Spin-A-Long and Scrubbing

For about a week, I've been taking a time-out from spinning for my Etsy shop and indulging in some spinning time for myself. Last Thursday, my fiber for the Allspunup Ravelry Spin-A-Long came in the mail and I started working on it that night. I had the first half of the fiber spun and Navajo plied by the end of the weekend and have since been knitting it into a beautiful sock while I work on spinning the remaining fiber. I still have about an ounce (from the original 4.4oz) left to spin.

When I finished the first half of the yarn I was (and I'm most disappointed in myself now for ever doubting its beauty) worried that it wasn't going to look all that nice knit up- mainly because most of the bright yellow blended with the other colors in a way that made it less yellow/magenta-ish/navy blue-black and more orangey/lime green/dark green. I'm so glad I was wrong. It still looks quite different from the roving, but I absolutely love these colors together.



I clearly haven't been knitting with enough of my own handspun. The colors in this sock are absolutely gorgeous. This project is making me want to knit with almost nothing but my own handspun (or other peoples' handspun).

I know that I have made a rule for myself about not knitting or spinning when Paige is in school, but I think I'm going to make at least a half-day exception so I can finish spinning this yarn and get it plied tomorrow. I do have an excuse (sort of) as nearly all of the yarn has sold from my shop and I really do need to get working on yarns for restocking. So it's important that I get this one off the wheel, right?

So, I'm going to finish this up and then resume deep-cleaning the kitchen, which I've been having a surprisingly good time doing. I worked for half the day yesterday and a couple of hours the night before cleaning my kitchen cabinets with a home-made cleaner that works better that anything I have ever used. I found this recipe here for the General Purpose Cleaner I've been using. It's awesome. I've never before been able to entirely remove the grease build-up on my kitchen cabinets (which for the record was partially already there when we moved into this house) not even with 409, hot water and the rough scrubbie-side of a sponge. All I've had to do is spray this stuff on, let it sit for a minute and then gently rub it with a dry cloth to remove all of the greasy build-up/residue. My kitchen cabinets are cleaner now then they have ever been since we moved into this house.

The sanding is also coming along better now than it was before, and it's making me feel encouraged. It's a good feeling.

ETA: Tonight I ordered a pound of merino top and a pound of merino/silk top, so hopefully I'll be adding a number of new spinning fibers in the next couple of weeks-yay!