Some Actual Fiber Arts Content

Between my ongoing migraine, the holidays and attempts at organizing, I have not had as much time for knitting as I like. I have been making a few dishcloths because I don't have to concentrate hard on those and I have been spindling. That gives my hands something to do while watching we watch movies, that does not tax my headache. I have the hardest time sitting still doing "nothing".

Several years ago, Melissa at Ram In The Thicket recommended Winderwood Farm eBay store. He doesn't have as much hand dyed as he used to but I can attest that the quality is really something. This is Blue Faced Leicester wool in blues, greens and purple. The photo has a little too much yellow-green in it, but I thought you would get the idea without an hour of Photoshop to correct it! :o) I didn't wind it on my WPI tool to see what thickness it is but it is about fingering, maybe slighlty thicker, but less than sport. BFL is very nice to spin and is soft. This skein is about 130 yards and I have at least that much more to spin. I'm thinking about fingerless mits. I was really pleased with my results. Even though there are some overtwist areas, it is getting more like what I want to see AND I understand more what I am doing right and wrong. I think that is half the battle. It was spun and then Navajo plied on my Cascade Pilchuck spindle which I love. I think I'm going to ask for another Cascade spindle for my birthday. It can't hurt! :o)

Since we had the big windstorm and three more rainstorms following it, we have been snuggling down in the evening to watch our choices from Netflix. I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice by myself - not much to Hubby's liking! :o) I also enjoyed Babette's Feast, which I watched first in Danish with English subtitles and then with English. I was surprised both by how much Danish I could understand (it, like English, Dutch, Swedish and Norwegian are Germanic languages and I studied German in hs and college) and how different the subtitles and the dubbing were. Babette's Feast is the kind of movie that you have to think about for awhile; the kind where on the first run you aren't sure if you like or dislike it. One could not help but notice the knitting though. There were beautiful shawls, some knit and some crocheted, including one that looked Faroese in construction. And when the sisters were not serving others they were busy knitting socks on dpn's!

Sadly, we watched our last Monarch of the Glen last night, though I must say the sweater viewing was sparse after Duncan and Archie left the area. Towards the end the story lines were a little more scattered and a little less developed without much continuity. Still the scenery was incredible and I think they left off right when they could have gotten much better story lines going. Most of all I will miss the Highland scenery. Maybe this year I need to get busy scanning my slides of Scotland! (More hours in my day!)

Any more suggestions for viewing Scotland that I could find on Netflix? Or sweater/knitting rich films? I'm open for suggestions.