Projects Keeping Me Busy

Time for an update in my hobbies. Picture time!

I bought a camera. The Nikon D5000. I did a lot of soul searching on this camera. I've been wanting a DSLR camera for quite some time and I always thought I would buy a Canon when the time came. But after tons of online reviews, I just felt like this was the best bang for the buck. And with a closeout price at Sears, it pushed me over the edge. I still have a lot of playing around to do with the camera (I even bought a Nikon D5000 for Dummies book) but these two have been my best test subjects:

Elphie!

Georgie!

And these shots are as good as my amateur abilities allow me. Once I get through that book, I hope I can use a lot more of the features.

Onto obsession number two: Spinning.

BFL on my Ashford drop spindle

Skeined on a cookie sheet (I now own a Niddy Noddy)

Dyeing with Neon Purple Food Coloring

Drying

And KNITTED!!! (But not blocked)

I took a drop spindle class at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company, the LYS by my alma mater, CSULB. I would have been happy keeping my very first handspun in a neat little hank or center-pull ball forever, but my instructor, Angie, says that you should knit everything you spin (short of spinning commercially, like she does.) And so I knit it. A little lace sample of what I produced.

But drop spindling is what I would call a "gateway drug" in the world of fiber. Once I spun with a spindle, I knew I wanted more. And so I signed up for the spinning with a wheel class. Here is a sample of a single I produced:

A dyed gray merino top, 2 ounces. I am currently in the middle of plying this. Stay tuned for more.

Endeavor number three: a vegetable garden.

My Container Vegetable Garden

Each square container is 18 inches. I purchased seedlings from Lowes. One of each: Roma tomato, red bell pepper, zucchini, cucumber, and one strawberry plant. I love the idea of starting a vegetable garden. When I was a girl, I had a Molly doll from the original American Girl's Collection. Molly grew up in the World War II era, and I remember reading stories of her victory garden she kept with her mother. Times were tough then and they are nearly as tough now. My family regularly searches our local 99 cents only stores for produce. It's funny, but when times were better, we could get top quality produce for a buck. Now that the economy has gotten worse, so has the produce selection. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini are the vegetables my family eats the most. I thought I'd give growing them myself a go. The total startup cost for this project was just under $70. My family spends far more than that in a season's worth of vegetables. Hopefully I can call this undertaking a "victory garden" one day.

Strawberry Plant

Cucumber and Zucchini

Red Bell Pepper and Roma Tomato

And just to round things out, here is what I currently have on my needles:

Lava (Ravelry Link)

Aquaphobia Socks (Ravelry Link)

If you're interested in how these projects turn out, follow the Ravelry link. Otherwise, I may post FO pictures when I get these babies off the needles.

And finally for my lacquerheads, I will post a new manicure tomorrow after I handle my chores. I've got some heavy duty things to do and I don't want to risk screwing up a manicure.

Until tomorrow!