Knit Redplaid

Day 34

2011-07-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

Weather's movin' in:

The weather seems to be crazy all over Canada these days and Tbay is no exception. With the heat and humidity through the roof, fog moving into the north end in a small dense patch surrounded by blue sky and now the whole city is overcast causing the setting sun to streak the thin cover with intense red. I was leaving for work this afternoon when I noticed this large cloudy hand moving over the neighbourhood foreshadowing what was to come. I welcome it. The break it brought from the high temps is a relief.

Day 33

2011-07-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

St. Andrew's Presbyterian:

Found myself on the south-side of town today needing to take a bus home. [It's been years since I have had to do this but Barry had to get the girls to camp.] In case you don't know, the south side bus depot is now at City Hall which is to the left, behind the pole. I had some time to kill and, being Sunday, the place was empty. It was the opportunity I needed to case the joint. I need to come back when it is full of people.

The poster on the pole is advertising the Multicultural Youth Center. Interesting that there are posters taped to poles at City Hall now that there is a by-law preventing such. At least I think there is.

FYI: do you know that buses talk now? A soothing lady's voice announces each stop as it approaches. It's obviously some kind of text reader software. Occasionally street names are so garbled I have no idea what was just said. It can be both amusing and annoying.

Day 32

2011-07-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

Let's put this one in the "You're bugging me" category, and it's been bugging me for weeks!

They tore down the former Brew Pup and Shoppers Drug-mart, that had a walk-in clinic, to build a new, bigger Shoppers. So now, as you can see, the clinic is at ...the Hospital! .... thata-way....
[We could also put this in the "No shit sherlock" category. Imagine finding health care at the hospital! And isn't part of the benefit of going to a walk-in is so you can avoid the back-log at the hospital?]

This clinic, usually very busy, was located in a densely populated area that includes some lower-income housing. There were people that used this clinic that literally "walked in". This sign almost makes one think the hospital is just down the street. Well, it kinda is, about 3.5 km. A nice little jaunt for a sick person or parent with sick kid. Luckily there is a bus that passes right by. Just add the $5 return trip cost per-person to your budget. As someone who has gone through tight financial times finding bus fare can mean something else is being sacrificed.

It's just seems logical to me that moving the clinic to the County Fair Mall, a 5-10 minute walk from here, which is almost empty and directly adjacent to part of the community, would make more sense. But then who am I? Just a middle-aged mother sticking her two cents in.

Of course the up shot is that a nicer walk-in clinic will be built here....at least that is the hope.

Day 31

2011-07-16T17:11:00.001-07:00

Fanatics:

The line-up for the new Harry Potter movie, 7pm show. My girls were there shortly after 4. At that point the line was as long as the hall. Many were dressed up. They entertained themselves with reading, texting, chatting, one group was deep in the middle of a Monopoly game. Can you spot the female "Ron" having her picture taken?

The lady at the front of the line, about my age and with her teenage daughter had been there since 11am. This is hardcore for Thunder Bay.

As I was leaving I called back to the line, "Have fun all you hardcore people!" the lady asked me, "Aren't you staying?". When I explained that I had no interest in the movie, hadn't even read the books she chatted with me for a bit, telling me how the books were written, how the author wrote the 1st book on bits of paper and napkins because that is all she had and how they were not just for children and well written. I left her saying that just because she had taken the time to talk and shared her passion so well I would have to go home and read at least the first one. I know it's around here somewhere.

Day 30

2011-07-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

Evening in the neighbourhood:

I love the evening light. I live in a densely populated area of townhouses, duplexes and concrete yet just beyond the rooftops a large green space, dense with trees, is easily assessable by paved trails. Runners and walkers who use the paths create their own community, greeting each other as they pass.

Whenever I find myself at the end of the day without a picture I head for the trail, usually with a family member. Tonight my companion was my husband. Precious time together

Day 29

2011-07-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

McVickers Creek:

We have quite a bit of beautiful nature right in the heart of our city. This is just one spot. This little creek, rushing towards Lake Superior, through residential areas, under roads and bridges, must run smack-dab through the heart of downtown. The walking path along it's shore is sweet and lush. A treasure to find amongst civilization. It is also the favourite stomping ground of transients. :D

Day 28

2011-07-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

I Live Here -2:

Ok, I did another self portrait.

That is the iconic, Sleeping Giant in the background with a freighter floating just beyond the breakwater, a common sight as are sailboats. The natural protection the thunder bay provides from the open water of Lake Superior makes it perfect for sailing.

The tough part with self portraits: One's inclination is to choose the picture that makes one look good where as the photographer's inclination is to pick the most interesting shot. Do I go for pretty or character? Hopefully I found a happy medium.

ps: I caught up!!! :D

Day 27

2011-07-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

Chain link: [July 11th]

Not thrilled with this one. I was pressed for time and had to just take what I got. I wanted the flowers to be in focus. Well the chain link looks kinda cool.

Day 26

2011-07-12T18:01:00.000-07:00

Sunset: [July 10th]

Ya, I know, I already posted a picture of these flowers but sometimes the perfect shot is just there and you can't resist it. I was sitting in my friend's backyard, right at eye level with this little scene, whipped out my blackberry and...snap!

Day 25

2011-07-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

After the Rain 2: [July 9th]

This is a weed, very tall, about 5', and acts like a dandelion. This the puff-ball of seeds after most have floated away.

Day 24

2011-07-10T19:51:00.001-07:00

Bubble!: [July 8th]

I was visiting my sister, when her son decided to blow some bubbles. It's true what they say....doing this project makes you look at the scene in a different way. I'm not sure I would have thought of doing it this way before.

Day 23

2011-07-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

Chair:[July 7th]

Hubby tried to make a chair for his brother for christmas out of branches. It was a great idea and would have worked if the branches were greener and therefore bendy-er.

Day 22

2011-07-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

Fuzzy!: [from July 6th]

Day 21

2011-07-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

Flower Patch: [from July, 5th]

These flowers always remind me of the precious week I spent in Eabametoong or Fort Hope, a fly-in First Nation's community in North-western Ontario. There I met some of the warmest and resilient people I will ever have the pleasure of knowing. It was an education to say the least. There are those, in our own country, living in 3rd world conditions.

Day 20

2011-07-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

Morning After, Stadium Seats: [from July, 4th]

After taking over a 1,000 pictures over 3 days I was done. I took 3 pictures on this day, early in the morning, packed my camera away and didn't take it out until the next day, after a nice sleep in my own bed.

Day 19

2011-07-08T17:38:00.001-07:00

Empty Stadium, morning of rodeo day 3: [from July, 3rd]

Despite the way it looks it was a beautiful day. The morning was cool but the sun soon emerged and heated Carberry, Manitoba up quite well.... kinda to well. By the afternoon the humidity was almost to much. An evening shower felt so good. I burnt my face a bit.

The runners-up, taken in the evening after everyone but us, Ontarians, had left:

Day 18

2011-07-06T19:24:00.001-07:00

Wipe Out!: [from July, 2nd]

Wild Cow Milking event: a team of 4 must rope a cow. Once team members have the cow by the tail the rope is dropped and the cow is milked. Believe me, the cow doesn't want to be milked. This is by far the most entertaining event.

Here we see Dear Hubby, who had the cow by the tail, being whipped off by said cow. Are anyone's hind legs on the ground in this photo? DH did the tuck and roll immediately following.

Day 17

2011-07-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

Day 17: Rodeo Days: [from July, 1st]

I took so many pictures [over a 1,000], making it hard to choose one a day as my favourite or best. I like this one because is shows rodeo action, the spectators and the beautiful blue sky.

For the next few days I am going to try and upload two a day until I get caught up. I might not be able to keep up with work and all. I only took about 385 pictures the first day, over 500 the second. I'm thinking I won't get through those 500 today.

Day 16

2011-06-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

Girls in pink have more fun:

This is DD#2, The Dancer, and her friend having fun with clapping songs in her very pink room. It literally glows. I am leaving today for a 4 day camping weekend with the family to cheer on Hubby, the weekend cowboy, as he participates in 3 rodeos in Manitoba. It's very entertaining and amusing. He doesn't do anything really dangerous but so willingly throws himself into it he manages to take some crazy spills. The Dancer will be staying behind with her friend as the two of them are spending a week at a Teen Camp, starting on Sunday.

I shall take pictures everyday but I shall not be able to upload them until I get back. See you in 4-5ish days.

Day 15

2011-06-29T15:01:00.000-07:00

Chillaxin'.

Self-portraits are hard!! Just sayin'.
I made it part of my project to take one self-portrait a week and have been putting it off. Today I was out running errands with The Reader and stopped at the Environmental garden to give it a go. The picture I like best is the one of DD I took to help place the camera for my pic. I settled on this one of us together. I'll try again next week.

FYI: my hair is now 1 1/2" and I think this is the last day of the spikes.

Day 14

2011-06-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

The Devil's Paintbrush.

Apparently I am on a plant kick. I love these little flowers. It always makes me smile when looking over a mass of dandelions, and other yellow and white wild flowers I spot that shock of orange. There aren't to many times when taking pictures in the direct sunlight is a bonus but with this flower the brightness makes them look as though they are about to catch fire.

Day 13

2011-06-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

And what a day 13 it has been, raining, chilly, and my 19 wedding anniversary and I have been working all day and on my way out now to an overnight shift. BLAH! I was seriously considering not bothering with this but was encouraged by a comment about it on my facebook so I ran outside the door and quickly took some shots of the grass not expecting to find anything remarkable.... This little gem surprised me and reminded me that the time to give up is never.

After the rain:

Day 12

2011-06-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

Woodlands:

I went for a walk on the trail behind our neighbourhood looking for shots that

looked like they were taken in the deep bush and I feel quite successful, in fact, more than successful. I have extra pictures. It was tough picking just one for the official 365. I will only post the one on my

flickr account but what is keeping me from posting those extras here? It is MY blog. I can do whatever I want with it....so there. FYI: you can always click on the pictures to get a larger view.

Here are the ones that came so close but didn't quite make it:

oh hai, dandelion:

baby tree:

flower carpet.

Where are we? Looks like we should be in the forest except for what is in the background.

Day 11

2011-06-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

Pretty.

At 10pm I got off work, rushed to the local all-natural-local-plants-environmentally-friendly garden and took some pics with the last of the fading light. [Thank-goodness for long summer days.] I rushed home to process and upload in time to get the July 25th stamp on this post only to find my family in the middle of watching "Back to the Future" and lost all track of time until it was over. [Hey, we are talking about watching one of the perfect movies here. It's a valid excuse.] Anywho.... I think I just made it.

I love using natural light for taking pictures. I rarely.....Rarely.... and I mean RARELY use flash. Colour is more saturated in the dawn and dusk hours or on an overcast day. Bright sunlight washes colour out. I am very pleased with this shot. It makes me smile. :D

ps: just realized that the time on this post is 3 hours behind the actual time. I was posting at midnight. hmmm...interesting.

Day 10

2011-06-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

Shard remains of oven door.

Picture this: 2 teenage girls doing the dishes.....who don't want to....and don't want to be in the same room..... really hoping I can get a door replacement without giving up an arm and a leg although I might be willing to offer my 1st born....or the 2nd.....

....or BOTH.

*sigh*

this too shall pass.

Day 9

2011-06-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

Blue.

DD#1, or The Reader, came home with a new cut that she is unsure about. This shot gave me the chance to play a little with Lightroom, the program I use to process my pictures. "Blue" suits the shot and her mood. She'll get over it soon enough.

Day 8

2011-06-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

MONKEY!! Knit monkey, that is.

Created by knitter1, who friended me on ravelry.com today. Monkey was installed on June 11th in the middle of Little Finland, across the street from local hotspot of Finish cuisine, the Hoito. [The term "hotspot" is debatable depending on what you think of Finn food or the Hoito but if you want to eat lunch here you gotta stand in line so I think it fits.] Today is a rainy June 22nd so poor monkey has stretched out and slipped down the poll but I think we can all agree that he is still freakin' cute!

Day 7

2011-06-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

Light.

Taken on the foot path behind the Landmark Inn where civilization and wilderness meet... for a bit and then the wilderness is split by the highway.... and then more civilization.... but it's right on the edge. Really. You just have to go down the highway a few minutes to hit real wilderness.

Day 6

2011-06-20T04:31:00.001-07:00

Canadian Tradition.

One steeped tea: $1.34

One box of Tim bits: $1.99

One boston cream: $.98

One gas up: $20.00

Two boston creams: $1.96

One co-operative husband to get the perfect shot: priceless

This is the shot I tried to get yesterday. Every time the vehicle in front of me was handed their coffee I missed the shot...... every....time! This morning I followed hubby on his way to work, told him to be slow about reaching for the cup. What a dear! When he was handed the cup and he saw I wasn't ready [those Tim's people are fast!] he refused to take it! Back it went. Out it came again. Barry didn't even put his hand out to take it until he was sure I got it. Ain't he sweet?!

BTW, on my Tim's travels yesterday I discovered that this is the only Tim's in town with the sign at the end of the drive-through, making it the only Tim's perfect for this shot. I think you'll agree that getting the sign in the frame was of utmost importance.

Day 5

2011-06-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Juxtaposition. I live here.

Again, today, I found the end of the day approaching and no suitable picture to post. I have a very clear idea for a picture and just couldn't make it happen. Hopefully I will get it tomorrow.......

In frustration I march out the front door with the slightest of ideas....maybe a nature photo? It is an overcast day, making colours more vibrate then usual especially the greens... Perhaps lilacs? T'is the season. Facebook is full of lilac pics these days.

At the end of a short path just across the street is this green space framed by backyard fences opening up to the back parking lot of a nearby mall writhing in the final throws of death, a favourite canvas for the local graffiti.... printers[?]..... babies[?]..... infidels[?] ..... certainly not artists. There is one tree.... perfect.

Day 4

2011-06-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

Texture. My hands have texture.

Day 4 and I'm already having trouble keeping up with the commitment. I keep forgetting to take my camera with me when I leave the house. With work, family and other commitments it's hard to find time to focus on doing something creative. So my mission from here on in is to ALWAYS have my camera. Wish me luck!

Day 3

2011-06-17T13:56:00.001-07:00

Deep into a serious fitness kick Barry installed a chin-up bar and Sinead has discovered a new ability.

Now I have caught up to my facebook and flickr page. Lets see if I can keep this up?

365 Project -Day 2 [original date:June, 16th]

2011-06-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

It's just hair people. Cut it, colour it, play with it. It grows back.

This has been a philosophy of mine since my first haircut in grade 4. Some may say that it is easy for me to say because my hair seems to grow quickly.

Which begs the question: Just how quickly? Let's find out. I recently heard that women past 50 shouldn't have long hair. Hmmm. Sounds like a challenge.

I have two years to 50, two years grow, two years before testing the above assumption.... starting from as close to 0 as I dare: 1 1/4 ", measuring the hair on the top of my head, which is the longest at present. Let the growing begin.

I will post Day 3 later on today so my blog with be caught up to my Facebook and Flickr installments of this project. :D

Count down to 49 -My 365 Project [original start date:June, 15th]

2011-06-16T19:33:00.001-07:00

Resurrecting my blog for this special purpose: my 365 Project. I will take a picture and post it everyday for one year..... the count down to turning 49. Not all will be a self portrait but I plan to take at least one a week. Welcome to my life for the following year.

Portrait of a working wife and mother at 48: Outfit complete with faux leather purse from Winners [for fashionable bargain shoppers in the Tbay], fitted jean jacket from Value Village [for die-hard bargain shoppers], handmade jewelry [creative outlet], blackberry [for sanity] and 3" heeled Franco Sarto sandals [most necessary].

And why are 3" heel, "pin-up" cuties on my feet "most necessary"? Because I am a self-neglected mother and it's time to be the fashionable lady I want to be. Those who know me from my pre-LU days ['cause university makes paupers of us all] may remember me as a bit of a fashion plate and will find this as no surprise.

When I make the decision to wear my "lady shoes" I know I'm going to dress like a grown-up lady and not so much like the tired mother I feel. I'm going to have a shower, wear something nice, do my hair and makeup and just feel better about myself. I believe this is important for me at this age.

Wearing lady shoes = dressing better = feeling better = doing better [parenting, housekeeping, wife-ing, jobing....everything!] = being a better version of myself.

I have a blog?

2008-12-15T06:13:00.000-08:00

It has been brought to my attention that I still have a blog. Wow. The funny thing is my blog was brought back to me by a message telling me I have a comment on a post, the "How Blogs are Born" post, a comment that mentioned the fear of every blogger that no one will read their blog. [Yeeeesssss, I remember that sensation. It was so long ago though.]

hmmm, not only has my blog died I lost all fear of it being useless simply because I forgot about it. Why did I forget about it? That's easy: Ravelry.

Ravelry ate my blog!

This is my new home:

This is my "about me" page:

This is were I do most of my writing these days:

If you have anything to do with the fiber arts and you are still not on Ravelry all I have to say is, "What rock did you just crawl out from under?" ;)

Get thee to Ravelry!

The Last Knit

2007-10-31T06:40:00.001-07:00

I was recently reminded of this fantastic video and thought I would post it. I haven't posted in quite awhile and have some unfinished business to deal with [Pay it Forward] and lots to tell. I hope to get around to it soon.

IT CAME! CHOCOLATE AND YARN SWAP!

2007-10-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

Look what came in the mail today!

My first swap has arrived! Eve from California sent me this great box.

So this is my first swap so I am not very knowledgeable about shipping so I was surprised how much it cost me. I found it very interesting to see "first class" at only $6.46. I'm embarrassed is say how much I spent for 7-10 days. The only cheaper option was for as least 14 days + and even that was not less than 10 bucks. This box took 7 business days. My box will get to Eve at the earliest on the 15th. We'll see what happens.

I open it up and there is a gorgeous ball of Trekking XXL in beautiful shades of orange, my favourite colour.

Underneath the yarn was this little black bag. What is that inside?

These pretty little stitch markers. Adorable!

And now we are getting down to business. Little brown paper packages.

CHOCOLATE! I have never seen any of these chocolate bars before. I'm just going to look at them for awhile before trying them. Thank-you Eve! Thank-you Chocolate Group from Ravelry for such a great experiance. I will do this again!

How Blogs Are Born

2007-09-13T06:24:00.001-07:00

A little gem I found on youtube. This is a clip from my favourite show, Corner Gas. I'd like to think I blog for better reasons but ... honestly, it's not much different. There aren't many people around here that want to hear me go on about my passion.

GO HANK!

Brenda Dayne's Knitting Badges!

2007-09-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

Have you seen these? Knitting badges for Knitting Scouts!

Here is what I have earned so far: [Quotes from cast-on.com]

"The “Proselytize Knitting” Badge - A requirement for all Knitting Scouts, the recipient must do his or her bit to present knitting in a positive light, whilst at the same time avoiding all references to “hipness”, grandmothers, and yoga."

I accomplish this by knitting/crocheting/spinning in public and wearing, with pride, what I have made. I have some good pictures of me spinning on the beach at family camp this summer that I should post.

"The “MacGyver” Badge (Level One) - The recipient must demonstrate clever use of a non-knitting tool in a knitting-related scenario. For instance, recipient has used paper clips as stitch markers, or successfully whittled and then utilized bamboo skewers as dpns."

I use bobby pins to hold seams together while sewing them up. I have a small blue circle of plastic from a lego set that I am using as a stitch marker for my MS3. I used to have 2 but sadly lost one.

"The “MacGyver” Badge (Level Two) - The recipient must demonstrate clever use of a knitting tool in a non-knitting-related scenario. For instance, recipient has used a strand of Regia Bamboo to slice cheese, or repaired a small appliance with a metal knitting needle."

I regularly use a knitting needle to clean the vacuum filter. The girls have used various bits of yarn for pretend leases, clothes lines, kite string and who knows what else. I have put out bits of yarn ends for the birds in the spring.

"The “Knitting Has Forced Me to Seek Medical Attention” Badge (Level One) – In which the recipient has been forced to seek the advice of a medical doctor, nurse, or alternative healthcare professional for injuries sustained as a result of knitting."

3 springs ago I knit like a fend all one day. I started to feel pain in my wrist but didn't stop. The next day I picked up my needles and after 3 stitches pain went shooting up my thumb, through my wrist and up my arm. I stopped and called the doctor. After examining me he, thankfully, told me I hadn't done any real damage, just hurt it a bit and to stop knitting for 5 or 6 months ... yes months. I decided to do that so I could knit another day. I didn't knit a stitch all that summer. I didn't wait exactly 5 months, more like 3 but I was careful.

And the moral of the story is: DON'T WORK THROUGH THE PAIN! Instead, to the tune of that jazzy song they sing to Ernie on Sesame Street, sing: "PUT DOWN THE NEEDLES!" and give yourself a break.

And if you have read this far, thank-you and please post on my "Pay It Forward" post. I asked for at least 3 posters and don't have that yet. Come on Knitsibs! Show me the love!

Pay It Forward!

2007-08-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Twisted Knitster to PAY IT FORWARD!

So I will randomly choose three people who reply to this post to send a little gifty too, maybe yarn, maybe something else, maybe both! Who knows. Like Twisted Knitster I promise to do it some time in the next 356 days. So leave a comment. I will contact 3 people to let them know they are tagged with in a week or so. And then be prepared to be surprised .... some time .... in the next year!

Come on and join in the fun! Pay it forward and put a smile on someone's face!

Freaky Large Ball!! and what have I been knitting? Wouldn't you like to know. Ok, I'll tell you....

2007-08-15T09:01:00.000-07:00

Is there a limit to how much you can write in the "title" field? Could you just write a whole entry in there? Maybe I will try that someday but today.....

Check out this BIG BALL OF WOOL! This is one skein I bought yesterday for the Mystery Shawl 3 Knit-a-long. Yes, I'm a member and I am just getting around to starting. What took me so long?

I've been busy.
I wanted to see more of it before starting [not as adventurous as I though I was].
I was living under the misconception that 1200 yards of lace weight would be freakin' expensive. Hey, it's lace weight ..... oooo .... it's special and it's 1200 yards, oh my.

But then I read Melanie's email [to the MS3 yahoo group] where she revealed the theme, Swan Lake. and that we would be knitting a wing. A Wing? How cool is that! I want to knit this now!! I got motivated.

So I was at LYS S&B yesterday afternoon and asked to be shown some lace weight so I could plan my purchase. I was show this fabulous merino by Grignasco and was told I only need one skein. Just One? I turned it over and was pleasently shocked to see it was only 25 bucks and is over 1300 yard. Why is it so cheap? Yarn is sold by weight! The thinner the yarn the more yardage you get. *lightbulb* I knew that but I guess I really didn't get it. $25 for yarn + $5 for beads = I am knitting this amazing shawl for $30! Why didn't you tell me sooner that knitting lace was so cheap!!!!

I get my yarn home and I am so excited to get started I couldn't wait for my daughter's camera batteries to recharge and take a proper picture of the skein before ripping into it and start winding. I don't have a swift [I looked at those at the store too - $99, hmm, maybe someday]. I layed the skein around my knees and started wrapping the itty-bitty, skinny yarn around my hand. After an hour it really dawned on me that I was winding over 1300 yards, 1250 meters, thats 1.25 kms, about 3/4 of a mile. Two hours and I was done! I didn't have the gumption to do any itty-bitty, skinny knitting.

I found soothing solace in my other fab project, Cardigan for Arwen from Interweave Knits, winter, 2006. I started this in the spring after seeing it on Sabine's blog "Mindful knitting". [scroll down to see Sabine's entry on Arwen, the pictures are no longer there but good insight]. If you know me on Ravelry you've probably seen this before.

I am loving it.

I knit the back first, lickity-split, and 'am now on the end of the first sleeve on the first front. I like the way the sleeve and half the hood are all knit in one piece with the front.

What I have learned so far on this project? Kate Gilbert knows what she is doing! Don't try and change the pattern! When she says "break yarn and cast on for sleeve using back-loop method" she really means it. I thought I could just cast on without breaking the yarn [i hate sewing in ends, don't you?], I thought I could do a lot of things besides follow the directions. I start that dang sleeve 4 or 5 times before I gave in and did it right ..... like Kate says to do it. I tried shortening the sleeve, because I am short. I messed up the math [SHOCKING] and it ended up too short. Start the blasted sleeve AGAIN! Good thing I am a process knitter. I don't like frogging but once I am into knitting again I am fine. The past week or so messing up is long forgotten and I am at peace again.

I have a secret project started recently. I'm not saying much about it because i don't want to hear how crazy I am at attempting it ..... and I don't want to embarass myself in front of everyone. I'm fine embarassing myself after the fact. I promise to tell you all about it wether or not it is a success. Very soon, next week or so.

It is finally cool around here. I, for one, do not miss the blasted heat!

Pitfalls of the Craft Culture

2007-08-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

I have been inspired by Rebecca of 'My Heart Knits'. She blogged about the culture of obsession in the crafting community. Read her entry here.

Here is my response:

Girl, when your right your right!

Knit with your heart! It's a good knitting philosophy.

Your right, all the crafty influences around us do tend to breed lust for what we don't have. I have mostly been removed from gratifying that lust because of our financial position. So there is one thing about not having a lot of money to throw around, you tend not to waste it. Every one of my yarn purchases is carefully thought out. I can't tell you how difficult it was for me to spend $100 at Ram Wools, when I was in Winnipeg, in ONE hour. I didn't do it. Only spent $70 something. I wish I had picked up a book, they had a few of EZ's works, but I just didn't have the time to think it through. I couldn’t feel good about spending that last 25 bucks or so on something I hadn’t thoroughly justified in my head. And I think maybe the books were more than $25 so I would have had to justify going over budget.

Books…..now there is my downfall. And then there are the magazines. I taught a knitting class this past spring with about 8 students. The 2^nd or 3^rd class I brought out my mags and books for the students to look through. After the gasps and exclamations about how much there was to look at subsided it occurred to me that I might have a problem. [and it was maybe half of my collection]

After flipping through a few, one of the student’s mothers asked how I had the time to knit all these patterns. I felt like someone had just slapped me and said, “Snap out of it!” Now, that was not her intention, she was honestly asking. The imagined correction came from within me. I wonder if anyone else noticed I was stunned? All I could do was stammer a bit and explain how I liked looking at them and reading them and I get inspiration from them and bla bla bla…. Then admit that maybe I have a magazine addiction.

Up until that point I had found it difficult to not buy every knitting mag I found. There used to only be 2 [VK and Knitters] available so it was not so much an issue. But then in the last few years many more became available but I hadn’t changed my buying habit. Since then I censor my buying. If a magazine doesn’t have a FEW patterns that interest me and/or articles [technique is what I look for] I don’t buy. This has curbed my spending a lot.

Still, what the culture of knitting has become can create a kind of greed for more, a desire to be knitting what the “in” crowd is, to read all the popular blogs, to hear all the popular podcasts, to have everyone reading my blog, to know as much about this culture as possible so I get the in jokes and cool references. Eek! It almost sounds like high school again.

It CAN create that kind of atmosphere but doesn’t have too. If I keep my head on straight and use all the wonderful internet paraphernalia [blogs, podcasts, ravelry, etc.], books and magazines as tools they can ENHANCE my enjoyment of my craft.

After reading Rebecca’s post I did some rethinking.

As the readers of my blog know I just recently got involved in the local knitting and spinning scene. At the knitting group I showed everyone the socks I was knitting and, when asked, showed the pattern I had printed off Knitty.com. I was surprised that most had never heard of the site. One of the ladies showed a “new” book that she was about to read that the storeowner had just read and enjoyed by a “new” author. It was Stephanie Pearl-Mcphee’s first book “Yarn Harlot”. I said I had read it, that it was funny and had some interesting info. But what really interested me was the group’s lack of knowledge about the Yarn Harlot [I remember when she was telling stories on the knitlist at yahoo and someone suggesting she should write a book. I, of course, said nothing about this.] Hmmmm. These ladies were all working on wonderful projects, incredibly talented and knowledgeable and they did that all without the internet.

Need to get internet obsession under control.

Why am I knitting socks? I always said I never would. My Dad had many pairs of hand-knit socks from his mother that he never wore because he would put his toe through them on the first wearing. So much work and never worn! I wore my first pair over another pair a lot this winter around the house and sometimes in my boots for extra warmth. They are big and bulky and suited for that. I am knitting a pair of Monkeys that are beautiful but I have caught myself many times wondering if I can walk around on such beauty. [I will give it a go.] Still I bought myself a skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool to knit another pair largely because of what I read on blogs about it. I started knitting socks because everyone on the internet was talking about it, how wonderful they are to knit and to wear. But is it wonderful for ME. I don’t know yet. I won’t know until I finish these Monkeys and try them out. So I don’t know about starting another pair of socks until I know for sure. When I made my Sea Wool into a ball, yesterday, it so struck me with its beauty that, again, I was second-guessing my plan to make socks and walk around on them. I have even been searching the internet and my library for alternatives.

Anyone have a pattern or idea for a project for 355 yards of sock yarn? I’m thinking lace.

I’m following Rebecca’s example and reassessing my queue again. This also means…… sorting out my stash and library again! I love doing that. I am hoping I find some lace weight. I have done a few small lace projects and feel ready for the big one… a full size shawl. I’m thinking the chances are slim but what about a lace shawl made out of something heavier. Might be more suitable to the North-western Ontario climate I live in….but now I’m rambling. Must move on……

2007-07-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

I walked into a new world today.

Last year I met a spinner, Marg, at a demonstration she was participating in at the local fair. She works at one of the two yarn shops in town, and invited me to join their Tuesday afternoon fiber arts meeting [hang out in the back of the store around a big table, craft and yak]. I never made it until last week. It was great! Knitters/Crocheters are the nicest people. I talked about learning how to spin and I was invited to the local spinning guild's casual spinning afternoon they have in a member's home once a month during the summer.

That was this afternoon. I arrived and found myself warmly welcomed into a beautiful house on one of the more ritzy streets around here, surrounded by 8 energetic women, none of them looked less then 10 -15 years older than me, all setting up wonderful looking spinning wheels and pulling out all sorts off amazing fiber: camel, musk ox, silk, dog, cotton, flax and wool. And I said to myself, "Kellie, you are way out of your league now. Don't say or do anything stupid." I was there to soak it all in. I watched, chatted, asked a few questions [didn't want to be a total wide-eyed newbie asking about a million things].

After about 20 minutes Marg asked if I had brought anything to work on.

"Ah, ya" I gulped. "I brought my homemade spindle." There was no putting it off any longer. I pulled out my homely CD & knitting needle spindle with my homely fleece [you know, the wool my friend cut off my BIL's sheep and that I am having such a hard time getting the VM out. Just follow the links if you don't.]

No gasps of horror.

No looks of disgust.

All I got was, well not much of a reaction at all. No one was shocked or dismayed. They obviously had seen it all before, beginner spindles, beginner technique, beginner yarn. All I got was encouragement. I was told I had a nice touch, well actually I over heard the expert spinner, Pat, say to Marg, as she looked at my yarn, "She has a nice touch. She just needs to get on a wheel." And I discovered I am being way too picky about my fleece. I saw others spinning with fiber that had VM in it. I was told that a lot comes out with spinning, more with knitting. I was shown the sweater the group worked on together in the spring on Sheep-to-Sweater Day. The fleece was spun and knit dirty, right from the sheep and then washed. It is beautiful. I was truly amazed.

Two hours gone and I was told we would be having tea and cake soon. Yahoo! By this time I had resorted to knitting on my Cardigan for Arwen by Kate Gilbert because my CD finally broke. I was told to make an other one with 3 CD's glued together to make it heavier and more durable. Will do! I walked into the dinning room and found a beautifully set table and elegant spread: coffee bread and gruyère, mini strawberry tarts, blueberry and apricot bunt, chocolate cookies, mini cream buffs. wow. And wonderfully open conversation to boot. I had been thrown into a pool of wisdom and experience I couldn't even touch yet they made me feel like I was one of them and invited me to hang with them at this years demonstration at the fall fair. It comes full circle.

My eyes have been opened to new possibilities, new ideas, new adventures to come. I will be taking a spinning class in October and then I can rent the guild's spinning wheels for $5 a month. Ya! That's the truth! Now to get on with making that new spindle.

Ram Wools

2007-07-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Lots of pictures! I can't seem to tell a story without pictures.
June 16th, the day after my birthday, the day before Father's day and the marathon [story here] I made it to Ram Wools.....finally. I have only been here twice since my sister moved to Winnipeg 4 or 5 years ago. And both of those times I had about 15 minutes before closing to browse. Pl-ease! I can't work effectively with those kind of time constraints. This time I let it be known to all my traveling companions I wanted an hour of uninterrupted, unhurried gazing and fondling time. I had planned a budget and it was my turn.

Here's what you see when you walk in. The front is a large open space with a long table you can sit at and make plans. The shelves here hold the more popular, high end yarns. There's lots of Noro here. Behind those shelves are many more like it, much closer together, crammed with yarn almost to the ceiling and baskets on the floor.

Here we have a wall of cashmere, silk and the like. I believe that is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in the foreground. Along the back wall are books, magazines, racks of single patterns and pamphlets. I don't remember seeing any fiber. I couldn't take it all in. I had to find yarn.

To the right of the door are the Fleece Artist shelves. Everything you see here, all the way back there, is Fleece Artist. I had already decided what I wanted.

Seawool.

After all I said about my Monkey socks, made out of Colinette Jitterbug would be the most expensive pair of socks I would ever own because I would never be so extravagant again as to spend $25 on one skein and yet... here is proof I could do it again. But isn't she beautiful!

I also knew I wanted to find sock yarn for Barry. He deserves more than a pair of heavy socks made from scratchy wool. This is SandnesGarn of Norway. 80% wool, 20% nylon, 160 meters each ball. I hope that is enough for man socks!

In the last isle were the bargains. I found these lovely balls of Merino/Polyamid/Angora for $4 each So soft! Gedifra English Tweed, orange, yellow and purple.

Look how nice they play together!

All in the basket now!

Mission accomplished. Goodbye!

S of S and YARN CANDY!

2007-07-26T11:33:00.003-07:00

Finally! I'm back! Well I didn't go anywhere but I've been very busy and had to leave the knitting community for a while. Lots to catch up on so here goes:

Summer of Socks: I am STILL working on the 2nd Monkey that I started on Canada Day, ya, July 1st. I know! But I told ya, I had to put "me" aside for a few weeks. So here I am knittng and drinking tea [Red Rose] at Seattle's last night.

See, I'm knitting again! It feels good to have time for me again. And I mean real time. DD1 is away at camp till Saturday [she left Sunday] and DD2 is attending a Day Camp this week with my nephew [whom she loves!]. On Tuesday my sister called and asked if DD2 could sleep over for the week. "What! The WEEK! I'll bring her over right now!" Hey, I LOVE my girls but I really stretched myself lately and needed refueling time. Thank you sister Shawne! I owe you! Hubby and I have been enjoying the time alone. Something I discovered this week: When the kids aren't around clothes are optional!

Here's what I was doing last night. Hubby, Barry, was taking engagement pictures of this cute young couple. I'm the assistant that carries stuff and holds the reflector. For those that don't know, Barry took photography at College before we met and instead of taking the great job he was offered at one of the top studios here, he went out to BC with a friend and became a trail cook on a dude ranch [the guy's got character]. His love of photography was put aside when we started a family and his equipment went out of date. This past Christmas, Santa [seriously, we have no idea where it came from] brought him a killer digital and he just start doing portraits and weddings again this summer but it is still a hobby....for now. [that's one kicking butt i've got there!]

Here's some yarn candy. I brought the yarn along to the park so Barry could take some good pictures in natural light. The bag is one I got for $5 a few weeks ago. Hard to resist a 5 buck bag. See what's peeking out? More on that tomorrow.

When ever my dad goes to Winnipeg [about 3-4 times a year, more often than me] he goes to Ram's Wool and brings me home something. Always something amazing, something I wouldn't be able to afford for myself very often or even treat myself too [Like most moms I have a hard time spending money on myself.] My dad has some kind of sixth sense about what to get. He knows very little about yarn and knitting. He says he just goes with his gut and never spends more than a few minutes in the store.

This yarn I received last Christmas from my sister but we all know who went to Winnipeg and picked it out. I absolutely love it. It is something from Fleece Artist. I'll have to see if I can find the tag. Fire colours are my favourite and the best colour to pair orange with is purple and this yarn has it all, including texture. I love texture. Must be why I love cables.

I haven't found a use for it yet but I just love looking at it and feeling it. I like having it. My dad doesn't quite get that part of knitting, just having great yarn. He asked me a few times if I used it yet but then stopped. I told him I have to just wait for the right project to use it on. It will come.

In the spring he brought me this: Cashmere. So soft and pretty.

pssst. creamy beauty. what do you want to be.

tomorrow I promise to post more yarn candy.
What I treated myself to when I went to Winnipeg.

Summer of Socks

2007-07-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

Here I am in Winnipeg on my birthday, June 15th, surrounded by all my 4 sisters, mother and father celebrating with the Monkey sock! The weather was beautiful. Most of us had just arrived that afternoon after an 8 hour drive from Thunder Bay and relaxing in the backyard was perfect. One of my sisters looked at this picture and said, "Kellie, in her natural habitat."

I finished this sock on the way home but didn't start the 2nd one until Canada Day, July 1st.

Every year we [DH, DD1, DD2] go down to the Marina with thousands of others to celebrate. We find a place to set up our chairs in front of the Main Stage [there's 2 or 3 others] and that becomes 'home base'. From there we take turns going off to stand in line.

Stand in line for: free coffee, free cake [which was awesome], tickets for jumping on the bouncing stuff, jumping on the bouncing stuff, paddles boats and the food: ice cream, hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, kettle corn, spring rolls, cotton candy. There are street performers everywhere, there's the big drum circle anyone can join and this year giant games were added [giant chess, checkers, jenga, etc]
It is prime territory for DH, Barry who is a photographer so he did most of the standing in line with the girls while I sat, knit and chatted with my DMIL. So the second Monkey sock will be counted as my 1st summer of socks sock. I am hoping to get at least 2 other pairs done. Tomorrow I will post the yarn I picked up in Winnipeg which includes the sock yarn I will be using.

So here's to 140 years, Canada and to the 1st sock of summer. A sock that will hold many good memories for me. Memories of sisters and joy in Winnipeg [more on that amazing weekend and what we were doing there on my other blog]. Memories of cool weather fun on the shores of Lake Superior. Reveling in the laughter of my girls, enjoying good food, good music, good company all in sight of the Sleeping Giant. Just made for a great Canada Day!

Looky what I did!

2007-06-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

Playing catch-up here. This post has been unfinished since June 14th. The day after I was off to Winnipeg for the weekend and I haven't done much since. I have so much to tell and will try and blog everyday until I am caught up. Yet to come: yarn candy from Winnipeg and summer of socks progress.

I dyed the little yarn cake. I used Wilton icing colour, Delphinium Blue. I have done a lot of reading on dying and thought using something I already had in my cupboard was a good place to start. What is so cool about this is the dye colour split into different shades [as was discussed on the email group dyehappy] .

So I looked for how to do it. I don't know why I didn't think to just ask the email group but the result probably would have been just as confusing as what I found elsewhere on the web. Seems everyone has their own idea of how it should be done. Most recipes for Koolaid dying would contain references to Wiltons saying it is used the same or similar. So which is it? There is so much info out there on Koolaid dying, with conflicting procedures and methods I actually became overwhelmed and put off doing it because I couldn't decide what I should do. After a week of letting all that knowledge rattle around in my brain I just did it. I didn't bother following anyones recipe i just went with what had collected in my memory.

My process: Soak the yarn in a mixture of 1 cup water and 1/4 cup vinegar for an hour. I had discovered on some chat board that the difference between koolaid and wiltons is you need more vinegar with wiltons because koolaid has citric acid in it. Some dyers don't even bother adding any vinegar to koolaid. Some dyers cautioned using to much vinegar because it could damage the yarn and use as little as a tablespoon to a cup of water, others said that was rubbish and used as much as a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water.

Use a toothpick to poke the Wiltons colouring into the wool in a few spots. I almost used to much colour. To encourage colour splitting using less is better.

I covered the cup with plastic wrap and microwaved the wool at 50% for 5 minutes. Raising the temperature of the wool slowly also helps with the splitting.

Let it set for 2 minutes. Microwave for another 5 minutes. Let set for 2 minutes. letting it rest helps prevent hotspots and scorching.

Continue to microwave and rest in 2 minute intervals until the water was clear.
I was soooo impressed when the water did clear. That's when I knew it was working!

And here she is, the one, the only, Little Cake: First Wool in Delphinium Blue!

First wool: I SPUN IT!

2007-06-11T05:47:00.002-07:00

In this post we meet the 1st wool. learn how I did it and what I think about the information out there on processing wool-simply put: us newbies need help!

LOOK MOMMIE! I DID IT! My first little cake of homespun!

It's kinda shy, a little embarrassed. She's over spun in most places and not even spun in some. [I don't get it]. But maybe if we promise not to laugh or make fun of her she will come out of the shadows and into the light.

Come on little wool. We promise not to laugh. You look so cute, all wrapped up in your little cake. Come on.....that's right.......

There you are! aren't you sweet!

I think that is all we are going to get from her at the moment. If you click on her you will get a good close up. You will notice there is still some VM caught in there. I just couldn't get it all out with the carding and couldn't wait until I managed to get combs from who-knows-where.

I spun it on a spindle I made from a knitting needle and a CD. I got the plan for that from 'Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning' by Judith MacKenzie McCuin. I like the book. I like pictures. What I don't like is that Judith shows you how to make a spindle but then doesn't actually show using it. There are pictures about using a spindle just not the one homemade. For some reason that really bugged me. Like the instructions weren't complete.

The other thing that bugs me is that there are no step-by-step instructions that show how to take fleece from sheep to knitting needles. The instructions are there but they are not connected. This is a complaint I have across the board. I could not find step-by-step instructions anywhere. You can find instructions on washing, combing, carding, spinning and whatever else but nothing that said what comes next. Like: step 1) wash the fleece like this...... 2) card.... 3) comb..... 4) spin..... or whatever. I had to do a lot of reading and research to find out what the different steps were and then figure out what order they go in. I am still not sure I have it right. It seems no one out there has thought that there are those of us who know literally nothing about it and need to be held by the hand and taken through the step-by-step procedure.

I had washed and carded until I was sick of it and still had VM. There must be something else. The closest I came to a step-by-step procedure was in the files of the Spin List at yahoo groups. The file is called "Fleece to Yarn". 'Hurray!' I thought, "Finally I can find out what to do after I card". I read step one about skirting - check - , step two is washing, - check - , step 3 is dying, will do that later, this fleece still has VM!, step 4: comb, card or flick.....so what about them? That's it. This is the step I have all the questions about. No where can I find why you would do one over the other, what the benefits of each one are. What my next step should be.

I got an answer on youtube. Yah, no kidding. Rexenne shows how to use combs here . She talks about how it can help remove VM and separate out the short fibers and leave you with only the long fibers. Eureka! The info I have been looking for. Because the sheep was sheered by ametures short fibers [second cuts] are an issue. OK, I need combs....and a ditz, finally saw what your supposed to do with that too. Yes, I know all this info is in the book and elsewhere but this was the 1st time i saw anything about combing helping to remove VM and that it is this process that makes those nice, big, fluffy balls of ready-to-spin fiber you see in the store AND online and IN THE BOOK! CONNECTION COMPLETE!

Maybe its because I am a visual learner I had a hard time connecting the dots or maybe this really is a short coming in the spinning community. It seems everyone who puts fiber and spinning info out there assumes their reader has at least some kind of basic knowledge to start with. Well I had none! I did A LOT of research and reading to obtain the knowledge that I have now. I just wish I could have received it in all one go from somewhere.

Now I want to test dye my little test cake. Then I'll test knit it into a swatch and keep it as a reminder of my beginnings because this is NOT the end. There will be more. I have to get better at this and put to good use all the knowledge I have.

Monkey Love Casts On!

2007-06-08T10:40:00.001-07:00

Coming at ya.....

I asked Barry to take a picture of the Monkey sock I cast on so I had something to post to ravelry. The next thing I know he's all:

click....click

'hold the
light here'

click....click
'now this way'
click....click

After several minutes of that I changed the arrangement.

click...click

come close

click....click...click

get back

Several minutes later... I started getting board so it started getting weird.

dancing monkey.

I grabbed the yarn and danced the needles like it was a marionette. Who says monkeys don't have strings? [Brent!]
[little inside joke for Canadians, and if you are Canadian and you don't get it.....what!....your Canadian and don't watch Corner Gas until you can quote it? for shame]

Still it went on......

and on..... Picture this if you dare: Two adults, on their bed, the woman is bouncing a square of sticks and string around the pillow while the man is clicking away, coming close, backing up, lying down, sitting up, adjusting the light.....please stop.

And then, about 20 minutes [in all] later.....
finally it did.....
but isn't all that jitterbug yarn candy delightful!?! yum!

My Birthday Present

2007-06-06T17:33:00.001-07:00

That's my ball of Colinette Jitterbug in Jewel that I gave to myself being held by one of my other Jewels, Bronwyn.

Here is how I wrap it in a ball: drape the skein over my knees and start winding. [man, i really need to do some sit-ups]

This is my favourite chair. It's comfy and deep. It's in the corner with a floor lamp right behind it. The tv is in the other corner on my right. The couch is on my left so there is little reason for anyone to block the tv in case I should want to look up while knitting. That's my knitting bag [just like my grannie's!] nestled inbetween the chair and wall and you don't want to know what is going on behind the chair in the corner. It's my little world of yarn.

Here is it, glissining in the sun!

And here: in the form of two lovely yarn cakes...still attached, in case they are not even because I am about to cast on Monkey. I plan to go with the picot edging as exalted and described by Cara. Her blog is the coolest ever! No matter how many times you click 'refresh' the banner photo is always different. Love her sense of colour.

Don't be surprised if there are more lovely pics of this yarn. I love it. At $25.00 A SKEIN, yes, for one skein it will make the most expensive pair of socks I think I will ever own but....the most beautiful as well.

I'm Invited! I'm Invited! I'm Invited!

2007-06-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

Ah, Ah, Ah! breath.
It finally came! My invite from Ravelry!!!!
I am, of course, Redplaid. I will be there for a while reveling in Ravelry.

Lickity Split! Barba-Knit?

2007-05-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

YouTube does it again.
Barbapapas popped into my mind the other day and the weird thing is [ok, the fact that Barbapapa came to mind is weird] of the 2 English episodes on YouTube one is about sheep shearing.....

Why YouTube Won't Let Me Sleep.

2007-05-20T04:48:00.000-07:00

Three words people, "Vintage", "Sesame", "Street"!
here's a knitting sampling of what I mean, enjoy:

Cleaning the Fleece....stinkin' fleece!

2007-05-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

And I mean STINK--IEEEE!
In this post I tell my personal experience but also give info on how to clean fleece. Here are some resources I found useful: The Joy of Handspinning, Ask the Bellwether, and two Yahoo groups: Spin-List and Spindlers. To look at the photos with more detail just click on them.
Here it is in the backyard on a clean sheet before cleaning. I laid it out, best I could, just to get a look at it and see what I was up against. It was so dirty, full of hay and dust and who-knows-what-else which is all called "VM " - vegetable matter. The part I am picking up here is from the shoulders. You will notice that the back end looks cleaner and it is. I was surprised. I did have to pull of the poopie tuffs [which really isn't that bad because it is dry. I learned that these are called "tags"]. The shoulders have a lot of hay bits in them because they like to hang out with the horses. They stand under the horses' heads so while the horses are eating they drop hay bits on their back. The hay gets embedded all the way to the skin. When you pick the dirtiest parts off the fleece it is called "skirting " All this lingo is new to me.

I like this quote from Amelia's blog [where I got a lot of good info]: "If you're lucky, the fleece is still sheep-shaped"........hahaha. If you have amateurs doing the shearing you're lucky to have a fleece that is still connected in places. I had trouble laying it out so the top was...on top. It was twisted in places. I felt lucky I could recognize the shoulders from the butt.
Here is what half of the fleece looked like before washing. It is in a Rubbermaid tub. It wasn't until I crammed it into my washing machine I realize what a gross job this was going to be. I first filled my washing machine with hot water [you need the hottest you can get. The hot water melts the lanolin, called the "grease", so there is no point to letting the fleece soak until the water cools off.] I put in a cap full of laundry soap. Next time I'll just use Joy or Dawn, cheaper. Then slowly pressed in half the fleece. NOTE: this is way to much to wash at once. More on that latter. Notice the dirt caught in the grooves of the tub. If I could just shake it all out. The moment the fleece hit the water my basement filled with the smell of barn...ya...crap #5. I just did the unthinkable. I brought the farm into my home....my city life. It was disgusting. I got nervous.

Here it is after washing it twice and rinsing it twice. To wash it, leave the fleece in the hot water for 30-45 min. with the lid of the washing machine closed. MAKE SURE THE MACHINE IS TURNED OFF. YOU DO NOT WANT TO AGITATE THE FLEECE AT ANY TIME. Turn on the spin cycle to get most of the water out. Take the fleece out. Fill the machine again with hot water and wash again. Then repeat twice without soap to rinse. It might seem unfair to have taken the 'before' shot inside and the 'after' shot outside but it does help accent the difference in colour. This IS whiter but it is still full of VM! "Crap"!

So I decided to try again. I had spread the fleece out on a drying rack covered with a sheet. I thought maybe if I pull the fleece apart a little the dirt would have a better chance of escaping.

So here I am, having so much fun! I took manageable pieces, shook them, pulled them, picked out stuff and shook them again. yay! At least it's nice outside.

I tried an experiment. I put some in a colander and washed it in the kitchen sink. I took about 1/4 of the fleece and put it back in the washing machine. The smell was better but still yukky! The results: The bit in the sink came out looking the same as what was in the machine. The machine cleans a larger amount so I'll stick to the machine method.

The Results So Far: Here are the 3 stages side-by-side. On the left the bit that was washed, rinsed, picked and pulled, washed, rinsed again. In the middle the washed, rinsed, picked and pulled bit. On the right a piece of the half that hasn't been touched. I was surprised at the difference between the first two. It wasn't until I put them beside each other that I saw how much cleaner the fleece became with the extra washing.

knitting meme

2007-05-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

I picked this up from Amelia of "Ask the Bellwether" . It has been bouncing around the knit blog-spear for a little more than a month. Amelia traced it back to "cosymakes" , I looked back farther to find the author: Rineke of "tingletangle" from Denmark. She created the knitting meme on April 6th in the same fashion of " the meme of books". I've never heard of it but it is an interesting excerise that I have decided to join in on.

In Rineke's words: this meme "is one with knitting techniques, habits, items, tools and materials. Not everything is there, but quite a lot. Mark with bold the things you have ever done, with italics, the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest."

Here's mine:

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone elses handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

I Sheared the Sheep......or not....

2007-05-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

I went to shear the sheep. I meant to shear the sheep but didn't actually get to touch a sheep. Now before you feel sorry for me let me say after I watched my BIL do it I was not eagerly jumping in there.

BIL works on Ram with electric horse shears, Cherie holds the cord out of the way, DD2 watches, but where am I?

He started with the most desperate case, a 235 lb ram that had not been sheared in 2 years, poor thing. He looked like he was being choked by his own fleece. That is the way he recently came to BIL who keeps sheep for food, not fleece. He only shears them because it is humane to do so.

Who is that in the funky, painty pants and red sweat shirt standing by?

Even though he used the electric trimmers it still took about 20 mins. Why isn't there a professional doing this? There isn't one available. There used to be one in the area but he moved to New Zealand 2 years ago.

Oh ya, that's me.

Cherie could hardly wait to get the shears in her hand. BIL suggested not using the electric ones so we could get a longer fiber. This is the yearling. Her fleece is a lot cleaner than the rams.

Almost done. That is BIL holding her between his legs. Sheep cannot be on their side for too long. They have difficulty breathing in that position. BIL did manage to get the sheep in the proper shearing position , sitting up on their bums, but they didn't stay there. This is A LOT more difficult than it looks.

Cherie and BIL switched places to get the job done.

Hold on there sweety! Just a few more snips.

All Done! Back with baby.

Who's next? Actually we will be back in a week or two to finish the job. I promise I will be more proactive and get in there.

When all was said and done BIL fixed us a great supper of BBQ lamb chops and mutton steak. Thanks Cherie for pushing me into this learning experience. Maybe I should hold that thanks until I try cleaning the stinky fleece in the van. More to come .......anyone out there know how to clean a fleece? It's like talking to a wall.
It's official. I'm great at standing around while others work, but then you already knew that.

I can't believe what I am about to do!

2007-05-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

SHEAR SHEEP!

Yes! I am going to my BIL on Sunday to shear his four sheep. I am excited and repulsed all at the same time. And no, I have never done this before. That's one of the sheep I'm going to shear.

Blame it on Cherie, my friend. She is my amazing knitting friend who knits mitts, socks, blankets....with NO pattern. And I'm not talking about simple, beginner patterns. Her mittens are beautiful with flared, intarsia cuffs. We have been saying for months we need to get together so she can show me how to dye wool.

Anyway, my DH mentioned to her one Sunday that his brother has sheep that need shearing. That's all she needed to hear. This something I would say I would like to do and then never get around to it. Not Cherie. She wants that fleece! She wants to clean it, card it, do whatever else needs to be done (we don't even know), dye it, weave it and, maybe, sell it. When I told her my BIL has the fleece from last year too she was exuberant!

"You are going to have wool coming out the yingyang!" I said. Her response?

"It's about time! My yingyang has been empty for a looong time!" Ah Cherie. She's so sweet.

Someone please help me! How do you shear a sheep? What do you do with the fleece once you have it? How do you clean it? Process it?

Who am I kidding. No one is going to be reading this that will be able to help me. In fact I would be surprised if anyone reads this at all.

Scream as loud as you like! No one is close by to hear your cries! CACKLE, CACKLE!

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Did a Little Painting...

2007-05-03T07:53:00.001-07:00

Did a Little Painting...
Originally uploaded by knit_purr.

here's just a taste of what you will find in the following post "Tiny Knits"
enjoy

Tiny knits

2007-05-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

I've been cruisin' the knitting blogsphere the last couple of days and *wow* there are a lot of cool knitters out there.

yesterday we had the big glove. today's find: TINY and I mean TINY

First you need tiny tools
then a little model pretty girl
not small enough, k
not cute enough, fine
now for tea

the whole blog is amazing. check out her tiny flickr
Knit one, Purr....too
i don't even know her name!

and now for something completely different.....

2007-05-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

except for the knitting content....
Look what I found! well, with the help of a blogging friend.... The Big Glove.

The page might take a bit of time to download but the pics are worth it.

Lime and Violet made me do it

2007-04-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

My First Pair of Socks!
Yes, I have succumbed to the title-wave of yammering about how great socks are to knit. Thanks a lot Lime and Violet!

k, it's not totally their fault but they definitely played a big part.

You know those people who keep insisting that watching violence and playing violent video games do not make people do violent things. I don't know about that. I was resigned that I would never knit socks.

Never.....

But I listen to podcasts, I read blogs, and slowly....so slowly I find myself thinking about socks,
hand-made, knit socks.
Are they really so much fun to knit?
Are the yarns so wonderful to feel slipping through your fingers?
Is a heel really a miraculous thing to create?
Can it be true that they feel soooo amazing on the feet that I will not want to wear store bought again? [That thought was planted by Brenda Dayne. I'd curse her but I might get struck by lightening.]

I kept telling myself,
"you don't knit socks",
"your dad never liked wearing the ones his mother knit him and mailed to him on a regular basis for years because he would put his toe through them on the first wearing."
"Too tedious."
"You hate making anything twice, that's why you have never finished a sweater for yourself [except the cardi where you knit the sleeves and body all together] which is why the only thing you knit and wear that has arm holes is a vest."

I could go on but what's the use. It has all come to naught. I am forevermore condemned to knit socks!

And why? What was it that finally pushed me over the edge? A miracle.

I don't know where they came from. It is a complete mystery. I was doing laundry, in my house, and found a pair of ugly, blue socks. Two different, mismatched blues with white stripes at the cuff. I looked closer. What on earth!? Their hand knit! How did they get there? In my laundry? [I think I actually looked around. I don't know what I thought I would see, Lime and Violet twittering behind the curtains?] I was confused and curious. The yarn didn't look like anything special but so soft. I slipped them on. Game over! Ugly or not, they found a home. That was in February. I have never asked anyone about them. I'm afraid someone will claim them. Their mine!

And it really is a miracle. Look at them: [ahem...I could only find the one when the picture was taken.]

Who could love such things? Not only have I walked over to the dark side....I did it because of those hideous, cozy, wonderful socks!

I knew I had to learn. The first pair didn't have to be amazing, just functional. And here they are.

They are knit out of Red Heart Strata, a worsted weight, acrylic, self striping yarn that my daughters gave me for Christmas. After months of wanting to validate their gift and not coming up with anything it suddenly came to me.....self striping yarn = socks. They knit up quick and were not as scary as i had believed. Ya, their acrylic, ya their bulky but their great for wearing on cold days over other socks. Seeing their bright, happy colours peeking out of my pant legs make me smile. They're comfortable.

But more than that....they make me feel .... good, just good. I made them. I'm wearing them. Their cool!

Then there's my husband, Barry. For the last year or two he has mentioned he would love knit socks. Now before you say it let me assure you he had nothing to do with this tragedy. We have been married for 15 years. I am so past being swayed by his unwanted requests. BUT when he discovered I was knitting socks he knew it was only a matter of time. One evening, not long ago, I was desperate for something else to knit besides the endless rounds of an experimental poncho that never seems to end. [We'll talk about that latter] Earlier that day I had printed off a pattern for socks using Briggs and Little wool, so very plentiful in my stash. I ran up stairs during a commercial break, grabbed two colours that looked great together that I didn't think I would want for anything else and was casting on in minutes. Here is the first finished sock.

I know. It's bright. That orange is actually called "hunter orange". Barry is thrilled. I feel like I am making something that he will never wear. This wool is scratchy and thick. He never wears slippers. He's always warm but he has assured me he will wear them. [It will have to be the dead of winter with him trudging through snow before it happens.] Now I have to knit another. *sigh* oh dear. I hope I make it.

Recovery Knitting

2005-10-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

Recovery knitting (or crocheting, I love both) is what you do in a desperate attempt to keep your hands busy and prevent yourself from doing things you shouldn't, like clean, pick up stuff, cook.... whatever your not suppose to do the second week after abdominal surgery. (If interested in that whole saga check out my other blog, Redplaid Time)

It is indulgent knitting; knitting only what you want, what fills your need for creativity and colour. For example: I should be knitting up the arms of Cheesy Love (from knitty.com), the orange, cotton sweater I started at the beginning of the summer. Instead I bought a fluffy, sparkly yarn, Red Heart Twinkle, in variegated orange, purple and yellow, broke out my precious Briggs and Little wool and knit up two little purses for my girls.

It is also free spirit knitting; no pattern, just making it up as you go and if you make a mistake, like pick up to many stitches or not enough you just say “I meant to do that” and carry on.

Purse one: knit with one strand of bright orange wool and one strand of Twinkle held together. I knit the bottom flat with just the wool and then picked up around the edges with the Twinkle added and knit up. Two rows shy of the top I added holes for a handle to be thread through. The holes are simple yarn over, knit two together stitches in each corner. I gave it a book-like shape; the front and back are wide and the sides very skinny. I added idiot cord around the top and washed it in hot water to felt it. The felting makes a purse with no little holes in it for pens and lip-gloss to leak out and the fuzzy yarn POPS.

Purse two: using the same principle as purse one and purple wool this one came out smaller and more square shaped. I didn’t bother with the idiot cord top and added a flap. I simply cast off on three sides and kept knitting up the forth side. After about 10 rows of stocking stitch I started knitting two together at each end until I had three stitches left, knit one, knit two together and slipped knit stitch over. I left a long end and cut the yarn. Didn’t bother with a closure, instead I threaded on some beads and tied it off. It is in the wash now. I hope the beads don’t catch in the knitting. This IS experimental. Fun stuff!