DSCF6293, originally uploaded by criosa.

I got a bread machine from Goodwill last weekend. it’s pretty old (the booklet is copyright 1996!), but I couldn’t pass it up - only $10! and it seems to work.

here’s my first attempt. I was going to attempt the basic white bread, until I actually read the recipe and realized I didn’t have dry milk. so I went for the next ‘fool proof recipe’ that I had all the ingredients for: Garlic Herb Bread. (garlic, basil, rosemary & thyme. yeah, doesn’t quite match the song, but it’s still in my head.) It’s quite yummy, and seems to have turned out pretty good even though my yeast is a bit old.

so, Kashka & I moved into our new apartment yesterday. and Kashka is obsessed with climbing into the lower kitchen cabinets, closing the door, and then hopping into the next one through a small gap at the top of the cabinet wall. she’s driving me absolutely nutty with this (and it’s been less than 24 hours).

anything I can get to put on the (old beat up wood) cupboard doors to get her to ignore them? especially considering that I had been planning on putting cleaning products in the center ones (under the sink). I don’t want it to keep her out of the kitchen entirely though, since that’s where her food & water are (on the opposite wall).

DSCF6286, originally uploaded by criosa.

that’s the fiber I’m currently spinning.

DSCF6285, originally uploaded by criosa.

This is the basket I made.

The fiber in it is a 75/25 wool/angora blend from Kimmet Croft.

so, I spent the day at Maryland Sheep & Wool. lots going on.

We started the day at The Fold, where I resisted the siren call of the Socks that Rock. I did not resist the fiber they had though.

The purple is a 50/50 silk/merino blend and the black is one of the Raven colors of a sheep to shoe.

Then we passed by the Merlin Tree’s booth, and I sat down to play with a Hitchhiker wheel. It’s a cute wheel, but the treadling is very different from what I am used to. Definitely takes some getting used to.

I also wanted to get some fiber that’s a bit less common. I could not resist the Jacob wool.

I had a hard time picking which color combo to get. (in the end, I chose a small 1oz ball of a brown & white).

Here’s one of the Jacob sheep that was hiding behind the booth.

at some point, I ran into a bunch of knittyboard folks - Trillian, Turtlegirl, alerievay, monkeemaven, bezzie, and I’m probably forgetting someone. (it’s late. I’ll link people later.) and then we kept bumping into them throughout the day too.

I bought some more lesser known wools (after resisting a bunch in between)

and then we kind of called it quits for the day. (but not before stumbling on an awesome sheep artist. go check out her work.)

after a bit of dinner, we headed over to the Ravelry shindig. alas, I did not win any of the awesome door prizes, but I did meet a few people and it was fun.

off to bed now, so I can decide if there was anything I can’t live without that I passed up today…