For the Love of wool.

I spent last Sunday in my kitchen.  I never showered, I was still in my nightgown, and most of the day I was wearing lavender sheepskin slippers and those hot pink rubber gloves you can get at whole foods.  It was a look entirely without charm, although I know a few people who'd like a picture.

But it was OK, I was washing Gladys.  See?

It's a big box, but that's not even the half of it.

Today I went to the dollar store to purchase large plastic covered bins for Gladys and her once and future compatriots to live in during their transitional lives.  I hate the dollar store and I really hate large plastic bins.  They give me aesthetic difficulties.

But it was OK, it is for the well being of the wool.

Hell, I was excited to have a proper home for everyone.

Notice how the fleece is an individual?

Yeah, I've lost it.

Ladies and gents, meet Maureen.

3 pounds of really soft ecru merino.  4" staple length, at least as far down as I've gone in the box.  And I got that great  sheepy smelling rush when I opened the box.  I like it.

Nothing's too good for Mo and Gladys.  Plastic bins?  No problem.   Rearrange the kitchen to make room for the drying racks?  But of course. 

My therapist wants to know why I keep making excuses for my lame, uncool, fleece-loving, wool- hording ways, when all this makes me so happy.  It's a good question.

I wonder if I have time to wash her before I leave for the holiday? 

In other news:  Cast on for the second sleeve. 

Bulky yarn is certainly fast, but it is VERY hard to keep an even tension with fat needles.  Note to self - really, you are a DK kind of girl.  Just accept it. 
Jo Sharp makes some nice stuff.  I really think that the various incarnations of Silkroad are my favorite commercial yarn(s) - texture, color, knittability - and mustn't forget the DK wool either.  I have 9 projects worth of Jo in the closet - this one, two Desert Garden cotton, 3 Silkroad aran, one Silkroad tweed DK, two DK classic - that doesn't count the Silkroad aran tweed I sold to a friend last month.  And they are all gorgeous.  I just wish the Silkroad came in a DK weight. 

Maybe it is better that it doesn't.

And for your amusement, the tragically deflated bosom of Truffle.

Comments

[Mo Barger]

ooh Maureen. From one Mo to another, I think you picked a loverly name. :-)

[spaazlicious]

Oooh, nice crimp, bebbay.

[claudia]

Seriously, the deflated bosom (somehow that spelling doesn't look right, oh well) doesn't strike me as tragic at all. It just looks like pre-Juno-putting-it-on. If that makes any sense. If not, blame it on the all-day seminar sucking out my brain.

[Laurie]

Truffle looks like something we fixed in the OR. Love the shot of the crimp. Is that a kinky thing to say?

[Kim]

Oooohhhhh, lucious is what Mo looks like! What a gorgeous fleece that is!!

[Kathy]

I LOVE Sundays like that... ones where you kind of shock yourself when you pass a mirror, but don't really care because you're comfy and its WOOL and the day is about the WOOL and the comfy... yeah... LOVE those days.

Did you get the Truffle? I am 99% positive I have it if you still need it. I could send it with N. if that would be easy - I'll see him on Monday. Just let me know.

[mamacate]

Oh, Maureen. What an elegant-looking merino. And clearly a lady--look how clean. Merinos are usually caked with black grime. You'll have to tell me the shepherd's name. But not now, because I am in a state of weakness and that would be Bad.

You're gonna have to wash the hell out of Maureen, so you might want to wait unitl you return. Merino has some hard grease.

I like your therapist. Is she taking new clients? Hmm, maybe I can start quoting her to support my own wool-hoarding tendencies. Now there you go, quoting someone else's therapist to support your own addictive behavior. Hmm.

[Norma]

What JoVE said.

[--Deb]

That picture DEFINITELY looks like a sheep's head--Carole beat me to it. It all looks just lovely . . . maybe one of these days I'll try the raw-fleece thing again . . . but then, my combs and I didn't really get along that well.... I have to keep reminding myself of that!

[Sara]

Yummy wool. How about water balloons for blocking sweater bosoms? :D

[June]

Where's Mo from? (Looks like a covered fleece... Nummy.)

I thought you were pinning straight into a wood floor, but I see in the original-size photo that you are pinning into a wood-looking mat?

[Rachel H]

I see nothing lame or uncool about your fleece-loving wool-hording ways. That may just be because I'm working my way up to them, but hey, I'm good with that.

And Truffle, even with deflated bosom, looks gorgeous. And, um, sooo... do we get a picture of the Sunday look?

[Lee Ann]

Did you get a drumcarder, by any chance?

I think you should build an addition onto the house, by the way. A wool studio. :-)

[Laura J]

And what crimp. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Yum.

[Cassie]

Deflated bosom. Heh.

[JoVE]

Silkroad does come in DK. Stephannie (and she knits too) test knit Eris in it. Oh. you probably didn't want to know that.

Your Sunday attire took me back to when I first started at University. My roommate and I NEVER got dressed on Sunday until about 8 p.m. when we had to go out to play broomball (weird Canadian sport played in sneakers on ice; lots of fun).

I'm with your therapist. Embrace what makes you happy. (then you might not need the therapist and free up cash for wool)

[margene]

No wonder you love and name the fleeces (fleeci?) They have personality! Truffle is going to be beautiful and I'm betting she'll fit fine.

[Carole]

You do know that the picture of Mo looks like a real sheep's head, right? You did that on purpose, didn't you? Damn, you are clever. Don't make excuses for doing what you love, just do it and enjoy it.

[Christina]

I covet Jo Sharp DK wool. You don't understand. I have about 40 balls of this stuff, not to mention about 5 completed projects worth already done. I even paid airmail from Australia for 10 balls of a sapphire blue that was never released. Yeah, I spend my lunch money (and rent money) on wool. Bite me.