Hi folks. I have been so busy this last few days just trying to get stuff done before I register for the next course in my M program that I've kind of forgotten to write here. Besides that I haven't been sleeping well since the wind has been howling around the house like a banshee. The forecast is calling for warmer temps and less wind tomorrow and I'll be honest... I can't wait. It's not that the temps have been really cold but the wind chill has brought them down to about +1 degree. Yesterday we had a swirling spring snowstorm that lasted all of ten minutes. Nothing stayed on the ground but it made me want to bundle up and have a cup of hot chocolate. Meanwhile I have been spinning for that second sock and with my head down and my arse up, I have not really been doing much to stir the blood and make for good writing topics. I did take a wander down through the forest the other evening and was pleased to find that the Prairie Crocuses were at their best. The Faeries must be loving it to have the blossoms so beautiful. I even picked one though I do hate picking wild flowers, but I chose the one that I did because it was slightly squashed after the dogs barreled over it. It was in the middle of the path and really didn't stand a chance. The leaves are finally out and everything is getting that beautiful spring green glow. I love that green glow. With the long weekend being just around the corner, and the alpacas looking shaggy in their winter coats, I guess it's time to think of them. I had planned on shearing them the first week of May this year but that didn't happen since it has been cool and I don't want pneumonia to be an issue which they are prone to get if you shear too early. So we are now thinking that the long weekend will be a better time to take care of them.
Meanwhile, I called Olds College this morning to register and was given a bit of an eye opener. Stephanie Gaustad will not be in attendance after all. Bugger that. I guess I might have had time to do one of her courses after all, if the changes to the Level 6 class happen as they seem to think might... So what's up with the loss of Stephanie... Now that's a question to which I'd like to know the answer. Serious poopitis! Meanwhile I have registered for another course believe it or not in addition to the MSP level 6. I know... I'm bonkers right... but in the north you get so few chances to learn from good instructors that you want to take advantage of them when you can.
Today, I had my first serious pang of excitement... I'm goin' to Olds and you can't stop me...I'm singing that by the way... I'm goin' to Olds and you can't stop me... whoo hoo! Just call me a knob... weird things get me excited.
So that's the scoop around here these days... what's the scoop with you all... leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you...
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
I Am Hopeful
Last night was knit night and I headed off for our meeting place around 7:15 p.m. As I was heading that direction I could see rain. It was everywhere. Purple clouds all around on the horizon. And I got to the meeting place just in time because moments after I arrived the skies opened up and down came the rain. So far things are looking good for a summer of green. Grass is beginning to grow and this morning the sun is shining. I expect that after last night's rain (which fell all night long), and with this morning's sun the expectation is that the leaves will be popping out any time at all. If this continues there will once again be a nice crop of hay... all good for alpacas.... and me too. I am hopeful.
Spinning is going on.... lots.... I have decided to do things a little differently for sock number 2. This time instead of carding and measuring and spinning small amounts I have spent the last two days prepping fibre for spinning.... and now the spinning is going on uninterrupted. It's awesome because I turn on a movie and just go. So sock number 2 is well on its way to being done. It's just that there's not really anything to show yet except for singles. Still I am hopeful that this will go nice and smoothly.
The whole house this morning was a grouch fest. I came downstairs to cats and smelly things lieing on the floor. Someone had forgotten to put them out last night. Daughter #1 got up like a bear and Teapot got up like a fool that wanted to irritate Daughter #1 and Daughter #2 and me.... it turned into everyone sitting in a place away from others, eating their breakfast with a scowl on their brow. Not a good way to start a weekend... but I am hopeful on that front too since weekends generally turn us all into happy people. I am much happier now that I don't have to be a referee between Teapot and Daughter #1. Daughter #2, after the first few moments, dove into the bathroom to do her makeup and avoid the craziness that was coiled inside her father. I'll have to have chores ready for them before they get home so that there will not be a repeat of this morning... keep them busy... that's what I say.
Ok that's all I've got for this day.... I'm off to finish some more spinning..... Maybe tomorrow I'll have something more interesting to write about. Aren't you hopeful.....?
Spinning is going on.... lots.... I have decided to do things a little differently for sock number 2. This time instead of carding and measuring and spinning small amounts I have spent the last two days prepping fibre for spinning.... and now the spinning is going on uninterrupted. It's awesome because I turn on a movie and just go. So sock number 2 is well on its way to being done. It's just that there's not really anything to show yet except for singles. Still I am hopeful that this will go nice and smoothly.
The whole house this morning was a grouch fest. I came downstairs to cats and smelly things lieing on the floor. Someone had forgotten to put them out last night. Daughter #1 got up like a bear and Teapot got up like a fool that wanted to irritate Daughter #1 and Daughter #2 and me.... it turned into everyone sitting in a place away from others, eating their breakfast with a scowl on their brow. Not a good way to start a weekend... but I am hopeful on that front too since weekends generally turn us all into happy people. I am much happier now that I don't have to be a referee between Teapot and Daughter #1. Daughter #2, after the first few moments, dove into the bathroom to do her makeup and avoid the craziness that was coiled inside her father. I'll have to have chores ready for them before they get home so that there will not be a repeat of this morning... keep them busy... that's what I say.
Ok that's all I've got for this day.... I'm off to finish some more spinning..... Maybe tomorrow I'll have something more interesting to write about. Aren't you hopeful.....?
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
This = That
Rigour mortis : A stiffness that sets into a dead body after two to three hours.
Am I dead? Is that why I am so stiff in the mornings... no: stiffness = exercise... or the lack of exercise followed by exercise in an overabundance..... all this = ouch!
Socks: Coverings for the feet.
Socks = the undone. Yesterday was a day full of not socks... not spinning... not anything productive.
I went out for lunch... with a friend... I went out for supper.... with the family... I spent far too much money. When you do that you don't get your socks done.
Shopping: The act of purchasing things.... which makes economists excited.
Yoga pants and a new top. Oh the money spending was bad bad bad.
All this means one thing.... work.
Work: Exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something.
That is what I have to concentrate on today.... yup work my fingers to the bone.... well that's not likely now is it. I think I'll go exercise. And get myself ready to work... which will certainly help with the socks. Maybe I can wear them when Rigour Mortis sets in.... I'll at least have pretty feet! (sigh)
Am I dead? Is that why I am so stiff in the mornings... no: stiffness = exercise... or the lack of exercise followed by exercise in an overabundance..... all this = ouch!
Socks: Coverings for the feet.
Socks = the undone. Yesterday was a day full of not socks... not spinning... not anything productive.
I went out for lunch... with a friend... I went out for supper.... with the family... I spent far too much money. When you do that you don't get your socks done.
Shopping: The act of purchasing things.... which makes economists excited.
Yoga pants and a new top. Oh the money spending was bad bad bad.
All this means one thing.... work.
Work: Exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something.
That is what I have to concentrate on today.... yup work my fingers to the bone.... well that's not likely now is it. I think I'll go exercise. And get myself ready to work... which will certainly help with the socks. Maybe I can wear them when Rigour Mortis sets in.... I'll at least have pretty feet! (sigh)
Monday, April 30, 2012
Weekend Excursions... And Sock Work
The weekend has passed and sometimes I wonder at how quickly time flies by. For weeks I have been looking forward to the PCSW spring conference (our themes for this conference were hand made dolls and most had hand weaving or spinning in them somewhere... and the other topic was Poppys. Our challenge was to make a Poppy for each Canadian soldier that died in Afghanistan. There were many but not enough yet and so the Poppy challenge continues...) Here it is Monday and now the conference is over and once again I seem to be realizing how quickly time passes. I did indeed enjoy the Conference on Saturday.
Teapot and I started out on Friday morning heading into FSJ for dental appointments. (Neither of us needs any work done... woo hoo!) After that we had lunch and then went looking at wee cars and took a couple out for test drives. I really liked the Dodge Caliber and the Jeep Patriot. At this point those are the two that really grabbed me. Still I guess it will be a while before I can buy one of them. We did try out the Chevy Sonic and I had a look at the new Cruise but neither of them appealed to me since they both have low profiles which is really hard for a person with a steel rod in her back. It means that every time you try to get into the car you have to duck down and my back does not curve anymore so ducking is not really an option.
After that I headed off to a friend's house where we had a lovely afternoon and evening yaking about spinning. She is also involved with the MSP and so it was cool to see her work. She is finished and was at the time just pressing her 50 hour project which was a lovely hand spun linen table runner, which had been beautifully dyed. Her work was impeccable and made me start to feel a little anxious about my own. But that is always the way I think. In the end generally speaking, our work is all comparable for those of us in the same level. I tend to knit more while she tends to weave more. But both look lovely.
I had a dreadful night on Friday night not getting one blessed wink of sleep... I think I was too wound up about the following day. I certainly had a perfectly comfortable spot to sleep... but still sleep was illusive... I knew sleeplessness would totally screw me up for the next day.... and it did in a way. The next morning saw us up at 4:30 a.m. and on the road by 5:00 a.m. Our conference began at 8:00 a.m. and it was on the Alberta side of the border which meant that we lost an hour. 8:00 a.m. their time was 7:00 a.m. our time.... that's the reason for such an early start. I slept in the car since I'm like the proverbial baby that falls asleep in the car as soon as it starts to move at the best of times but after a night of sleeplessness I was hooped. My poor friend had to do the driving without any input from me. Thanks heavens we had another passenger because she was able to talk to my friend and keep her company while I passed out. I mean how pathetic is that. Still getting on the road so early meant that we were home earlier than expected since the conference ended at 3:30 p.m. their time, which is 2:30 p.m. our time. A three hour drive after the conference, broken by a quick stop in FSJ to get picked up by Teapot, saw me pulling in the driveway here at home at 6:30 p.m. just in time for supper which the Daughters had cooked for Teapot and me. Still the many miles covered over the weekend and the lack of sleep on Friday night did leave me droopy all day yesterday and even today I'm feeling rather lack-lustre. Still I haven't been sitting on my arse doing nothing. I have been knitting.
Speaking of which, the socks... are coming along nicely... I have one sock finished.
With only the other left to do, I should be finished the whole project by sometime next week. Tomorrow I will begin the spinning for the second sock. So I am hoping to have my stuff in the mail to my instructor by Monday or Tuesday. That is... if all goes well.
Meanwhile I was reading this morning a little. My reading consisted of two things... I won a door prize this past weekend which happened to be a doll magazine, so that was the first of the two things. the other was a book that the Daughters have been wanting me to read for quite a while. First I had a good perusal the magazine about soft bodied dolls... interesting and while I am not into doll making there are some pretty cool things to look at in there. The other thing that I was reading in The Hunger Games which Hollywood has recently turned into a movie. We had taken the girls to the movie during spring break and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The girls talked me into reading the book and I am glad that I am finally getting a chance to read. This is interspersed with knitting of course. The reading does give my poor hands a wee break every so often.
I have been debating which colour to dye the socks when they are finished. Blue seems to be the colour that I am mostly leaning toward but somehow it doesn't seem right. The socks have a lovely leaf pattern over the instep, reaching up the ankle and shaft.... so I was thinking green would be better since leaves are green, especially since green seems to be emerging more and more as my favorite colour. (I seem to be leaning more and more toward moss green, but then tomorrow I might prefer purple). I need to be satisfied with the end result... So far I am hoping that the project will fetch me a high mark.
So that's it from here for today. Tomorrow I might not get a chance to write since I will have to go to town again. Tomorrow we get our truck back from the dealership after eight weeks of to-ing and fro-ing and waiting for Ford to get their act straight so that we can have a fixed truck... we now have a rebuilt transmission... and most importantly we have a new engine in it. They have replaced several things around the transmission so what's under the hood is mostly new and hopefully this will solve all problems... I keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. Wish us luck 'cause I really hate the thought of not having our truck any longer... I'm sick to death of driving the loner which is a terrible old piece of junk and has no step... let me tell you it is not easy for an old lard butt like me to climb into such a vehicle.... Teapot gets a laugh every time I try... the first step is a real douzzy... meanwhile my wrist and back suffer every time I have to pull myself in, so I really want to get our truck back.
Teapot and I started out on Friday morning heading into FSJ for dental appointments. (Neither of us needs any work done... woo hoo!) After that we had lunch and then went looking at wee cars and took a couple out for test drives. I really liked the Dodge Caliber and the Jeep Patriot. At this point those are the two that really grabbed me. Still I guess it will be a while before I can buy one of them. We did try out the Chevy Sonic and I had a look at the new Cruise but neither of them appealed to me since they both have low profiles which is really hard for a person with a steel rod in her back. It means that every time you try to get into the car you have to duck down and my back does not curve anymore so ducking is not really an option.
After that I headed off to a friend's house where we had a lovely afternoon and evening yaking about spinning. She is also involved with the MSP and so it was cool to see her work. She is finished and was at the time just pressing her 50 hour project which was a lovely hand spun linen table runner, which had been beautifully dyed. Her work was impeccable and made me start to feel a little anxious about my own. But that is always the way I think. In the end generally speaking, our work is all comparable for those of us in the same level. I tend to knit more while she tends to weave more. But both look lovely.
I had a dreadful night on Friday night not getting one blessed wink of sleep... I think I was too wound up about the following day. I certainly had a perfectly comfortable spot to sleep... but still sleep was illusive... I knew sleeplessness would totally screw me up for the next day.... and it did in a way. The next morning saw us up at 4:30 a.m. and on the road by 5:00 a.m. Our conference began at 8:00 a.m. and it was on the Alberta side of the border which meant that we lost an hour. 8:00 a.m. their time was 7:00 a.m. our time.... that's the reason for such an early start. I slept in the car since I'm like the proverbial baby that falls asleep in the car as soon as it starts to move at the best of times but after a night of sleeplessness I was hooped. My poor friend had to do the driving without any input from me. Thanks heavens we had another passenger because she was able to talk to my friend and keep her company while I passed out. I mean how pathetic is that. Still getting on the road so early meant that we were home earlier than expected since the conference ended at 3:30 p.m. their time, which is 2:30 p.m. our time. A three hour drive after the conference, broken by a quick stop in FSJ to get picked up by Teapot, saw me pulling in the driveway here at home at 6:30 p.m. just in time for supper which the Daughters had cooked for Teapot and me. Still the many miles covered over the weekend and the lack of sleep on Friday night did leave me droopy all day yesterday and even today I'm feeling rather lack-lustre. Still I haven't been sitting on my arse doing nothing. I have been knitting.
Speaking of which, the socks... are coming along nicely... I have one sock finished.
 |
| Sorry that the picture's colour is so bad... The sock here appears mustard but in actuality is more ecru. I will take a better picture when they are both finished and dyed. I might even get one of the Daughters to model them... |
With only the other left to do, I should be finished the whole project by sometime next week. Tomorrow I will begin the spinning for the second sock. So I am hoping to have my stuff in the mail to my instructor by Monday or Tuesday. That is... if all goes well.
Meanwhile I was reading this morning a little. My reading consisted of two things... I won a door prize this past weekend which happened to be a doll magazine, so that was the first of the two things. the other was a book that the Daughters have been wanting me to read for quite a while. First I had a good perusal the magazine about soft bodied dolls... interesting and while I am not into doll making there are some pretty cool things to look at in there. The other thing that I was reading in The Hunger Games which Hollywood has recently turned into a movie. We had taken the girls to the movie during spring break and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The girls talked me into reading the book and I am glad that I am finally getting a chance to read. This is interspersed with knitting of course. The reading does give my poor hands a wee break every so often.
I have been debating which colour to dye the socks when they are finished. Blue seems to be the colour that I am mostly leaning toward but somehow it doesn't seem right. The socks have a lovely leaf pattern over the instep, reaching up the ankle and shaft.... so I was thinking green would be better since leaves are green, especially since green seems to be emerging more and more as my favorite colour. (I seem to be leaning more and more toward moss green, but then tomorrow I might prefer purple). I need to be satisfied with the end result... So far I am hoping that the project will fetch me a high mark.
So that's it from here for today. Tomorrow I might not get a chance to write since I will have to go to town again. Tomorrow we get our truck back from the dealership after eight weeks of to-ing and fro-ing and waiting for Ford to get their act straight so that we can have a fixed truck... we now have a rebuilt transmission... and most importantly we have a new engine in it. They have replaced several things around the transmission so what's under the hood is mostly new and hopefully this will solve all problems... I keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. Wish us luck 'cause I really hate the thought of not having our truck any longer... I'm sick to death of driving the loner which is a terrible old piece of junk and has no step... let me tell you it is not easy for an old lard butt like me to climb into such a vehicle.... Teapot gets a laugh every time I try... the first step is a real douzzy... meanwhile my wrist and back suffer every time I have to pull myself in, so I really want to get our truck back.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Amazing Things
Next... I also have been working on knitting those socks of mine. I don't have much to show you but I will show you what I have so far.
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| This is the front of the sock.... |
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| This is the back.... |
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| And here is the yarn.... |
So really a pair of socks and a wee purse are not all that amazing.... so why call this post Amazing Things... well there was that loon which was really amazing.... and I just am feeling a wee bit amazing... maybe because I'm so pleased with myself on my two wee projects.... maybe its just that I'm up early and getting up early on a fine morning always makes me feel amazing.... Anyway I'm off for an amazing cup of tea before I head out on my amazing spinning and weaving jaunts.
I'll be back on Sunday with info on my trip and the summer line up as it is looking at the moment.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Pushing The Envelope...
158 metres on the 158 metres..... you take one down, knit it around... 157 metres on the wall. Actually I am just about to get some lunch here but after that I am going to knit the first rounds on my socks. Yes indeedy! Sock #1 here I come. I was pleased yesterday when I finished spinning and plying that I took a nice 158 metres off the wheel. Three ply lovely 50% cotton, 30% bamboo, and 20% ramie. It was washed and smacked on the log pole holding up our verandah last night and then hung to dry on the rail over night. I just checked it... nice and dry.
This morning I got up to snow! : ( 2 inches..... but it is now starting to melt and a good thing too. I promptly went back to bed. How bad is that.... I haven't done that now for a couple of weeks. The alpacas look bedraggled and the dogs are running out the door to promptly turn around and look back. The cats are looking at the door suspiciously. Teapot drove to school instead of biking and the Daughters went with him and wore warm jeans instead of shorts. Hopefully this won't last too long. My dreams of Crocuses and Violets I think are a bit premature!
I've been thinking a lot about New York... the city. I follow the Spindle Princess' blog As The Whorl Turns where she just doesn't write enough... but she does Tweet regularly and her Tweets are on her blog page and I read those daily. She has recently been in New York for work and it reminded me of my trip to the Big Apple many years ago. After high school in one of my many former lives I had the opportunity to fly to New York for a week of staying in a mid town Manhattan hotel (of which I can't remember the name right now) and sight seeing, and shopping. I had a bit of a yin yang relationship with New York. I loved all the shopping and I loved all the sightseeing... but there were aspects of New York that really didn't agree with me. For one, I had a nose bleed every morning that I was there, due to the pollution, which I suppose is normal for any large city. Secondly, I twice had scary situations arise where I thought I might be raped... and ended up not but they kind of scared the bejeepers out of me. Thirdly my mid-ranged priced hotel had terrible plumbing as a result the bathroom tub would leak regularly.... there was water everywhere. Then the hotel was so densely packed that I felt like I was packed in like sardines. Fourthly, the traffic was dreadful. Fifthly you wouldn't catch me traveling anywhere by subway unless I had an armed guard with me. On the up side we walked everywhere and had absolutely no problems finding anything thanks to the grid of Manhattan streets. The artsy fartsy factor was awesome, the bagels divine, and the shopping was like nothing else I had ever experienced. My most memorable day was when I went to the World Trade Towers and experienced the truly diverse population that abounded in that region of New York... it of course made me think doubly hard in 2001 when the Trades came down. I saw all of the regular things... you know... the Empire State Building... Lady Liberty... The Rockettes.... Saks Fifth Avenue... Macy's... the World Trade Centre... I didn't get up town to Central Park because I just ran out of time but I did go to Wall Street not that there was a whole lot to see there other than a lot of high powered businessmen and high buildings everywhere. Still we were able to get tickets to see the Eurythmics with Annie Lennox front and Centre.... it was really an awesome concert mostly because they were playing in a small rinky dink place and everything was close up and personal. That was back in the 1980s and I was just out of high school only two years before. Little did I know that I would watch the World Trade Towers come down on the first day of school far Daughter #1. While my trip offered me an opportunity to see something I'll never see again and the shopping was unlike anything I've had since, it really gave me an understanding of what a hive must be like. I'm glad I went once... but I wouldn't want to go back.
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Since writing this earlier and getting distracted by a phone call and forgetting to come back to the computer till now, I have been knitting on my socks. Oh they are going to be sweet. I'll try to get a ittle more done on them tomorrow so that I can show pictures here. Right now I have gotten through the main lace pattern once and the other lace pattern has been repeated three times. So far they look great... still, there is a lot to do. I have to repeat the main lace pattern three more times before I begin the heel flap and then turning the heel. At first the lace pattern was hard to figure out and I know I have at least two small mistakes... but then I am not being judged on my knitting... I am being judged on my spinning... I tried looking for the mistakes and you wouldn't notice them unless you ahd a really good eye for these types of things.
By the way... I don't have a good clue why I called this, " Pushing The Envelope"! I wonder if I had something in particular that I was trying to say. Oh well, maybe I'll remember tomorrow.
This morning I got up to snow! : ( 2 inches..... but it is now starting to melt and a good thing too. I promptly went back to bed. How bad is that.... I haven't done that now for a couple of weeks. The alpacas look bedraggled and the dogs are running out the door to promptly turn around and look back. The cats are looking at the door suspiciously. Teapot drove to school instead of biking and the Daughters went with him and wore warm jeans instead of shorts. Hopefully this won't last too long. My dreams of Crocuses and Violets I think are a bit premature!
I've been thinking a lot about New York... the city. I follow the Spindle Princess' blog As The Whorl Turns where she just doesn't write enough... but she does Tweet regularly and her Tweets are on her blog page and I read those daily. She has recently been in New York for work and it reminded me of my trip to the Big Apple many years ago. After high school in one of my many former lives I had the opportunity to fly to New York for a week of staying in a mid town Manhattan hotel (of which I can't remember the name right now) and sight seeing, and shopping. I had a bit of a yin yang relationship with New York. I loved all the shopping and I loved all the sightseeing... but there were aspects of New York that really didn't agree with me. For one, I had a nose bleed every morning that I was there, due to the pollution, which I suppose is normal for any large city. Secondly, I twice had scary situations arise where I thought I might be raped... and ended up not but they kind of scared the bejeepers out of me. Thirdly my mid-ranged priced hotel had terrible plumbing as a result the bathroom tub would leak regularly.... there was water everywhere. Then the hotel was so densely packed that I felt like I was packed in like sardines. Fourthly, the traffic was dreadful. Fifthly you wouldn't catch me traveling anywhere by subway unless I had an armed guard with me. On the up side we walked everywhere and had absolutely no problems finding anything thanks to the grid of Manhattan streets. The artsy fartsy factor was awesome, the bagels divine, and the shopping was like nothing else I had ever experienced. My most memorable day was when I went to the World Trade Towers and experienced the truly diverse population that abounded in that region of New York... it of course made me think doubly hard in 2001 when the Trades came down. I saw all of the regular things... you know... the Empire State Building... Lady Liberty... The Rockettes.... Saks Fifth Avenue... Macy's... the World Trade Centre... I didn't get up town to Central Park because I just ran out of time but I did go to Wall Street not that there was a whole lot to see there other than a lot of high powered businessmen and high buildings everywhere. Still we were able to get tickets to see the Eurythmics with Annie Lennox front and Centre.... it was really an awesome concert mostly because they were playing in a small rinky dink place and everything was close up and personal. That was back in the 1980s and I was just out of high school only two years before. Little did I know that I would watch the World Trade Towers come down on the first day of school far Daughter #1. While my trip offered me an opportunity to see something I'll never see again and the shopping was unlike anything I've had since, it really gave me an understanding of what a hive must be like. I'm glad I went once... but I wouldn't want to go back.
****************************************************
Since writing this earlier and getting distracted by a phone call and forgetting to come back to the computer till now, I have been knitting on my socks. Oh they are going to be sweet. I'll try to get a ittle more done on them tomorrow so that I can show pictures here. Right now I have gotten through the main lace pattern once and the other lace pattern has been repeated three times. So far they look great... still, there is a lot to do. I have to repeat the main lace pattern three more times before I begin the heel flap and then turning the heel. At first the lace pattern was hard to figure out and I know I have at least two small mistakes... but then I am not being judged on my knitting... I am being judged on my spinning... I tried looking for the mistakes and you wouldn't notice them unless you ahd a really good eye for these types of things.
By the way... I don't have a good clue why I called this, " Pushing The Envelope"! I wonder if I had something in particular that I was trying to say. Oh well, maybe I'll remember tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Maudlin In My Old Age...
I just received a late birthday wish in the form of an e card... it starts out with an dog lying on a rug with unopened birthday gifts all around. One of the birthday gifts pops open and out jump two kittens... the kittens run around wreaking havoc with the dog's gifts and pop his balloons and then the dog runs behind a chair to hide and finally the kittens disappear. The dog goes back into his basket and lies down and you can tell he is starting to miss the hi jinks of the kittens... then he starts to dream of the kittens having fallen asleep in his basket and wakes up to find the two kittens fast asleep at his tail and he settles down and cuddles in with the kittens.... it made me almost cry... it was really sweet. I think cutesy things more and more as I get older make me maudlin which is strange because I thought as you get older you get crustier... shouldn't I be a crusty old bag by now?
I woke yesterday to rain and at times the rain turned to frozen rain and then snow.... but nothing that actually stayed on the ground. All I could think about was wanting to go out into the forest to look for Prairie Crocuses. I didn't go though because of the rain. This morning I woke to beautiful blue skies with nary a cloud to be seen. The rain of yesterday was nowhere to be seen but it is certainly not forgotten... the grass is turning a beautiful green. It won't be long now that the grass will be full of the purple of Violets and then when they fade there will be the yellow of Dandelions to follow. The Violets and Crocuses are the part that I love (not so much the Dandelions though I don't hate them as some do). The Violets are so tiny that they only are about 1 inch high you can barely notice them until you are walking through them.... the Crocuses grow in the forest only. I have to go looking for them ... and then occasionally I will find an Orchid or two.... and they are so beautiful and fragile... its hard to believe that nature can offer such beauties in such fragile packages and still they survive year after year. With all the Pine Beetle devastation it is hard to believe that the forest can sustain anything on the forest floor. I worry that our forest will soon have the tracks of tractors and heavy equipment as they take out the dead wood... I am not sure I want that but I understand the worry since all that standing deadwood is a fire hazard... still a few more years and all that wood will be on the ground rotting under a bed of vegetation... if we can just hold off with forest fires for a few more years there will be no point in worrying... most of it will be down on the ground giving nutrition to the flowers on the forest floor... offering new homes to the wee mice and voles and squirrels that scurry in the underbrush... yes it is still a fire hazard but not as much.
For days now, the birds have been coming back in droves. There is an army of Robins around the house... this concerns me as there seems to be more this year than there have been for many years. Teapot has just ordered thirty new strawberry plants which we intend on planting in large boxes above the ground. The last time we planted strawberry plants the Robins stole them as fast as they would ripen... we tried netting them and the voles got them... so this time we will plant them in those boxes that we used to use for the sheep to feed from. I will build a small platform for the boxes and they will hopefully work to keep the ground animals away. But we will still have to net them to keep that army of Robins away too. If it is not the deer then it is the Robins... pests... they are all pests.... but still I can't begrudge them too much not if I am to enjoy the forest. They are part of the forest too..
Well enough of this maudlin stuff... I am spinning again and seeing good progress on the yarn for the socks. Today I will ply some of it and find out how much yarn I will get from my packages of carded fibre. 100 metres? Fifty metres? I'm not sure how much I will get but hopefully I will get a good amount and be able to start knitting... that way I can give my fingers a little break from spinning every so often and I can knit a little too. And who knows... I might even get a chance for a wee walk to look for those Crocuses.
I woke yesterday to rain and at times the rain turned to frozen rain and then snow.... but nothing that actually stayed on the ground. All I could think about was wanting to go out into the forest to look for Prairie Crocuses. I didn't go though because of the rain. This morning I woke to beautiful blue skies with nary a cloud to be seen. The rain of yesterday was nowhere to be seen but it is certainly not forgotten... the grass is turning a beautiful green. It won't be long now that the grass will be full of the purple of Violets and then when they fade there will be the yellow of Dandelions to follow. The Violets and Crocuses are the part that I love (not so much the Dandelions though I don't hate them as some do). The Violets are so tiny that they only are about 1 inch high you can barely notice them until you are walking through them.... the Crocuses grow in the forest only. I have to go looking for them ... and then occasionally I will find an Orchid or two.... and they are so beautiful and fragile... its hard to believe that nature can offer such beauties in such fragile packages and still they survive year after year. With all the Pine Beetle devastation it is hard to believe that the forest can sustain anything on the forest floor. I worry that our forest will soon have the tracks of tractors and heavy equipment as they take out the dead wood... I am not sure I want that but I understand the worry since all that standing deadwood is a fire hazard... still a few more years and all that wood will be on the ground rotting under a bed of vegetation... if we can just hold off with forest fires for a few more years there will be no point in worrying... most of it will be down on the ground giving nutrition to the flowers on the forest floor... offering new homes to the wee mice and voles and squirrels that scurry in the underbrush... yes it is still a fire hazard but not as much.
For days now, the birds have been coming back in droves. There is an army of Robins around the house... this concerns me as there seems to be more this year than there have been for many years. Teapot has just ordered thirty new strawberry plants which we intend on planting in large boxes above the ground. The last time we planted strawberry plants the Robins stole them as fast as they would ripen... we tried netting them and the voles got them... so this time we will plant them in those boxes that we used to use for the sheep to feed from. I will build a small platform for the boxes and they will hopefully work to keep the ground animals away. But we will still have to net them to keep that army of Robins away too. If it is not the deer then it is the Robins... pests... they are all pests.... but still I can't begrudge them too much not if I am to enjoy the forest. They are part of the forest too..
Well enough of this maudlin stuff... I am spinning again and seeing good progress on the yarn for the socks. Today I will ply some of it and find out how much yarn I will get from my packages of carded fibre. 100 metres? Fifty metres? I'm not sure how much I will get but hopefully I will get a good amount and be able to start knitting... that way I can give my fingers a little break from spinning every so often and I can knit a little too. And who knows... I might even get a chance for a wee walk to look for those Crocuses.
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