Round 9: I am watching the Swannies play Hawthorn on Foxtel (Australian pseudo-cable TV) because the network has inexplicably once again decided that Canberra is not in the Sydney footy demographic and is therefore broadcasting the other match on tonight. I have already had an earful from my good buddy J on this subject (I knew who it was on the phone the minute it rang). So far the Swannies are easily ahead but not walloping them (yet, she says hopefully).

I have been less than regular in posting and this is mostly because I have been in a lot of pain and haven't felt like writing to say such. My friend C came over on Friday and we talked craft and I showed her my most recent purchases and it all came home to me how much craft stuff I have and how I wish I had more time to do it. And time is further limited by how my body wants to behave when I have time. Would I rather take a nap or card fibre? Knit or read? I have turned the heel on the damn sock and am picking up the gusset stitches: the end is in sight, so to speak. I am so eager to knit something else. And I'd even like to get back to spinning my English Leicester again. I will tell this tale to give you an idea of my spinning over-reaching. I like unusual sheep and find merino boring (as has already been established) so for some reason I got into my head that I'd like to spin some English Leiscester. I found a nice breeder in Victoria and bought 2 kilos of raw fleece from her. In retrospect, I realize now how clean it was. But that was my first experience with raw fleece, beautiful lustrous locks of EL. I washed it in mesh bags. I tried flick carding the ends and spinning the locks which was very time consuming, although I was quite satisfied with the results. Then I saw Mabel Ross's video on spinning and used her technique of making mini-roving out of flick-carding and attentuating locks, drawing them out into roving-like bundles and spinning from that. I like that technique much better and spun more than way, but there are still quite a few locks yet to process. I also sent a kilo off for commercial processing just to see what they would do with longwool and, to my surprise, it returned as pencil roving on plastic bobbin-like things.So that remains to be spun as well and takes up a lot of room in my stash. Of course, EL no matter how well spun is not something for knitting everyday garments out of, which is another reason I look longingly at my loom. It is a 4-shaft table loom that I bought used from the Guild for $400 but have yet to do anything with (The Imp goes and hides in it when I yell at her). I am aching to practice on it. When I think of the magic of seeing fabric appear, I can hardly wait although I know it won't happen perfectly the first time. I must learn to practice!

Book report: Big Boring Bedtime Book: White Mughals: by William Dalrymple. I have read every one of his previous books but they were all travel related. This is his first solid, academically-grounded (and studded with footnotes) straight non-fiction. While the topic is one that I always find interesting (India and once again culture contact), because it is more straight non-fiction, it doesn't exactly whip along. But that's fine for a BBB. Fun book: the third in the Thousand Cultures series (sci-fi): The Merchants of Souls by John Barnes. I couldn't remember anything of the first two except for the facts that I read them and liked them until I checked them out on-line and refreshed my memory. So far, it is as good as the others. I have a terrible memory for book titles and have frequently bought the same book twice because I couldn't remember I had already bought it.

The Bear is home and I have no cats fighting over me and I got the first decent night's sleep in a week, although I kept waking up because the side I was lying on hurt and I'd roll over until that side hurt. Repeat till dawn.