A Nice Punta

For some reason, I keep feeling guilty that I’m not keeping up my blog. It’s not that I’ve forgotten all about it. I write all kinds of articles every day for it… but that’s while I’m walking to and from work, or while I am busy writing other things at work… and by the time I get to actually put something on paper (so to speak), I’ve forgotten what I was going to say!

But I do want to show you a skein of yarn I’ve spun up. This is made from something called Punta. I don’t know what it is… it says wool, but there is no breed called Punta. I’ve learned this is from a region in South America, but there are several areas called Punta, so I still don’t know what this is. It is really wonderful to spin! It’s very fine, quite soft, and quite shiny. I have loved spinning it. I had a pound of fibres, and I spun it all. This was not a quick spin!
You will recall in a previous post that I spun up some yarn for a project that I had in mind. But when I started knitting, I realized that it was a little too thick. So I went back and spun up this Punta… but much finer this time. I have three skeins now (didn’t measure the mileage I got out of it) but the little knitting I’ve started appears a little too fine now! Never win.

I haven’t yet found the pattern I want to use. I wanted a rectangular shawl, with perhaps a few beads on the ends. I considered a triangular shawl, and then I found a wonderful circular pattern that would look good. But I didn’t care how it looked in this fine yarn after knitting up a sample (it may still happen with a thicker yarn). Now I’m still looking for a rectangular scarf/stole/wrap kind of thing. I may have narrowed it down a bit now. Time is running short, so I need to get working on this real soon.

Several months ago, I moved to a new position. It’s still with the same employer (a very large corporation) but in another area. It’s a new building, and they are still going through some growing pains. Well, the workmen are still wandering around, but most of my floor is now finished, and we are fine tuning little things.

I have found a kindred spirit at work. I mean, she knits. What could be wrong with a knitter?? She is a lovely lady, has a very interesting life, and great stories to tell. She has worked as a fire tower person for several years, and this year, has published her recollections of her first three years on various towers. It’s quite an interesting life! There are days that I am really considering finding my own tower, and just spend all my days watching for smokes, spinning and knitting in complete solitude with no one else around for an entire 6 months!! I think I would really enjoy it.

However, I’m too set in my ways now, too insecure to leave the comforts of the big city, to live like that. For a few weeks, I think it would be so wonderful, but eventually, I think I’d like to hear some traffic noise, see lights all night, fight with people on the train -- you know, maybe I won’t miss it at all!

But she was on a temporary contract, and her final day was today. She starts her tour of duty in a week. She has already packed, and will leave in the morning to make her way to base camp, get all her groceries, and just wait to move in. She misses the tower very much. Spending these past 6 months in the city has not been a fun time. She did not enjoy her time in our office. Office politics being what they are, she just didn’t fit in. And that is so sad. She is a very capable, fun and intelligent woman. But someone felt threatened for some reason, and needed to feel powerful, so made her time with us miserable. The only thing that saved her was knowing that she only had a certain number of weeks to go, and then she was out of here.

I’m going to miss her.

Sunny Spring Days

This winter has been quite unusual, for me at least. While I know that many of you have had far too much snow and cold this year, it has been incredibly mild here. Yes, there were a few days here and there where the temperature has dipped quite low, and we did have a little more snowfall than we have had in the last couple years, but it hasn’t stayed around for long. Whatever we did get has all disappeared by early March, and there have been many bright sunny days! There has been no run-off – the snow just has evaporated!

I don’t blog here that much, as Kenny has pointed out. When I started the blog a little over 3 years ago (has it been that long?), I had intended to post very regularly. But I found I didn’t have that much to say, and so a few days would go by, then a few weeks! That’s just how it is.

I’ve tried to stick to fibre items when I do post, but there have been times that I felt very strongly about another topic and have stated my views. That’s partly why I chose the name of my blog as I did – to allow me to go in any direction I wanted. After all, it is MY blog!

I had a blog previous to this one, and that was on a different theme. I have lost interest -- or it lost interest in me -- and there has been nothing posted there for many long months now. This one I still try to keep alive, but I won’t make any promise as to how often I post!

It’s not as if I’ve been sitting around, or lying around, doing nothing! Even on the beautiful sunny days, I have been inside looking out, and spinning. I had a large bag of some fine wool that I purchased last year sometime (part of that 12 lb package). This came in the most unusual form; I’ve never seen anything like it.

I have used silk caps before. In fact, in my last class, we made our own silk hankies and silk bells (from silk cocoons no less). I’ll try and get some pics for you next time. But this was a wool cap! And it was gigantic! I was tempted to put it on, and post a pic for you, but that would have been too silly. Instead, I have spun it all up and it’s now in about 6 hanks. It is a very fine wool, perhaps Merino with some mohair blended in with it, I’m sure. I got almost 500 gms of it. I was a little disappointed in that I wasn’t very consistent throughout; I have a few looser areas, and some thinner ones. Overall, I’m quite happy with them, and it was such fun to spin it.

I had intended to knit a lace shawl with it. We have a family reunion this summer, and they wanted some handmade items for an auction. Our family is quite diverse in the kinds of crafts we do, so there should be quite a variety of items. I thought I would knit something, and then why not spin the yarn as well, as my grandmother did. She did a lot of weaving with her yarns, which were usually wool and her own hemp.

However, when I tried to find some beads that I wanted to incorporate into the lace, and when I looked at my skeins, I decided it was a little too thick for the lace I wanted to knit. So I have set out to spin more! I have time! This time I’m using some Punta that I have, and am loving it even more than the wool caps. Because I’ve been spinning so much lately, and because this roving is so well prepared, I have been working on my long draw technique. I’m finding it such a joy to do, and really have to force myself to take a break for supper, or to go to bed. This isn’t the first time I’ve stayed up all night to spin, but I haven’t done this for a couple years. If only that job didn’t interfere with my life so much!

The new job is working out quite well, and overall I’m enjoying it there. I can walk to work in about 12 minutes, which is great since I don’t leave the house some days until 8 am. I have a great view of the mountains from the office, and the people are really nice to work with. This past week was just a mess, and things just went wrong one after another. I sure don’t want any more like that!

But the sun is shining, the days are much longer now, the air is warm and I have my spinning. What more do I want? This weekend, there has been a marathon of pre-Easter shows on http://www.radiooutofthepast.org/ -- go to the Old Time Radio conference room and sign in (no password required). Tomorrow, Sunday March 16, is another 12 hours of fantastic shows from when radio was king. They start at 9 am Pacific/1 pm Atlantic. I’ve been having a ball listening to them while I spin. Join us!

Education is great!

Twenty years ago, in February of 1988, the Winter Olympics opened in Calgary, Alberta. It sure doesn't seem that long ago -- I'm only about 5-6 years older than I was then! -- but it must have been. Very oddly, as I recall, the weather was being typically Albertan: being very unpredictable and we didn't have any snow that winter! It was very windy, I remember, and the ski jumps had to be delayed about 2 days, since it was just too dangerous for them to come flying through the air.

It's been bitterly cold a few weeks here this year, but now that it's February, it's warmed up nicely! In fact, the greater-than-normal snow that we had this winter has all disappeared. It didn't really melt; there wasn't any running water in the streets. It just seems to evaporate. Which isn't really such a bad thing!

I've been staying inside this week (I know -- I just am not right in my head) and spinning. I'm doing a lot of spinning! I had a bag of some mysterious white wool that I purchased about a year ago (from that 12 pounds of stuff I got) and decided to do something with it. It's really nice stuff, but an unknown breed. There might be a bit of mohair in it as well.

I tend to spin rather fine, and it's taking a lot longer than I thought it would. I see only a little bit more room left on the bobbin so think I'll do another handful or two and be done with this one, and start something else. And then about 5 and a half hours later, I'm still trying to fill up the bobbin!! It's taking me about 2 full long days of nothing but spinning to get only one bobbin filled! I haven't even started plying yet. I want to do all the spinning first, and then the plying. It just seems that I am more consistent that way. I am not really sure what I will do with it, but a lace shawl is taking form in my mind. I think it's going to be a 2-ply, but I like a 3-ply better. It's white, and I'll leave that way. Although, dyeing is not out of the question. Shall see.

The other day, a friend down the street called to say that he is going to Safeway, and did I want to pick up a few things. Sure -- every time I have the opportunity to get a few heavier things and get a ride, I'll do it!

I picked up a few things I needed, that were on "special". The total came to $xx.87, and since I don't like carrying around too many coins, I try to give the clerk an amount so I get back a quarter or make it an even dollar. So I gave the clerk some bills and 12 cents, and watched her get all confused. It was so much fun!

I always check my till-tape when I am at the check-out, since invariably, they always over-charge. It's a little game we play: they try to get away with it, I catch them at it! I had picked up some canned tomatoes; they were 4 for $5. Okay, a bit higher than normal price, but what can you do? I foolishly took two different styles of tomatoes (same brand, same deal). She charged me $1.25 for some, $2.15 for the others.

I then went over to the Customer Service counter to ask about this difference (the check-out clerk doesn't know anything, and probably didn't speak English), and had to stand in line. The girl at the counter (probably mid-20s) was hollering over to one of the cashiers that she is going back to high-school (this not a good sign). I pointed out the items on my tape, and asked why the difference. She called over a runner to go and check on them... she went, and forgot to come back. I eventually went over to the aisle and looked myself (the runner was no where to be seen); yes, all items were 4/$5. The little girl eventually came back, said they were $1.25 each; that's what I already said! The girl behind the counter wasn't sure that ALL the items were the same price, so she had to go and check herself (again, taking far longer than she should have). She returned and agreed they should be $1.25 each.

Okay, I know it's only $1.80 difference, but by now, it was the principle of the thing. I kept waiting!

She did some quick calculation in her head -- "75 and 15...." and came up with a total, and gave me $1.70. I took a moment, to see what she did, and couldn't come to the same conclusion. Now, this was becoming a real test of my patience!

"I think this is not right."

"Yes, 75 and 15 is 85, times 2 is $1.70."

"No," I say, "75 plus 15 is not 85. Add it again."

"75 and 15 is 85. I don't know what you want."

"All I want is for you to add it up again. 75 plus 15 is __."

"It's 85!"

At this point, I simply gave up and walked away. I was afraid someone was going to get hurt. I really don't think the high school is going to help her much anyway.

Shortage of time

You all know that you can take a huge amount of yarn or fibre, and with a little effort, compress all of it into a rather small space. We’ve all learned how to cram balls of yarn into otherwise unoccupied spaces, such as behind books on bookshelves, into unworn shoes, behind and under the couch, unused areas of the freezer, that kind of thing. And it’s hardly even noticeable!

Now, a friend of mine tells me that we are all given the same number of hours in a day. While intellectually, I understand what he is saying, I still think that there are ways to pack into one hour a lot more things than normally possible. What I mean is there are times that I have been able to take all those balls of yarn (the jobs needing to be done) and squish them all into tiny spaces (the hours in a day) with a great deal of efficiency. But there are times, I think, that these mounds of fibre just need to be fondled and admired and can’t be forced into tight confinement without destroying the beauty in them. Hence the realization that I just don’t have enough time.

Now, there may be some of you (so very few of you) that will tend to believe I am being laggard in performing my duties. Well, perhaps. But I think it’s really a matter of how you view what has priority.

For example, there is the matter of meals. While this is something that everyone must do, there are ways to make it as efficient as possible. One can simply go out to eat at a place that prepares meals for a business. It’s done many times a day by thousands of people. True, some may want to consider the financial implications, but let’s not look at that right now. One can purchase ready-made meals, and you can have them at home at your convenience. One can have someone prepare them for you, and it would be waiting for you when you got home. Or one can just skip them altogether now and then.

Of course, there is the other possibility of becoming organized, efficient, skilled at preparing meals for oneself, but that takes a lot of the fun out of it (and takes time). There is the tedious task of planning what you want, what you would require, checking your food stash, and preparing a list of what additional items you need (and there is always something you need). Then there is the actual shopping for these items; it’s not the same as shopping for yarn, where you can leisurely admire, touch, rub against your cheek and dream of what you can make with it – they don’t seem to like that in the grocery stores. Then you have to lug all your booty home (why is it all so heavy?), find places to put it away (there are usually pre-set storage spaces for these things) and then rest. Finally, you have to take time to pull out what you need, getting it all ready (much of it is unprepared, you see), putting it all together in different ways, and setting it to cook. Then you wait.

Ultimately, you then pull all these cooked items out of their over-heated spaces, place into serving dishes on the table and enjoy, if you have any energy left. It’s not all finished yet of course – no one seems to remember that after having your fill, there is the clean-up steps too. If there are any left-overs, you have to find places to put those away, and then remove all the dishes, and wash them up, and put them all away. This is a never-ending process! If you were to count up all the time spent just with preparation, eating, and cleaning up, you would find you could have a lot more knitting time!

There is also the requirement of covering this body. But that’s why we knit or weave! And there are prescribed things I have to wear at certain times of the day, or different places. It would be so much easier to just have ONE outfit I could wear everywhere. No, not enough variety, is there? Okay, that’s not a solution.

Because I have acquired so many different items of clothing for various activities, they need attention too. First, shopping for them (not one of my favourite activities), then finding places to store them as well, and then they also demand care and attention, repair and cleaning! Again, this is something else that requires more time, which is already in short supply. This also requires the investment of some equipment solely for the purposes of care of clothing, which also need a place to be stored when not being used!

This whole idea of having a large enough space to store all the stash of food, and clothing, plus all my fibres, and related equipment and instructional material for all of that is the biggest cost factor. This space also demands to be cared for and then you need specialized equipment for this task as well plus the space to store them! It’s a never-ending cycle!

One thing I do find really takes up a lot of time, besides eating, is this thing called a “job”. It really demands a majority of my day, and I’m not really sure I am using it best advantage. I mean, I know I’m supposed to have one, and it seems to provide me with the means to buy things like food and a place to store my stash, but what else is there to it? I have to spend a good portion of my precious time just getting to the place where they want me, and getting back again. It’s not as if I am performing some essential service or benefiting mankind in any significant way. I wonder if I couldn’t make better use of all that time in some other more enjoyable way, and still be able to get the things I need.

So I’m saying that it’s not that I don’t have enough time – I have as much as you do – but that I have a lot more to pack into that limited amount in the day than most of you do. By the time I go through the eating process, the clothing process, the storage space process, there just isn’t much time left at all. Add into that some of the other necessary activities, such as email and web-surfing, a little sleep, socializing, and what’s left for the real purpose for existence – the joy and exuberance of playing with fibres, and all that entails? As I get older, it seems I am not as energetic in finding creative ways to cram into that same space of time as much as I once was able to.

No, there is only one thing to do: something just has to be eliminated. I’ve cut down a lot on the eating process and kept it to a bare minimum, care of clothing is only as necessary, care and maintenance of the storage space has almost been eliminated, sleep has been reduced to only a couple of hours, and all these steps have helped immensely. There is only one more thing left to minimize – that thing they call a job. I’ve recently even increased my time devoted to it by one more day a week – what was I thinking! But, I’m working on correcting that!

Bling

The long promised "Bling" is now ready for viewing. I started and finished knitting this many long weeks ago, but it only needed the button sewn on. Of course, it's never easy to find just the exact correct button to complete these things. I searched everywhere for just the right one, and finally decided I was going to have to make my own. I was lucky to find a ring that fit the hole I made, and covered it
with some of the yarn and the beads from the knitting (during a quiet moment at work), and now I had the perfect matching button to suit this scarf.

This was the project from a bead knitting class I took in the fall of last year. We strung the beads on the yarn first of all (all 175 of them) and then knit the pattern, pushing a bead into place when required. There were 3 different methods of placing the beads -- that is why we did them in three different patterns. It's all rather easy actually, and allowed us many design possibilities. After knitting the ribbing for around the neck (you don't want cold beads against your neck!) we had to break the yarn, and then string on another 50 more beads for the ending. I don't like joins in my work, so I estimated how much more yarn I would need, and THEN strung on the beads to that portion, and continued knitting. Of course, I was generous in my estimate, and had a lot left over. But that's a lot better than NOT
having enough!

There is, of course, the other method of placing beads ONTO the stitch, and that requires less prep work. You can design as you go that way, and allows for greater "free-form" patterns. I will do that on another project.

The really hard work comes in trying to photograph your work! In person, these beads have an iridescent quality, but if the light is just not right, it doesn't show up in the photos. And of course, you don't feel the weight of the beads on the scarf, which adds to the luxuriousness of the whole thing. In all, a fun project, and I will be doing more of them -- time permitting! Next: Why I'm running out of
time.

Miserable White

The thing about living here is that the weather changes suddenly and drastically, and wholly unpredictably. There is no way the weather man can be accurate, and they pepper their forecasts with a little of everything – something HAS to be right!

Winter seemed to be taking its time getting here. Then one morning, it was here! Suddenly, without warning, it just arrived, and has no intention of leaving. One morning, as I awakened to the sounds of the daybreak show on the radio, I hear them talking about “the snow”. What’s that all about? I open the drapes… and then I know. Yup, it’s all nice and clean and white out there. Not the best thing to see when a body doesn’t even want to get out of bed, let alone venture forth into that miserable cold wind.

It’s well ensconced here now; the rest of the week is going to be much the same. Although the forecaster is trying so hard to be optimistic, it’s quite clear he hasn’t a hope of anything changing. So we just bear it. Amazing what we will put up with! And why do we insist on carrying on as if nothing is different? There is no good reason for going in to work – it’s not as if civilization as we know it will come apart at the seams if we just cancelled the day!

You can probably tell that this is not one of my favourite seasons. Winter is the dread that fall forebodes. And spring seems to just drag its feet, as if it didn’t want to come at all. Summer? Sometimes there’s a nice day or two.

So why do I still want to live here?

Meanwhile, here is a pic from last week, at sunrise, looking west from the elevator in my office.


Next time: Bling!

Dyeing Red Coats

Spinning classes have started again for my next level in the course. And since this is fall, we did some dyeing again, using natural dyes.

This time, we used only one dye-pot and with the addition of a couple mordants, and modifiers, we were able to get 25 different shades! Doesn't that just blow your mind? There are so many variables that can give you different results, so we wanted to explore all of them, and make note of the effects. This way, we can have a better idea of what we can obtain, should we follow a couple of steps. Quite fun!

We used cochineal, which is a pregnant bug. Honest!! These are already dead, and dried, and we just ground them up to make more of the dye available, and then cooked it for a bit to get all the colour out of them. We had pre-mordanted our small wool skeins in a couple of different mordants, and then dropped them all into the pot. After about an hour, we removed and rinsed them, and then dropped a few of them into other pots with a few different modifiers to get all these lovely colours.

I was told that cochineal was used to dye the red coats of the British forces during the British-American war. I was rather disappointed when I didn't get any red! The dye in the pot was a glorious rich red... and yet it didn't come out that way in the wool. Another lesson learned! The mordants and the modifiers each had their effect, and the result is a wide range of shades in the reddish-purple-maroon range. Nice, but not quite what I was expecting. Ah -- the joys of nature dyeing!

Here, you see the pre-mordanted skeins just before they went into the dye-pot. (some people will take a pic of anything, won't they?)

And here, I'll show you a few of the skeins I got, and once I get them all displayed properly, will show you them again, but more organized. These are all my handspun yarns, a 3-ply all done on my CD spindle.

The weather has been absolutely wonderful this week! Well, not quite. The weatherman had predicted +21 on Tuesday. Of course, he was wrong. But today was probably that high! The sun was shining, and it was too warm for a jacket at noon, or on the way home after work. I kind of like this fall weather, if it stays this way! However, Hallowe'en is next week, and we have had all that white stuff around in other years. Weather here can change in the wink of an eye, so I have no idea what we might yet get. Stay tuned!

Edit: Thursday 10:36 pm
I looked out the window. Remember that white fluffy stuff I mentioned earlier? Yep, it's here!

Wishes

During all those years growing up, making wishes about what I wanted and not getting them, I realized that sometimes they come years and years later. There are no timelines in regards to promises by the universe! They don’t always come quite as expected.

One thing I’ve learned is that wishes normally do come true, but in a very literal sense. You have to be very careful what you wish for – because you will get just what you asked for! You have to be very specific in making your declarations. And so I’ve tried so very hard NOT to express any kind of wishes, for sometimes you get a whole lot more than you bargained for. Such as all the responsibilities that come with owning a dog, for example.

But sometime in the not-too-distant past, I made a slight slip of the tongue, and made a wish for something that I didn’t have a remotest chance of getting. But I did! The question now is do I have to accept it.

One thing that I was told some time back was that when the universe hands something to you, you are being given the opportunity to show that you can take responsibility and ownership of it, and make good use of it. If you refuse, you are showing that you are not worthy of anything at all, and you will not receive anything again. If you accept, you have to show that you are mature enough to handle all the pressures that come with it, and that you will share your fortune with others. That’s an awesome choice to make.

Now, I have to make choices every day -- difficult choices, requiring hours of examination of all the facts and all the outcomes -- choices that I must make in a matter of moments. Things like what tie to wear today, which street to take to work, where to go for lunch today. But that is all part of a day’s work, and I do them without too much agony.

However, there comes a time in every person’s life where a major decision must be made, a choice that will have life-changing consequences, and there is no way to know for sure what the final outcome is going to be. You can gather all the facts, follow it through several scenarios, you have to consider the pros and cons, weigh them all, and then make an informed choice. In my case, the scales always seem to be equally balanced! How do you make choice based on that? You can’t always rely on emotions, for they have led me astray before; and logic doesn’t seem to be enough to make the choice. What else can I go on?

So my friends, the question is: Do I or don’t I?

Knitted Winterwear

Across the street from my office is a small grassy area. It's a small park, I guess, and I think it belongs to the office building at the other end of the block. At one time, this belonged to the local school board, and seemed to be very appropriate. In fact, the board used a depiction of this sculpture on their letterhead. But after they moved on to larger quarters, this place was taken over by a business, and so now the sculpture looks out of place. This sculpture, called Brotherhood of Mankind, was created by Mario Armegnol in 1967 for the Montreal Exposition and was donated to the city by a private firm about 1989.

There was quite a big controversy over this at the time since these statues were all naked! It represented the family of man, with male and female figures, some holding a child in their arms. They are all very tall and thin, but definitely naked.

However, a local artist recently decided to cover these poor creatures, and clothe them. So now I feel that I can post some pics of them here. I wouldn't be able to do it otherwise! hehe

They are only wearing leg-warmers, and that should help a bit in our cold, severe winters, and they aren't naked anymore. These were all knit or crocheted flat by Suzen Green and friends, and then seamed on the leg. The artist has said that it was too difficult to do them in another way. Not that it hasn’t been done! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33gMlGkw1xY

And with the cold winter arriving tonight perhaps, these certainly are well-appreciated by the recipients! See here:

The little mistake

A little while back, one of the guys on a knitting list was having trouble with the Brioche stitch. It is a rather strange pattern, but he liked the results. However, he kept getting an extra stitch when he would come to the end of a row! It just didn't add up for him. So I set out to see why -- it seemed simple enough! haha

By following the pattern directions strictly, I was all confused, and was making mistakes. The directions were wrongly written. She would insert a yf and also a yo, which in my way of thinking, are both one and the same. By bringing the yarn forward, and then knitting a stitch, you can't help but make a YO. So putting the directions like that really was confusing! I had to re-write the directions (once I figured out what was going on) and it worked much better.

I first did the pattern with large needles, as suggested (section "a"), and it was quite interesting. I liked the result; there were possibilities here! Usually, it was used as a scarf and hat, but I can see this as a sweater as well.

I then switched to smaller needles, as I felt there was too much looseness in the fabric, and the back layer was showing through. I thought it would look better as a type of double layer fabric (section "b"). The results of that you see here:
After working this a number of times, I realized that I WAS working a double layer fabric anyway! So I switched the pattern just a little bit (not doing the YO) and I was doing plain double layer knitting!! (section "c") The word "brioche" comes from the French and means "mistake"... now I see what they mean! Someone was doing double knitting (or thinking they would) but made a slight mistake, and came up with a new pattern! That's how many of these things happen: you set out to go down one road, but things happen along the way and you get diverted and see something entirely new. Not all mistakes are bad; they are only not quite what you were expecting, that's all.

I think I would teach this by doing some double knitting first. Once you understood what was happening (bringing the yarn forward before slipping the back stitch, or after slipping the front stitch), you can see that by forgetting to take the yarn back again, you make a "mistake" or a "brioche" and have developed a new pattern technique.

There -- it's just that easy!

The Hat pattern

Some have asked about the pattern for my hats. This was an over-sight! I had meant to give you the location of the pattern – it’s from the net, of course.

I had seen this a long time ago, made a note of it, and of course, lost all my bookmarks when the HD died. I had to re-install Windows XP (not a fun job) and, of course, I had to re-format my HD, and I lost everything! So I am starting all over again to collect my patterns, and bookmarks (making sure to make back-up copies this time!). I would think Uncle Bill could come up with a better way to re-install his system, since it does fail so often.

This pattern is called the Tychus hat from Knitty.com. I thought it looked so interesting, and yet was fairly simple to do. I also found a similar pattern called “zeebee” from schmeebot. This is a good site to go to: she has a pattern generator! You plug in your numbers from your gauge swatch (yah, I know) and there it is! Really slick!

I made a few changes to my hats. I didn’t like the way the wraps were done, so came up with my own version, which I like a lot better. After seeing the way Cat Bordhi does her wraps, I have to make another hat, and try it that way! LOL You can adjust the number of your cast-on to create longer or shorter hats (for that turned up brim), and by changing the number of ‘arrows’, you can adjust the size (circumference). I really like this pattern; it’s quite easy to do, and fits very well.

Early Sunday Sunrise

Most of you probably don’t know that I read a lot of blogs. In fact, my bookmarked list was so long that it would take 3 whole evenings of doing nothing but read blogs to catch up with what you’ve been writing!! That is a lot of hours!

Now, I don’t read everyone’s blogs every day! Some I look into once a week, some every couple weeks, and some only once a month or so since you don’t write anything that often – like me!

I was particularly impressed last week to see the beautiful photographs by David of the sunrise from his window. He takes really great photos, and has a great sense of colour and design. But after all, that is his life’s study!

So I look out my window in the morning, and this is what I see:

I don’t get the same great colour that Dave does; we have a lot more softer and pastel shades, being so much further north, I suppose, and are somewhat colder too (this was on a overcast morning). I don’t know what makes our skies so different. Now, of course, my scenery is not so great to look at either! That is the price we pay for “progress”; this is boom-time in this town. The bubble is about to burst, but you would never guess that by looking at all the cranes that are busily turning this way and that; I can count eight right now to the east of me. They don’t know what is going on, right under their noses! They start working at 7 a.m. sharp! And those lights you see?-- that shines right into my window!

We’ve gone through this before, you know. Back in the late 1970’s, when there was a big oil demand, we thought our party was never going to end. But it did… and suddenly. All these high-priced homes suddenly were an albatross around so many necks – and the only thing to do was walk away. They went back to wherever they came from, telling stories of great times, raucous parties, and fantastic hang-overs. They went home, and those of us left behind had clean up the mess.

There was another smaller splurge in later ‘80’s, and then the inevitable doldrums. You couldn’t find a crane anywhere on the skyline! There was never a blocked street due to construction, no one was hiring carpenters, apartments were vacant. What distant memories those are!!

So we are in another oil boom. The young people think it’s terrific, the world is rosy, we can have anything we want! They are buying, buying, buying. Not with cash, you understand, since they don’t have any, but with “potential earnings”. We all know how much substance is in that!! One day, very soon, they too will walk away from their over-priced homes, the latest model SUV, and all the newest toys and gadgets. Everything will be taken back for they own nothing!

I am very much like my Dad – he only purchased anything when he had the cash to pay for it, even a car or any other major purchase. I never thought I was much like him, but we do pick up little habits, don’t we! So when times were tough, I didn’t have to worry about outstanding loans or debts; and I’ve learned to manage quite well on very little. I don’t need that much, really. And by now, I’ve got most of what I need, but not quite all that I want! Hahaha One day, when the time is right, they will come my way.

In the meantime, I’m still spinning with the spindle, making up more skeins. Really, I have NO idea what I will do with it all, but again, one day, there will be something I really want to make, and will have just the right yarn for it. I had better have the yarn, for I have nearly every colour and weight anyone can ever want! I’m sure I have a larger collection than the yarn store down the street, but we won’t start making comparisons.

Meanwhile, I did do some work on the wheel. Here is a quick peek:

Some new hats

I was able to get some pics taken of the hats I did this past month. These are all done with my handspun, 3-ply wool, spun and plied on my CD spindle. After having all these skeins, I thought I had better do something with them. I've always liked the design of these hats, and decided these colours would work well in them.The white one is the first I did, just to learn the technique. This is all in garter stitch, knit sideways, with short rows and then grafted at the end. First of all, I had to learn how to do those short rows -- I've never been pleased with the way they looked. So after trying a couple of different versions, I settled on the wrap and turn technique. I leave the wrap in; I don't knit the wrap as some instructions say. I like it better this way, on garter stitch. On stocking stitch, I believe it wouldn't work as well.The green hat (or is blue?) was done the same way, but by using the two colours, it shows off the short rows very nicely. By doing the wrap, it also makes a nice sharp point on the triangles and I think adds to the look of it. I did another one, in the same colours, but made it just slightly shorter. It is still waiting for the grafting. I wanted a short beany; you can turn up the brim on the longer one and it shows an interesting pattern on the reverse side.

This is a fun easy knit. It's all garter stitch. It has a couple of short rows, which go fast. The grafting at the end is easy to do as well. You should try them!

Sweatbox

No, I haven't been swept away in the floods. I really didn't even get very wet at all -- when it rained, I stayed inside!

However, that was then, and this is now. It's changed. Well, if you live here, you know it changes -- frequently -- all in one day! So the rain stopped, and then it got warm. Really warm. We even hit 30 degrees C (about 86 for you 'Muricans) which is pretty hot around here. Most years, we only get to 30 a couple days a year, and I don't mind that. I can't take the heat very well, so it's a good thing I live here.

This year, however, it's not the same. Well, actually, no year is the same as any other here. It's always something different. Keeps us on our toes! But when it got warm, it kept on getting warmer and warmer. We got some really hot air coming over the mountains from BC, and we went up to 35C -- which is pretty damned hot.

Now, normally, we tell everyone: "Yes, but its a dry heat." Yah, sure. It isn't so this time around -- we had a lot of rain earlier, remember? And there is a lot of water around in the ground, and in the rivers, and in the air too! So it's hot and humid too -- and that makes for a really muggy New York kind of sticky days! Not good.

The Stampede Parade was on July 6 this year. It's always the first week of July. This starts the 10 days of the Stampede Exhibition, "the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" as it's billed. I suppose there may be some debate on that title, but we will leave that alone. Most of the 'natives' from this city try to get out of town during this time of the year, and I've usually quite enjoyed the relaxed and fun Western themes. However, I've been here for a number of years, and it does get tired after the first few times. Now I understand why they want to leave!

And so I did myself. Yes, for the first time ever, I left town just as the parade was about to start. I took off for Saskatchewan, the province to the east. I used the excuse of having to go attend a family function, which was true. My uncle, the last of my father's brothers, celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary. I wasn't about to miss this one! And I'm glad I did. We had a really good time, it was all very tastefully done, very casual, very enjoyable. I finally got to meet some of my cousins that I haven't seen for many years; we usually only meet at weddings or funerals, and lately, there haven't been many of those. We all grew up, left home to seek our fortunes in the vast world, and then forgot to come home again.

Let me tell you something: people change. Yes, it's true -- when you don't see anyone for many years, you notice how much older they have become! After all, two of my cousins have retired already (they were just a few years ahead of me at school) and my younger brother retired this year. I'm not sure I'm ready for that!! But they have all aged quite a lot too -- I noticed that during this visit. Oddly, I haven't aged at all! LOL

I got to spend some time with Mom, we did a few things around the house, we visited her 91 year old sister (who is still living on her own and doing very well), and her 67 year old sister too (the youngest) and got to see how much the land has changed too in the time I have been gone. Nothing stays the same. But it was all over too fast, and I was forced to come back to this hectic city and to the job. Some things never change!

The heat has steadily increased and it was about 34 the other day. And in the evening, there is usually a thunder storm with some lightening, sometimes some rain, sometimes some hail! It normally cools off at night, but not that much this week. Now, you understand, I'm not complaining! I'd never do that -- however, I suppose I would like to even it out a bit... you know, like we do with this strange concept of "daylight saving", which I don't understand at all. If only we could "save" some of this heat to release during those long cold winters; now that I could support. Maybe we should talk to the shrub and get him to sign some bill before he leaves his office.

There hasn't been much on the spinning front. Still doing some of the same thing as always; I did take my spindle on the trip and did some spinning while at Mom's. I finished a hat I was knitting-- it was fun, and I started another one tonight. I am still looking for some patterns for something different to make, but haven't made a choice yet. I thought I might do the Mystery Stole 3, but I'm very far behind now but would like to do this one. Too many projects, not enough time!

There's no pictures in this entry. As you remember, I had some computer issues previously. I did get myself a new camera, but it doesn't get along with my computer (I don't understand these things myself) so they are stuck on that little card. I'll keep working on that. But when I get it to cooperate, I'll show you pics of the hat. In the meantime, stay cool!

Water Woes

There is more news about water in our area. Most of the year, it’s rather dry around here, with most of the rain in May. This year is very different – everyone is saying that all over the world – and spring was somewhat delayed. Then we had that snow in late May, and then we had that little bit of rain this week!

I’m putting in a couple of pics for you; just some of the sights around town earlier:

One house got hit by lightening.

Meanwhile, there is still some water problems in my building. As you recall, it took much longer to do some minor repairs the other day. But last night, there was no hot water. Okay, so this has happened a few times before, and I know that the boiler lost its pilot light. Simple thing to fix, but when the maintenance person is already in bed, how does he know to go check it? So I’ve threatened the former caretakers that I will call at any hour of the night and let them know! She said it was okay to do that – however, we have new people now, so I wasn’t too sure I should bother them. And why not? You know, I think I should have hot water at midnight! I also know that we won’t have any hot water in the morning, so no shower.

There wasn’t any hot water until about 10 am. I didn’t go to work, so wasn’t too worried about that.. a little annoyed, but I would have been some angry if I had to get to work by 8! I’ll let someone else complain. (Rent went up by 25% this month too)

I ran out this afternoon, took a very long bike ride on a slightly cloudy day, and enjoyed that trip. It was to a part of town I haven’t visited for a very long time, and it’s quite pretty right now along the river. It took about 2 hours, but was fun. Stopped for some ice-cream too! I got a really nice book on knitting T-shirts, and she also gave me quite a few knitting leaflets. In talking to her, she said she had some men’s patterns too, and gave them to me too. So it was quite an enjoyable visit and worth the trip.

Oh, and one last thing: Harry was in town too. I don’t think I will get to see him this time.

What a Day!

For many years, I have belonged to a small social spinning group that meets once a month. They used to meet on the first Monday of the month, which suited me just fine when I didn't work on Mondays. However, I had to change my day off at work, so now work Monday. For a special occasion, such as Christmas or first spin-in of the season, or the last meeting of the season, or just because I needed a mental health day, I would take that day off and go spin!

Recently, they had to change the day to Tuesday, and that didn't really matter to me much, since one day is much the same as the next in my work schedule. The June meeting is the last for this season, they take a break over summer and restart in September. This was one day I wanted to attend. I have a lot of over-time sitting at work, so decided I had better use them up, or they get taken away from me. So I asked for Tuesday off -- it's not as if I do anything at work anyway! They won't even miss me!

The day started well with the water being turned off in my building so they can do some maintainence. Wonderful! Thinking I might be able to sleep in a little, I had to make sure I was up early enough to catch a little of the last of the hot water to have a shower before there was nothing! I also was going to make something to take to the pot-luck lunch; how do I do that? But I made some muffins the night before, so that will have to do.

When my ride came by to pick me up, they had the pleasure of watching a fight in front of the house next door. This house is boarded up -- it was condemned by the health department after the police were in there looking for clues to a murder of a prostitute (I live in a great neighbourhood in the centre of the city).

Spinning is always a fun time. I took along some of the bootie I picked up a couple months ago that I haven't gotten into much yet. I'm almost done with the grey, so took along some of the white striped with black to see what I can do with it. I also took along some mixed red, and even my CD spindle, and some knitting. Well, I never know how bored I will get with anything, and I need back-up -- you know that! But the morning went by very quickly, with laughing, talking, telling stories, spinning, gossip and general merriment. It's always a good day.

The weather forecast was for rain today. It didn't rain. It was a rather nice sunny warm day. We never know around here. But there were some dark clouds coming up from the south-west (not the usual direction) when I got home in the afternoon. I really need to do some laundry. But after this very long day, I really needed a nap first; laundry will wait -- it's waited this long, what's another hour or two?

When I got up, I picked up the laundry and set off. Now, I have to go about 4 blocks to the laundro-mat. But with my trusty little cart, that's not a major hardship. I take along my CD spindle, and make good use of my time. The clouds are getting darker.

Just as I put everything into the washers, it started to thunder and then rain. Not a little rain. A hard fast rain! With a lot more thunder, and lots of lightening. And more loud crashes of thunder! There was even a bit of hail too. We like a bit of everything around here -- just to make sure they don't miss something. Quite nice -- if you are inside your home, looking out at nature's show. Not in a laundromat!! But what else can I do? So I watch the rain, a little ET on TV (so glad I don't have one with that crap to watch) and I do some spinning! One woman, finally couldn't help herself any longer, had to ask me what I was doing! hahaha -- those are such fun questions, since I can see that for several minutes she is really curious, but I take no notice of her. But then I stop and explain what I am doing, and how it works, and she wants to know what I do with it. Nice girl. Later on, a guy wanted to know if I was going to make bracelets with it. I don't understand that question at all. But maybe that's all he knows about what you would use yarn for. I dunno.

Well, eventually, the laundry is done, and I have to go home. It's still raining, still thundering, still lightening. Not as much as it was, but still raining. Oh, heck, it's only water! So I take my little cart, make sure I have everything, and set out to walk home. It's not that cold, really. So I stick close to some of the buildings, and get a little wet. Ok, so I get a lot wet... it's only water! I will dry off. When I get home, the plumbers are still there (it's now 3.5 hours after they were supposed to be finished!), and I am hoping there is going to be some water in the building! And there is... only cold, since it hasn't had time to heat up yet. At least, there is water! I hang up my things, decide I really should make some supper, and then check some emails.

As you know, for over a month (or has it been longer?), I've been having computer problems. I did re-install WindowsXP and was able to boot up and get to my data. Except for one drive. We'll work on that one yet. But after 6 days, it started doing the same thing, not booting up properly. So being frustrated again... I will install XP by myself this time; I've had enough experience doing it! So I did that. There was nothing on that drive, so I didn't care if I did wipe it out.

Well, that worked -- to an extent. But not well enough, so after a day or two, I just wiped it clean, and started over, and installed it once more! I'm getting good at this! And then I did it once more the next day, just for fun. My next computer is going to be a Mac!

I had to re-install my browser and MSN and lots of other programs I use all the time. And of course, all my bookmarks that I had collected over the years were gone... disappeared, no more. I had a long list -- a very long list -- of blogs that I had marked. There were a few I remembered that I visited most often, and marked them once more. I have to start my collection all over again! Fortunately, some of you keep a list of your favourites on your blogs (thanks guys!), which I read as well, so I was able to find most of them again. I did discover there is a way to save my list, so will be doing that from now on. I have a feeling I may have to re-install XP another time yet!

One thing I've lost and can't seem to get working is my sound. This thing seems to think there is no sound cards installed, and yet in other places, it says they are! I don't understand -- all I know is that I don't have any sound! So I can't listen to many of the podcasts I enjoyed, nor any YouTube vids (they do look so funny with no sound -- try that sometime), and can't play some of the old Whistler movies I have received this past week! I need my sound!!

You want some pictures? I don't really have much to show you. There was that duck, but I didn't get pics of it, and it's gone now. Oh, you don't know about it?? Well, that will have to wait until next time. In the meantime, I want to show you that we had a bit of rain lately.

The more things change --

Since I haven't logged in for so long, Blogger (in their wisdom) didn't know who I was! So I had a lot of trouble trying to get into MY OWN blog!! Why don't they just mind their own business and leave me alone?!

I am in a complaining mood today. I had a lot of computer problems lately. First of all, I couldn't get any internet connection. I didn't know where the problem was, but obviously, it was the fault of my provider. When I called, after a long weekend of NO SERVICE, all I got from the kid at the other end was that it is all working well. Dude, it's not!! I still don't have service!

So after a whole week (seven days), one morning when I was laying in bed, trying to analyze this whole problem, I decided to try once more. I would disconnect all the cables, and then re-attach them one by one, checking that it's all working fine to that point. And after a few of these, I discover that my router was the weak link. So as long as I didn't put it in the system, I can work with no problem. But then I don't have the firewall protection I need.

My hard drives (yes, plural) were all quite full, so I had to clear out some stuff. As I was cleaning them out, getting ready to write some of the data to disk, and re-arranging some of the files, I must have moved something that I shouldn't have. Then I couldn't boot up anymore. Why does this always happen to me!!?? I was able to get in under Safe Mode, sometimes, but sometimes not. It was like a computer game, where you have to hit all the right buttons very fast, to get to the next level! I wasn't very good at that game.

The only thing to do was re-install the OS. However, if I were to do that, I would wipe out everything on my drive, since I had to format it. Not good! (Did I ever tell you about making back-ups of all your important data?) And so the only other thing to do was get a new drive, and install XP on that, and then use the old drive as a storage drive, and recover all my data from it. Good plan!

Not that easy! After a few tries plugging in, re-trying, and going back to the store, and him telling me to do the same things over and over.... I finally took my computer to him, and showed him why it wasn't working. There was a little setting, something about RAID, and I didn't know what it meant, or why it was there. So, after all that tweaking, and 3 hours (plus a few dollars), I had XP installed, and the old drive plugged in and I was able to access all that data, and get back to where I should have been! Whew! Another week wasted!

For the past week, I've been trying to go through all the stuff I had saved (whatever for?), and deciding whether it's worth keeping or not, transferring it over to a more logical location, and burning a few disks. I'll get it all put into it's correct place eventually! And then I will format that offending disk, and have a clean slate to fill up again!

A few weeks ago, I went to a concert featuring Lily Tomlin. I was given a seat on the second balcony at the very last row! Well, at least there wasn't anyone behind me, kicking the seat from behind! And the stage was way down there in the depths of the canyon! I hoped I would be able to see anyone when they walked on stage! I was smart enough to bring my opera glasses with me! I was also lucky enough to sit next to an Olympic medal winner!!

There were the familiar characters that we have loved and known forever: Edith Ann, Ernestine, Trudy, the Bag Lady. There is a whole new generation that never knew them when they first appeared on the scene, and became so identifiable to us. I will never be able to think of c-a-k-e the same way again! When I first saw her perform, with only a change in posture or contortion of that amazing face, a new character would appear. What an amazing talent she has! Even at 67, she still looks fantastic, with a lot of energy, and fun. She has a bit more patience and maybe just a bit of tolerance now, but still very strongly opinionated. She told us she has done a movie, but has no idea why it still hasn't been released. She is working on a TV series for this fall, and a few other things in the works as well. There is no sign of her slowing down at all. She still keeps up a hectic pace of one-woman shows all across the country.

Was it worth it? I would have a very hard time justifying anyone paying that much to see one person performing on stage for 2 hours. Yes, I wanted to see her, and I'm glad I did. This may not happen again. She did almost the very same routine I remember her doing 35 years ago, with a few little comments thrown in. She is a very cool lady -- I think it would be quite interesting to sit down and chat with her. I have a feeling she is not an easy lady to get to know. I will watch for her new shows this season -- if they ever appear.

But I think I would have liked just a little bit of that "service" for which I paid.

Weighty Subjects

I’ve been having a great time spinning some of the treasures I got recently. The grey is really a brown blended with white, which produces a real ‘grey’ shade. I don’t know what it is, but it does contain some very long fibres and some short ones too. There is a fair bit of kemp in it as well, but they slip right out without getting caught in the twist. It is buttery soft and so easy to spin. I forgot to tell you where it came from! We got it from http://www.thesheepshedstudio.com/ which is in Wyoming. Carol and her staff were very easy to deal with, and the huge package arrived within 2 weeks. This is quite unheard of here in Canada! We didn’t have any trouble getting it through Customs either. The grey roving is found on this page, http://www.thesheepshedstudio.com/Wooltoprovings.html at the bottom of the page. Unfortunately, this is the last of it – I think I should have purchased more!

Not all online purchases are this easy or as successful. Early this year, in our spinning class, one of the girls brought in the cutest little weigh scale. It is about the size of a pocket calculator, and when the top slides off, there is a fully operational electronic scale underneath! The capacity is not high, but for our purposes in class, this was ideal. The price was right too (about $40) and she found a site in Canada that sold them.

Several of the others in the class wanted scales too, and this company, Digital Scales Canada, had quite a nice selection of different kinds for all sorts of needs (I don’t wish to promote them so won’t post a link). After much consideration, I made my decision, and the others placed their order with me, and I agreed to place one order for them all. The company advertised that there was one price for shipping PER ORDER, and we thought that was a very good deal. We ordered 6 scales for a total sale of $681. They preferred credit card sales, but said they would accept cheques and would ship the order when the cheque cleared. I didn’t mind that, since I don’t have credit cards, and we weren't in a big rush.

Within 3 days of mailing off my order and payment, I received an email from them saying that they cannot accept cheques. Seems they suddenly changed their policy. I cancelled my order and told them to mail my cheque back. It’s now 60 days, and still no sign of it. I guess return mail takes longer.

We looked around locally to get something that we could use, but small scales like that, with a 0.1g accuracy, were selling for about $60 to $120 in the pawn shops!

One of the girls in the class decided she would try and place an order herself using her credit cards. She dutifully placed her order online, and paid with her card – only to be told shortly thereafter that they won’t process the order without photocopies of the front and back of her credit card, AND the front and back of her driver’s license!! Her bank advised her not to do this, and she also cancelled her order. We’re not sure what this company is up to, but selling weigh scales doesn’t seem to be one of them!

Shortly after this experience, we noticed that the company has suddenly started accepting Paypal payments. The same girl still needed a scale (as do the rest of us) and decided to give them one more chance. She placed her order for only one scale this time, with her Paypal account, and they accepted it, and she received her scale in due course! So it seems they don’t want to ship more than ONE item per order, and don’t really uphold their claim of one shipping price PER ORDER. After all, they were about to lose $47.50 in shipping charges on our multiple order!

So the result is that we don’t get our scales, and our homework is now on hold. I suppose I could take my little packages of wool and dye plant material to the post office and get them to weigh them for me. I have a feeling that won’t work very well. Well, there are always the scales at Safeway!

Weird Stuff

There are so many weird things going on around here lately. I just don’t know where to begin.

Okay, first of all, my poinsettia, which had some red leaves late in the year, before Christmas (see an earlier post), has decided that it’s time to do it again. So now I have ten branches with red leaves on the tips. I don’t know what this means. Is there some sort of strange cosmic shift going on, and this poor plant is getting all confused?

It’s been in this same pot, from the florist, since it arrived at my office about 5 years ago, I should think. One of the senior people in the office used to buy a large potted poinsettia for each floor. They didn’t last long, except for the one that I looked after on my floor. I knew what it liked, and kept it growing nicely and green for several years. Because the office lights are on almost all the time, it never got night, and didn’t know when it was time to change colour. But one year, after I came back from a Christmas break, I turned it around, and found all these red leaves on the side against the wall! That side had the dark, and they changed colour. So cool! I finally took it home when it was in danger of being thrown out (people are like that in the office) and it has bloomed for me during the two years I’ve had it here. And now once again this the spring. It’s really confused. Maybe it needs to be repotted, since they do tend to put out flowers when under stress.

Speaking of stress, I didn’t have internet connection for over a week. OMG! Talk about withdrawal! I knew that I spent a lot of time online, but I sure did find myself out- of-sorts last week. I depended on being connected to the rest of the world – no, I NEEDED to be connected with my friends and family. I tried to tell myself that it was only temporary, and I’ll get through it. I called my ISP, and got a recorded message that some parts of the city were not getting service, and will be rectified soon. Yah, sure. I stayed online until I finally got through to a techie who checked what he could from there, and said it all seems to be working just fine. No, it ain’t!!

Then one morning, as I lay in bed, I thought I should check all the connections. I would take them all apart, and reinstall them all one by one and see what happens. Since I use a router, I thought I would try connecting directly to the computer from the modem and see if the modem really is at fault. It worked! No problem! Alright, so it was my router. It’s fairly new, but I believe the warranty has just expired, and so has the router! Isn’t that a coincidence?!

So now I’m back into the swing of things, trying to go through 637 emails to see if there was anything really important I need to attend to. Nope, none at all. Wonder why someone thinks it was necessary to send them out in the first place? Oh, well. Now I have to try and catch up with all the podcasts and other downloads I get regularly. Oh, when will there be time to get any sleep?!

One thing that was good out all this was that I got a chance to do some real spinning. I’m working on my second bobbin of that lovely grey/brown roving I got. I’m really liking it, and am visualizing something nice for me out of it. It’s not going to happen for some time yet, so don’t wait for it.

There are a few other things I need to get off my chest too, but that will have to wait for the next time.

New Additions

Although last week tended to be pretty crappy, there was something that makes me smile -- a lot. I received a nice pile of fibres to play with. Well, I had to pay for it, but it came very quickly.

One of the girls in my class discovered a place in the US that was selling some punta wool. This is a breed that comes from Mexico, and we’ve used it in class. It’s quite nice and soft, long lustrous fibre which we blended with all manner of other fibres. So why not get some for myself to play with? Well, I looked at the site, and found a few more things that I might like to get my hands into: superwash merino, dyed superwash, dyed Cotswold, a spinning bell, a nice grey, some random roving … well, it went on and on, and by the time I tallied up my order, I knew this was out of hand! So I trimmed down to a few essentials, trying to stay under $100 – well, okay, just a little over that!

The order arrived very quickly. We expected a couple of weeks, but it was less than two weeks that it was here. Very good service from them. It flew over the border with no problem, with out duty charges, and only the US exchange is what really got us. So it cost me about $175 for 12 pounds of fibre. That should do me for awhile.

In fact, as soon as I got home that day (I picked it up from the classmate at noon -- thanks Sherry), carrying two large bags of loot, I had to spin up a small handful of the black and white roving, and because I like a 3-ply, I Navajo plied it. Then I had to knit it up too, to see if I could maintain that random colouring. I liked the effect. There was some blending of the black and white, but I think I will work harder at keeping them separate. I am thinking that a sweater for myself might just be in order.

I’ve already started spinning what was supposed to be the grey, although it does appear to be brown mixed with white. I quite like how it is working up, being quite soft and fine, and fairly long-stapled. I will also do it in a 3-ply, and this time am spinning up three bobbins. I’m trying for a uniform yarn this time, since there was some unevenness in the b&w that I did earlier.

All of it looks so very nice! I haven’t had a chance to get my hands into the rest of it yet. There is one bag of random odds and ends that looks interesting. There is a handful of red, and black, and white, and even some brown/gold roving in there too! I’m not sure what will become of it all, but I think I could make something out of it yet. Maybe it will join something I already have, or mix together into a project, or maybe I’ll have to get more of one that I really like to make up an item. Hmm, now that is a possibility too.

Spring Arrives!

Although Spring arrived almost 2 weeks ago, this is the view that greeted me this morning when I got out of bed and looked out the window:

It was so very nice early in March, and was quite shorts weather. The little shrub outside the front door has already set out it's leaves, and the dahlias have pushed up several inches of shoots. Then this.

Those of us that have lived in this city for a number of years should be used to this now. I'm not quite used to it, but I am resigned to it; it changes all the time, so be prepared for anything. There is a new co-worker at the desk next to me that has arrived a month ago from "the other side of the mountain" where winters are rather mild, and the snow is heavy and wet. By now, spring has taken a good hold "back home" and she is expecting the same here. No, no, I keep telling her, never put away your winter coat! You can never tell what will happen in the afternoon, so be prepared for anything. Even this.

Now, I imagine some of you were waiting for the second sock, and the description of the wonderful discovery I have made. Which should have been here, if only it weren't for a small little thing that happened: I was told that it looks so much like a pattern that has already been published. Oh, damn! So I took a look at Widdershins, and indeed it is very similar. I did my turning of the heel slightly differently, but with very much the same effect. Incredible that we could come up with so similar results! I knew what I wanted to happen, and so created my pattern to do just that; apparently the creator of Widdershins had the same thought, and we reached almost the exact same solution.

Well, in reality, there are only a handful of ways to knit a sock. I think we've about developed all methods possible; we now will focus on variations and developing a library of pattern stitches. That's as it should be.

I still will go ahead and knit the second sock. Right now, it's all on hold. I was put into quite a downer once I learned I hadn't discovered anything new! I really had no desire to continue with this once-exciting project -- in fact, I had no interest in doing anything whatsoever! I have now sufficiently recovered to start moving again, and will go on to finish those socks (because I'm stubborn enough to do it) and maybe I might try to do them again -- once the pain is long forgotten. Perhaps I should try something completely different first. I think it would be a good learning exercise to document the development of the sock, with photos and text, just for my own use. However, someone has beat me to it as well: Charles has written a very good description of how he did it, along with VIDEOS of how he casts on, turns the heel with short-row and wraps, and the sewn cast-off. So go look at his, and I won't have to bother.

I am still continuing to spin. I was lucky enough to acquire about 3 lbs of some really wonderful grey wool. I have no idea of the breed, but it is so soft, and silky. It is spinning up very nicely, into a strong yarn, and I have about 3 skeins now, and continue to work on it almost every day. And yes, I am still using my CD spindle. A fellow knitter called me this week to say that he has the chance to buy a Louet wheel (at a very low price) and he wondered if learning to spin would be easy. He is going to take some lessons in a month, and has also purchased a lovely top-whorl spindle made by Ed Tabachek. Well, all I could tell him was that, as with all things, it's a bit awkward at first, but I have confidence that he will do very well with some practice, because he is very determined and a perfectionist.

I also got some really exciting news tonight! But I will have to tell you all about it next time.