New Adventures

In December and in January I was consumed with selling some of Mom's things on Craigslist which involved meeting people 4 miles away at the house.and cleaning up afterwards.   NOW, it is ebay craziness.   Last week, 3 out of the first 6 Issues Dad's magazines sold, and off they went by priority mail on Tuesday.    Now, I have bids on 6 out of the 7 issues that are listed.   But.....I have over a hundred issues left which are spread out by year in my guest room.   This is going to be a long process, but without flooding ebay with all of them at once, I plan on parceling them out a little at a time.

While I was up there taking this photo, I took this photo:

Remember the thick lush hibiscus plant that I moved indoors.....Well, my doggie developed a liking for the leaves and nibbled away each time she was left home alone for any length of time.   I guess that is how she pays us back for ignoring her.   Now, it will stay sheltered in the guest bedroom until it can safely be moved outdoors around Mother's day!  This one is the red one and the peach colored one is up about 3 feet in the bay window.

OK, some knitting updates.    I have been working hard on the squares of the Great American Afghan.   I am now on square #7!    Here are some photos, some done, some not.  There is one more finished square which I still need to photograph, and I am actually done with the bottom square, except for the wings of the flies.   Photo to come..   Some people are bothered by the spider and the flies in the web, but I think they are cute....as long as they are made from wool!  

I'm Baaaaack!

As the last post stated, Mom's house is cleaned out, sold, and turned over to the new owners.   I am glad that's over, but half my garage is full of the stuff we didn't throw out, but want to sell later at a garage sale......more work to come.   I have also started my adventures on ebay where I am selling off Dad's collection of Mineralogical Record magazines.   For the record, I am cologal817 on ebay....if you are a rock hound or mineral collector and want to keep it in the blogging family.   The oldest issue we have is from Vol 2 No. 2 from 1971 and is nearly complete to 2007 when Dad passed away.    I am starting out by listing single issues from the oldest first, and then when I get to the 1990's (unless I get tired of the process sooner),  I will sell off 6 issue volumes by year.   If you or anyone you know is interested, you know where to find me!

In mid January, my first shipment of the Naked Fiber Club arrived and here is a photo montage of the prep process so far.  This is what the water looked like after a 24 hour cold soak to get out the water soluble yuck.   My garden will thank me in the spring!

The locks were still intact after one hot water bath and still really tight.

I started out with a dog brush and it was a lot of work since the locks seemed glued together.   I was told on Ravelry to give the fiber one more hot soapy bath followed by several rinses and then a vinegar rinse.

That seemed to soften the fiber and after it was dry, I used my hand carders and it was so much easier.   I guess that even after the cold water soak, two hot washes were necessary to get out all of the lanolin.

I didn't photograph the carded fiber, but here is my first small bobbin of spun singles!

It is a good thing I am only getting 8 oz of raw fiber a month, because there are probably only 2 ounces on the bobbin, and my next shipment is coming next week!   Back to work on the hand carders with the rest of the fiber.