silversandbea

Last weekend was the first one in quite a while where I didn't have anything planned - no volunteering, no social obligations, no travel. Plus, we just got new windows in on the back porch (I'd call it a sleeping porch except a) wrong climate and b) if one was expected to sleep in there one would probably make the floor level) - windows that open and shut and don't necessarily turn the room into a greenhouse once the weather is above freezing. The weather was fantastic so I spent a lot of time swapping between various porches and cats and finding reasons to be outside. Even though it wasn't a long weekend, it managed to feel like one - it just felt so self-indulgent to have nothing more pressing to do than the bare minimum of yardwork.

Next weekend, I'm going to end up seeing Avengers: Endgame twice - two different social groups messaged me about getting tickets at the same time once they went on sale, I would like to see it on Friday in the hopes of avoiding spoilers but will end up seeing in again on Sunday because that's when the rest of my D&D group is going. Then Saturday I'm going to yarnover followed by roller derby. So all fun things, but also not a lot of downtime. And I realize I've got at least one thing booked every weekend out to June already. So I'm glad I could enjoy it while I could.

On top of the self-indulgent lazing, I posted a couple of things that are self-indulgent - or at least seem like they'd have a limited audience, but I decided not to care. This includes doing a rundown of every single Critical Role theme yarn I've made or started on so far, including a ridiculous number of spinning-related puns Also, this fic, which is what happens when you've spent far too much time thinking about Rivers of London, end up listening to a couple of Prince retrospectives - and, when considering him as a possible Genius Loci, remember that oh shit, he fed a lot of people and maybe that would be concerning.

To be honest, I wasn't half as big a fan of Prince as much as Prince stories - sightings at First Ave; weird requests and last minute concerts at Paisley Park; him just walking over to the Current's studios and handing them a song, then walking out. Everybody seemed to have their own Prince story, and some of them were true. It's something to be missed.

I've been watching the Critical Role kickstarter and the Iditarod kind of the same way - checking in a few times every day and watching in amazement as something new happened.

(The Q&A video from the first day is a joy to watch just because of the sheer amount of disbelief, while they're completely unable to answer any questions because they've just succeeded far beyond their plans or wildest dreams)

My metafilter post on the portraits and interviews of people and dogs involved with the Iditarod has turned out to be a pretty good collection of links and updates on the race as it goes on - mostly the work of other people. Plus they're answering important questions like 'how do you pee on extreme cold' (the answer, by the way, boils down to 'if you didn't come with your own appendage, store bought is fine'. Either that or drop-seat snow pants). And I realize that this is because continental climate zones are a horrible idea in general, but it still amazes me how much warmer Alaska is from Minnesota right now. The temperature differential has been about ten to thirty degrees for most of the week.

But also, the portraits and mini interviews are worth looking into. It's an interesting mix of people (and a surprising number of the volunteers are there doing missionary work), but also there's a vet named Creacy Bearfield who has an awesome hat.

I finally finished the fiber that was turning my fingers blue, along with a cowl made with my first wheel-spun and horrible-acts-of-hubris-that-ended-up-a-lot-nicer-than-it-had-any-right-to-be yarn (named Percy). It's still not the most even yarn, but the diagonal rib works well enough. Now working on a matching hat with the rest of the yarn.

( Photos )

Okay, for the new people, I should start with saying that I don't know what I'm doing yet. There's a good chance that I'll never quite figure that out, but I'm certainly not an expert at this point.

Also, because I learned how to spin yarn while watching Critical Role, I started trying to vary my yarn palette and experiment a bit by creating yarn based off of Critical Role characters. This one is Caduceus. That's this dude. The yarn contains no spoilers.

( Basic Info: 4 ply, 600 yards of heavy fingering/sport weight; 45% Alpaca, 55% Wool )