I had that kind of weekend where I relaxed so well and stayed in so much that coming back to work felt like it was actually ok with me. That’s exactly what I was looking for. We are less than 3 weeks out from the big conference, I have two grants due between now and then, and I need to feel eager and inspired to get to work. So my weekends are going to be all about hibernation from now until the conference is over.

Yesterday I was able to begin plying my 4 ply yarn:

It’s actually done now, but hanging to dry. It turned out great, and I’d say it’s an aran or even a bulky. Certainly not even as light as a worsted weight yarn.

I also decided to begin doing some dyeing. You see, awhile back I experimented with dyeing my own yarn and fiber, but even when only doing so about once a year, I realized that I just didn’t enjoy it enough to keep it up. However, I do have plenty of undyed fiber laying around, and I DO love blending fibers on the drum carder. So, I have decided that it’s time to use my dyes and dye up 2 ounce portions of different colors in anticipation of using them for blending.

I had 2 grey undyed colors of romney wool, one lighter grey and the other darker grey. I started with the light grey, threw it in the crock pot in 2 ounce portions and added dyes. I actually got 4 light greys and a dark grey done, and I plan to continue tonight, but I only got photos of two.

I think those will serve their purpose quite well! I’ll photograph the others tonight.

Miss Butterfly spent the majority of the weekend at her friends house next door. She ended up helping set up a large consignment sale with the neighbor, and for all her hard work (All day long those girls worked!) She earned herself a Halloween costume that she loves. Well, since she’d spent most of the weekend away, I decided it was time for her to spend some time with me. We went to a local lake and took a walk around it, looking for pokemon. We saw pokemon, and we saw other real life fun stuff too! Most notably, this baby snapping turtle (I think it was a snapper, I was told it was a snapper.) which Miss Butterfly INSISTED I pick up so she could see the underside of it. I tried to tell her she could pick it up, but she was having none of that. In any case, we moved the poor thing off the trail in hopes that it would head toward the water rather than get run over on a busy recreational area.

It’s a pack in and pack out park, but I can see from this photo that many are not packing out. Next time I go, I’ll grab a bag and pick up some trash while I walk. I say *I* because Miss Butterfly decided there are too many grasshoppers for her to return just now. But they don’t really bother me and I fully intend to enjoy another walk there soon.

And now it’s back to the daily grind! No telling if I can make it an entire week!