Auspicious moment

At this very moment, as I write, it is 5 minutes 6 seconds after 4 on July 8, 2009 (in my time zone). This moment in time will not happen again, when written this way: 4:05:06 07/08/09.

Well, I thought that was pretty neat.

My plying ball

I have been doing a lot more spinning lately rather than knitting. I don’t know which to start first! I have many projects that I need to do, but don’t have the yarn, or am not in the mood for something like that. So I fall back to spinning, since it’s always here, and I can do it while watching a movie, or anything else.

But now it’s time to do some plying! I have a lot of these cops lying around, with the singles. I put all my singles on a quill (described previously) so they are ready to be used on the lazy kate (also described previously).

But one thing I like to do is a 3-ply yarn. I just like the roundness of it, gives it nice definition, and looks so much better when knit. Yes, it takes a little longer to spin, but I have lots of time! LOL

However, when I use high-twist yarn, it takes all my attention to keep the threads taut and even (without those little doubled-back twists sticking out). I can't watch how much twist I'm adding at the same time. Having three strands to keep even tension on is so much harder. So I break it into two steps.

I will wind the 3 strands of singles (or even two strands) around a felt ball, or a tennis ball will work just as well. The felt ball is because I can't start winding around two fingers or the ball of yarn will collapse as soon as I take my fingers out. So I wrap around something larger. I use felt because that's what I read about somewhere, but it makes sense - it's sticky enough that any yarn won't slide off it.


I wind the 3 strands evenly and with constant tension to take out any of those kinks. I try to wind in various patterns around the ball, but that is just me. It is not necessary to the success of the plying. I will place this rather large ball (since I will do a couple spindles worth at one time) into a large bowl, or even a plastic bag to keep it from rolling around all over the floor. It will roll around in the bowl or bag and release just what I need.

There are some kinks in it if you release the tension, but they are all in the same place, and you can then simply concentrate on the plying. Again, I can do this while watching ANOTHER movie! When my spindle is full, I then will wind into a skein, and put it away until I have enough to soak in the hot soapy bath.

Another alternative is to ply the strands onto my wheel with minimal twist. I just join them together and treadle them onto the bobbin in the plying direction, watching the tension very carefully. Some twist is added, but it's not much. Then I take that bobbin and put it on the lazy kate, and treadle it right back onto the wheel again, this time watching how much twist I add. It depends on how much yarn I'm making - whether it's easier to wind onto a ball or onto a wheel bobbin. It also depends on whether my wheel is with me!


This may or may not be of any assistance to anyone else, but I have found that it has saved my sanity a few times. Getting kinks in your singles while plying is frustrating, to say the least. I have my hands full and can’t easily stop and take out the kinks… so I dislike the whole operation. But using this plying ball is very “sane”, and it only takes a few moments – far less time than it does to try and untangle singles with one hand! It may not please everyone, but it does me!

It's a sign!

All day today, the weatherman has been forcasting thunder storms. But it was wonderfully sunny at noon when I ran out briefly, and continued throughout the day. That dreaded thundershower didn't materialize.

It usually likes to rain for about 10 minutes around 4:10 in the afternoon every day, regular as clockwork. That was alright, since I had to work until 4:30 and I always stayed late, so by the time I left the building, it had stopped, the sun came out and it was great! Pity the poor girls that had to leave the office right on time! It was still sunny when I went home after 5 tonight.

Well, I was busy tonight, reading emails, looking at some new wheels (who doesn't like a little porn now and then?) and noticed eventually that the light was a beautiful pinkish gold light, which we only get rarely in the evenings here. I had to go take a better look. It's 9:17.

Well, it has rained -- finally! The streets were wet and it appeared the rain was short-lived and had stopped by now. But there was this most marvellous sight! I haven't seen a rainbow for so long. We used to love seeing them when we were kids, and I don't think we get them as often as we did then.

If you look closely, you will see the faint hint of a double rainbow. It just never quite made it. It lasted a long time, and I just couldn't get over the miracle of a little colour in our lives. It still makes me smile.
(And yes, it was on May 25 -- my camera refuses to believe it's already that late in the month!)

*groan*

It's May 18, 2009 and 10:30 a.m. It's trying to snow.
I'm going back to bed.

Little things make me happy

There are many things that I would really like to have. Things such as a much larger house, with a separate room just for my yarns, and another just for working with them, and a small space for the library. I would like to have a car -- no, a truck -- so I can take off here or there, on a moment's notice. I would like to have some time to do all of this!

But every day, as I go out the door, there is one thing that really makes me glad I have it. Only one thing that brightens up my day. Which is a great thing seeing as how the rest of it can be pretty uneventful and dismal. It is not much, but makes me smile every time I see it and every time I use it. I'm so glad I bought it for myself.

It's one of those things that we all need, I believe, but that no one thinks of giving as a gift. And if anyone would, I'm sure we would get looks of "wtf is this?? You call this a gift?" Well, some people would be like that, but not me. I like mine! I really appreciate it. And if anyone would have given me one, I'd be thinking of them each and every day. But I bought it myself, so I only think how happy I am that I did.

It sits there by the door, because that's where I need it the most, and it's always nearly the last thing I do before I leave the house. It's small, and unassuming, and so very quiet. It does not require any electricity (a bonus) and doesn't have to be wound up or recharged. It is just there. It is exactly the right size! It's the perfect thing to help me with my shoes, now that I'm finding it harder and harder to bend down so far. I should have had it long ago! I like it!

But wait -- I'll run home and take a pic of it, so you can see:

It's Spring ---

We have had a really long winter. We got spoiled here, because of the Chinooks, and because winters have been rather short in the past. But this year was very odd... although most old-timers will tell you this is quite normal.

So the snow has finally all disappeared -- there was no run-off oddly. It just seemed to evaporate! I think a lot has soaked into the ground, which is a good thing. Our water table was quite low. We still need a lot of rain, and I suspect we will get that in May.

The last few days have been absolutely wonderful! Yesterday, it went up all the way to +21.4C -- which is pretty darned nice. I loved it! I had to go out at noon to warm up...it was colder inside than outside!

Of course, that was yesterday. Today is a different day, different story. It is +2C right now at noon. Oh, I am not going out for lunch today! And it is getting colder. They are expecting more of that white stuff this evening -- the weather-man is calling it "flurries". Oooh.. I don't like that word!
[Edit: This is a view out my window about 9 am]
Here is a pic of that same view at 4 pm today. Crazy, huh?

I've been spinning a lot lately, just to keep myself occupied. I take my spindle with me when I have some waiting to do, as I do often. And little by little, I have accumulated a lot of singles. So last week, I went on a plying binge, and plied up almost that was lying around. I could do that while watching movies so I didn't feel as if I was wasting my time!

So these skeins were piling up, and last night I decided I may as well wash them all and put them away. I always wash my yarns when I have plied them, before using them. I filled my tub (I had a lot) with hot soapy water, and then threw them all in, and walked away. It's very important to go away and resist the temptation to touch. I had some lunch, and then came back to see what they were doing. Well the water was fairly brown (I had a lot of brown this time) and the suds were all gone. I squeezed them all out (so many) and filled the tub for the rinse. Again I walked away for a few moments.

I squeezed them out, rolled them up in many towels (there were a lot) and then hung them up to dry. Whew! I counted 17 skeins. About 10 were all spindle spun and plied. The others were wheel-spun and plied. They were mostly dry this morning, but I will leave them until tonight. I will twist them up into skeins again, and put them into a box. I have some plans for all this brown, and I'll see how far I get with it. I have to take a look at all the browns I have, see what I can make with that combination. I'll have pics another time.

So I have not been idle. Just busy. I have great intentions about posting things here, but by the time I get home, I've forgotten that it was only written in my head! I need to learn how to download them from my brain to here. Anyone have the appropriate USB connection?

Fibre Day!

This weekend, a good friend picked me up and we drove out into the countryside to spend most of the day with other good fibre friends for a good old-fashioned Fibre Day! This was just what I needed.

Spending so much time in the centre of a city, going to work and back again, really puts on the blinders. You tend to forget there is a whole world out there, with wide open spaces, where people work hard, and really enjoy their lives. They all seem to be doing such interesting things! I was amazed to see so much snow out in the country. What we had in the city has been cleaned up, and most of it has dried up by now. But there are wide open spaces out there, all covered with a clean white blanket. The sun was bright, and it all looked so very white and sparkling. The roads were clear and dry. It was a good trip.

It was so good to see friends from so far away. Most travelled an hour and a half from all directions, so we had good representation from everywhere. I'd forgotten how interesting people can be. How lucky I am to know such wonderful fibre friends!

I don't have any pics to post! I took my camera, but was so amazed to be seeing everyone and all the fantastic work they brought to show, that I completely forgot. I have to say that the dog sweater was really quite impressive. Not a sweater FOR a dog, but made OUT of dog fur. It is wonderfully soft, and very very warm.

I was quite taken by the cowboy boot bag. One of the girls had taken a pair of cowboy boots, cutting off the leg portion and making it into a small bag, complete with chain handle and snap closure. What a great idea! How resourceful!

Sandi is quite a remarkable person. A mother of the most well-behaved and contented little baby, she has written two books for her son. They reflect the life on the ranch, containing such rich photos of people and places that are important to them. What a remarkable treasure to give to a young person! I'm sure there will be more forthcoming from her as he gets older.

I have to give a special thanks to my driver. She made a special trip to pick me up, and then we were having so much fun that we were late in coming back. She drove me all the way home, only to hurry on to her home where her husband was waiting to take her out for her birthday! How can I ever repay her for doing that?! Happy Birthday, Judi! Thanks for the ride.