Well, so Michelle is in the lead with the guess of

“Cecilia will have a ewe lamb between 1:00 and 5:00 a.m. on March 10, followed by twins from Agnes by midnight that night”

Michelle has the closest day, the correct sex, and she nailed the time.  BUT she has re - guessed.  So Michelle, you have only the day off, so you have a correctness score of 80%  You can keep your guess with Cecilia, or choose your guess with Mist.  Tammy, you may guess again if you like. Your current guess is 60% correct.  (I assume you meant that Cecilia would also lamb in the early morning.) Once you are out of the running, you can always guess again, that will make it even more fun.

This isn’t quite how I planned to choose the winner, so you can edit your guess as you like to reflect this change.  If you get the sex and time right, that’s pretty good, so I don’t want it to not count.  So you get 20% for each correct part, ewe, day, time, number, and sex.

But I guess you want pictures right?

This is Tatiana, named in honor of St Tatiana

We will call her Tawty for short.  This years theme is Martyrs.  This tells us the sire, and year they were born.  We choose a type of Saint each year and so we can sort of track our pedigrees off paper, just by names.

It was an easy birth, I worry about the new Moms, they can be so ditzy sometimes.  Cecilia did a great job though, excepting that she didn’t understand the lamb could nurse from BOTH sides, not just one.  So everyone is cared for, and temorarily housed, and when Beau gets home we will get things sorted out better.

Everything normal and doing fine!  Now, Agnes, Lucy and Monkey are next.

First of all, there is a really neat site I found today.  It shows you all the local knitting shops in your area, and you can add a shop if your’s isn’t there.

www.knitmap.com/map

For all the good it does me, there are none nearby…But maybe you guys will find some.

Now, to lambing, two of my sheep are seemingly SOOOO ready, but nothing. Yesterday was a day of the sheep torturing me, you can read about that on my other blog if you are interested in how funny the sheep can be, and how much of an idiot they made out of me yesterday.  I reserve this blog for posts that make me look smart, not uh the opposite…

So today I am trying really hard to NOT watch them, but I am not very good at it. I just want those cute little Sherino babies! I am also making up more batts for tutorials on various methods of getting interesting effects in your batts.

Don’t forget if you haven’t to guess that lamb from the last post. The roving is REALLY much prettier than the picture shows. You can’t see the tons of shiny angelina/tinsel stuff in it. It absolutely glows!

I will post pictures as soon as I have any!

Sooo, lambing will begin anytime now, and we are still getting ready. Being sick has us so far behind, I feel like we will never ever catch up.

So, for this months contest, I am having a guess when the lambs will be born contest. I got the idea from my pal Tammy . Some of you might like to take a peek at my other blog, as I posted birth pictures from last year, but beware they are graphic!

I am making some changes though, from what Tammy did, you can guess any lamb, not just the first one, and you also guess the number of lambs and boys/girls. After lambing, I will send out the prize to the person who guessed the closest time and day. Sound Fun?

First up, Cecilia, due March 9 (1/4 Dorset, 3/4 Merino) Wool is lovely, soft, crimpy and about 4 inches long.

March 10, Agnes, same breed as Cecilia.

Now comes Lucy Due March 17. She is a “Sherino” Half of the above mix, and half Shetland. Her fleece is soft, and wonderful! It felts SO easy, and also spins so well. It is my favorite fleece from my flock. I will have more of them after this season. It really is the best of both worlds.

Now comes Monkey, who is not a sheep at all. She’s a dairy goat. Hopefully we can get lots of yummy milk from her. She is due to kid on March 19.

After Monkey comes Mandy on the 25 of March. Mandy is an American LaMancha. They naturally have no ears, nobody cut them off! Actually they have small teddy bear type ears that are very cute. They are a bit odd looking but they are super sweet and nice.  She is very sensitive, and was developing a complex from SOMEONE WE WON’T NAME (cough BEAU)!  Calling her “no eared freak” poor thing.

Mist is a pure bred Shetland and she is due on March 30. She has a lovely intermediate fleece that spins so fast you can finish enough for a sweater in what seems like no time. It also spins up to lace weight very easily. It is very pale gray and she is a real sweetie.

DuClair is also a purebred Shetland. She is due on March 31, and she has a primitive double coat. It is very unique and fun to work with. The outer part makes a great addtion to sock yarn for the heels and toes, and the undercoat is as soft as the finest Merino. She is a horned ewe, which is allowed but more rare. I wish I had all horned ewes, I admit that it is much easier to handle her than the others.

Ashlin is lambing for the first time, and she is also due on March 31. She is a spooky little booger, and a purebred Shetland. (I can’t believe my spell checker didn’t recognize the word booger :P) I haven’t made friends with her yet. I hope that I can do so when she is confined with her lambs. I hope I can catch her to confine her with her lambs lol. It’s too bad, these pictures are all from last fall, and so they are not in full wool. I’ll go out and snap a few so you can see it, it’s magnificent!

Finally is Brietta, another purebred Shetland ewe. She is due on April 2, and this will be her first lambs. She is freindly, but a little reserved. I think she will tame up nicely while she is in with her lambs.

Its funny, because some bot grabbed this photo, and stuck it on a baby names site. It says something about, “This is what someone named Breitta looks like” ROFL. I looked it up, because I wanted to link to it, but they had changed it Oh well.

And that is everyone who will be having babies except me, and that won’t happen until June, lets hope. We can have a contest about that too, but not for a while hee hee.

So, here is how it works. Choose a sheep and make a guess on the day and time they will lamb, also guess how many lambs, and boy/girl. After everyone has lambed, we will look and see who guessed the closest.

Here is the prize…

These are from a batt I carded up. It is 100% Merino. I dyed the wool, then carded it, then hand pulled it into roving. It is red, pink, blackish purple and a very blue violet. The colors don’t do it justice. There is about 2.5 ounces here and it is in pencil roving. There is tons of glittery angelina sort of stuff also carded in, that is the stuff that looks like long white hairs lol. One final thing, if the winner lives outside of the US, then I will ask for them to split the shipping with me, as it gets very expensive!

Have fun and make a guess. Here is a little information to go by. The due dates are figured on day 145. I believe the average gestation period is 147 days, so it is fairly accurate. They are grained very lightly in the morning (to get them to go out!) and turned out to graze. Then hay and a ewe ration in the evening. (There are those who are of the opinion that this encourages daytime lambing) The sheep and goats will most often twin. Both the goats I have may triple, as their lines carry this trait strongly.

Last year DuClair had two boys, Mist one boy, and one girl, and Lucy one boy and one girl. The others are all first time Mamas.

So remember, day, time, number of lambs, and boys/girls!

I hope you will all have a go!

So I am going to be making an article about batts. You can blend fibers on batts, in lots of different ways. Then stack the batts and transform them into a nice continuous roving. Did you know that?

I had considered the technique for changing a batt into roving, but never actually tried it for some reason or another. Well I did it finally and was pretty darn happy with the results.

This yarn was my first batt, and I just made it with three scrap peices of fiber I had. The colors didn’t really do so well, although the yarn looks pretty enough. I think it needs a bigger, bluer section lol.

Anyway, the batt, went from violet color on one side, and gradiated to a lime green on the other. The effect on this yarn is so so, but if there was a nice blue section, I think it would have been spectacular. There is an important lesson here, in case you don’t know it. The first attempt is rarely what you wanted, but it can prove if what you wanted is possible. Sometimes it might take 10 times to get what you actually wanted…. This yarn will make a swatch that will be lime green on one end, and purple on the other….cool huh? It is much easier to do it this way, then to dye finished yarn to that effect.

So I then pulled the batt into rovings, and the roving was basically lime green on one end, and purple on the other. Pretty roving! I wish I had photoed the batt, but I didn’t.

I navaho plied the singles, and I am sad to say that I stink at it, but then it was only my first try and I did manage a balanced skein dispite the odd variations in the plying. Beau actually commented that he liked the effect. Well, ok, but that only counts as skill if you do it on purpose lol. But the effect could be used in an interesting way, so I filed that away for later. It looks like socks to me, but call me crazy! Might be fun to try, one sock would be purple to blue, and the other sock would be blue to green heh heh. How fun. There is enough here for a pair of baby booties, a small scarf, hat or something. It is around 13 - 14 wpi. Good size for those things.

I will give this skein to my little friends who are learning to knit. Regina, Michelle, Felicity, and Jacinta. They are all under 12, and I give them all my odds and ends, plus any sample skiens like this one. When I have something nice like this, I go and ask their Mom who has been extra helpful that week, and then they get it. If you need to destash, or find a home for left overs, please contact me. These little girls can’t afford nice yarn, and we all know how I feel about WalMart acrylics. Do a great deed of charity, and send some to these little girls who are knitting feinds. That reminds me. Someone offered to spin them some yarn if I donated some fiber, but I don’t remember if I actually sent the fiber. If that was you, can you email me? allena at spindleandwheel dot com.

So, for the article in the magazine, I will be doing much nicer color gradiations. So I did a little dyeing yesterday - well ok a lot of dyeing, about 3 pounds worth.

I dyed very dark jewel tones, in 4 ounce lots. That will give me a lot of carding and blending materials in all colors. I dyed them so dark because you have to card the fibers once, before you blend any together. So for light colors, I will just blend these with some white for now. Once I have a definite project in mind, then I might dye them to actual desired finished colors.

So, this is a sneak peek to the next issue which will have the theme of “Batty About Batts!”

Well, the sick spree seems to be finally ending. We are starting to get our strength back finally. It really hit us all very hard. It took me 3 weeks to recover, and I still am quite tired if I do much of anything. Even Beau (Who btw never gets sick) is still dragging around some. The kids seem to have bounced back ok though so that’s good.

We also bought two dairy goats for Dominic’s 4H project.  I know, I know angora would have been my preference too, but they don’t really show so well at 4H, and the boy like to win if he can.  Sooo dairy goats it is, as we could really use the milk.  It can have an off flavor, but usually this is because of poor management, not the goats.  The milk I had was sweet, ultra creamy and yummy.  It was close to what you would get from a Jersey or Guernsey cow.  So milk and cheese for us in 3 - 4 weeks or so… You can read more on my other blog.   Back to fiber stuff…

I STILL haven’t quite finished the blankity blank gloves lol. For those of you who don’t know, I am making them for my paramedic friend, Christlyn, for when she has to work wrecks, because she can wear them under the latex gloves and keep her hands warm. She has to have the tips out, so she can feel for pulses and stuff. She has been out of work all winter, because of an injury, and so hasn’t needed them. She won’t have recovered from her surgery until it is quite warm. So I got off the rush rush train and have been dawdling with these. Why?

I really do not like kniting fingers. Well, more specifically I do not like knitting fingers on tiny yarn with size 0 needles that are nickel plated. Oh and the yarn is alpaca. I can just bet you all know where my head was lodged when I did that…..it was dark…so very very dark…

Anyhow, I only have one finger left, or rather about a half a finger. Here is a picture of the middle finger, quite ironic really since I felt like I wanted to show my own middle finger…to myself for doing this on nickel plate needles lol.

Really, I am not usually prone to flipping middle fingers at people, but the thought was there, to my shame lol.

Anyway, I have completed that finger, and half of the pointer finger, but this glove had to be knitted at a much finer guage. The first one was too thick, so we decided to just use it for the left hand. Since Christlyn only needs her right hand to be very free for inserting IVs and such. Poor girl, so happens I made the hand too big, and ended up with a few extra stitiches for the pointer finger, so I just decreased. That and the fact that I jump down to just one yarn instead of two made it pucker in a little. Still it looks ok when it’s on, and will fit well. I am not doing the &%)@#7 fingers again. IF she has a problem, I will be happy to show her how to tear them out and re do them, however since she doesn’t like to do things like that much, I think I’m safe. Next winter when her hands aren’t freezing to death, I highly doubt she will take of the latex gloves and think, “Dang, that sure does look funny at the base of that pointer finger.”

Anyhow, my point is, there is a time to worry over a look of something, and a time to JUST NOT CARE. I don’t have to look at it, and she won’t care so I don’t either. sniff. I am not submitting it to the “wonderfully crafted objects award” so it should be just fine.

So, working on the next issue, let me know if you find any really cool blog posts or have something like tutorials and patterns on your own site! I will also be choosing a new contest winner soon.

I usually like winter, and I am usually an upbeat happy person.  Today, as I reflect on the last week and a half, I contemplate the fact that there should only be a few more weeks of winter.  THANK GOD!!!

It seems this winter someone has been sick for the entire time.  Usually me lol.  But, with the trees starting to show their buds, and the plump sheep waddling around, it has turned my mind to the idea that it is almost over.  Flu season has hit hard here in our area.  I have tried to go to the Dr twice, once for me and once for William, and couldn’t get in because they are swamped with flu cases.  Luckily my Dr was kind enough to call a prescription in for my ear infection, and so all is well.  Today William seems better so I decided to not bother with a Dr office visit.  Come on Spring!  I am ready.  Once the doors open and the air warms, it seems that all this goes away.  I hope the rest of you have faired better than us.  This last bout, we all got sick, and Beau missed a whole weeks work.  I don’t remember ever having flu this bad, and he doesn’t either.  I feel even worse for people who had flu and then experienced power outages from the ice storm we had.  That would really stink.  So, I am very thankful that Beau had time to be off work, and that everything is coming out ok.  It just seems like I am a broken record.  Lucky for us, when he was at his worse, I was better and so forth.

On another note I have composed a small list of things to not do when you call people who are very sick.  Kind of funny looking back, but annoying at the time lol.

1. Do not mention that the person wouldn’t be sick if they had had a flu shot.  It’s just mean.  They know that, and besides, this flu strain was not included on this years shot and so we would have gotten it anyway.
2. Do not go on and on about how sick you were when you had the same thing.  Especially, don’t go on and on about how your flu experience was obviously much worse than the sick person’s you are calling.  I mean come on people!  Let that poor sick person feel  sorry for themselves in peace, because DANG, it stinks.  So don’t be trying to get sympathy from someone running 104 temperature who has 4 kids with high temperatures, and a bunch of other stuff going on too.  How about offering to bring some soup and homemade rolls?
3. Do not call during obvious napping times.  This is a good rule of thumb for anyone with napping age children.  The hours from noon to three are nap hours for most young children, so don’t call and wake them up everyday checking on the family, and telling them how they should have had a flu shot, and besides you were 10 times sicker than them anyway.  (heh heh I really am rubbing that one in lol)
4. If you call during nap hours and someone is cross with you, don’t take it personally and bring it up again a week later.  If they were that sick, they probably won’t even remember it.  Besides nobody likes being woke up at a nap, much less when they are so sick.  Somebody that sick isn’t in their right minds, so don’t hold it over their heads later, be a grown up.

Just a few hints, I had never thought of anything like this before ha ha.  It’s annoying, and I never realized it before.  I hope I have never done these things lol.  I have just not had a marathon of flu like this before…

On the plus side, I finished some projects here and there.  I have one finger of the gloves left to do, and I’m done with the pair.  All I have in my bag is half a sock and a ball of lace weight yarn for a shawl/veil that I have an idea for but have ripped out and changed at least a million times :).

So, I am shopping for a new project, what are you guys working on?

I also think I have finally procured a supplier for some specialty fibers that are priced reasonably enough for me to resell.  I could buy them through the ordinary places, then charge like $8 - $15 per ounce for hand dyed silk and such, but really I just don’t think it’s worth that much.  People pay it, but it seems like a rip off to me.  After about a million emails, and lots of googling, I have found two places that might work out very well.  I have to thank my dear friend Heidi for helping me, she has been so supportave and helpful.

So, I was thinking about offering some tussah and mulberry silk, as well as some blends and optim which I LOVE.  They would be dyed in a variety of colors, and I was also asked by several people to consider doing a fiber/batt of the month club.  And maybe a sock of the month club that includes a pairs worth of hand dyed sock yarn each month.  These clubs are fun, and they fill up very fast because most retailers can only handle so many sign ups.  I think I could only manage about 10 - 20, depending on if it was fiber or batts.  The batts of course cost more, because you dye the fibers, then blend them together, so there is more labor.  The fibers are easier, but less exciting as they will not be blends of fun stuff.  The fiber club would be 4 ounces, and probably in the $10 - $20 range including shipping.  The would be fibers such as mulberry silk, tussah silk, noils, blends, optim, 16 micron merino and other really fun stuff.  The batts would be similar, but be in the $15 - $20 range for 4 ounces.  Would you think batts and fibers or just one or the other would be more desirable?

The sock club depends on me finding a reasonable sock yarn to resell.  Does anyone know where to buy quality sock yarn to dye and resell for a reasonable price, I have one place to buy, but who knows?  I would want to be able to sell the dyed skein for less than $10 US I think.  I can get good nylon/superwash yarn, but would that be good enough or would people want more exotic blends?  I really am not wanting to try and sell things for a super high price.  I like to feel like I offer a fair price, and that people can afford to spin and knit.  Some of the products are just out of range for many.  So what do you guys think?  This is also going to allow me to be able to write about these things, and of course offer more tutorials, so it benefits me too.  I have trouble because there are so many fibers I would love to write about, but it gets hard to choose, and hard to pay for the materials.  Some of them are so very high in price, not that I am blaming people for over charging, but I would rather make the products available to everyone.  Most people can afford $20 per month, but it can be hard to spend $40 for enough fiber to make a small project.  I would really like to make these things available for almost every budget, and the best thing is, that I won’t be sacrificing quality.  OOHHH and just think, that stuff will show up in the prizes instead of the normal stuff lol.

It looks like I am going to publish March 15, and perhaps we will just forgo the Jan issue in the future.  This seems to be the best way to deal with it.  I have a good line up and a good start on those articles, I just keep getting interrupted!  Thanks so much for all your input and support.  I have a wonderful product and book review for the next issue, and also plan on doing some specialty fibers.  I am still looking for something to do for the something fun article, any ideas???

I was thinking of shaking things up and going off into another fiber arts area that many people haven’t ever seen or done.   I have contemplated doing some embroidery, and needlework articles for something fun, wouldn’t it be great to do some of the lovely needle work crafts, with hand spun threads and yarns?  And what about felting?  That would be fun too.  I’m tossing it all around, let me know what you think.

OH I FORGOT!!!  We found out that our little baby who has caused me so much grief with morning sickness is a little girl and we have chosen the name Julianna Rose for her.  So little Julianna will be coming along in June to make life more interesting.  It will be fun to see how I manage to deal with that and the magazine.  I think I can do it, but I need to organize my time better, and focus on articles everyday.  I did publish an article outside of S&W on spinning.  You can view it here.   I am always pleased to write to a group of people, who ordinarily wouldn’t consider spinning or knitting.  I will be republishing the article on S&W in next issue.  Mostly I plan on breaking it up in to smaller articles, and fleshing it out some.  As they wanted it, all in one shot, it gets too long imho.  BUT maybe I can rope a few more innocent bystanders into the club eh?

So, that’s the news here, I hope all of you are fairing well, and keeping healthy!

Well, I have to thank Beau for getting me caught up.  In his compassion he washed ALL the laundry yesterday while I was away teaching Jr High students how to spin.  It was fun and I wish I had taken some pictures, (of the class I mean, not the laundry :P).

They listened attentively and seemed interested.  Several of them commented that the raw fleece I brought was SOOOooo stinky!  And it made me think of dear old Blue my friend Tammy’s Merino ram.   He is aromatic to say the least.  I mean DANG, it makes ME gag!  I contemplated why I found the fleece I had brought not only be NOT stinky, but of a pleasant amount of sheepie odor.  I LIKE the smell of my Shetland fleeces…  Could it be that it’s because I have burned out the smell receptors in my nose by exposing them to the noxious fumes that emanate from the posteriors of certain diaper bearing children that live here?  That is the only explanation I can come up with.

These kids must have never smelled REAL stench, and therefore have no concept at all of what the word “stink” really means.  Some fleeces stink, but this one didn’t, very mild.  It makes me wonder, after I’ve been working raw fleece, and I go to the store do Jr High kids smell me and think I stink???  I mean what if my definition is all wrong and I’ve been going around  smelling disgusting?  Well, if so,that’s ok, because everybody should know what sheep smell like, so I’m doing a public service if you ask me.

The kids were mostly fascinated by the spinning as they watched me.  A few of them fiddle farted around and didn’t do much.  Then some others took it up right away!  I set them to helping the ones who didn’t get it yet.

There were two special needs students in the class, and one of them in particular had difficulties.  One of the lovely girls in the class helped her with the most patience and caring that I was really very impressed with her as a person.  She was a very pretty young lady, and of the sort to be well liked, and I found it to be quite inspiring to see someone so willing to help out someone, despite the likelihood that she would be made fun of for it.  Plus she didn’t think my fleece smelled, so that makes her even nicer yet.

After the class, the two special needs kids drug me by the sleeve up to meet their teacher.  There were about 8 students in that class, and the teachers asked me if I could show the kids there how to spin.  So I gave a demonstration and they were like 10 year olds with a brand new game boy.  Or like me with a pound of some new fiber that I’ve wanted to try forever.  I.. JUST…CAN’T….LOOK..AWAY!  and NO I can’t put it down, (to Beau)  and yes I just might sleep with it.  By the way, where are you sleeping? I hear the couch is comfie…

The kids asked me about our farm and how we live, and I had to tell them the names of all the animals that live here(6 cats, 15 sheep, a dog, two horses, a pony and the chickens).  I failed to tell them all of the chickens names, although they are all named…hee hee, I was hungry and ready to go eat lunch!  They were a great audience, and there is a possibility that they might be having me back to help the kids try to spin.

As an aside, I should tell you I also post on another blog about my sheep and our farm.  You might enjoy that one too, mostly I just talk about whatever, it’s not sanitized and discusses the realities of farm life hee hee.   www.allena.thethreeringranch.com  Someone gave me an award for that blog, and I felt kind of weird because many of the blogs I read, know me from THIS blog, so by the time they knew I gave them the award, they had already got it from someone else.   bummer, well it just shows that people I know are really cool people as I have to compete to compliment them.

So for the kids, I sell the spindles I make with CDs plus some fiber and the lesson for $5 each, so I don’t make a whole lot, but I do get the chance to teach kids to do something productive instead of drooling down their chin parked in front of the tube.  Of course I gave them all my, “Television will Rot Your Brain” speech, but I doubt any of them believed me lol.  I’m not totally against TV, but many people always ask me how I have time to spin, knit, home-school or anything like that.  Well, frankly I don’t waste 3 - 5 hours a day sitting there watching shows that are so stupid that you can see the IQ points falling out of your ears…  I use that evening time to spin, knit, read or do something with the family.  Soo a friendly reminder, watch some TV or movies, but don’t forget to turn it off, because the REAL world is passing you by as you stare off into the depths of the dummy box.  Anyhow, maybe some of these kids will get bit by the bug, and start to spin?  Wouldn’t that be cool?  I don’t mean to be rude to TV connoisseurs, but kids are watching too much TV/video games and all that.  They need to get a hobby!  So take a kid out to smell a sheep today ok?

After that, I was pretty tired, and was treated to a nice red dinner by my friend Liz.  Red dinner is Chinese food, and Elizabeth loves to eat what she calls “red dinner”.  I love the creative ways that children express their feelings, and describe their surroundings.  I will probably call it red dinner for a long time.  It’s a very accurate description.   Speaking of Elizabeth, I would like to point out what happens when little girls play with Legos - at least this little girl…

I have titled the peice, “TK427, Why Aren’t You at Your Post”  Legos on bookshelf by Elzabeth Jackson -  I particularly like the way she used the blaster beams as a table plant..  This shows an irony and depth that is truly evocative of todays modern mindset of childrens toys.  The artist has cleaverly used color for the furnishings to offset the stark whiteness of the figures in the work, which also is contrasted by the black foundation.   The clear reversal of gender roles is refreshing and echoes the irony of the medium used to convey the concepts of violence vs peaceful co-existence.  snicker snicker…

Now, many of you don’t know, but I have a BFA in painting from IU Bloomington.  Back then, I would have painted this, and laughed with every stroke of the brush. I very much enjoyed creating paintings that presented things in a way contrary to their purpose.  For instance I painted a Spiderman reading the paper, like on Sunday mornings he hangs out in his leotard and reads the funnies…  Now, I have to settle for posting it on my blog.  I considered naming it “Storm Trooper Tea Time”  snort.  It does have a lot of interesting concepts, but really, it all boils down to, this is what happens when you give my little girl legos with storm troopers….  Conversely a boy will often take a tea set and suddenly the dishes are flying saucers having in intergalactic battle across the living room floor.  Oh well, I guess what counts, is that they have a good time right?

Kids sure are fun!

Have you ever noticed that different fibers have their own version of the 15 minutes of fame?  Well, I’m going to go waaaay out on a limb and say that these woolly critters will be the next big thing in fiber.  Ok, maybe not.  But they’re neat and it sure would be funny if you could spin their wool/hair/fur/whatever it is.

Well so, still no regular blog posts.  Part of this is because I don’t have much to say that is relevant or interesting to this audience.  I haven’t had any knitting or spinning or dreaming time.  I have three sick kids, and one is a baby who has to be on me all day, and all night too.

He’s getting better, and now he has to have a couple of shots and has a new tooth coming in.  So not much time for knitting or spinning right now.

I am working on the next issue though, and I expect to be able to publish from the 15 to the  end of the month.  I hope to get on schedule and still publish again in March but I don’t know if I can manage that or not.  At this point it’s hard to establish the difference between legitimate concerns and black sliding.   One thought I had was to do two slightly smaller issues.  Usually I write about 12 - 15 articles, plus any submissions or interesting things I come across.  So maybe I’ll shoot for about 8 each issue, and the additional submissions.  I think I could manage that better.  Do any of you have feature article preferences?  I like fiber spot light, somthing fun, life’s fun, and product/book reviews the best.  Which are your favorites?

So for now, so long, sorry about the bad blogger situation, and I hope all of you are having a good Feb so far…

Life is funny sometimes.  You see, there are lots of different ways to go about things.  Some people research, plan, make a business plan, get investors, and so on and so forth.

Then there is us.  We have a history of what I call slightly spontanious.  I mean it isn’t like we went from meeting to each other to a lifetime spent together in three weeks…er ok well maybe that was more than just a little spontanious.  Anyway, we have trouble with planning and all that stuff, we like to just DO stuff.  I think mostly this is a good thing, but it does stick a few humps in the road at times.

So Janurary marks an important time for Spindle and Wheel.  We are technically one year old.  How it was born, is I was trying to find some information on one thing or another.  Anyhow I was thinking, wouldn’t it be neat if all this information was all in one place, and neatly and well presented?  What if it was easy to find and had LOTS of pictures so you could really understand what was going on?  So I says to Beau,”Lets write a spinning magazine.” and he says in typical Beau fashion, “Ok” and so it went.

It took until May to organize all my previous blog posts and tutorials into the new location.  We also had the setup and all for the conent management.  We use Joomla to organize and manage our site, and EVERYONE should consider this, even for small sites because frankly it just makes putting and taking stuff up and down easy.  Anyway, so we published our first issue,  5 months after we got the notion to do it.  Now a year later we are trying to decide where we want to go, and do with what we have built.

Most of the contributions and active participants on the site are knitters, and so we have been contemplating adding more knitting stuff.  Not that we plan on going strictly to that, but really the bulk of people helping and reading are knitters, so we think we shall branch out a bit in that direction.

I also want to flesh out more of the tutorials, and add a few handfus more.  So part of these will be knitting tutorials, just the basics and some simple explainations.  Mostly becuase other sites have done it better than I ever could, but I think a basic run through of some techniques would be nice.  I would like to add some crochet ones as well.  So if you have any, want to write one, or have a blog post that could be used, please email me.  Of course any fiber arts tutorial would be welcome.

I only had nine posts in the last month and a half.  Like I said, BAD BLOGGER!  But there were 57 comments.  The winner of this month’s contest is:  comment number: 33

KSee 

that is such a pretty tam. Your roving colors are so pretty

Not that I picked it because it complimented my roving lol.  I just picked a few numbers, first 20, which was me, then 21 which was Beau, so then 33 and finally a winner.  LOL.

I have packaged up the prizes (I was still behind) and they shall be mailed quite soon.  I really am sorry winners, you just have to understand I am just now not throwing up everyday, all day…ugh.   Getting better, getting caught up.

So, if you guys could let me know, where would you like the magazine to go?  What would you do to make it better?