute little cafe where I got my first fend-for-myself lunch on Sunday. I was lured in by a sign outside promising sandwiches. The cafe was burried in the depths of a building filled with cool artsy shops. Walking past them was difficult.


Here is the Cowgirl Barbeque, where I got dinner on Monday night when I had no specific plans. Cool place. There's always music playing when you walk by, and all the waitresses wear cowgirl hats.