long time, no see.

as it turns out, a pretty brutal combo of depression & anxiety were ruining my life so i finally went to get some help for it. at the moment, i'm feeling okay. so that's a start.

i have always had a tumblr for memes and silly shit (in which i have never posted), but i also started a new one that's just for beautiful things. just as a little pick me up when i'm feeling really down.

my nonsense tumblr is kittenlogic-blog.tumblr.com.
my tumblr of beautiful things is extemporal-ephemeral.tumblr.com.

just in case you're into that sort of thing. ♥

mad world, outlive me.

stuck on repeat this week. wish i could focus on something a little more upbeat, but i'm just in that kind of mood lately.

from bobbin to yarn.

i took this the other day as i was spinning up some stash fiber that i have always thought was lovely, but not particularly exciting. i'm crazy for rovings and tops that seem like they'll have unexpected results when spun. this ... it seemed one-note to me, so i let it languish in my "to spin" basket.

knowing that i could get in both fine spinning and navajo plying practice before starting a project that i don't want to mess up, i pulled out the 8oz braid of this unnamed fiber and split it in half. i figured i'd do 4oz of practice now, and either save the rest for later or list it on etsy or whatever if i didn't like the way it came out.

so i had only that much of the bobbin filled when i felt compelled to take a picture, because the shimmer of the seacell really enhanced the soft, gradual color shifts, and actually ...? i was starting to like it!

i'm always such a poo-poo doubter. what can i say? at least i will readily admit when i was totally wrong about something, and that i am, in fact, impressed. like right now. ready for the finished yarn?

i admit it! i was soooo wrong about this fiber, and am a total jackass. it turned out beautiful!!

i'm also not one to toot my own horn, but how can i not right now? when i first started spinning, i never thought that i would be able to achieve such a level of spinning proficiency. but my evenness, consistency, balance, and navajo ply have become something to write home (or blog?) about. i'm pretty good! and pretty proud of myself. thumbs up, self.

enjoy one more photo of this gorgeous yarn. 70/30 merino/seacell. navajo plied, 240 yards, 13wpi.

finished yarn from yesterday.

this is the finished yarn from yesterday! isn't it amazing?

while i was spinning it, i was sitting there worrying that it was going to be uneven the whole time. i was trying really hard to spin a little thicker than i have been, but that didn't happen for me. usually i kind of just settle into whatever the fiber feels like it wants, and this merino/seacell blend always feels to me like it wants to be thin, so i was trying to break away from that for once. not this time! but anyway, there were several weird chunky, neppy kinds of spots in the roving that were causing all of these slubs. it was my fault for not pulling them out beforehand, because i came across them while i (uncharacteristically) pre-drafted before i started spinning. they totally looked like they would smooth out, but like 90% of them wouldn't, ugh! so it was kind of annoying but i got it all under control while spinning the singles, and when it came time to ply, it was easy going.

the finished yarn ended up being 4oz/294 yards, 2-ply, 14wpi. i love it!

also, what's the deal with my phone taking such great photos? it's like phone cameras suddenly had this exponential improvement in quality over the past couple of years. i might get lazy and start taking my etsy pics with my phone camera on this nice table in the dining room... at least i won't have to wait until a special 2 hour window of time when the sun is on the correct side of the house, like i do when i shoot in my office!

more finished yarn.

so i don't remember if i mentioned last time, but i was making room on my bobbins for that amazing yarnwench merino (which i cannot decide if i am going to 2-ply or 3-ply!), but i also wanted to get in a little practice before spinning it since i haven't spun in quite a while, so i am just spinning up all of this old stash i've had sitting around forever. first, i spun up this huge bobbin of rusty/gold/orange merino/seacell that i later intend to navajo ply. i wanted to regain my feel for consistency.

next, i chose a big ball of fiber that i had navajo plied half of a year or so ago, which ended up looking like this:

i felt kind of meh about the fiber at the time, so i used it for navajo practice, but the finished yarn came out really nice! so i figured i would 2-ply the other half to see what happened with the colors. watching that transformation from fiber to yarn is so delightful to me!

since i needed some practice spinning an even 2-ply after being a little rusty, i went back to that fiber since seacell/merino is my all-time favorite blend. honestly, when i first saw the full bobbins, i was feeling REALLY meh.

 

i don't know, i just wasn't feeling it. i couldn't see the vision. until ...

ah! as it spun up, the colors started mixing in interesting ways and actually ended up producing a really beautiful hank of yarn. here it is finished, on the niddy:

 

and the finale:

beautiful, right? like a subtle rainbow. 294 yards! i was really surprised by this one. i'll post some more photos once it has dried and bloomed. i'm especially excited to see the 2-ply and the navajo next to each other. 

ok bye!

a dream, some handspun.

i had a dream about the new floor of the house again. this time, it was partially furnished and i was actively working on it and putting things in it. i was super excited about it, too, but it was cut short. too bad i slept like crap! i woke up multiple times in the middle of the night with an achey stomach, then finally settled in for a solid 4 hours of sleep after D left at 3am. i wish i could remember more about it!

i also often have dreams set in a kind of really nice high school/university setting (it changes). i was here a little bit as well, but since my sleep was so choppy i can't remember if i was in both places in the same dream, or if one was when i first went to bed and the other later on. i will keep on top of this one. it's so interesting!

okay, on to some stuff i have made this week.


first, we have some thick and thin 2ply, spun from my very own handpainted superwash merino called "man wool." i was pretty surprised to see how the finished yarn turned out, because the fiber had some really deep blacks and teal spots, but as it fluffed and stretched it lightened up and took on an overall pebbly tone. i like it much more spun up than i did in fiber form! it sat occupying two of my bobbins for over a year because once i started spinning up the singles, i felt very "meh." but once the plying began, i really started appreciating it.


THIS. "hnnnghhh" is how i feel about this. i made up 8 oz of these batts called "oh my goth!" like ... years ago. i sold 4oz of them almost immediately, and kept this other 4oz for myself with the idea that once i was very proficient at spinning thinly and plying navajo, i would spin it cobweb thin and navajo ply it. so, i started on this bobbin over a year ago, spinning it sewing thread thin easily 40wpi, hating absolutely every second of it. i only filled about a quarter of the bobbin before i was like, "F this, i'll return to it later" and then totally never did.
finally the other night i couldn't stand it anymore - i needed all of these bobbins for other things!! so i sat down with this, spinning it slightly thicker than the first time, and powered through it in two nights. i love it. i think it's beautiful! and totally worth it. but man i am so glad to be done with it. 
the batts were about 4.1oz of merino, mohair, silk, and angelina sparkle, and the finished yarn came out to be about 19-20wpi, 108 yards. 
and finally,

this amazing yarnwench merino! no photo has really been able to do justice to the luscious blend of colors. there are these spots where the fuchsia/berry color blends into the lighter green that are just magical. i can't wait to spin it, which is why i immediately got that other stuff off of my bobbins!  okay! now i'm off to make myself a nice cup of tea, find a delightful film on netflix, and start spinning :)

i just don't think i'll ever get over you; growth, change.

so beautiful. i can't stop listening to it. i think that most people know this feeling, whether it's for someone we have known, someone we wish we had known, or someone who got away. we all have our stories. it's a little ache that you don't feel all the time that just exists inside you, only occasionally reminding you that it's there - of course, when you least expect it. 

i wish the mixtape/cd hadn't gone out of style. there's something quite less ... intimate, perhaps? about handing off your USB stick to someone so they can copy your files, or saying like, "hey listen to my spotify playlist!" there was nothing like receiving a tape or cd from someone, all wrapped up and decorated, with the tracks handwritten on the outside. it was great to receive something so thoughtful, so personal. i'd take a mixtape over a store-bought gift any day.

now, to switch gears before i get all wistful and weepy.

(yes, i know i need a trim)

so i think it's been 1 year and 4 months now since my last relaxer! the road was bumpy with this hair, let me tell you. to anyone who's had chemically straightened hair their entire life who thinks they're going to go natural - do your research! be prepared for a looooot of trial and error! i hope you're patient! all of those exclamation points are for a reason!!! seriously. i am where i would like to be as far as texture and manageability go, but health and strength and length leave quite a bit to be desired at this point. i need to keep a much closer eye on my nutrition and supplements - really, my health in general (stress = death, or to be less dramatic, hair loss). your hair can only as healthy as the rest of your body, right?

my most recent discovery is this new garnier fructis moroccan oil treatment. it was super cheap at target so i figured i'd try it out, and it works great! not only does it smell lovely, but my hair is softer, shinier, less tangly, and doesn't frizz out the second i walk into a steamy bathroom or pass by a pot of boiling water. i used a little just before my blowout (along with some silk drops) and couldn't believe how much more easily i could press it afterwards. good stuff. next i'm going to try their intensely smooth leave in conditioning cream. some of the reviewers complained that it made their hair greasy, so it's probably just the thing for me since my hair is so dry i'm a wildfire risk.

now that i've got my products mostly under control (still searching for a hardcore anti-humidity solution though), i'm excited to trim the damage, eat well, and see how much growth the new year brings me!