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Sunday, December 27, 2020

The Thrill of the Mystery

Hello, friends! I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and Boxing Day. We woke up to a white Christmas -- the snowiest Christmas in Pittsburgh in 85 years, apparently! We officially got 7 inches total for the entire snow event, followed by some frigid temperatures, so the roads were in terrible shape for a couple of days (or so I heard from the Mister -- I wasn't going anywhere!). Today, though, the sun was out and things were starting to melt.

Our Christmas was lovely, despite the fact that we did not spend it in Florida as we usually do. Usually we'd be going to the movies and getting Chinese takeout (the typical Jewish Christmas), but we decided that we were going to cook as long as we were home and had the time. We started the day with homemade cinnamon rolls (I used this recipe), which we'd prepped the night before, but I got up early to get them out of the fridge and let them rise. They were spectacular -- and I got to enjoy watching the snow while I had a cup of tea while I waited. For dinner, we made a pot roast, thanks to the Mister's being willing to brave the roads and the kosher supermarket still being open; the piece of meat we'd previously bought did not look good, so we decided not to risk it. And thanks to my sister-in-law, the family's amazing baker, we had a tin of Christmas cookies to enjoy for dessert.

I've done a fair bit of knitting this vacation, but because it's Sunday, let's talk about the spinning! I started opening up my HipStrings Base 12 fiber and spinning it a bundle at a time. I've been taking a photo of each bag's contents as I open it so I can document the process. I have opened six bags so far:


For the first four bundles, at least, the fiber seemed to start out smooth and get increasingly textured with things like sari silk. Starting with day five, things got smooth again. There's an envelope in the package that says what in each bag, but I decided to wait to open it until I'm done spinning so I don't ruin the surprise.

I have been spinning each fiber selection in order and plan to chain-ply all the singles when I'm done. I know the skein will be very textured in some spots and certainly uneven, but I think that will make for an interesting yarn and an interesting project when knit up. I'm hoping to be able to finish the rest of the singles in the next several days so I can ply it before the end of the year. It would be a good way to say good-bye to 2020!

11 comments:

  1. It sounds like you had a lovely couple of days, even if they were different from your usual celebration in FL. Chinese food, some snow, delicious cinnamon rolls, and an equally delicious pot roast capped off with some beautiful spinning is a great way to end 2020 on high notes!

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  2. Your Christmas sounds so incredibly cozy. I'm glad you enjoyed the day!! And the SNOW!! We only got rain - nearly 2 inches of it - and it washed away all of our snow.

    Thanks for sharing shots of your spinning - it all looks so pretty! The fiber from the first bag almost looks like it could be used as a great wig for the right person!! :)

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  3. The snow was truly a joy to see on Christmas! But those bits of fiber! So fun!! I want to make sure I don't miss that next year! :)

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  4. Such lovely bits of spinning, Sarah. I'm glad you enjoyed a cozy Christmastime. There is nothing quite like cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven, a cup of tea . . . and watching the snow fall. XO

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  5. Pot roast and cinnamon rolls--independent of one another, of course--are two of my favorite fall/winter treats! What a lovely Christmastime! Snow always rounds it out for me. And while we had a brown Christmas :(, we have some snow in our forecast. (One silver lining of no snow was that it made for a manageable Boxing Day hike, I suppose!) Beautiful wintry spinning, too.

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    1. We definitely went for all the comfort food! And we know we got really lucky with the snow It's actually pretty rare to get snow here on Christmas, so we made sure to make the most of it. (Personally, I really enjoyed my walk in it, even if it was a bit more challenging!)

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  6. I am in awe of anyone who can spin, I have tried and found it really diffficult. I found you whilsst blog hopping, be lovely to see you over on mine at emeraldcottage.blogspot.com
    Jillxo

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  7. What a lovely way to say goodbye to 2020!! and your Christmas eating sounds delicious!

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  8. This is BEAUTIFUL fibre! Especially the last one - WOW!!!! I love it. How cool!
    I am so happy that you got to have snow, and that your husband made it back home safely!! We're gonna make cinnamon rolls on New Year's Eve. ;) Philipp asked for it and I'm happy to oblidge.

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  9. OOH I am looking forward to seeing that beautiful fiber become yarn. Good call on the piece of meat. In my opinion, eating anything questionable is not worth the risk of food poisoning. Warm cinnamon rolls and a cup of tea sounds like the perfect winter morning snack.

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  10. Warm cinnamon rolls while snowis falling sounds wonderful!

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