Unanticipated Happiness

Well, 2023 is definitely turning out to be not a year I envisioned ahead of time. It isn't all bad. It just isn't what I would have chosen from a menu.

In January, I slept not at home 15 days.
In February, 18 days.
In March, 16 days.
In April, 10 days so far, and another 6 coming up.

The first 120 days of the year (which takes us up through the last day of April), I will have slept somewhere else 65 days and at home 55 days. I am spending about as much time at my mother's house in Pennsylvania as I am at home in Georgia with my Cuddly Hubby. Thank goodness Cuddly Hubby is home to take care of the house, the plants and the Siamese feline pharaohs.

As I write this from home, I'm at the end of a quick fortnight in Georgia in between two three-week trips to Pennsylvania. I have not put a single stitch in the big orange blanket in over a month. It will likely be at least another month before I do. I hope I remember what I was doing!

On the other hand, I did get going on a different project. I offered to demonstrate spinning for Taste of Mableton day. I poked around in my fiber stash, but didn't really find much in the I-don't-care-about-this-let's-demo-with-it category. After some playing with spindles versus the Rose wheel, I settled on natural brown Noble cotton from Sally Fox.

My Ravelry notes inform me I picked this up at the fire sale at 90% off, which probably explains why I bought it. Maybe I just didn't know at the time that I don't like spinning cotton? What was I thinking? This stuff is still on the seed. I do not have cotton cards. But, I have books that tell me, yes, you can spin cotton straight off the seed. So I gave it a try.

This has been a surprisingly pleasing spin!

The cotton is short but wants to grip other bits of cotton. I'm using the high-speed head and the lace bobbins on my Rose. I'm not sure what ratio I'm getting; probably something in the 1:35 range. I pull a few cotton seeds out of the bag, fluff them up, then woolen-draw off of them. I'm not doing a proper long draw, but I am letting the twist run up and pluck the fiber off the seeds. In the end, each seed ends up mostly naked. I'm plopping the seeds in a basket. I have no idea if they could germinate. Plus, I'm in Georgia. I think there are laws about where you can't and can't grow cotton, especially colored cotton. I am — surprise! — enjoying spinning this brown cotton into a slightly textured yarn.

I want to end this post with a reminder about bringing unanticipated happiness to others. On my last trip to Pennsylvania, I borrowed my sister's blue Forester. She is now driving our mother's green Forester. The trip was three weeks. I ran a lot of errands. I got stuff done. When you borrow something, you should give it back in as good or better condition, if possible. I took the blue Forester over to the local car wash for a wash, wax, and vacuum. The price was much better than what I pay in Atlanta. And I tipped $10 because, hey, these are young people working their tails off outside in chilly weather. And this is what the receipt looked like.

The person who rang up my order was surprised and delighted by my tip. Really? How often do you take the car to the car wash? I do it about two or three times a year. It isn't that big a deal to tip enough for people to earn a living wage. She highlighted the tip line so as the car went down the line, everyone who worked on it knew to give that blue Forester a little extra love.

Be good to each other, and spread a little unanticipated happiness around!