God, I'm Getting Old

I know I'm getting old when I start thinking that the state of education in this country has caused a generation of morons.

Birthday Blues
I wake up to gale force winds and rain whipping against my hotel window. My room is cold and dark.

I decide the only cure for a lousy-starting birthday is to stop at the local Dunkin' Donuts and pick up a dozen muffins for my coworkers.

The experience was less than satisfying. The drive-through guy made me repeat my order three times. When I got to the window to pay, the cashier had no idea what I had ordered, so I repeated it a fourth time. When I arrived at work, I taste my "light-no-sugar-repeated-four-fucking-times-coffee" and find it is filled with sugar...blech! I decide to drown my woes in a big blueberry muffin and when I open the top box of muffins, two of them are burnt and dry looking and the one I pick out is dented on the bottom, as if it was dropped on the floor.

Biting into it, I realized I picked a chocolate chip muffin...blech again!

I actually called to give the manager feedback on my experience and was met with defensive, annoyed responses that left me angrier than when I'd called. I can only be left to surmise that the available workforce for a place like Dunkin' Donuts doesn't offer very smart folks.

Thanks for all your happy wishes, let's hope they all make this day better.

Current Knitting
I completed a total of two rows on the Bird's Eye Shawl for a total of two complete repeats (16 rows total).

I am getting a little more confident with the pattern stitch already, so hopefully this will go faster and faster.

I am in love with the yarn. It is the merino laceweight yarn from Skaska Designs.

Other Fiber Activity
This past weekend I focused a lot on spinning. I finished the third and final bobbin of singles and began the triple-plying.



You'll note a couple of things. One, I'm plying on the Louet wheel, since I used up all three bobbins on the Robin wheel. Two, I set up my own lazy kates using boxes and knitting needles. It worked very well, and I finished the first bobbin of three-ply yarn.

I got to use my niddy noddy from Rhinebeck for the first time, and it worked wonderfully.



It seemed like I was winding yarn for hours, and I was thinking that niddy noddy's aren't very efficient. Until...I realized how big this hank of yarn was...9.6 ounces which equates to at least 900 yards, although I haven't measured it yet.



I put my razor in the picture to give you some perspective on how large this hank turned out. I washed and set this hank, and the resulting yarn seems to be between DK and fingering weight, but I'll have to swatch to make sure.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with how this spinning adventure turned out.

Readers' Comments/Questions
Anne asks, "Joe, have you tried a Woolee Winder? You don't have to stop and change hooks at all, just keep on spinning."

They don't make Woolee Winders for the Robin wheel, but I did consider getting one for my Louet. Given how fast I like to spin and how little I like to stop and change hooks, it would be a good idea for me.