Stinky stuff

I stink like cow poop. Actually the whole town does, but right now, I'm pretty sure it's me, but we are going back into the field in an hour and they are still cleaning my hotel room, so I really can't take a shower. So I'm just sitting here stinky.

Now doesn't that make the TT sound super-glam?

I'm actually loving this project (smell aside of course). It's going very well. We had a minor equipment catastrophe, but we dealt with it calmly and efficiently and I only lost a day of data, which we've made up*. The data is looking good (Yes, I'm knocking on wood). The students seem happy and all in all I feel good about it. Being in the field is great, and it sure beats an office, although I'm sure I'll be happy to see that again soon.

We've been working very hard, and I'm very tired, so I'm going to stop typing. Just wanted to check in.

*I can't take full credit, I do have to thank Hub for making me a spanner wrench when there wasn't one to be found anywhere in the town.

The harried professor

Last week my old adviser called, just to check up on me, and because he had "one more piece of advise". When he called I couldn't talk because I was running of to a student exam. Then to some other meetings. When I called back, he said "you sound just like a typical harried professor, I guess you don't need any more advising".

I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

The pre project jitters

I'm here in a hotel room the night before my first field project. Not my actual first field project, you all know I've been in the field before. The blogging started because of a field project. But this is the first one that I'm actually responsible for. I wrote the proposal (very small one to my University) that got some of the money. I hired the students. I did the planning with the collaborators. I got all the stuff here. I did have some driving help from hub, so I can't take all the credit for that.

I am very nervous.

I know I shouldn't be very nervous, I've done all the planning. At least I think I have: I have the nagging feeling that I forgot something but that's just life. I mostly know what to expect even though I haven't seen the site, I've studied the maps and all that jazz. I've gotten all the right permissions, blah blah blah. Planning a field project of any scale is no small task, but I think we've done it. It's all gone pretty smoothly since we started planning early, so maybe that's why I'm nervous. No last minute craziness, hence I have time to worry? (and apparently blog)

Still I'm nervous.

Maybe it's because the last one went so bad.

I'm trying not to think about that. On top of the nervous I'm very excited. My own project, mostly on my terms, and with a collaborator I couldn't be more excited to work with. That's all really exciting. She's just a few years older than me, here research fills in the gaps of mine and vice versa, and she is supersmart, award winning smart, so I know that this work will be top notch. I just hope I'm up to snuff for her. There's that nervous again.

This is one of those situations where I feel decidedly un-professorial. Like I'm really just a kid playing at grown-up. Just one more hill on the tenure track I guess.

Now for the real stuff

Within 24 hours of Moira's arrival, I had discovered that I was in love and ordered up some more fiber from the bargin bin at Paradise Fibers. Since my skills are still...let's say...lacking, I wanted something that would be affordable. 8 oz. of Ashland Bay Colonial Wool came to my doorstep a few days later.

It took a while but this is what it became:

It's about 200 yards or so. 2 ply (I need to buy some more bobbins to do more than that). It's probably a heavy worsted. It still has a very home made quality to it, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Spinning

So, now that we know that I'm back, so are the crafts. Let's start out with the spinning.

Spinning was my thing to learn in 2009. I pick a new thing every year. I started off with the drop spindle earlier in the year, but it never really took. I did get to spend a couple of minutes on a wheel at a spinning gathering and well I was hooked. Thus began the search for a wheel. Wheel's are a bit of an investment, so it took a while to save some pennies to make the spinning wheel budget a reality. Then began the weeks of stalking ravelry and ebay, when my spinning enabler, Leah, found a deal for me. Moira (that's what I named the wheel) arrived a few weeks later and we were fast friends. Moria and my husband also became fast friends, but that's a whole other story.

Here are the results of my first few attempts:

The gray is a mystery fiber that Leah kindly donated to the cause. It's wool of some kind and it is a joint effort between Hub and I. It's a two ply, I spun one of the singles and he spun the other. There is about 70 yards in total of what we'll call a Thick and thin yarn. The teal is some fiber I treated myself too on the Christmas trip to Webs. It is from the Kangaroo dyer and it's some superwash merino, 4 oz.

This is the fiber I started on my drop spindle, but just couldn't get the hang of it. I think it might be the superwash aspect of it. It was difficult on the wheel too, but I got through it. It's Navajo Plied. About 50 yards or so. The NP was an adventure. I just taught myself how to do it from some you tube videos. It ended up being a family affair, with hub treadling, while I plied, but ultimately it came out ok.

For now both yarns are decorating our mantle. I just like looking at them. :)