What a Day

It has been quite a day of nervousness and tension here. It all started for me at 7am. James woke crying and I went to see what was wrong. When I walked into his room there was someone there already! Kevin was supposed to be at work so needless to say seeing someone in James room scared the crap out of me. Thank God it was Kevin.

I asked him why he was home and he said that he would talk about it in a minute. While he was calming James down I nerviously waited for him to come out. Finally James was calm and he came out to tell me that he couldn't swallow anything. He could breathe, but not swallow. He said that he was hungry at work and had taken some fried chicken and instead of chewing and drinking liquid with it like he normally has to he just chewed a little and swallowed. He said that he could feel it get stuck in his esophagus above his stomach. This was at 2:30 that morning. He said that he tried to get it up or to get it to go down, but nothing worked.

He ended up going to work that morning and then decided to come home and see if he could get into the Dr. I told him that he needed to go to the ER, but he refused. (MEN!) So since he could breathe I sent him to bed and hoped that maybe being able to relax while sleeping will help let it pass through. Unfortunatly that didn't work. So he called the Dr. and was told by the receptionist that he needed to go to the ER. He decided to try the Urgent Care in town. He wouldn't let me go with him since he thought I should stay home to take care of James and he didn't want to mess with his schedual. Ummm a nap isn't important when it comes to the healt and well being of my husband. They thought that they could help, but nothing worked. He couldn't get liquids to go through or anything. It would all come back up and he couldn't even swallow much of his own saliva. So the Urgent Care told him to go to the hospital.

So while all this was going on and I was waiting to hear what was going on I was getting things together to take James somewhere just in case. I got the call saying that he was being sent to the hospital, so that was my cue to ramp things up. I tried to get a hold of my in-laws, but the line was busy. I had my SIL and BIL both trying to get a hold of them to see if they could keep James for us. Finally we were able to get in touch and I ran over, dropped James off and headed to the hospital.

By the time I got there they had already had Kevin in recovery. The procedure took 8 minutes. He was really groggy and kept asking the same questions over and over. I felt so bad for him, but I was glad that it was over. He asked me when they were going to take him back and I had to laugh. He had no clue that it was already over. They were able to push the piece of chicken through and he was free and clear. They also took a biopsy because they think he has Eosinophilic Esophagitis. We will know some time next week if that is what it is. If so it is treatable with medication and sometimes medical procedures. They placed him on Nexium in hopes to help as well.

We are all home and the boys are sleeping. It could have been much worse and we still won't know everything until the biopsy results are back. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We will be faced with a large medical bill since our insurance sucks and fights paying for anything, including in-network Dr visits. We will cross that bridge when it comes. I am just glad that we are together again tonight.


If you made it this far you desirve some fiber pr0n. Below you will see some of my hand dyed roving and hand spun that is available for sale. If you see something that you like just send me an email and it will be yours. *All shipping listed to the US, but will ship worldwide and I also combine shipping.


BFL SW Angela 4 oz
$15.00 + shipping ($2.00 1st class/$4.60 Priority)



BFL SW Fall Leaves 4oz
$15.00 + shipping ($2.00 1st class/$4.60 Priority)



Merino SW Snips N Snails 4oz
$14.00 + shipping ($2.00 1st class/$4.60 Priority)



BFL 1 7/8oz - 125+ yds - 14WPI - 5-6 sts/in on US 4-6
$18.75 + shipping ($2.00 1st class/$4.60 Priority)



BFL 1 3/4oz - 129+ yds - 15 WPI - 6-7 sts/in on US 3-5
$19.50 + Shipping ($2.00 1st class/$4.60 Priority)



BFL 1 3/4oz - 83+ yds - 13 WPI - 5 sts/in on US 6-7
$12.50 + shipping ($2.00 1st class/$4.60 Priority)



Merino SW 4oz - 245+ yds - 13 WPI - 5 sts/in on US 6-7
$29.50 + shipping ($2.00 1st class/$4.60 Priority)



Merino SW 3 3/4oz - 261+ yds - 16 WPI - 6-8 sts/in on US 2-4
$31.50 + shipping ($2.00 1st class/$4.60 Priority)



Corriedale SW 3 1/8oz - 121+ yds - 13 WPI - 5 sts/in on US 6-7
$17.00 + shipping ($2.00 1st class/$4.60 Priority)


On another fibery note, I got in another shipment of base yarns so I will be dyeing them up soon. I have a special order to do first then I will start on the rest. If you happen to have something that you might like dyed up let me know and I will add you to the list and do it forst before I do the yarn for the site.

Finally Holly is having another contest. She is giving away some lovely yarn and needle holder. Head on over and enter. Let her know that you heard it here and I will get another entry.

Have a great rest of the week. Friday is just a day away.

Acquisitions at HHFF

Yeah I know. It is a little late, but hey, better late than never. I thought that I would finally share with you my acquisitions that I got from the Hoosier Hills Fiberarts Festival.

First up is the Merino Roving.

I just loved the colors. It looked like It would spin up into interesting yarn. So I got 1/2 lb of it. It came from Anne's Fiber Expressions. She had some really nice things. It was hard to pick just one.


Next is the 50/50 Merino Tencel

I have never tried the Merino Tencel blend and this color just called to me. It looks silky smooth. I am very interested in how it spins up. I picked it up from River's Edge Weaving Studio. Oh was their stuff nice.


Then there are these.

This little beauty is 4oz of 100% Merino. Love the colors. Seems I am all about color lately.


Yet another 100% Merino. I know the colors look a little familiar to the first one. A girl can never have too much color in their life.


This is a Merino and Silk blend. I love the feel of it. I hope that it spins up as well as it feels.

I got all 3 at Hooked on Felt. She had some really nice rovings and I just couldn't choose one, as you can tell.


Next is BFL.

Fleece Artist BFL. Need I say more?.


Fleece Artist BFL. 65% Wool 35% Silk. Yep another silk blend, but this time with BFL. Yummy BFL.

These were purchased from The Trading Post.


Next up is the fleece.

The fleece was purchased from Different Things Farm. They weren't sure what type of sheep it was from, but I really liked it and bought it. It was labeled that it was from sheep #7, so your all's guess is as good as mine on what type it is. It looks to have a good crimp. So we will see how it washes and combs up.


I picked up a little something for James too.


These were too adorable to pass up. He loves puppets and I thought that these would make a great gift to bring him back. Yes, he does love them. We play with them quite a bit. Looking back I should have gotten more of them. They had a ton of different ones. I got them from Mount Ampato Alpacas.


Finally we have these.

9.8oz and 11.8oz of 100% Alpaca in Black, White and Rose Brown.


9.8oz 100% Alpaca Black, Grey. Reminds me of an Oreo.

I drooled over these all day, but waited to close to heading home before purchasing it. I knew that I would never be able to resist, but I wanted to make sure that I was able to get a good variety of things before this purchase. I made this purchase from Frontier Fiber Mill. Oh, was all their stuff nice. I so love Alpaca!

All in all I think I did pretty well. I got a good variety of wools, textures and such. Now it will be all about the spinning for a while.

Thanks Are Over/Due

I listed these in order of when I got them.

This first thanks goes to Deb at Fearless Fibers. I thought that I had posted this, but I can't seem to find it. So I must have thought of the post in my head and just never put it down in type.

She was having a contest and I won a felted bag kit with her wonderful yarn. Look at those colors! I love blue. Thanks Deb! Head over to her blog and check out the things that she has for sale at her Etsy store.

Speaking of Etsy she has a wonderful post about them. Go over and check it out.


Next thanks goes to my friend Susan. She was lucky enough to go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year. I requested some yummy spinning fiber if she had enough room in the car after all her shopping.

She brought back this:


Can you guess what it is?



Here is a close up.

It is California Variegated Mutant!!! The colors range from white to a creamy brown. It is so pretty.


Also she brought back this:


Yummmmmm Look at that brown fibery goodness.

This my friends is Dark Blue Faced Leicester (or BFL for short). This stuff is like crack.

Thanks so much Susan!!!

If you happen to be in the Cincinnati, or Tri-state area you should stop by Susan's Store. It is so very cute and chalked full of fibery goodness. She not only has yarns that you don't find in other stores, but she is also selling roving and fleeces!


Last, but certainly not least, is this:



I won a contest at Mandy's blog. I got a skein of Lisa Souza sock yarn and 2 sets of way cute stitch markers.

Thanks Mandy!!!!

Also if you are looking for charity knitting Mandy heads up Caps for a Cure. Head on over and check it out. LOL HEAD on over LOL. She also has and Etsy store.

Thanks to everyone. I am excited about all my fibery goodness.

Spinning Content

ETA: I am looking for the title of a book that someone mentioned on their blog about spinning and the different types of fibers and how they spin up. They said that it was a really good book. I can't seem to find the post and for the life of me I can't remember who it was. I have been looking back at old blog posts, but I can't find it, or I am missing it some where. If you are the one that posted it or know what I am talking about, could you please let me know. I think it would make a wonderful reference book for me. Thanks!!

First I would like to introduce to you my Kromski Sonata in walnut finish. I have yet to give her a proper name. I want to work with her for a while and get a feel for what she should be called. If a name happens to strike you I am open for suggestions. Sorry that the picture isn't the greatest. It was 2 am when I took it and I was packing it all up before I headed off to bed.


As I suspected, James LOVES it. He wants to play with it and make it go "round and round". So she has to stay in her protective bag during the day and is only allowed out at night after he has gone to bed.

Below is my first mini skein that I spun and plyed on Sunday. It is wee. But I was pretty well pleased with it. Especially for my first try.


I was given this roving with my wheel just for practice so I can get the hang of the treadles and just the technique in general. I was warned that it wasn't the best to spin with, but for practice it was better to screw it up than a really nice roving. I have to say that I really don't like spinning it. It is rough, sticky and there is quite a bit of VM and lumps in it. I am getting better at spinning it, but I still don't care for it. I plan on spinning it all up for the practice and then moving on to something nicer.


This is what I have done so far. I am over half way through the ball of roving and I have a bobbin pretty darn full. As you can see it isn't the best spinning job in the world, but I am learning. I really want to get something with color the next time. Something bright and spring or summery.


Thank you to all of you that listed recommendations of roving. I plan to keep a running list so that I will have a reference to look at when ordering some to spin and to stock in my stash. Would any one have any books that they could recommend as well? I would appreciate any info that you may have.

Sorry it took so long to show you what I have been doing. With the computer only working in Safe Mode I was a little concerned if it would even recognize the camera. Not only have there been computer problems, but Kevin started his night job this week. We see him for a max of 3 hours a day. He comes home form his day job for a few hours then heads back out to the night job, then from the night job he goes directly to his day job where he gets a few hours of sleep in the truck. So it has been exhausting for him and I have been very busy picking up any and all slack around the house. Next week shouldn't be as bad, he will be only working 3 or 4 nights. James has not been taking his normal afternoon naps either. So I have had no breaks to even sit down and type. So it has been a bit of a whirl wind around here. At night I have been sitting down with the spinning wheel and spinning just to calm down from all the days chaos. Hopefully things will start to calm down and we will get into a groove again.

I really wanted to go to a fiber show in Troy on Saturday, but I have a bridal shower to go to and I made a commitment to that first. It would figure that they are both at the same time too. If you go think of me and if you see any blue and yellow roving look at it and say "ahhh Tonia would love that". =)