I went to blog yesterday, and thought something along the lines of "Holy sheep, I have nothing knitty to show you" and then realized that this is life, and no - I'm not making enormous progress on the fibre front, and that if the emails and comments I've gotten from you guys over the years where you wonder how I pound out as much knitting as I do are any guide, you will be relieved to hear this:
I am sucking large in the yarn department.
You know how I was going to be done a sweater by now? 
Nope. Front is done, back is done, a sleeve is decently started, but that's not a sweater, and the hotter it gets in Toronto the more ridiculous a warm sweater seems anyway. (This is a blessed and miraculous effect of the Canadian summer. They are so glorious and amazing (and short, but let's not discuss) that in the beginning of one you are so filled with the joy of it all that winter seems like it has been banished forever. Winter? What winter? Leap high, oh hearts- for I will NEVER BE COLD AGAIN.) I'm still plugging along though. The pattern (Afterlight) and the yarn (Ultra MCN Sock from indigodragonfly) is too nice to not keep near me, even if I only have a few minutes here and there.
My big plan for the angora/cvm blend is... well, it's still a big plan, even though there's very little done. The fleece is (mostly) washed, and a little experiment with the handcards has yielded a very pretty little puff of fibre. 
I can see now that it's going to work - assuming that elves show up tonight and card it all together, and maybe make a bit of a dent in the spinning too. (Those elves are slackers. I've left the fibre and hand cards out four evenings in a row. Every morning is disappointing.)
I'd be crushed at my own lack of progress, but lots of other nice things are happening, not the least of which is that I'm coaching my Mother-in-law though a little sweater, I feel a bootie rampage coming on (the symptoms are unmistakable) my tiny garden is (mostly) in, and you guys totally blew my mind with your generosity to my Bike Rally ride. To try and deserve your support, most of my knitting time went to training this last weekend. Jen and I rode 40km on Friday, 72km on Saturday, and I rode 86km on Victoria Day. (That was Monday, for those of you outside Canada.) Tip of the hat to Jen, who rode to meet up with me, putting her total for that day over 100km. That's a lot of riding, and as yet, we can't knit while we ride. I think both of us might be feeling the pain of missing knitting time more than the pain in our arses. (This is not a minor statement. Without being undignified, lets just say there are unavoidable consequences to hours and hours in the saddle. Riders, don't say chamois butter. We are awash in it.)
This means that I have two goals for tonight. Knit, card and spin enough that I no longer feel like I'm five minutes away from being a danger to society, and start getting ready to give out Karmic Balancing gifts for those of you who were so moved as to give to anyone on our little team. (Me, Jen, Ken or Pato. We're in it together.) We'll be sending out little thank you emails (please watch for them) with directions on how to toss your name into our virtual (hand-knit) hat. Thanks too, for the amazing gifts being offered up by the community. (If you were wondering how to contribute, please send an email to me and we can talk about it. stephanieATyarnharlotDOTca.) I'm going to aim for the first group give-away on Friday - assuming that I'm not deep in a bootie knitting thing.
(I did mention I feel that sort of coming on, didn't I?)
Wish me luck. I'm going into the knitting cave, and I'm not coming out until there's progress.