I'm contemplating building an ark

Yes, more rain yesterday. Torrential rain. Hail. Flashes and crashes.

The backyard is turning into a swamp. The weeds have taken over the garden. The mosquito population is booming. The air is hot and muggy. We are so not used to this amount of moisture around here.

Thankfully, we seem to have narrowly missed today's storms which are occurring northeast of us complete with tornadoes.

my new favorite YouTube video

monsoon

We were under severe storm watches and warnings for most of today including possible tornadoes, damaging winds, large hail, and torrential downpours.

I headed out to a couple of appointments this afternoon just as a thunderstorm was brewing. By the time I got to the chiropractor's office, it was hitting full tilt - thunder, lightning, and monsoon-style rain that kept up for more than an hour. Power was out and some businesses closed because apparently life as we know it cannot happen without electricity to run the cash registers.

By the time I got to appointment number 2, the parking lot (this same one, from a post from last year) couldn't drain the water fast enough to keep up.

Unfortunately I didn't have the forethought to wear hip waders so I got wet feet.

We had another storm with heavy rain after supper. Parts of my back yard are flooded but I'm sure it will soak in by tomorrow as long as the rain is finished.

This has been a very strange spring, weather-wise, for the prairie provinces. We in Regina have been relatively fortunate. Other places are in far worse shape.

stormy sky

Well, we finally had a couple of days of sunshine but now we're into another major rain cycle. We've had so much rain this spring that many farmers are having to write off crops for the year. Their fields are literally under water and they can't get machinery onto them to do the seeding. Cattle farmers are losing young calves because of the wet conditions. In some cases they can't even get to the cattle to provide veterinary aid. For a land that is usually too dry, this year has been very unusual. It seems that there is no happy medium as far as moisture is concerned.

I just took the dogs outside and it has become very windy. The sky is lighting up all around. We're bound to get thunderstorms when there is this much humidity in the air. Although I'm sorry that there is more rain on the way, I do like a flashy thunderstorm so I took my camera onto the back deck to see what it can do. There are so many settings on my new camera that I haven't even read the manual about most of them; I started to just snap away on different settings to see what happened. I took 42 pictures and got one that worked.

Sadly, I wasn't organized enough to note which camera setting produced the winner so I will have to try them all again the next time I take pictures of the night sky. I'm starting to hear thunder now so the storms are getting closer. I'd better take the dogs out again now before it starts pouring.

p.s. Cooper just heard his first real big thunder bang while we were outside. He barked at it. Yep, he's a sheltie.

change

Notice the new look!

Blogger offered some new choices to try out before committing to change and I liked this one. I was tempted to go with the rainy background because it has been raining and raining and raining and raining and raining.....
but I decided I've seen enough rain and would like sunshine and blue skies better.

so it will be

Thank you all for your opinions about the button selection for the girly pink socks. I decided to let the recipient in on the fun to weigh in with her choice, thereby destroying the whole surprise aspect to the birthday gift but oh well. Of course the recipient will be my niece Katie. She likes the pearls the best so pearls it will be.

I think that it`s* a fine choice. A girl can never go wrong with classic pearls.


*If anyone knows how I managed to change my keyboard so that it now gives me a backwards accent mark (`) instead of an apostrophe, please let me know. I`d* like to change it back.

eta: Never mind about the weird apostrophe problem. It disappeared when I restarted the computer. Funny how that solves so many problems.

pink

I finished knitting the first lacy pink gift sock. How cute is this?

The pattern calls for a loop and button to close the lace cuff. I dug through my buttons and came up with a few possibilities:

balloons,

kitty,

classic, traditional pearl,

and tiny basic white.

I haven't decided which one I like best. There is also the possibility of just stitching the cuff edges together and foregoing the button and loop. There is plenty of stretch for putting the sock on without the opening.

Keeping in mind that these socks will be worn by a ten year old girl, what do you think is the best option?

a new dog door, sort of

It all started because of Cooper. He loves being outside. Not really doing anything special out there, just sitting on the lawn most of the time watching the birds and bugs. I've never had a dog quite that crazy about being outside although Harrison liked it too. The others are content to follow me around.

Before the bugs arrived, I left the door in the sun room open so that he could come and go as he pleased. That's getting to be less of a good idea as the mosquitoes are starting to make their presence known.

There just isn't a good place for a dog door. The door has a large window with internal blinds and there isn't room on either side of the door. Putting a dog door elsewhere in the sunroom wouldn't work too well either as the dogs would have a heck of a fall without steps to the ground.

I mentioned this one evening when we had our friends Al and Rhonda over. Al mentioned that he had seen an ad in a magazine for a Bug Off magnetic screen door that might work. I checked it out online and ordered one. The nice thing is that you can still open and close the door while the screen is there.

From the inside looking out:

And from the outside:

The screen slides onto a pressure rod that fits snugly in the doorway. It velcros onto the door frame at the sides. There are powerful magnets in the split and at the bottom of the center opening so that the door can be opened easily by pushing it and closes again on its own. Weights along the hemline keep it hanging straight.

If you don't want the screen door you can just pop it out and roll it up for storage. It's pretty slick and it wasn't very expensive.

Dan was worried that the dogs wouldn't figure out how to use it.

I wasn't worried at all. It didn't take long for Bentley and Robbie to learn to push through it.

Cooper needed to be shown a couple of times before he was confident.

Austin, the very cautious dog, needed to be convinced with the lure of cookies but even he was going in and out on his own within a few hours. It helped that it was soccer night in the park for little kids' teams and the dogs always feel the need to go outside to announce to the neighborhood that there is something happening on soccer nights. Good motivation to rush through the door, especially for Austin the Defender of the Universe.

don't blink!

We have had rain, rain, and more rain. Everything is very green but it sure would be nice to see a sunny day again.

Just before sunset yesterday I looked out from the back yard to see this little swath of sunlight in the park.
And the trees on the island were also lit up.
So beautiful!

But today it has been cool and cloudy again. At least we didn't get a dump of snow like most places in Alberta but it seems strange that parts of Ontario and Quebec have roasting in extreme heat and humidity. What a diverse country we live in.

Franken-tomatoes

I had a box of hot house tomatoes on my counter so I decided to make a favorite pasta dish for supper the other day. Imagine my surprise when I cut into one of them and saw what looked like little worms.

On closer inspection I realized that some seeds had sprouted INSIDE THE TOMATO!

When I cut into another one there were also sprouts in it. And the next one, and the next one....
I have been eating tomatoes for most of my almost 52 years and have grown them every year of my adult life and I have never seen anything like this.

I did a google search and found out:

-they are extremely rare (you think?)

-normally, tomato seeds have a gelatinous coating that prevents them from sprouting until decay and fermentation destroy the coating (as would happen in nature)

-depending on the source of the internet posting, these strange sprouts are either found in on-the-vine tomatoes that have been in cold storage for a very long time or result from horrible scientific methods that have genetically modified the tomatoes to make them evil and toxic.

Whatever the cause, I didn't feel right about these Franken-tomatoes and refuse to buy any more that are from the same hot-house.


I have been reading Anti-Cancer by David Servan-Schreiber. Two friends have been undergoing treatment for cancer and both are very impressed with the book so I bought a copy to read it for myself. It is a very compelling book, not only if you are concerned about cancer but also if you think that we can be doing more for our natural resistance to disease of any kind by choosing a healthier diet and lifestyle. It certainly pertains to my issues of diabetes and high lipids and could very well help my chronic pain problems to some degree.

The Franken-tomatoes incident pushed me over the edge about shopping for more organic foods. I keep my garden as organic as possible but haven't worried about how supermarket produce is grown. I won't become fanatic about choosing organically grown food but I will definitely be exploring my buying options more.

socks and more

Thanks for the kind comments about my health, our anniversary, and Dan's birthday. It never fails to warm my heart that I have so many online friends. The internet gets blamed for a lot of privacy violation issues but it has certainly opened up the world so that we can connect with friends of common interests. This has become even more important to me since I don't work any more and am home more often than not these days. I remember being off work due to severe allergies in the mid-90's and just about losing my mind being stuck at home. Now I have my fiber arts to keep me busy as well as this wonderful online community through my blog and Ravelry. I value my little social network.

I have been listening to the weather reports from Ontario about sweltering heat and humidity. After our little heat wave last week, we have been having rain, rain, and more rain with some wind storms thrown into the mix for good measure. It is currently 5 degrees C (41 F) here. It could be worse as places north of us have had snow. The rain is needed so it's hard to begrudge it but I'm ready to see the sun again. I did get my garden in yesterday, in between spells of rain, but haven't planted any bedding plants yet. The old farmer's tale (for around here) is that you shouldn't put in the bedding plants until after full moon after the May long weekend (which just ended). I think that falls on May 29th this year. I hope, for the sake of all those that already planted the tender new bedding plants, that we avoid frost in the next couple of days but it feels like it could freeze tonight.

Anyhow, socks. I've been plugging away on the second plain toe-up sock of this pair.

And I've started using the Barbie pink yarn for a pretty, lacy, girlie pair of socks for someone's birthday present. If you know who the someone is, please don't tell her. This pattern is Dainty Anklets (Rav link) from Wendy Johnson's Toe Up Socks for Every Body.

I have done a smattering of spinning which I'll share another time when there's more to show. For now, another couple of dog pics:

Austin with the most coat that he has ever carried. It must be because he was neutered last year.


And in a strikingly similar pose, Cooper showing that he is getting his big-boy sheltie coat, especially on his tail.

still here

It's been quite a while since my last post. The chiropractor finally convinced my body to release the pain. Since then I've been tackling all of the chores that have been building up and desperately needed to be done around here, the most pressing of which was grooming the dogs.

Dan and I celebrated our 32nd anniversary last Thursday and Dan's birthday is today. We just had a quiet weekend, getting some yard work done in between rainy spells. Dan has been avidly watching his beloved Montreal Canadiens in the play-offs. Unfortunately they did not give him a birthday gift, losing today's game and their chances for advancing. At the risk of being branded as a non-patriotic Canadian, I could care less about hockey. I did enjoy our evening of watching a few episodes of The Tudors on Saturday. Those wacky Tudors are always up to something interesting.

Until next time, I'll leave you with this picture of Cooper noticing the bugs on the sidewalk.

not a lot going on

About all that I have to share with you is a picture of some sock yarn that I dyed this week.

The base yarn is 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon. It is so soft! I don't imagine it would stand up to wear like something sturdier (Opal, Regia, etc.) but, for someone with *ahem* delicate feet, like me, the socks would be a total luxury.

I've been all about shaded solids when I dye lately. It's fun to play around until I have just enough depth to add interest in the colors while still making them suitable for textured or lace socks where multi-colored yarn would be too distracting to the pattern.

I have been battling pain for the last few weeks and I'm getting very tired of it. Physiotherapy and massage therapy helped but a couple of days after treatment, the pain would be back full force. I saw the chiropractor on Thursday and really feel beat up after that but I'm hoping that the bones are back where they should be now and things will improve. I have to admit that I am cranky about the pain and all the things I'd like to be doing but can't because of it. It's wearing.

Gotland

I have just started dealing with some washed Gotland from Treenway Silks. This is the second fleece from them - the first one wasn't nice at all so they gave me a good price for a replacement. It's a very pretty color with a dark gray undercoat and shades of silver top coat.

This picture is a bird's-eye-view of my little storage box. At the top are some of the shorter, darker fibers that I assume are undercoat. I flicked them and they are nice and soft and fluffy. At the bottom are little nests of combed and dizzed fiber from the long locks of the outer coat.

I'm not sure how I feel about this fiber. It is very clean without much vegetable matter but there is a bit of scurf in the locks. The long hairs remind me of mohair and I think would make a lovely shawl with pretty lustre. The undercoat is nice but not as soft as my preferred fine wools like Merino, Polwarth, Rambouillet, etc.

Any fleece would be hard pressed to top the elite Polwarth fleece that I got from Rovings. It is incredibly beautiful and well worth the extra cost to get the best quality. I can think of so many things to knit with it with its next-to-the-skin softness. I suppose that what I find comfortable to wear influences my preference for the fine wools.

I spent a fair bit of time spinning on the Lendrum today. It is a fast wheel with a lot of momentum and it doesn't take much treadling to bring out its giddy-up! I naturally treadle quickly and the wheel was flying with me using the regular flyer. I also bought the fast flyer and I would imagine I will be able to spin cotton easily with that one.

Now I will wait until tomorrow to see if my knees are happy with this wheel. If so, I will probably be selling the Majacraft Pioneer. It's great little wheel but I think I like more momentum than it can produce. The Pioneer's lack of momentum does give very good control of the wheel so makes it perfect for beginners and most of the Majacraft accessories fit on the Pioneer too so it has a lot of versatility. And, of course, it doesn't have to be the plain sister of the Majacraft family if you have some of my sister's talent.

a couple of skeins

I dyed the Corriedale/bison yarn. First I dyed it purple, decided I didn't care for it at all, and overdyed it with various blues and grays. I'm much happier with it now. Jody commented that she couldn't see much bison in the original skein. That's because there isn't much bison in the blend. I decided to just add a wee bit so they wouldn't be too warm to wear indoors. Bison is very, very warm. Even though I spun the yarn worsted, I fulled it in its bath to soften it up. It was still pretty firm and I have "delicate" feet (they're super sensitive, the big babies) so I used Unicorn Fibre Wash and Rinse, which is really great stuff. The result is a very sturdy yarn that I think will still be comfortable to wear. I hope.

The other skein is 2 ply Falkland from a Spunky Eclectic fiber club top called Zombies. I didn't care for the colors in the top but they blended together very nicely into a gray/blue based multi. Just goes to show that you shouldn't just a fiber by its original colorway. A lot of spinning factors can affect the outcome.

look up, look way up....

a subjective wheel comparison

Channon left this comment on yesterday's post:

Interesting. I spun on the Lendrum, a ST Matchless, the Majacraft Aura and the Kromski Fantasia last weekend. I still want to try a DT Matchless and the Majacraft Rose, but I was wondering how you think the wheels all compare.

(It will be my second wheel. I have a Heavenly Handspinning Bellus already.)

My first reaction was, "You've spun on the new Majacraft Aura?! Do tell!" But then I realized that she has likely been sworn to secrecy until the big unveiling tomorrow at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

So here is my off-the-cuff and purely subjective comparison of wheels that I own or have owned. There aren't a lot of opportunities to try wheels here in Regina so I have purchased and sold a few in my trials. Luckily wheels hold their value pretty well so resale isn't too painful. I figure it's still less expensive than a trip to another city to try a bunch and I'm not too good a traveler these days. I'm fortunate at this stage of my life to have the time and money to indulge my passion.

My first wheel was an Ashford Joy and I loved it dearly. Super portable and pretty. It needed regular oiling but wasn't high-maintenance once it was lubricated. The bobbins were on the small side; putting 4 oz. of wool on them was a stretch. The padded bag protected the wheel beautifully. As my fibromyalgia progressed I didn't like having my feet so close together when I treadled so I sold it but I still miss it sometimes. You never forget your first love.

Next came the Ashford Elizabeth 2. A beautiful traditional saxony wheel but a pain to put together and an oil pig at first. Elizabeth was smooth and fast and I spun on her in double drive. My body decided that the single treadle was brutal and I paid dearly for a spinning session with pain the next few days. After much dithering on my part she eventually went on to a new loving home with Monika.

After researching a new wheel that would be kinder to my legs, I bought the Majacraft Rose. I really love Rose although there are times when my knees hurt after a marathon spinning session with her too (I don't think that I can escape treadling pain unless I use the espinner). Rose is an extremely versatile wheel right out of the box with ratios from 4.24 to 19.5. The plastic bobbins are large and inexpensive. There are lots of add-ons that you can purchase too. I have the lace kit and the stylus. My favorite feature is the adjustable flyer. It's great to position the orifice exactly where I want it just by swinging to the right or left which is terrific for long-draw or spinning with the stylus. It comes with both the delta orifice on the regular flyer (good for bulky or art yarns) and the regular orifice on the fine fiber flyer (my default flyer). There is a handle that pops up when you rotate the main support but this isn't a lightweight, compact wheel. A big plus is the Majacrafts low maintenance. Except for the hinges on the treadles, they used sealed ball bearings for the movable parts. No need to keep a bottle of oil handy for this wheel.

I liked the Rose so much that I bought a Majacraft Little Gem. I liked it for its portablity and beauty but I didn't like it as well as the Rose. The Majacraft accessories are interchangeable between their wheels with just a few exceptions. I didn't mind the different feel of the treadles although some people can't get used to it.

After selling my unloved knitting machine, I decided to splurge on the Schacht Ladybug. I adore the bug. From the first time I sat down to spin on her, I was in love. For the vast bulk of my spinning, which is fine to very fine, the Ladybug is my perfect match. My knees don't have much trouble treadling the super-lightweight wheel and it is rim-weighted so has great momentum once it gets going. It feels solid, with the sturdy flyer and bobbins that Schacht is known for. Although it is possible to spin the bug in double drive and bobbin lead, I like it best in Scotch tension. It does require frequent oiling. I find that I can get 6 oz. on a bobbin without problems. It doesn't fold but is lightweight and easy to carry. The wheel came with the attached lazy kate as a promotion. I didn't think that I would like the kate but I really do. It's nice to have bobbin storage on the wheel and its position is perfect for my style of Navajo plying. It comes with two whorls with ratios of 7:1 to 12.5:1. I bought the high speed whorl but don't find it need it much. It would be difficult to spin chunky or art yarns without the new plying flyer and bobbins but I don't spin heavy yarns much so it does everything I want for most of my spinning. If I was forced to downsize to one wheel only, I think it would be the Ladybug. The Rose has more versatility but, for my body, the Ladybug is the perfect fit.

I started to think about how much I loved the Ladybug and therefore would love the Schact Matchless even more. The Little Gem wasn't getting a lot of use at home and I decided that I really didn't need a super-portable wheel at that point in my life so I sold it to help fund the purchase of a Matchless. I tried to love the Matchless, I really did. It's sturdy, solid, and reliable but my knees hated that wheel. It was just too heavy to treadle. It moved on to a new home after a few months. I know that most people consider the Matchless the premium wheel and the Ladybug only the starter Schacht but it certainly wasn't that way for me.

Proceeds from the sale of Matchless went to purchase an Ertoel Roberta espinner. It's terrific for plying and has saved my knees in a big way! It is bobbin lead so has strong takeup. I can spin fine yarns on the Roberta but it's a struggle. I like the feeling of being one with my treadle wheels when I spin singles. I never really get that zen with the Roberta but don't care as long as it whips through all that plying. It suits my purposes perfectly. There are two sizes of bobbins and the jumbo easily holds 8 oz. It is light and surprisingly quiet. I have the pause control and dual power options on my wheel as well. Some maintenance is required to keep things clean and lubricated.

As I started taking intermediate spinning classes I found that I needed a versatile wheel to learn to spin those art yarns and high twist cotton yarns. I hate taking my beautiful Rose out in public because her soft Rimu wood is easy to bang up. My sister Darcie got a Majacraft Pioneer as her first wheel and loved it so enter the Pioneer. As with all the other Majacrafts, the Pioneer is low maintenance and versatile. She doesn't fold but she rides nicely to classes while seat-buckled in the van. Her small drive wheel makes her easy on my knees. She doesn't get the momentum of a big wheel so makes a perfect learner wheel. She's a plain Jane sort of wheel but she treadles like a true Majacraft. And she doesn't have to stay the plain sister - Darcie recently gave hers a makeover.

And that brings us to the new Lendrum which you can read about on yesterday's post.

eta: The regular Lendrum bobbins hold about 4 oz. of wool, to answer Jody's question. Also, I just took the dogs outside and it's snowing! Forget about March coming in like a lion, May is coming in like a lion! Disgusting. Only in Canada....

and a big thing

Some of you may know that I have an addiction problem.

No, no, not to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, or anything that is harmful to my body; my addiction is just harmful to the bank account. I am a wheel junkie. I adore spinning wheels, all kinds.

The latest case in point....

a new Lendrum upright (from Shuttleworks, of course).

The feature that I like the most is the lean so that you can see how your bobbin is filling as you spin.
Because of my TMJ problems, I lean back when spinning so that my neck and head are supported by my body. I like that I don't have to stop and lean forward to see if the yarn guide needs to be moved.

When I first started spinning, I was attracted to pretty wheels. I have to admit that I dismissed the Lendrum based on its plain Jane looks. Now I see my wheels mainly as tools and their aesthetics are secondary considerations. The Lendrum may be low-tech in many ways but it is solid maple and seems very sturdy.

It does fold although it's not the lightest portable wheel out there by a long shot. At this point in my life, portability isn't too important. I don't have plans to fly anywhere with my wheels and I don't have to take public transit to spinning classes.

Notice the knob at the base of the wheel.
You unscrew this knob and a hinge allows the wheel to fold down flat.
Just move the knob up to the next hole to secure it to the base and it's ready to travel or to be stored (I see that Bentley's headless skunk wanted to be included in the photos).

The Lendrum has Scotch tension and the flyer is removed and/or changed in the same way, unscrewing the knob under it.
You have some choice about how high to place the flyer (also tightening or loosening the drive band) before tightening the knob.

Changing bobbins is very easy. The back of the flyer folds down so that you only need to remove the tension band before you slide the bobbin out.

For a 19" wooden drive wheel, it's very easy to treadle and has nice momentum. I've been spinning on it for the last couple of days but I'm not yet sure how my knees feel about treadling this wheel. I've been having a fibro flare this week and I'm one big hurt all over (and starting to get whiny about the pain and poor sleep - it sucks!) so it's tough to know if the wheel is causing any more pain than my body would be experiencing anyway.

I chose to get the regular DT wheel and the fast flyer rather than the complete package which also includes the plying flyer and bobbin. I ply on the Roberta espinner and can't imagine needing the plying attachment. I did order the fast flyer separately. It uses the same bobbins as the regular flyer so was a very reasonable add-on.

The wheel comes with a tensioned lazy kate.
It's not very heavy so I'm thinking that I may buy some rubber feet to make it more stable.

All in all, the Lendrum is a sturdy, cleverly-designed wheel at a great price. It feels like a full-sized wheel and has some portability features. I like that it's made in Canada too.

small things

I have a couple of small things to share today. They are very useful and are my current favorite 'tools'.

This cute little double-ended crochet hook is from Knit Picks.
I love that I can attach it to my sock-on-the-go knitting bag for stitch dropping emergencies. I kept losing regular crochet hooks and don't have to worry about this one going astray.

The second tool is a wrist distaff for the other bag in my purse, the spindle bag. While I was at the hospital with Dan, I was forever jumping up and down to make room for the nurses or when visitors came. I usually wrap my fiber around my wrist but it didn't work very well to keep pulling it off and putting it on particularly while I was wearing my watch on the same wrist.
I had seen an article about distaffs in an old Spin Off magazine and thought this idea looked like it would work well so I pulled out some Elann Esprit yarn remnants from the stash. The stretchy cotton blend is practical and comfortable for this use. I just knitted a regular ribbed cuff in blue then picked up stitches at the edge of one rib and knitted a faux rib (K one row, P one row, K one row, repeat these 3 rows) with the rose yarn. Once it was long enough I sewed the other end to the cuff as the fiber compartment. Here it is in use:
Now if my spinning is interrupted, I just pull off the cuff and don't disturb my fiber supply at all.

Besides the Trekking Maxima sock knitting, I've done a little dyeing and a little spinning.

The dyeing is for a gift so I won't divulge what the plans are just yet. It's SW merino and I was aiming for Barbie pink. I think I got pretty close.

And the spinning is a 3 ply sock yarn using a blend of Corriedale and bison. It's the first time I've spun yarn with a tight twist from fiber that I scoured and prepared myself. It certainly doesn't feel like commercial sock yarn. It has some spring in it even with the tight twist. I think I will dye it. It will be interesting to see how finishing it affects its hand.

Here are some leftover singles right off the wheel.

wet Friday

Shelties like rain. They don't even seem to feel it; must be that double coat of theirs. We had showers most of the day. Cooper happily discovered the little trickles of rain coming off of the eaves and out of the downspout, first pouncing on them and then drinking the water.

He looked up when I called him.

Then he came running to see what I was holding in front of my face.

Robbie saw the camera and posed nicely for his picture.
He used to be the dog that would never pose for the camera. I guess he figured that the kid shouldn't be getting all the attention.

Dan is just fine and back to school and playing hockey. The doctors don't know what caused the heart flutter problem. Hopefully the medication will prevent it from occurring again. I'm thankful that it all turned out fine.