It's early Sunday morning and I am sitting in my favorite chair, drinking coffee and enjoying the morning sunlight.  Pk is in the kitchen making breakfast (well, he's "looking at the breakfast situation".  I want french toast and the bread is still frozen.  That's why God invented microwaves. duh).  Yesterday I slept until 8:30 but today I was up early.  I like early Sunday mornings.  The  neighborhood is quiet.  I was laying in bed listening to the birds have their morning conversations.  We have lots of sparrows and robins and other small birds that I don't know the names of.  (and some large raptor type birds which are so cool to watch)  I imagine them asking "did you sleep well?  any plans for the day?"  I must have watched too many cartoons with talking animals as a kid.

 I brought the computer downstairs (what good is a laptop if you never travel to other rooms with it?) and took some photos of my latest attempts to make yarn.  This is a hank of mohair waiting to be spun.  See how the fibers are all tangled?  It's more hair-like than wool-like.  The individual fibers are very silky (like hair) and it has to be prepped to be spun. 

I tease the fibers out and they really look like silky hair but are more easily spun. 

Eventually, they end up on the bobbin looking something like this.  I haven't finished spinning the singles yet, so I have no photos of finished yarn.  The colors are jewel like.  I know I won't have much of this when I'm done with it but I'm hoping I will have enough to use in addition to some other handspun and make something.

I spent a good deal of yesterday trying to work out the charts for Dwarrowdelf.  (I'm not at all sure this link will work.  I'm having the hardest time this morning getting blogger to work).  The chart is not hard once you figure out what the symbols mean.  My trouble is that I have to remember that a knit stitch is a purl stitch on the wrong side.  The chart shows the stitch as a knit or a purl depending on what it looks like on the front.  Since it's a flat piece, there are right to left and left to right rows.  I have trouble remembering that when I'm going left to right, that the purl symbols should be knit.  After having to rip out many rows (and the yarn has a mohair content so you can imagine how well that's going), I finally decided to mark up the pattern and put "p" on the purl stitches and "k" on the knit stitches.  It's helped tremendously and after a few hours I have this to show for it. 

The stole is for Elanor who fell in love with it immediately.  The yarn is a mohair/acrylic blend with sparkles in it.  The pattern is supposed to represent the halls of the dwarves in the Lord of the Rings.  The walls sparkle with mithril (a silver like substance).  I wanted to use yarn with some sparkle.  This one is sumptuously soft and has a nice halo from the mohair.  The "sparkle" is a strand of mylar like stuff plied with the yarn.  It's a pain to rip out because it comes unravelled easily.  Now that I have modified my pattern, I'm making some progress and I rather like it. 

Pk got the car finished yesterday and now we have a new alternator.  Very important, that.  He was going to clean out the garage and devise a new wood storage system (he is having stash problems!) but I have a feeling it's going to be a lazy day around here.  Probably not an underwear day since it's rather chilly.  My feet are cold!  I have a chicken defrosting for dinner.  I love a roast chicken and it's been too warm for it until today. 

I should probably stop here while I'm ahead.  I am a patient person but technology that is not working well makes me crazy.  People don't bother me and I can be endlessly patient with their foibles.  Computers and programs?  Not so much.  I turn them off and walk away.  Sounds like a good idea.

Have a wonderful Sunday!