Spinning blends, flax and Kevin update

I finished up another bit of that Indigo dyed, Merino/Cashmere blend.   It weighs about 53g and I haven't counted the yardage yet.  It's pretty enough. I have to track down the other skein of this and store them together for future use.  I think the yarn would make yummy socks, but it would also make a nice cozy scarf you or if I had enough, a stellar baby sweater.  Although, I'd need a bunch more than 50 g for that last idea.

I brought some flax sliver with me to Westfield on Sunday and spun it.  It's really a finely processed flax tow and while it's much nicer than the actual tow that is sold, it is still difficult to spin finely.   This is a bit coarser than I'd been trying for, but I was also chatting away while I was spinning and it took little effort.   I was glad that I was spinning flax as a visitor came in and was excited to see it being spun.   Despite the pouring rain for most of the day, and fewer than normal visitors, it was a really fun day.

I brewed up a can and kilo batch of beer -  it's fast and easy to get the lower alcohol levels my sweetie likes.   I've done a couple of these with decent results, but I usually substitute the included yeast packet for Nottingham.  That's mainly because it has a good lower fermentation temperature and our house is cooler in the winter.  Because it was so warm outside when I brewed this, I just used the yeast packet in the kit.   Oh la la.... there was yeast coming out the top of the airlock something fierce.    The next day I had to go to town, so I picked up some hose and put together a make shift blow off tube.  I should have dipped the hose in boiling water first, because then I could set the jar of sanitizer on the table, but I only had a few minutes and didn't think about it until the only place I could set the jar was on the lid.   I dunked the whole kit and caboodle into some sanitizer ( I use Star San ), including running it through the 4 ft plastic tube, before assembling it.   Of course by the time it was all said and done, there was nary a burp of excess off gassing.  At least I'll have this in case I need it in the future.

Kevin update:  He's almost been good lately.  He's hardly gotten into any trouble at all.  It's been difficult to know whether it is Kevin or one of the ginger kitties, who also get into mischief.    Kevin does love to lounge regally on the high shelf of the kitty tree, watching over his little kingdom.