Good things....

Good things surround me right now.... A sympathetic Dermatological Nurse Practitioner with a prescription pad is a very good thing. I am now on a high/long course of Prednizone for the contact dermatitis (cause unknown). It is working well, and hopefully my stomach will be able to tolerate it. Hopefully! I am a little "energized" and sleep is not abundant, but so far I'm doing ok. Apparently the injection that my FP doctor gave me was not long acting enough, and I was experiencing a rebound episode. Whatever....my face is back to normal. Whew.....

And, notice the towel. The scratchy, nasty linen yarn became soft and drapey with a wash/dry. It is indeed a lovely kitchen hand towel. I just may have to make another one, as I have a complimentary orange skein in my stash. This is the hand towel pattern from the first Mason Dixon book. Knit out of Euroflax linen, sport wt. Very happy with the finished project.

Another good thing.... A sheep and wool festival. It's local, and small compared to the large festivals in other parts of our country, but fun none the less. It was last weekend, in Adel, Iowa.
Along with many sheep/wool activities, there were quite a few vendors and classes offered. This was the 5th annual festival (last year being canceled due to flooding). Each year it has grown a bit. The best thing for me was that I took my very first spinning class. I shared the experience with Sue, a knitting friend and a newbie spinner herself. It was great fun!We had a very enthusiastic, animated, and patient instructor, Diane Boehem, Country Dream Acres, Ames NE. She was wonderful, and made the entire experience great fun. We learned some basic fiber preparation and used the drop spindle before moving on to wheel spinning. I learned a great deal, and gained the confidence that I needed......I actually think I could learn to spin!

And, remember that spindle spun yarn from the last post. Well, I just had to knit it up....I wanted to see how the colors would look. I spun it, and plied it with no consideration to where the colors fell. One thing at a time please..... vbg. So, lumps, bumps, and all.... Maine Morning Mitts, from my first hand spun yarn. And, I actually like them, and might even wear them (although I question the real warmth of fingerless mitts for Iowa winters). Perhaps they will be early morning reading mitts. The pattern is from "The Knitter's Book of Yarn" by Clara Parkes. It was highlighted as a good pattern for hand spun yarn in a recent issue of "Spin-off"magazine.

So...there are my good things for the day. Oh, and BG was baptized this weekend. He had a great time splashing in the basin of water while the minister spoke....much to his mother's mortification. He was just having a good time..... That's my BG!