Just Hopping Along

A little over two years ago now, I made a decision to accept a new position. It's still with the same large corporation, but in another unit of the same department. Anyway, they had built a new office tower, and had just opened it when I started there. The place I was at was also moving into a newer larger building, which I have visited, but I was glad I didn't have to go through the move. So I was quite lucky -- I left one place just before the move, and joined a new one just after the move.

The new building was officially opened in the fall of 2007, but there were still workmen doing all the last finishing touches (like replacing cracked windows and warped doors) for quite a few months.

A few of the older staff have retired, and so these prime offices have come available. The senior staff remaining then get first choice of which office they would like. So for the past 2-3 weeks, there has been quite a bit of shifting of offices. It's like musical offices -- we move one out, another moves in to clear up one more office, which someone else moves into, and so on. This involves moving entire offices... all the furniture, art work, books, etc. The senior management people have their own furniture in their own offices, so it's quite involved. But it's all overseen by a very competent organizer, and it all moves like clockwork -- most of the time.

Late on Friday, when one office was almost moved over, and the assistant was cleaning up (the assistants have to do all the work), she discovered something hopping away down the hallway into a corner. It was a little frog! It apparently had been in that office, on the 23rd floor, was disturbed and was trying to find a new place to hide. How long it was here, where it lived, what it ate, we don't know.

It's the cutest little thing. It is a tree frog. There aren't any native tree frogs in our part of the country; there may be some on the west coast. I believe this one is native to south-east Asia, perhaps from Indonesia. It has very long delicate fingers and toes -- with suction cups on the ends. Looks a little like E.T. It's no more than about 5 cm (2 inches) long.

So the assistant took it home, put it into a terrarium and may let it go in spring. However, I don't know if it will survive our winters here. She got some coconut bark for it to hide under, and even a little tub of crickets! These frogs are nocturnal, so she hasn't seen if it is eating any crickets, and it seems to sleep most of the day. In the morning, she finds it on the side of the glass looking very bright and chipper, so she assumes it has found a cricket or two.

So here is a pic of the little darling! It's really quite cute -- in its own way.

I am finished

Well, the socks are done! I finished them and they are on their way now.

After quite an agonizing week, with no knitting, I decided that the socks can just stay as they are. There isn't a "mistake" after all; it's a design feature that the socks wanted, and I should let them be. Which is what I did.

Here is a look at the toes again, after washing and viewed from the side.

They do look a lot better than at first. But I knew they would. :-)

The gussets were a bit troublesome, but after all is said and done, they seemed to be just right. The math was there, so it had to work out; just that it didn't look right when I was doing them. Here is a look at the gusset and the heel:

The heel was not quite as I had hoped it would go, but since this was the first time doing it with this formula, I really had nothing to compare it to! In the end, I think they worked out just fine. I have made a mental note to change a few things on the next socks!

I continued the 3/1 rib pattern established on the instep and carried it around the back of the sock as well. I was thinking of increasing a few stitches as I went up the leg, but where? It would just upset my whole patterning, now wouldn't it?! So I just left it as it was. There is considerable stretch there anyway, so that will account for any leg shaping. With the ribbing, I don't need to worry about the socks staying up as well.

When I got to the top of the cuffs, I remembered I needed to do some white stripes! I did have to tink back just a little, and added the two stripes of white, and cast-off. I used my version of the Very Stretchy bind-off, and it is surprisingly stretchy. There is lots of room to get it over the ankle.

I washed the socks last weekend, and hung them to dry. They were still quite damp the next morning! So I left them until I got back from work. They were pretty well dry by then. I left them for a few days extra to be sure they are completely dry. It is 100% wool, and they are fairly thick, for socks, so they should provide lots of insulation. But they do take a long time to dry!

I packaged up the socks into a nice little package, and wrapped it very neatly, complete with a nicely printed address label. I took it down to the Post Office to mail on their way. They wanted $9.56 postage for it! It was only going 840 km!! I said there is something wrong, that can't be right. But she said yes it was right, it has to go parcal post -- duh-- it is a parcel, I know! It's just a pair of socks, damn it! I told her that I was getting ripped off. Then she said if I could package it into a flat packet, it would be less.

So back I go to my office, and take it all apart very carefully, and stuff the socks flat into a 8x11 envelope which was able to pass through that magic little slot they have, and it went for $2.00. Can you believe the difference?!!

Anyway, I'm awaiting word to see if they fit, and if they are going to be worn. I should hear something in about a week. Here is a look at the full socks:

Much Better

Well, it's been quite a week! But I have survived, and am feeling much better now.

Last week, late in the afternoon, I started feeling unwell, and had some abdominal discomfort. Something I ate? Only had a sandwich at lunch, shouldn't be that. But it kept getting worse, and was making me very concerned. I did get home, and didn't feel like having any supper, and went to bed early.

Of course, the pains were getting more and more bothersome. I didn't sleep all night, just couldn't find the right position where I didn't hurt and could sleep. I still went in to work, suffered through the day -- it was ever so long when I didn't get any sleep -- and had chills all day long. But I'm normally cold at work, so that wasn't unusual. The security person came around in the afternoon and said I looked flushed... my face did feel hot, but I was still shivering.

Eventually, I got home at the end of the day, and went straight to bed. I had no supper again. I woke up during the night, and took 2 aspirins for the fever, and slept a little. I got up a few hours later and took 2 more, and slept again. I stayed in bed for 18 hours, and felt a lot better when I finally got up. I wasn't that hungry yet, so didn't do much in the day, had a nap in the afternoon, and went to bed early again. I just needed the rest!

By Monday, I was better, and went to work, but it was several days later that I was feeling back to normal -- or as normal as I can be. But it was a bit of a rough time for a few days there... and gave me much time to think about a few things that I have ignored. I'll have to do something about that now.

So there has been no knitting! I just was not in that space where knitting would have been appropriate. There are times that I am just not in the mood, you know? And that's alright too... it will wait for me!

But now that I'm better, I guess I have no excuse! I have to get back to my work. It's waited long enough. I hope the socks have learned their lesson and are going to behave now!! LOL

and around the bend

I have finally gotten around to doing the heel. It's not really that hard, but I've been finding that there seem to be so many other things that I am required to do, and that takes away from my knitting time.

Doing the heel with a flap from the bottom up means you have to do everything backwards, in a way, and think of the final goal and how to get there from here. Do you remember in highschool, having the answers in the back of the Algebra book, but you had to figure out how you get to it?? This is much the same.

Now, true, I need to do some calculations here. I start out with X number of stitches, and I need to end up with Z at the end, and I have Y nuimber of steps to get there. A real problem. However, it is possible to work it out. Just have to sit down without distractions and work them out.

So I have finally done it, and turned the heel, which I find really cool how it does that, and I am on my way. Not a problem!! Why did I think it would be? It all just works out, as it should. Here is a look at what I have so far:
I tried to show you how I did the heel, and you can also see the gussets. I did do each heel turn and the flap separately, since you really can't keep working in the round while on that part. It's not that hard, really --just need to keep focusing on what you are doing.

So far, I'm finding the yarn nice to work with. It's quite even, and is holding up ..... Oh, darn it!! I just spotted an error -- a huge glaring mistake! So now what?? Do I rip out (I have a rule about never ripping out) or do I ignore it and keep on going. But it will keep bothering me. Oh, darn! I'm sick over all of this... I think I'm going to go lie down for awhile.

It's started

After doing the swatch, and determining which needles I wanted to use, and deciding on the 3/1 patterning, I cast on!

I am doing these toe-up because... well, because I want to! I like doing them toe-up and trying out different heels. It is a good way if you don't know how many stitches to cast on -- try them on until they are large enough! I am not sure how long to make them either, so this is a better way to go. I don't have to worry about not having enough yarn -- I think I have enough for a couple pairs -- and I do like a challenge. I've decided to try and do them as traditionally as possible, with the heel flap, and to do them in reverse, so to speak. I've done this before some time in the past, after struggling to find a way to do it that way. It is rather easy, when I finally figured it out!

I will do the toe and the heel in white, perhaps a little around the top of the cuff, and the rest of the sock will be in the grey. It is going to be very appropriate for a farmer in winter! I don't want to try and do anything fancy. Here is a pic so far:

I am doing both socks at the same time, on one circular. I don't do second socks very well, and since I don't have a pattern (I don't keep notes unfortunately) so doing them both at the same time is insurance that they will be the same. I used Judy Becker’s Magic Cast-On for the toes. I've used this method several times for all sorts of things, and I just enjoy doing a small sample when I am bored. It's so ingenius and so simple! Gotta love it! Oh, the red thread? That is my marker showing me the beginning of the round. I used it when making the increases on the toes, and it just stayed. I'll need it later for the gussets and heels. I just use a piece of smooth yarn in a contrast colour and it works really well. I also use it for counting rounds.

I'm coming up to the heel soon, so I want to put in some gussets. I had better concentrate now and put them in the right spots. More to follow!

The Required Swatch

So I'm doing this right. In order to plan this project, I need to do my swatch. I've chosen a needle size, and after a couple rows, I can see it is too loose. Then I used a smaller needle, and it's much better. I want a firm fabric for socks to wear well, so this will do just fine.

I did find, though, that the smaller needle size was harder to work with. I can feel the extra strain on my hands. So this will be a little tougher to do, but I will manage.

I used 4.0 mm and 3.25 mm needles. I have some nice bamboo needles that I really quite like, but not enough for both socks at the same time. I don't like doing one and then the other -- I always forget what I had done on the first! No, I don't follow a pattern! These will be knit toe-up, and I make up the design as I go along. I haven't yet determined how I will do the gusset or the heels. I do want the toe and heel to be in white, the rest in grey, but I don't like short-row heels, but am not sure how the flap will look in white. Shall see when I get there, I suppose! Why worry about it before I need to?

I do want a simple rib on the instep and around the leg, so tried out a 3/1 rib on the swatch, with both needles. Yes, the smaller works better. One thing I noticed, which I should have known, is how much the fabric pulls in with the smaller needles! You can see in my swatch, in the stocking stitch area, and in the ribbing, how much they have pulled in, even with these few stitches. This is compounded when you are doing a sock, or even a sleeve! Something to keep in mind.

Here is the swatch, with the needles placed next to their corresponding section.
Now, to cast on.

Skeined

Those hanks I showed you drying have now been twisted up into a skein waiting to be used. I just wanted to show you a closer pic of them. I really like the way they look! I like a yarn with more plys to the inch than the regular stuff we tend to do.

My teacher said I need to ply a balanced yarn. But when I did, it was too loose for my tastes. Well, that is easy to fix, right? Just put more twist into the singles, then you need to put more twists in the ply and you will get what you want... in theory. So I did. But even then, with so much twist in the singles that I was getting tangles before I could ply them, it was still not what I wanted if it was a balanced yarn.

So I just did what I needed to do. These singles have a LOT of twist in them. I was careful in the plying to put in the amount I wanted.. it kinked up badly. Well, of course, it would be said to be over-plied! But as I showed you, once washed, they seemed to balance themselves out, and were very happy where they were! I dunno... but I liked the result and the yarn seems to be quite happy to be there too. (am I seeing more than I should??)

Anyway, here's a pic. More to come later.

I'm twisted

When I was reading the Harlot's blog about her sixth blogiversary, I was reminded that I too have celebrated my blogiversary as well. (We do things together, you know) It's only my fifth, but I thought it was longer than that. I don't post as often as she does, if you hadn't noticed, but she is a writer, while my other writing goes elsewhere and you won't read about it here.

I've been really busy lately, with work, and by the time I get home, I'm too bushed to do much of anything I had planned. YoU know how it is -- I write all these wonderful blog posts in my head, while walking to or from work, or at work, and by the time I get home, they are done, so I don't need to actually post them! And I'm always so surprised when I look and find out they are not there!

I don't do much knitting these days, although I have a lot in queue and I doubt I will ever get to them. I just am not inspired to do much. But I do spin a lot. I always feel the need to do something while I am watching a movie or listening to a radio show. And the first thing I grab is my spindle. I have three wheels, as you know, but they are sadly being neglected, and I do feel a bit guilty over that. But it requires a bit more organization for me to sit at the wheel. Of course, the wheel is not conveniently positioned so that I can watch my computer screen -- where I watch all my movies. So the spindle is it.

I've decided that I want to knit some socks, and want to use my own handspun for that. But what I have been doing is 3-ply which is a bit too heavy for what I want. So I am now doing some 2-ply. For socks, I want a firmly spun yarn, so am putting in a lot, and I mean A LOT of twist in my singles. I am doing a fairly tight ply too and getting what I feel is a very nice yarn for socks. I just need to knit up a sample to know for sure, but I'm sure it will be just fine!

I've noticed that the white seems to be a bit finer than the greys, so I need to make some adjustment in how I am making my singles. I wonder how it will work when I knit them together in one piece; I was thinking of white toes and heels, but I shall see yet. I have watched four seasons of Dexter, and am awaiting season 5 to be broadcast. I am addicted! Now I need some other show to watch, as interesting and suspenseful as this one.

But what I want to show you this time, is what happens to my spinning in the process from spindle to sock. Here is a pic of my skeins after plying and just hanging there waiting their turn to be washed. I always wash the skeins after plying, and they are ready to be knit after that. You will note that they are very tightly plied. In fact, my teacher would say they are way over-plied. See all those kinks as they twist back on themselves? If it were not for my ties, I would have a major tangled mess!! However, after the soak in soapy hot water, and rinsing, I roll them up in a towel to soak up most of the water and then hang them up. No weights, just the damp skein hung to dry. You will notice that there isn't any of those kinks that were there before. I don't understand the physics of this, and don't worry about it. I know that the resulting yarn is what I want, and that is it. I know that in order to get to this point, I need to do this and this and this, and I do. After all, it's the final product that will get the winning marks.

So I have lots of these skeins spun, plied, washed and waiting to be made into something. When? well, ....

Christmas 2009

My mother used to tell me that the days just go by faster as you got older. I never believed that, but I think she may be right. Now that I am getting older, I find I just don't quite have enough time to do everything I need to. Is it that the days are shorter, or that I'm doing too much? Am I just moving much slower?!

I don't get into all the hustle of the Christmas season. I don't shop, I don't bake, I don't decorate my place. I am very much a Scrooge! I don't think I can handle all the fuss and bother for one little quick burst of activity. When I get around to it, I'll do it!

I will be going back home (even though I haven't lived there for umpteen years, I still refer to it as "home") during the Christmas week. I hate travelling at the best of times, but now with all the people pushing their way through, in the bad weather, when I am too tired to think makes it much worse. I'd rather just stay in my bed, pull the covers over my head and stay there until it's all over. But I don't get to see the family that often, and Mom is older, so I need to go. I do enjoy the visits (and all the good eats), but don't like the idea of getting there, and then getting back, just in time to get back to work. But that's how it goes.

I knit this last month, or was it earlier? It's called a Colonnade by Stephen West. I liked the design, and decided I wanted to try something simple for mindless knitting. Let me tell you, you can lose your mind on this one! It's way too simple to do, and because of the repetitive design, which is the major feature of this, I found it really hard to enjoy doing this one. I like the finished product, and have already made many design changes as I was working on this one, but need to do something that is more interesting. I do think it is most practical as you cover the part of the neck that is exposed - the front of the throat, and it fits quite well. I used a finer yarn, and for the next one, I'd use a worsted-spun heavier weight yarn for something with more bulk to be warmer.

Any spare time I have when I am sitting watching movies, or waiting for something, I grab my spindle and keep busy. So I have spun up a lot more skeins of wool, and added them to the rest of the rather substantial stash. I have just finished a couple of skeins that are destined for some socks. I spun them tighter than normal, and I only did a 2-ply this time. I'll see how they knit up. I think a 3-ply or more will wear better, but I'll give these a try.

Before I run off for a hectic week, I do want to wish you all a safe and joyful Christmas season. May this Christmas find you surrounded by those you love and those who love you. For 2010, I wish you Health so you may enjoy each day in comfort. I wish you the Love of friends and family and Peace within your heart. I wish you the Beauty of nature that you may enjoy the work of God. I wish you Wisdom to choose priorities for those things that really matter in life. I wish you Generousity so you may share all good things that come to you. I wish you Happiness and Joy and Blessings for the New Year. I wish you the best of everything that you so well deserve.

Desert Colours, Part 2

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted! I keep meaning to get here every day, but by the time I get any time, I don't think I have anything to say just yet.

But I wanted to show you what happened with my plying. Yes, I did that long ago, and just didn't get a pic to you yet. This is some of my plied skeins; one is a little darker than the other because I used a darker single with that one. I spun up a more solid colour in the rusts, in the hopes that I would somehow tie in all the other colours. I did get some barber poling happening, but I'm not entirely displeased with it.

I dyed more this week, and have been spinning it as well. I enjoy the spinning more than anything, and that is the first thing I pick up rather than some knitting, or plying, or planning another project.

Here are is what I have dyed, with some of the old stuff from weeks ago, and the current spinning.

I am not really sure what I will do with this yet, but something will come to me! I have lots of projects that need getting done -- just to actually sit down and cast on. I find once I get the stitches on the needle, then I'm alright. Next time, some of my recent knitting.

Desert colours

Some time ago, I was able to get some nice Corridale rovings. You may have read about my troubles in dyeing it. That has now been done, but there is still more roving that I will dye later.

I have been spinning up some of it, and I really like the way it is coming out. Some of the sections are quite short in the roving, but because I am spinning so fine (of course), I can get good separation of colours. There is a lot of blending as well, and it's really exciting to see what shade I am going to get next. It's all really fun!
Now comes the time to ply. I am having some problems here with deciding what to do. It is fine, so I was thinking I may have to do a 3-ply. I was only hoping to do a 2-ply, but I see some difficulties already.

I like the way the colours show up now, in the singles. But when I ply, I am going to get that barber-pole effect, which I definitely do not like! I've seen many others post pics in their blogs of the barber poles they have created, and everyone says how wonderful the colours look -- and they clearly are not. But that is only my opinion, so I will keep it to myself.
I have thought about using the major rusty shade that is more prevalent and using that as a single with which I can ply these other colours. I was able to separate most of that shade and spin up a couple cops. I am hoping that will sort of tie it all together, so it appears to be one cohesive whole. But I will be getting some barber poling (is that a word?) when I come to the pale shades or the green. And that may be alright too.

I have also thought of doing some Navajo plying as a way to preserve some of the distinct colouring. That certainly would do it, and I would have a lot more control of how the colours blend together. It also means I am not going to get as much yardage this way, and that may be alright too.

Really, I liked the colours as they are in the roving. I guess I should dye the finished yarn instead, and then I won't have to worry about any barber pole happening then! Hm....

Thanksgiving dyeing

So this is the Thanskgiving long weekend around here, and I don't have to go to work! In fact, I don't have to do anything at all. But I do have some roving that has been waiting to be dyed, so today is as good a day as any other.

This is some undyed Corriedale pencil roving that I have. I haven't played around with any dyes for a long time, so it was good to get back into it. I had to dig out my pots and dyes... ran out and got some Kool-Aid and food colouring too. Just to play around a bit, you know.

But there is a problem. Here is the undyed roving:


And here is the roving after I dyed it. I got some pretty good colours; I might want to change it just a bit, the next time. But I don't quite like the way it has come out -- the roving, I mean.
When it was undyed, it was nice and fluffy and easy to draft. But when it was wet-processed, it seems to have flattened out to almost nothing. I would almost swear there isn't as much fibres as there was before! I did open up some roving, fluffed it up, and I really don't think there is as much wool as there was! Could some of it wash away? I don't get it. I didn't weigh it after, but it just doesn't seem as if there is all the roving that I started with. Oh, well. I did spin some of it already on the spindle, but this sure does puzzle me.

I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving, wherever you may be. There is much to be thankful for, despite my complaining, and we need to keep that in mind. I had a good day, and I wish the same for all of you.

It's here!

Today, at about 1 pm local time, it arrived. I knew it had to come, and I kept denying it was going to be this soon. But eventually I have to admit that I can't keep it away, and I have to deal with it.

I am having an extremely difficult time handling this change. It happens every year at about this time, and I've been around for a long time so you would think I would know what to do next. I don't. I will never get used to it, no matter how many of these I go through. The trouble here is that I have to suffer through it several times a year -- it's not a one-time-only thing!

But rather than bemoan about how hard it is, let me just show you a pic, and leave it at that. The less said the better -- at least for now, while it is still fresh and raw and painful.

In the meantime, I've made this. It was for the Longest Llama Scarf project, which was at the UN this week. Obviously, mine didn't make it there! I have it sitting here with me, not knowing what to do with it. The yarn was donated to me to make a scarf, which I did. I was to return it to the appropriate people so that it could all be sent to join all the rest. Didn't make it. Oh, well.

It's a 2/2 rib, but with a twist. It's rather simple, and I don't know if I've seen it in any pattern book or not, and I can't really explain it. I called it the Wandering Rib, or the Twisted Drunken Rib. Maybe twisted rib. It was rather fun to do, and most difficult to explain! But I really enjoyed working with the yarn. It has a gorgeous feeling, and now that it is finished, the weight is something that can only be experienced. It's much like silk in the drape. I haven't worn it yet, but I think I may one day this week, seeing the present conditions.

Getting ripped off

Every week, we get a flyer in the mailbox from a local drug store. They have specials that start on Saturday through to Friday. So I like to check it out and see if there is anything I need. Most of the time, I there's nothing of interest.

This shopper's drug mart (as they style themselves) has started selling more and more grocery items. That's because in recessionary times, food is always a good seller. People need to eat, so why not make a profit on what people have to buy?

They often will feature their own LifeBrand potato chips in a can for $0.99, which is a little less than their regular price. That is one thing I will buy. So early on Saturday morning, I trot off to the closest store and search for my chips. None to be found. I did find the shelf with the other brands, and a space where the LB should be... but it is empty. On the first day of the sale?

I ask one of the clerks wandering around if there is anymore. "Um... I'll see."

The manager comes over, an obnoxious little twerp that I've seen for many years, and he says they are sold out. They were very busy this morning. And walks away. I look around -- it is 10 am, there are about 5 people in the whole store, and they are sold out, on the first day of the sale? And there was nothing on the shelf the next day, or the rest of the week. Miraculously, the delivery truck arrived during Friday night, because early Saturday morning, the shelf was full -- at the regular price.

This is not the first time this has happened. I've been keeping an eye on them for a very long time. I can guarantee they will be "sold out" at every sale. They used to give rain checks, but that stopped a couple years ago. No wonder.

A friend tells me that she purchased something at WalMart that was on sale, but there was only one box on the shelf. A clerk conveniently went into the back and brought out more (as they should). As she was at the cashier, she noticed one was leaking and said she should get another one. The cashier said there aren't any more. My friend said yes, a whole skid was brought out from the back. The cashier blurted out "But they aren't allowed to sell that yet!"

And so there we are. While they advertise that items are on sale, they really aren't. There is "no stock available".. until after the sale, that is. Odd, isn't it? The name of the game is profit -- any way we can.

A little storm

We had a bit of a storm here last night. It’s been unusually hot here over the last few days. It’s hit above 30 degrees, which is nice, but a bit warmer than we like and a lot more humid than we are used to. Luckily, it usually cools off at night, being so close to the mountains. It’s been very hot on the west coast so we are getting some of their heat and humidity.

But there is a cold front moving in from the north, and when you get a sudden clash like this, there is some fireworks! And there were last night. I was getting ready to shut down, and go to bed just after 1 am, when there was a sudden gust of wind through the apartment and things are flying all over. I have only a small window which was wide open trying to get a breeze moving through the place. This was more than I wanted!

And when shutting the window, I looked out to find some rain starting and a lot of lightening. A whole lot of lightening, along with the thunder too. It was quite a show!! I remember sitting with my grandfather on the farm watching these summer storms, but that always seemed to be at a safe distance. This was right overheard. It was fearsome. It lasted only a couple hours, and now they are cleaning up the mess left behind – a few trees uprooted and some lightening strikes.

This is part of the same front that caused the deadly storm that went through the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose on Saturday. These things are common in summer; I was in Edmonton when they had that killer tornado in 1987. It’s very sudden and fierce.

We had a lot of wind this Saturday evening, and a young 3 year old girl on the street was killed by some flying debris from a construction site nearby.

There was a storm last week in Edmonton knocked out the power for a short time. There are a couple of oil refineries there, being close to the oil wells. It now seems that it is taking some time to get all the machinery up and running again after they were suddenly shut down during the electrical failure. This past week, you would have noticed a number of gas stations were shut down because they had no gas.
And today, you will find a lot more. You would have to drive by about 5-6 stations before you can find one that has any gas.

This is something that I have been warning those that will listen was going to happen. We are so dependant of receiving what we require from far away. There isn’t a monopoly (as we know), but when one refinery closes, why are all the service stations suddenly dry? It just takes one little break in our supply line and we are out of luck.

I was told by someone in Washington state that with the recent rains they had, the main roads were closed due to flooding. The trucks delivering all the produce to their cities couldn’t come up from California. It doesn’t take long for the stores to have empty shelves. We also receive produce from California and there are a lot more miles to travel, with more bridges, and borders to cross. Anything can happen (natural or political) so that those trucks don’t reach us – what can we do? I’m quite in favour of the hundred mile diet, of buying locally.

When I was very young, living on the farm, we had to produce everything we needed. We simply didn’t have any money to go to town and buy what we needed. We raised chickens and turkeys, had pigs and cows, had a huge garden, picked wild berries and mushrooms that were available. We had to buy flour (made from our own wheat) and sugar. If we could afford it, we would be treated with a box of pears or plums.

That’s all changed now. No one raises chickens or has cows now. We can’t buy eggs or milk from the local farmers. Many don’t even plant gardens anymore! One day they will be sorry.

A good friend of mine has been cleaning out her basement, and found a bag of a washed fleece. She has no recollection where she got it or why. It appears to be felted somewhat and is probably not useable for much of anything. It is very nice wool, but will take far too long to salvage. I did find a few locks that were pretty free of matting, and was able to comb them and spin a bit. It’s nice stuff! But I don’t know it I want to go through all that work for a bit of yarn. Not sure what I will do with the rest of it.

This is a pic of some of the yarn I made from a lock. It was all spun and plied on my CD spindle. I use it for everything… that is the best tool I have! I really enjoy working with it. I have no idea what anyone would do with yarn like this. But it is fun to be able to do it.

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: