I Have Been Spinning Too

Yes, although I mostly have been mentioning the knitting lately. I have been finishing some spinning. I just haven't had any pictures of that.
I have plied half of the 2 bobbins of black shetland and have 2 nice skeins, so I may be able to start the yoke cardi soon. I also plied 6 ounces of wool/mohair blend in shades of pink and got a nice sized skein out of that. Today at Spin guild, I started spinning some of my Leister fleece I got at the Michigan Fiber Festival. It spins up wonderfully and has a nice halo to it. I think it is whispering shawl.
On the knitting front, I have been going great guns on both the Pi Are Squared shawl. I worked on that Saturday while at an all day assembly at church. Lots of knitting done, and lots of showing the pattern as well. The Flying Geese shawl is on the home stretch. I am on the last geese section--I added one extra. I should have finished in a couple days. I won't get much done on this tomorrow: I am taking my wheel to Knit Nite this week, and besides, I need to count on the right side rows or I mess up.

Health Checks

Last week I went to the doctor for a diabetes check. A1C could be better @ 7.5, but I and the doc were pleased with my combined cholesterol of 167. Due to no health insurance I went to the Health Department for the old yearly pap test and to schedule a mammogram.
I liked the gal at the Health Department. She was thrilled that knitting and spinning have resulted in steady, although slow weight loss. She assigned me the “task” of trying to spend an hour each day knitting (for blood pressure) or spinning. While spinning she wants me to concentrate on my muscle use, perhaps tightening abs while treadleing. I like those kind of assignments.
Right now though, my biggest health complaint is the flu shots. Not the H1N1, I’m not sure if I will try to scrape up money for that, since I am not a high risk group for that. I haven’t been able to get my regular seasonal flu shot, which I have gotten every fall for over 20 years. No one has the serum in town. Every time I find out about a flu shot clinic, it gets canceled before the date scheduled.
They’re probably waiting until I get sick or something. At least my pneumonia shots are up to date.

The Cemetery Divas

My Boss/friend/co-worker and I finally took the plunge and started our new joint blog. The Cemetery Divas is sort of in conjunction with our job in the local history room. We plan on talking about our family search, tips and thoughts on genealogy, and an occasional rant on why some people have horrible obituaries. Examples: No dates, every person they ever met in the survivors--and special friends named Bambi or Trixie. It makes you wonder if its a dog or a secret lover.
But I digress. If you have any interest in family history or local history, click on the link above or in the side bar and check it out sometime.

Chilly Weather

We have been experiencing some chilly weather here in West Michigan for the past couple weeks. I swear that when I drove out of the oil change building yesterday I saw little white things in the air.
I got all excited until I realized that, being corn picking time, and being right across the road from the farm Co-Op where corn drying was in full swing, that corn chaff may have been a more reasonable explanation than snow.
Sigh.
But snow has fallen in the UP and across norther lower Michigan. I saw by the blog of my favorite weatherman that snow was sighted in a nearby town. So maybe we did get snow.
And despite the "global warming" scaremongering, he is predicting a cold winter.
I better start knitting.

Chalk Up Another One

I finished the Wrap Me Up Shawl.

I think it is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! And I may not block it. I kind of like the way the saw tooth edge kind of ruffles. I had to take it with me to Spin Guild today for Show and Tell.

Mary showed off the sweater she is making and look what Evelyn brought!!

Sort of defeats the purpose of spinning to lose weight. (No lie! I've lost weight since I started to knit and spin--need to keep the hands clean you know.)

I also started the Flying Geese Shawl for the Silent Auction. I think I like the slight striping and it should get more subtle as I go along. Other than the stinking size 15 needles (I'm a small needle gal myself), it is going well.

Hope the committee likes it.