Christmas Spinning

The last days before Christmas have me busy wrapping gifts, baking and planning the menu for Christmas Eve. I took some time out this afternoon to spin up some space dyed wool top and listen to Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion". Of course, with two kittens in the house, spinning is a little more difficult. They kittens learned not to go near the wheel, but they love to grab the roving and fight it. Knitting is downright frustrating with them biting the yarn and the circular needle. So I have to wait until they're sleeping to be able to knit in peace. I started a pair of socks, using KnitPicks Simple Stripes.
Our black kitten, Spector, will be leaving after Christmas, hopefully that will reduce the carnage around here.
Speaking of carnage, my wonderful mioget ram, Boggart, managed to butt the chain link fence enough to flip the latch and he, Donder, and Bombarde, were over checking out the ewes this afternoon. I think Cordelia may be cycling, because this morning she and the BFL ram were being very friendly through the fence. She was with Donder for over two weeks and then with Boggart for three weeks so I thought she'd be bred. But it sure seems she's not. I would love to put Cordelia in with the BFL ram and get a few more crossbred lambs. I'm hoping to some nice sized market lambs next year.
Thankfully all my wayward boys are good on halters and all I had to do was walk them back to their pen one at a time. I've tied the gate this time and just hope it holds up if he decides to bash it some more. Those darn rams!
Oh yes, back to the spaced dyed top. I got these four colorways from Louet and couldn't wait to try them out. I have "violets" on the Traveller now. It's a corriedale type wool and very easy to spin. I can't wait to see how it looks when plied.
Well, I'd better get back to the Christmas preparations. I'm making that great pretzel recipe that Nancy Larson of Sheepy Hollow Shetlands shared on the Shetlands list last summer. It calls for one bottle of Orville Redenbacher's popcorn oil, one package of Ranch dressing mix, and two tablespoons of garlic pepper. You mix those ingredients and pour them over two bags of small pretzels. Stir for 20 minutes and then let dry for 20 minutes. Very easy and they are so addicitive!