Updating Is For The Birds

Yeah, I said it.

A lot of updating going on around here these days. On the plus side, updating can bring new functionality to a project and fresh change. On the minus side of things, updating can ruin a perfectly good thing…Which would you like first, the good, the bad or the oogly? Oh, you’ll let me decide for you? :)

Let’s start with the oogly. I suppose it’s unfair to go into it without telling you the deal. Webmastering the beta site this week was going smoothly until an update on a plugin that was working perfectly fine before its latest update. What should’ve been a one-click/five minute deal, took an entire day to figure out how to just contain the issue. Sigh. Such is life.

On a good note, I did get a much needed style update. I’ve had lengthy hair for as long as I can remember. I’ve worn it Aaliyah-style. I’ve done the BC and grown it out to Diana Ross lengths, cut it and grown it again. This latest time was only a little longer than shoulder length and, I had to admit, it was a bit boring. Especially since I’m pretty much “over it”. I’d been wearing ponytails or clips…and let’s face it. That’s as quick a way to get mistaken for an eighth grader as any. It didn’t help that I worked in a middle school either, lol. These days, I just wanted easy and grown! So, I had it chopped and curled into something that can only be thought of as a little sassier to me. Love it! I took some quick pics when I got home after my cut, if you’re curious (1, 2 & 3). Some updating is good!

Beyond that, I had to update the cop on my spindle too this past week. A little more fun, a little less time consuming. Every spin is different, I suppose. And though I have discussed cops before, I’m still learning more about them on this spin myself.

The cop was fine. I was spinning it into a cone (which seems to be the natural way I wind a cop). But as the cop reached further and further down the spindle, it left less and less room to roll the spindle down the thigh or even just flicking with the thumb and fingers. I usually don’t have that problem so soon. I could be spinning this a little thicker than I usually do…not sure. I rarely ever check on that stuff. But I decided to rewind it to change the shape of the cop to a different type (looks something like a spindle with a pregnant belly, lol). At some point, I will start making horizontal rotations around the belly. But, for now, the singles are still grabbing well around this shape, so I’ll just keep going with that for a bit.

Rewinding a cop doesn’t hurt the singles so long as they are kept under tension. And I think they might even even out a little more as the twist gets dispersed along the length of the singles as you rewind it and wind it back onto the spindle. Since then, I’ve gotten more singles on the spindle and I intend to pack it a little further before deciding whether I want a 2-ply or a chain ply. Yeah, haven’t even decided yet. That’s just how I do, lol.

In the meantime, I had to update my carry along stash too.

I try to carry loosened fibers much of the time because they’re easier to work with when I want to spin away from the house. But, there are times when I want to carry a little more than a few lengths…like when traveling-or for this alpaca. The lengths have been going so quickly, I figured I would just take the rest of it with me in a braid.

When I started ordering fibers to spin, I found that many fiber artists “braided” their fibers to keep them organized so I didn’t open up the package to a huge, tangled mess. I use quotes because it’s not the usual braid I would think of as a braid (three strands and all that). It’s more like a chain to me. But, I found a 4-ounce braid of fiber seemed to take up an amazingly smaller amount of space than it would have if it was loose. I figured that had to come in handy for me somehow. And I was right. Any time I want to take a lot of fiber along for spinning on-the-go, I braid it.

If you don’t know how to do it, it’s pretty simple. If you’re used to crochet, this should be old hat. It starts, as many fiber crafts do, with a slip knot. When I make my slip knot one leg of it is usually short and the other is very long.

Put your hand through the loop of the slip knot…

and grab the leg that is longer.

Pull this section through the loop, pulling up a new loop.

Now, put your hand through that new loop…

…and pull up another loop. Continue that sequence to the end and you have a braid of fiber ready to go with you.

Look at that! Watch it disappear into my water bottle.

Not bad huh?

It also helps keep my spindle from knocking around in there when I carry it.

If you happen to use a water bottle when you carry your travel spindle, depending on how tightly you pack it, you may have to do some pre-drafting when you go to spin from a braid. But, if you braid it loosely, it should be fine. This is a very loose braid. So, it hasn’t needed any pre-drafting. Love that. I can just snatch a length off and spin it up.

Let’s see, we got one more update here…

Um…not sure what happened here…seems the end of my post disappeared?? Weird. WordPress updating too? Anyway, here’s something of how it went:

In the spirit of Trash Origami, I made a box for Rob’s socks…

…Only, the box is way too small for even socks. That’s the one issue with origami. Finding materials large enough to make a box for packaging. So, it’s back to the drawing board on that. Or, maybe bandana furoshiki? We’ll see.

Until the next update.