Spending Spree! Someone Stop Me!

I have been going on an absolute spending spree and I can't stop myself! I vowed at the end of January that I would do no more unnessasary spending and put everything into my saving, but I am weak....sooooo weak!

It started with all that roving I mentioned yesturday that I bought on impulse, then of course the $300 spinning wheel ( that I am tearing my hair out while waiting for) and now I went and bought more roving!
Isn't it purdy? It is a wool blend in colorway Birch Trees by : Maine Woods Yarns. I bought it on Etsy about an hour ago. I can't resist I feel like once I get the spinning wheel I won't be able to stop and that just brings the fear of running out of roving to spin! I seriously think I need to lock up all my credit cards and cancel my paypal account, this is getting out of control!

Not only did I buy this roving, but I signed up for the Spunky Fiber Club on the Spunky Eclectic website. It is $18 a month and they send you a brand new and unique colorway every month....doesn't that sound awesome? Yeah it did to me to, so I had to get it! That wheel had better get here soon....lest I keep buying all this fiber for it. Watch me be the slowest spinner in the world, wouldn't that be ironic?

Spinning Wheel Purchase...Guilt or Pleasure?

I have done it! I have finally done it! After much thought and painful opinions from most everyone I know I have finally gone and purchased my first spinning wheel!! The Ashford Kiwi.....

Is this not the cutest spinning wheel you have ever seen? Ok the Lady Bug is a bit cuter but this one has my heart at the moment. I don't know what possessed me to make such a huge jump from my drop spindle to a wheel. I have been spinning since the beginning of the summer and only on occassion. It is so time consuming to spin on a spindle and as much as I love it, I can't do it very often.

I came across the Spunky Eclectic website the other day and I was looking at all the beautiful hand dyed roving that was there and on an impulse I bought 8oz of it. 4oz in Navaho colorway 100% merino wool and 4oz in solid purple, 100 % corriedale wool.

After this little impulse buy I realized I had never spun with corriedale before so I started to research the fiber to see if it was easy to spin with. I found this website called Hello Yarn and I was immediately excited about the fact that the site was a little cheaper and you get more roving! So I bought 8oz of solid pink corriedale for only $13!

Well I bought all this beautiful roving on impulse.....but now I have a problem. There is no way in hell I would be able to spin all this on a drop spindle!! There just isn't enough time in the world to do it! I mean I have been doing it off and on for a while and I am not even done with the 4oz of merino I bought from Spunky Eclectic when I first started! What is a girl gonna do with all this roving with no practical means to spin it? She buys herself a spinning wheel that is ten times faster and more fun of course! I asked alot of people what they think about spending $300 on a spinning wheel and of course they were all against it. No one understand the joy of wool fiber.

I took yesturday off from work just to have a day to relax. I went to the gym with Robert Gerard and then out to lunch (love him!). Then I went to Cambridge to the only spinning shop in the Boston area, Minds Eye Yarns. This store is run by a woman named Lucy who taught me how to spin on a drop spindle last summer. When I went in, my intention was just to ask a few questions about wheels, but the first thing I said was I wanted to buy an Ashford Kiwi and she said "Ok I will order one for you!" and low and behold....I now own my spinning wheel. She is even going to help me put it together and give me a lesson on how to use it when it comes in. She is very helpful and sweet, I can't wait to get started! I left there with an armful of lime green and yellow merino roving and a smile!

I wish it wasn't going to take a week, I have never been very patient if you havent noticed but I supposed I can deal. I mean my roving is going to take awhile to get here so I will just play with my drop spindle until then. Robert Gerard agreed to laquer it for me and I am sure I will put some cute designs on it. Maybe I will have my friend Linny draw me a cartoon image of myself to put on the treadle or something haha, I love her cartoons!

When it comes in I will be sure to post pictures, if I am not too busy playing with it.....i feel a new obsession coming on. But I also feel guilt about spending so much money....I mean people are making me feel guilty anyway. They say it is frivilous in this economy to make such silly purchases. So I am feeling a little bad about buying it.......I am sure I will feel better when it gets here though =)

Disney Here I Come!!

Thats right! We are going to disney this year!! Robert and I, since the summer after senior year in highschool, have gone to Disney every year except for last year. We decided, since when we went in 2007 it was really hard with his new adopted brother and sister, that we would take a year off and we went to Vegas instead (which was a blast and a half!)
But this year we are heading back in hopes that it will be easier and more fun! I have to admit that I am a little apprehensive about going with them again just because of all the drama before. But Rob was in a wheelchair the whole time because off a broken ankle so that put even more stress on the trip so I am sure this time things will go alot smoother. I miss Disney so much and I really am looking forward to the atmosphere again.

There are some changes this year as well. We aren't staying in our usual pad (Old Key West) this year, we are actually staying at the Boardwalk Resort. I have never stayed there before, but Rob told me that you can walk from the resort to MGM and Epcot, my two favorite parks! I loved that because I think it is romantic walking around disney and if we dont have to wait for a bus then that is a plus! Unless of course it a million degrees out and humid, then I might opt for the bus. We will probably be doing our walking to and from the parks at night which is even more romantic!

His mother put us on a waiting list for the Yaht and Beach Club resort which is really fancy and has a fantastic pool designed to look like you are lounging on a beach. And you can walk to the parks from there too! Or talk a boat......did I say romantic or what? Of course that means we will have to leave his family in order to get the romance so I am hoping for at least one night with him alone. I love walking around hand in hand, going to the stores and eating in the restaurants alone. Makes me feel like we live together since we are going back to the same place together to sleep at night, I am hoping for the same bed but I won't hold my breath haha.

So in August away we will go to my favorite place in the world and I think we will have a good time, after all who doesn't have a good time in DISNEY??!!?!?!

P.S. The count down begins......27 Weeks from today I will be in Disney!

Twilight

I finished "reading" Twilight a few weeks ago because everyone told me I should and how it was the best book ever. I dont really have time to read a novel so I bought it on tape so I could listen to it while I was at working typing away. The verdict: I loved it! It was very romantic and dangerous and.......I WANT AN EDWARD!!

Why can't a guy love a girl so much that he has to stop himself from killing her in real life? I mean kind of physical reaction to someone is just so sexy! Who wouldn't want an Edward in there life?

Well recently I have been told that I in fact do have an Edward. A girl Rob met compared him to Edward in the movie and I must admit I was a little pissed about that just because that basically means she was attracted to him because lets face it......every woman on the planet is attracted to the idea of Edward. I don't know how much I think he looks like him.....I mean he does have a very nice widows peak and rather pointy canines. You be the judge.......

Edward or no Edward?

New name?

So I was thinking of changing the name of this blog. I mean I use to just knit so I named it Dragongrl's Knits. Then I started spinning so I named it Dragongrl's Knitting and Spinning. But now I am sewing, I want to get into cross-stitching and painting so it occurred to me to maybe just changed the name to Dragongrl's obsessions.......or Dragongrl's Hobbies......or something like that. It seems kind of silly to keep it the name it is when that is only a portion of what I do. I need to stop jumping from one thing to the other......it is getting comfusing and my house is quickly filling with junk much to my mothers dismay! Can't wait to move out!

Anyways.....Just a thought.....

The Suprise

Well I finished Christina's birthday present and I finally have pictures of it (thanks to her) and it didn't come out to bad for my first attempt at something by myself. Here is the finished product!

It matches her knitting tote perfectly! I was relieved I have enough material left over to make it and I am pretty proud of it. Though if I ever make another one in the future I am going to put a piece of ribbon on the top and bottom for better support and I am going to sew in the lines for the pockets before I sew on the back of it so they dont show. Those are the only things urked me when I was done, but she loved it anyways!! Can't wait to find other things to make!! A knick knack zipper bag perhaps? Too bad I dont have anymore of that pretty fabric =(

Oh Yeah.....Now I Sew

I begged, I pleaded, I whined and yes.....I got a sewing machine for my birthday last year. I dont know what possessed me. Robert Gerard and I were walking through Sears one day and there they all were, all pretty and functional! My friends Lindsay and Christina both know how to use one and Christina is the one who made me my beloved knitting needle rolls (one for straights, one for double points and one for circulars!) with a matching knick knack bag =). Ahhhh, my prized possessions apart from my ball winder and swift...heh.

So since they knew how to sew rather well I figured why can't I learn? It didn't look particularly difficult and I could have one of them help me right? Of course! So my mom bought be a very basic sewing machine, nothing fancy since threading it was going to be a project any ways. And it was.....oh God it was!!

Anyways, since my birthday in September I have not touched the thing since that first threading incident. Don't get me wrong, I loved my machine but I wasn't ready to learn just yet. Christina and I had to start all our Christmas knitting so there was just no time. I did however buy some pretty fabric so I could make her something when I did learn.

Last week Christina came to visit me, I caved and showed her the gorgeous fabric I bought her and she suggested a sewing date so she could show me some of the basics and get started on what I wanted to make her. I was hoping for a knitting needle roll but we weren't sure if I bought enough fabric and I didn't want to ruin it. So we settled on a very easy tote bag =)

This is my cute little sewing machine. Isn't it precious? I love it and hate it all at the same time! hehe you will know why in a minute.

Sustinance......rasberry tea and green tea.....no there is no alcohol in them, we had to work in the morning....but man do I wish there was!

Isn't that fabric soooo pretty! I just fell in love with it when I saw it and it has all of Christina's colors! I wish the store I bought it at didn't close, I would have bought some more!

The pattern we used was from Stitch and Bitch nation I believe. It was super simple and only took us about an hour and a half to complete. Of course I was very nervous when she made me use the machine, I thought I was going to ruin all the fabric and then I wouldnt be able to make her anything =(

Those are her hands working....I wasn't ready to make the little square for the strap....heh

And there it is!! Isnt that the cutest little bag in the world!! It stunk that she had to help with her own birthday present so I promised that I would make her something else since there was alot of fabric left over......lets just say I cry everytime I try to work on it. I think my sewing maching likes her better because ever since I brought it home from her house it has done nothing but jam....oh well....I will post pics after her birthday so you can see what I created for her....might not come out that great but I am hopeful!!