Musée des Arts et Métiers: old cool stuff.

I keep thinking I've seen all the museums here. It seems like all I've been doing all winter is hit the halls and galleries of Paris. I joke, but it is true: it's always good museums weather in Paris.

This time, a place I've passed dozens of times on my way to Frenchie, but never bothered to take a second look: Musée des Arts et Métiers.

I really didn't even know what it was all about. Turns out, they have quite an impressive collection of Industrial advancements and technology. Ancient astronomy and navigation tools, lots of early machinery and engines. Really interesting stuff, even if you aren't into watch parts and pistons. It was well curated and presented. Totally worth an gander on a rainy afternoon.

This is one of the three of the original casts of Lady Liberty, which sits right out front of a really interesting gothic church- what used to be St-Martin-des-Champs.

A lot of these tools of science were really well-made parlor games for the rich. Come on over, drink some bubbly and watch me do a science!

And, of course, some of the objects were much more practical.

They had rooms full of looms!

A gigantic circular knitting machine, with the work full of moth noms:

An early flying-machine:

Most impressive was the interior of St-Martin-des-Champs.

It was old- consecrated in 1135- and considered the first gothic style church in Paris. It's primary architect was Montreuil- the same man who built the exquisite St Chapel, St Denis, and the chapel at St Vinncennes.

It's beautifully restored and filled with simple stained glass, and the perfect place to hang up your antique airplane collection.

It's also the perfect place to hang a Foucault Pendulum.

The original was once here, but an unfortunate snapping of the string destroyed it (and a bit of the church floor). This is a replica of the original. You can stand there and watch as the earth turns beneath your feet.

It's fantastic, right? A really nice repurposing of an ancient building.

Back outside, a confusing bit of blue sky, lovely afternoon low sun, pouring rain and the occasional clap of thunder.

The Great Indoors

I've been dodging quite a bit of hail lately, so basically I take this as the universe's way of saying, "stay inside! Make something warm." I will dart out in all sorts of weather in honor of my social calendar, but between the wool, the cloth, and a film class I'm taking, I'm happily popping Vitamin D supplements and crafting until my fingers are bloody. Hard core.

I'm ambitiously trying to finish up a big-ass men's sweater this week. I make one every year. This one isn't particularly technical, but it has a lovely stitch pattern and quite soothing to knit. I have been monogamous on it for the past week and a half, and I'm pleased to say that it's getting close to done.

Whooo! That's a ton of stitches. I'm using Cascade 220 tweed and size US 6 needles. I like it fine for the stitch definition and durability, but the tweedy bits are a bit crayonesque. I think I prefer a more subtle tweed. Too late for that though!

I've also been spinning a bit. Really!

I have a gorgeous little Bosworth spindle that's been working the wool lately. Above was a bad attempt at andean plying a really beautiful Ent batt of Corriedale. I'm still working out the logistics of trying to spin and ply with just one spindle, no niddy noddy, and a handful of TP rolls to roll the finished singles on. Next time, no andean. The beautiful lion-mane batt will be spun up and plied as well, and the two will be striped to make a really nice slouchy hat.

I currently have a really beautiful bit of indigo-dyed merino silk on the spindle from A Verb for Keeping Warm. It's so much fun to spin and it's turning my hands blue, as Indigo is want to do.

This is all made possible by all my kick-ass friends back in NYC who hooked me up with care packages and gave me the nudge to start spinning again.

Moving is Hard Work.

My to-do list has been pretty gruesome lately. No one wants to hear about my mundane everyday scurrying around, packing things up and itemizing everything for insurance, filling out visa applications, opening accounts overseas and closing them over here. I have spent a great deal of time listening to hold music, and happily knitting away here and there while trying really hard not to whip myself into a murderous rage that I will one day take out on Kenny G.

That is all.

I promise for some more interesting content soon. Adventures are in the works...

I did some spinning!

While at a friend's house over the weekend for a little spin-in I realized that spinning is the guiltiest of my pleasures. I hardly ever do it anymore. I always feel like there is something else that I should be doing. It also seems like that i can't just sit in front of the wheel for 5 minutes here or there- when I'm comfy and getting a groove on, I will spin for hours and hours, until the roving runs out. I don't really have that luxury right now, so it's been quiet. I'm trying to work something out with my conscience- we are in the middle of some hard bargaining in regards to the whole spinning thing.

First up is a Loop Spontaneous Spinning Batt.



I corespun it as thick as I could on a wool core.



I also let the silk ribbon randomly wrap around the core.



It's sparkly and beautiful. I got almost 180 yards out of it, and it's fairly heavy weight.

Another loop batt. I really loved the colors in this one.



These are so fun to spin, but they make a glittery mess all over the house.



I spun a thick, even single. Well. Not really even. I just let it be what it wanted to be, and sometimes a big slub of silk would give it some interesting texture. 164 yards.



I don't have a before photo of this, but it's 8oz of Spunky Eclectic fiber in the "Turkish Delight" colorway and South African Fine fiber. It spun up similar to Merino.



300 yards of worsted 2-ply. I feel like I got the colors to line up pretty evenly. This will make a nice pair of stripey mittens if I ever get around to it.

Oh, one more thing before I continue to be placed on hold. I sent an old friend of mine some bits of handspun that I had saved up over the years from various experimental phases and workshops and samples. Within days, this landed in my inbox:

So CYOOOTE! I never thought about making an abstract chicken before. Thank you Beth for taking those scraps off my hands!