more stinkin' snow

This is what we woke up to today. Snow at the end of April is just cruel.

A much brighter and cuter picture....

this is Jayda wearing her bright Tulips cardi that I knit for her last fall. Those happy colors really suit her with her dark hair and big brown eyes.


I've been spinning.
Here is a completed skein of Rambouillet. It's nice and squooshy and will make comfy socks (for me).

Both Austin and Bentley are spending the day at the vet. They were neutered this morning. It's official, I have no more show dogs. Just as well as I'm too tired to travel to shows. I got a call from JoAnn (friend and vet extraordinaire!) that they are just fine and I will pick them up this afternoon.

Is there a Wheel Junkies Anonymous group?

Yeah, I got another wheel. I know, I know, I didn't need another wheel. But I was so impressed with the Schacht Ladybug that I wanted to experience the Schacht Matchless too. I decided that the Ladybug could do double duty as my travel wheel instead of the Majacraft Little Gem because the Ladybug is easier for me to treadle than the Gem. So I found another home for the Gem and bought the Matchless (from Shuttleworks, of course). Schacht is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a limited edition cherry Matchless. I could have placed an order for one of those but decided that I didn't care enough about the cherry wood to spend the extra money.

Austin seemed to approve - the more spinning wheels, the more mom hangs around the house with the dogs.

And here it is all set up.
I will do a bit of a review when I've had a chance to spin more on it. It's funny that I'm referring to the Matchless as "it" rather than "she". This is my first wheel that doesn't seem feminine to me. Weird, I know. It's a very sturdy wheel with a heavy drive wheel that really gets going when treadled. Maybe that's why it seems masculine.

I was reading the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook the other day and decided to try dyeing some merino/nylon fiber using the spot method to spin up on the new wheel. Here it is drying on the sweater dryer.

And hand-crocheted after drying.

Here's a bit that I pulled off to show you how the colors look so much softer when it's predrafted a bit.

And the first bit spun on the Matchless. I love the effect of the random white spots mixed into the colors. It's going to be a fun project!

edited to add:

Speaking of masculine...

Right after I posted about the Matchless, I was getting my daily bowl of Bran Buds ready and discovered this strawberry. Too funny! Congratulations Mrs. Strawberry, it's a boy!

(Dan says that I need to get out of the house more often. Apparently I am easily entertained these days.)

dearly beloved....

Dearly beloved,
We are gathered here to today to say farewell to Bentley's Skunk who finally succumbed to a slow death from being vigorously shaken while the dog dishes were filled twice daily, methodically eviscerated, and finally, decapitated.

In his youth, Skunk was a fine specimen of a stuffed animal. He was plump and fluffy, and made wonderful squeaks and screaming noises before his noisemakers were disemboweled. He was Bentley's favorite animal to kill. His long tail snapped about delightfully when he was shaken.

He leaves to mourn his passing his doggy and human family, and his friends, especially Chippy the Chipmunk, the Octopus, and the Spotted Puppy, all of whom are also suffering from various stages of evisceration and face mutilation but are also much loved by Bentley.
As a final act of selflessness, Skunk generously donated what's left of his body to be subjected to continued mealtime shaking. However, his head has now left this life to serve a higher purpose, perhaps as a favored toy for another dear pet in Heaven.

Rest in Peace.

spinning, spinning

I rigged up the double drive option on the Ladybug to try it out.

I decided I liked spinning on this wheel using the Scotch tension instead. I'm not sure why, really. It just seemed a little "slippy" with the plastic wheel so I put the stretchy single drive band back on. This wheel just seems to work better that way and I felt I had more control of my spinning.

I've got to say that I am in love with this wheel. It's sturdy and the rim-weighted wheel makes treadling effortless. I also really like the wide treadles; I can find a place for my feet while leaving my legs and knees in a comfortable, not cramped, position. Although I'm not a huge fan of hooks on the flyer, this flyer has the hooks offset on either side of the bobbin and allows you to fill the bobbin quite evenly.

I did some measuring of treadles last night to compare the Ladybug's with the Rose's. They are very similar; the only differences are that the Ladybug's are a bit higher off of the floor at the front and, at its lowest point, one is parallel to the floor. At the lowest treadle point on the Rose, my toes are about an inch higher than my heel so my foot is still slightly flexed. That gives the comfort edge to Rose by a hair. However, the Ladybug's drive wheel has more momentum once it gets going than the Rose's so there is likely a slightly edge in treadling to the Ladybug there. All said, both are very comfortable.

I also wound off of one bobbin on the attached kate to one on the wheel just to see how the kate worked. It was fine for this bit of winding but I think a full-size kate with adjustable tension would be much better for plying.

I finished up the merino/silk from Zebisis Designs. Here are the singles on the Nancy's Knit Knacks lazy kate.* (And Harrison thoroughly enjoying being able to sit in his favorite chair in the sunroom.)

While being plied...

And after a nice hot bath.

I didn't measure wraps per inch as it's somewhat thick and thin. It's between a heavy fingering and light sport weight. I'm not sure what I will use it for. It would be lovely for socks but I have about twice as much as I'd need for socks. We'll see.

*Plying causes me pain because I twist my body. The Nancy's Knit Knacks Katie a-Go Go is very handy and portable (and super for plying from spindle cops) but I have trouble keeping the singles from twisting together after they are fed through the single guide so I end up contorting my upper body even more to stretch my arms out to keep the twist controlled. I just got a Majacraft Lazy Kate from Cal at Shuttleworks. It is very sturdy and guides the singles through their own guides. Cal got the brass rods custom made for me so that the longer Schacht and WooLee Winder bobbins would also fit on it. I'm sure glad that I didn't just order the kate from another online seller as only the shorter Majacraft bobbins fit it properly. When I called Cal, he told me of the problem, tried out other bobbins on it to make sure, phoned Majacraft for advice, and contacted a supplier of brass rods in Calgary to cut some longer ones so the kate would work for me. How's that for customer service! Here's how it looks now - the rods are plenty long enough for all of the bobbins. I wish I had some plying to do so I could try it out properly. I'll be able to report back with a better review after giving it a workout.

I can't do it after all

I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic about selling the Elizabeth. I guess my subconscious knew what the rest of me didn't. I can't do it and I'm glad that no one has contacted me about buying her. I just know that I would regret it for the rest of my life if I did.

This really makes no logical sense. It seems silly to keep a wheel that's causing me pain. But I love her dearly and she will stay after all.

Come to think of it, there are other things that I love that cause or have caused me pain and I keep them....
offspring, some memories, my house, my garden, the exercise equipment (okay, so I don't love the exercise equipment but it causes me pain and I'm still keeping it)...
you get the drift.

my body is saying no

Elizabeth basking in the warmth of the sunroom this afternoon.

My aching body is dictating the need to find a new home for my beloved Ashford Elizabeth 2 spinning wheel. Spinning on the saxony wheel is causing me pain. I have been dithering about selling her for a while now but I really didn't want to because she is my dream fairy-tale wheel. However, after spinning on her yesterday, I know I should stick to castle style wheels. There's just something about the different styles that change the ergonomics for me.

Elizabeth spins beautifully and I have taken very good care of her. She is like new and comes with 4 bobbins, regular flyer, lazy kate, WooLee Winder flyer, and 7 WW bobbins, as well as the instructions from Ashford and instructions and tools from WooLee winder.

I did a quick tally and came up with the following prices for all of these items new (not including tax and shipping, in Canadian funds as of today's market):

Elizabeth 2 ST, lacquered, lazy kate, 4 bobbins = $913.00
WooLee Winder with 1 bobbin = $229.46
6 WooLee Winder bobbins = $230.76

Total = $1373.22 CDN.

I'm asking $1000.00 CDN. I take Pay Pal.

At this point, I don't want to take her apart to ship her so I would prefer selling locally. I'm willing to drive a reasonable distance to deliver or meet up with someone outside of the city of Regina. I don't want to sell the WooLee Winder separately unless someone buys the wheel without it.

(edited to add that the Elizabeth is not for sale after all - see April 4th post)

(edited again on May 3 to post it for sale again - it's just not sensible to keep a wheel that is not a good fit for my aching body - and I am willing to take it apart to ship it - also, the cost is not carved in stone)

hard to believe

I was reading blogs today and came across Franklin's The Panopticon. I couldn't believe it. I thought that we, as a society, had come further than that.

When I taught kids to knit at school, I had girls and boys knitting. Parents were thrilled. One even sent me a note at the end of the year telling me how awesome it was that I could interest 7 year old boys in knitting enough for them to voluntarily give up recesses.

I only had one tiny problem with the parents of a six year old boy who expressed concern that the other kids might tease their son if he learned to knit. I sent a reassuring note back home that there were plenty of male knitters at school but they still resisted until their own son pleaded with them that he really, really wanted to join knitting club.

Exactly how does knitting make a boy or man less masculine? They are learning a set of skills that produce something amazing and they are finding a way to relax as a bonus.

We think we've come a long way as women in our society. How did the men not get included in the new mindset? Oh, I know that men are better daddies now and are involved with things that are traditionally seen as feminine roles. And I know that there are many of us who believe that there are no standard male/female roles. But this one incident that Franklin describes shows us that there is still a long way to go.

onboard lazy kate

I went ahead and installed the onboard lazy kate on the Ladybug. I don't mind how it looks and it is handy for bobbin storage at least. I haven't tried to ply from it yet so I have no idea if that will work well or be a waste of time.

The more I spin on this wheel, the more I like it. It's very smooth. I like how I have a wide area to place my feet while treadling. My hips and knees are much happier if I can avoid having my feet right together for any length of time. I think that was part of the problem when I was spinning on the Joy.

Bentley isn't much impressed with my spinning time. I won't let him sit on my lap while I'm spinning (what with his total delight in killing fiber) so he has to make do with an empty, lonely chair for his nap. Poor boy.

He's learned that he has to leave my knitting alone when he sits on my lap. He will even let me eat without bothering me just so that he can remain on my lap. But that fluffy fiber is too much for him and he can't resist killing it gleefully.

my mid-life crisis (wheel) arrived yesterday

The nice postal woman showed up with my new Schacht Ladybug wheel yesterday morning. It was a gorgeous day so I took the box out to the sunroom to set it up.

Here it is right out of the box.

The first thing I did was look for my little ladybug. The Schacht people put them on the wheels before shipping and in any place that catches their fancy at the time. They say that no two wheels have the ladybugs in the same place. I found mine right below where the flyer fits the back maiden.

Here she is all set up and basking in the Spring sunshine before going for a test drive. She didn't need much assembly, just the treadles and the flyer.

And you can still see the little ladybug peeking out from behind the whorl with the wheel set up.

My wheel came with the on-board lazy kate which I haven't assembled yet. I'm not sure I'll like it anyway so I'm not in a hurry. There are a lot of people on the internet who don't care for it. There is also the option for double drive which I haven't set up yet either. I thought I'd play with the Scotch tension for a while first.

Dan came home just as I finished putting the wheel together and we went for our weekly grocery shopping trip so I didn't get a chance to spin on the Ladybug until later last evening. I'm impressed! She feels very solid and the treadles are nice and wide for easy treadling which is really important to me for health reasons. It's a very responsive wheel and rotates with surprising momentum for a lightweight drive wheel. I was able to comfortably sit in my Lazyboy chair and spin.

I can see why this wheel has received great reviews. It feels like a full size wheel but is easy to pick up and move around. It doesn't fold down so that limits its traveling portability but would be easy to just throw in a vehicle to take to a spinning meeting and its sturdiness would make it quite carefree to cart around. I wouldn't want to have to walk too far with it though. If I have to lug around a wheel for any distance, I'll take the Little Gem.

In my opinion, the Majacraft wheels still have some advantages over the Ladybug. I much prefer the sliding flyer clips rather than the Ladybug's hooks. Although the Ladybug comes with two whorls for four ratios, it is more of a production to change them and to remove bobbins than on the Rose with its wide range of ratios. I can see why both Schacht and Majacraft wheels have such devoted fans.

It's a little like comparing apples to oranges and, when all is said and done, they're different. I love them all. To me, the Rose and the Little Gem are beautiful while the Ladybug is cute. And then there's the Elizabeth that is so traditional and lovely. I feel fortunate to be able to own them all!

as the kids would say, "My bad"

Cue the band....

Call me irresponsible
Call me unreliable
Call me undependable too.

I have been pretty sensible and responsible all of my life. My sister says that I was 15 going on 50. Maybe it's because I was the oldest child in the family. Maybe it's because my father died when I was young. Probably it's because I was born that way.

But....

I sold the knitting machine set and it is now heading to Oregon. The money from it felt a bit like mad money as it hadn't been earmarked for a particular purchase or payment.

Now I am really 50. So I decided to spend the money just for my own selfish pleasure. I don't need what I bought. I just want what I bought.

Some people buy red convertibles for their mid-life crises. I just ordered this:
It's a Schacht Ladybug. I ordered it from Shuttleworks.

Hey, it may not be a convertible..... but it's red!

need a good laugh to start your week?

Regina may be an urban center but, lest we forget that we are an agricultural community, something like this happens.

Dan's comment about it:

"It sounds like a Monty Python sketch."

a bargain for machine knitters!

Due to my ongoing issues with TMJ and Fibromyalgia, I am selling all of my machine knitting items. I just can't use them very much or parts of my body complain loudly. I'm advertising them on Ravelry and some yahoo lists but thought I'd put them here too in case anyone is interested. If you are local, contact me and we'll make the deal even sweeter because it would save me the bother of shipping.

All items were purchased within the last year and are like new in original packaging with all original accessories included unless otherwise noted. Current approximate retail prices are in brackets. If bought new, these items would total over $1200, not including taxes and shipping.

To save myself from selling and packaging each item separately, I am offering a terrific bargain to anyone who would like to buy all of these items as a lot! For $800US plus shipping from Canada, they're yours! I accept Pay Pal.

If I don't have a buyer for this as a lot I will list the items separately later.


Silver Reed (Studio) LK 150, including instructional DVD by Susan Guagliumi ($400)
Knit Contour KR11 ($275)
Knitting Any Way Transfer Tool including book ($25.95), never used


Intarsia Carriage AG10 ($99), never used
Fair Isle Carriage FC6 ($219), never used - not being made any more


Books:
Hand Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters by Susan Guagliumi - hard copy (various prices on eBay, etc. - I paid $75 for it)
Tricks of the Trade by Mary Ann Oger ($27.95)
50 Ways to Love Your Knitter by Mary Ann Oger ($27.95)
Mid-Gauge Classics by Mary Ann Oger ($16.95)
Mid-Gauge Magic by Mary Ann Oger ($27.95)


The following Patterns and Grids for the Knit Contour KR11 (worth more than $75):
Knit Patterns
1/4 Scale Grid Sheets
1/2 Scale Grid Sheets - some sheets have been used and carefully erased, still very usable
French Curves -new, never used
Half-Scale Ruler that I made using a transparent ruler and rub-on numbers - see this link - very handy for copying patterns onto grid sheets

recent spinning

My knitting mojo has sort of evaporated the last few days and I've been spinning instead.

This is a really beautiful merino/silk top from Zebisis Designs. I love the colorway (Dark Monet) and the top is easy to draft and spin. Just gorgeous! I will be frequenting this Etsy shop to see what else Maiysha lists in the future. The service is also top-notch.

This lovely soft superwash merino is from Blue Ridge Silk Works, another superb online shop worth checking out. The colorway is Cool Breeze. I spun it a little thicker than my usual ultra-fine singles. I'm thinking about making Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise cardi with it (Ravelry link). I don't have a baby in mind as a recipient but it would be nice to have a little sweater tucked away for quick baby gift.

I was on a roll brushing out dogs finally after being sick. I got through everyone except Pocus who is long overdue for a haircut. The day that I was going to shave him down is the day that the spin dryer arrived in the mail. As I lifted the dryer up I felt a muscle in my back twinge and, sure enough, another sprained muscle. So Pocus still looks like a rolling dust bunny while I wait for my back to heal. The weather got really cold again so I figure fate was telling me to leave the old Bichon with fur for another week or so until it's warmer outside. I wish that fate had been a little more subtle about it though. I would have listened to a gentler message instead of being completely unable to lift anything because of this muscle injury. Just saying.

Happy Birthday Darcie and Christopher!

My sister Darcie and her son Christopher share a birthday today. Christopher is 10. Darcie is (ahem) older than that.

We had them over for supper yesterday and I took this picture. Happy birthday both of you!

Yee-Haw!

See this?

It's the OPEN door from my kitchen to the sunroom. Yes, that's right, it was warm in the sunroom this afternoon!

We had a sunny, mild, calm day here in southern Saskatchewan. The temperature climbed over the freezing mark and the air held a touch of spring. It was like manna to starving people.

It was so lovely and warm in the sunroom that I sat and spun. The dogs enjoyed getting into the sunroom too and had soon parked themselves in various sunbeams around the room.
The warm weather isn't supposed to last and we'll be back in another cold weather system in a couple of days. But, at least, it feels like spring is a possibility after all.

everything old is new again

I went to Golden Willow (my lys) one day last summer and noticed a curious machine in use. It was a spin dryer that had been hauled out of storage from years past and was being used to spin the freshly dyed fibers before hanging them to dry. I had never seen one before and I thought it looked much easier to use than the old wringer that I remember my mom using when I was little.

I have a front load Maytag washer that I love. It is so much more energy and soap efficient than my top loading machine had been and is gentler on the clothes. However, because it loads in front, spinning woolens in it is a bit of a gamble due to the risk of clothes tumbling as they spin. I've been using a salad spinner to spin the woolens but the spinner can only handle a wee bit at a time (a pair of socks is about as much as it will do without getting cranky and refusing to spin evenly).

So imagine my surprise when I read a discussion on the spin-list about this very subject and found a link to an electric spinner. The price was reasonable so I ordered one.

It came today.

It's the countertop model from Laundry-Alternative.

It's very simple and very basic but I'm looking forward to its help both when I'm washing woolens and when I play with the dyes.

why you shouldn't knit when you're recovering from pneumonia

I had started this sock (Shadow Ribs Socks from The Little Box of Socks using Socks That Rock mediumweight in colorway Stonewash) before I got sick and worked a few rows on it yesterday before I realized that something didn't look right.

I realized that I had knit a round that should have been patterned so I patiently tinked it back. Then I noticed that while most of the sock looked fine now, there was one section that had been purled instead of ribbed. Now this is a very easy 4 row rib pattern - I had the pattern right in front of me and a counter on the knitting. Normally it would be a pretty mindless knit but I guess my brain was still addled from the whole deathly sick incident.

So, one small section of knitting to fix - it actually was only 2 stitches. No problem, knit to the section, dropped the offending stitches and prepared to pick them up properly. Couldn't do it. First I reknit the wrong row, then ended with each stitch on a different row and no thread behind it. I finally decided to give up and stick to stockinette socks until I could think better.

So last night I picked up the stockinette socks I had on the go in the living room. I had worked a bit on the sock on Thursday. They looked like someone had pulled out all the needles and just stuck them back into the knitting haphazardly. It would be possible that one of the dogs had pulled the needles out but I'm pretty sure that none of them have the dexterity to stick them back in, never mind that some of the needles still had the stitches on the right rows. I had started the heel flap the previous day and it was the instep stitches that were messed up so I tried to tink those stitches back to where they should be. I finally got them back on the needles, counted to make sure I had the right number of stitches, and with a sigh of relief went back to knitting the heel flap. As I did I saw that I had done one slip stitch row around the entire sock instead of just the heel flap. So I just pulled out all the needles and ripped back past that point. Jeesh!

It reminded me of a simple afghan that my grandmother had crocheted for my son. My grandmother was a very accomplished crocheter and had made heirloom quality afghans and doilies in the past. She had just had her leg amputated, was moved into a seniors' home, and was bored. She was delighted to have something to work on and just roared through that afghan. When it was done, it was hourglass shaped. The tension and stitch count varied from row to row. She made a little comment about having trouble keeping the stitch count but she didn't seem to really notice how dreadful it was and we didn't have the heart to tell her. And it still matched Geoff's room and kept him warm on chilly nights.

My advice if you're recovering from an illness: watch TV.

I am finally back

Boy, I have never been that sick for that long before! It wasn't until yesterday that I started to feel like I was back on my way to be with the living. I was even able to pick up my knitting for a little while. Life is starting to look good again. Thank you all for the many well wishes while I was ill; they were very much appreciated!

I finally got around to using the random number generator on the comments and it picked Little Miss S. I have emailed her and the Sea Wool will be winging its way to Denmark soon.

Thanks to all of you who left a "tiny indulgence"comment! They were so much fun to read and I learned that a lot of people have similar ones. Many, many indulgences included time to knit in a favorite spot (no surprise there), hot baths or showers, favorite beverages, chocolate, TV, and warm furry companionship (no, not the husband kind). If you need any ideas for pick-me-ups, go and read all the comments for lots of ideas.

still no contest draw

Sorry folks, the draw is still going to have to wait until I'm feeling better. I went to the dr. today and was diagnosed with pneumonia. I hope the antibiotics work quickly. The contest is still open until I can do the draw.

draw postponed due to flu

Sorry, but I am flattened by the flu. Not your garden variety virus but the real, honest-to-goodness influenza. Until I have the energy to find a random number generator and count comments, the contest is still open to new comments.