Fiction and Media

( Downton Abbey )

( Storm of Swords )

I need to rewatch all of the second half of this season of Doctor Who. I think I haven't been paying enough attention and have been missing important things.

( Empowered )

Cracked recently introduced me to Zooniverse, a site where you can help out in sciencey endeavors, like transliterating Oxyrhynchus fragments and finding planets and things.

The fuzzy stuff that grows on sheep

Last weekend there was a fiber fest at the local fairgrounds, and it was pretty amazing. Lots of booths from farms both local and (relatively) distant, but I only had eyes for the roving. I meant to get a small amount of some kind of specialty stuff, eventually deciding on a yak/silk blend, only to find that I had no idea where I'd seen it. I wandered around for a bit and then gave up. But I did buy a 4oz bag of blue-dyed Cormo top roving, and I've started spinning it and I love it. Before, I'd only spun with Polypay wool, which is terrible - what is Polypay, you ask, as it sounds like a chemical compound? I have been asking myself the same thing for six months, and I finally googled it. Apparently the Polypay is a four-way cross-breed (ooer) created in the 1970s to be a better meat/lamb producer; "poly" for being made from multiple breeds, "pay" because it's profitable. Not known for its wool. So that is something.

Anyway, now I've become enthralled by the idea of spinning wool embroidery thread. I want a spinning wheel! The trouble is that they're very expensive, so I'm keeping my eyes on eBay to try to catch a bargain on a used one.