Bob and Caramella

I can't stop looking at those knitted/crocheted toy patterns. I saw Bob on Ravelry and laughed out loud. Bob is inspired by the "plastic thing that floats in your toilet." I wonder what my brother-in-law Bob would think of this if I knit it for him. I love the other toys at Mochimochiland, too: Grass, Toilet Paper, the bathtub with the bubbles.



Tonight I went to spinning class and we learned about spinning alpaca and llama. I've loved spinning alpaca for a long time, but I've been pleasantly surprised by llama. More and more breeders are breeding llama for fiber and it's gotten downright alpaca like in softness. I like spinning alpaca and llama because it doesn't require the twist that merino requires and my spinning wheel seems to cooperate when I spin a fiber that requires a lower twist. I have a lot of alpaca from over the years, and I swore I wasn't going to bring any home, but I saw Caramella's washed, flicked, and carded wool and changed my mind. Such silky softness! There are 2 local shows coming up some time in April - one for llamas, which will be more work-related, and the other for alpaca, which will be more fiber related. I'd love to go to both, but they're the same weekend. I really, really want to live on a farm!

I need a new traveling spinning wheel. When we got home, the bobbin fell off the spinning wheel and went rolling down the driveway. I need to go put the spinning wheel back together. It's SO unportable!

Before I forget, friend, Nicholette, announced on Ravelry that she is opening a new store in Vancouver: StitchCraft! It's been great fun to see StitchCraft grow from an idea expressed about 4 months ago to becoming a real store in May. Not only will there be yarn (Claudia, Lorna's Laces, Blue Sky, Rowan), but there will be fabric and embroidery thread, too. And, it's all natural fiber and a lot of it will be organic, especially the fabric. Patterns won't be the typical Butterick, etc. you see at Joann's; there will be independent pattern designers, including local designers. Also, the emphasis on the patterns is on home design. It's enough to make me want to dust off my sewing machine. I have a hard time even putting together simple puzzles, so I haven't sewn much. This will change! The web page will be up some time this week, and if I can figure out how to make buttons appear on this page, I'll put on a button link to the site. Vancouver really needs stores like this. I love Portland, but hate driving there. I long for the day when I can get everything I want and need in Vancouver.

I'm in the middle of Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It's painful to read, but oh my goodness, what a book! It's the best I've read in a long, long time and I've been staying up into the wee hours of the morning to read it for the last 4 nights or so. I think when I'm done I'll start Purple Hibiscus. I'm off to read!