Month: August 2008

a little spinning?

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Although the needles have not been flying, the wheel has been going round and round! I even brought the Lendrum out on the deck for a bit of alfresco spinning.

Once again I find myself making vows … vows to spin more, to keep track of what the hell is on the wheel and to simply try to stick with it and pay attention.  Toward this end I even started a spinning notebook – hopefully writing everything down will help to keep track of the details.  Wish me luck!

First up is some Blue Faced Leicester that was bought at Rhinebeck 2007. I decided to leave this as singles to maxamize yardage, with the idea of knitting a lacy shawl.  Although I have knit with my handspun, I have not yet managed a significant project.

Next is some SW Merino that was given to me by Christine of Now and Zen. Christine is in my Spinning Guild and has a wonderful yarn shop on the east end in Greenport. I need to ask her what the SW stands for. This fiber spun like a dream. Really lovely to work with.   I ended up with 96 yards because I Navajo plyed it — in retrospect, I wonder if I should have simply done a two ply to have more yardage. Anyway, I have a few hat or scarf patterns in my Ravelry favorites that would look great knit up with this.

I am sure some of you are wondering what became of the yarn that was in my freezer …… the project did two days in the freezer, one day defrosting and another 24 hours back in and there are NO SIGNS of LIFE! I am beginning to think that perhaps it wasn’t the yarn at all and simply the holes in my window screens. Now I have to get to knitting it to give this story a truly happy ending!

Once upon a time …..

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in a land far away …… Yes, I have a knitting story and it even involves a fairy godmother. And potential monsters!

Years before I met her, a non-knitting friend commissioned a young lady to knit her a cabled Rowan cardigan. And this young woman worked hard and diligently and completed all but one sleeve and the button band/collar. At some point the young woman was unable to finish the sweater and the project was set aside for years. The non knitter did not have the heart to question what would become of the sweater.

Enter me. I meet the non knitter about five years ago. I heard about the cardigan, but was very busy with all my many projects. Well, recently I seem to have hit a knitting lull, where there is nothing that I am simply dying to knit. I have been filling this lull knitting away on dishcloths ala Mason Dixon.

So I tell my non knitting friend that I will take a look at this long neglected project. Right away, I see that the yarn situation is very dicey and I weigh the sleeve that is complete against the weight of yarn remaining and come up a few ounces short – and that doesn’t take into account the collar and button band.  The yarn is Rowan Magpie, which has been discontinued for a few years and as far as I can tell, the color I am after has been discontinued even longer.  (cue foreboding music)  I mention the shortage on my blog and have a few of my knitting friends mention it on their mystical Rowan and Yahoo lists.

The wonderful LesleyP is in Australia, knitting away and cruising the internets and she sees the cry for help.  And what do you know, she is sitting on a stash of Magpie!  But that is not even the most amazing part.  There she is all down under, sitting on a stash of Magpie in the color Sealord ….. I need three, she has six and she is willing to split them up.  Not only that, but she doesn’t want to be paid for any of this, the thrill of the good deed is enough for her.  Can you believe it?! Is this woman covered in fairydust or what?!   Of course, I had to shower her with heaps of praise and also a few well chosen thank you gifts.

So, the cardi would seem to be back on track, no?  NO!!!

I am working on it the other evening and notice a little buggy flitting around.  When the sweater came to my house the first thing I did was to wash all the pieces, but I did not wash the yarn that came with it. These little beasts are definitely from the yarn that came with the project – I took a good look at the skein and there seems to be some bits of stuff in there.

First I panicked.  Then I googled wool moths and read that they are not attracted to light – my little monsters do seem to flit around the light.  Who knows what the hell they are.  There are not a lot of them, just a few … but these are the equivalent of buggy scouts, I am sure there is an army behind them.

OR all of this could be a total coincidence and they could have nothing to do with the yarn and are simply coming in through the window screens that have holes in them courtesy of the pugs.

to be on the safe side, the entire project is spending some time in the deep freeze ……

btw … does anyone know the effects of freezing on Addis?  In my haste to getitoutgetitout!!!! I threw the whole project in the freezer, needles and all!

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The biggest news from Chez Swine is that D#2 is off on her college adventure. I am both sad and thrilled.  You can see in two of the pictures how packed the car was and also that she forgot her ‘blankey’ and had to run back into the house for it!

We moved her in on Saturday — everything went smoothly except for my uterus deciding to have a peri-menopausal tsunami of a period … is that tmi?  Shall we pause for an Oprah moment and discuss the body/soul connection and how isn’t it ironic that as my nest empties so does my girly parts?  and then shall we hug and look under our seats to find fabulous prizes??

Okay, back to the story.  D#2 has a good size room and her roommate seems really nice. She started class on Monday.  Her school has an extensive freshman course (3 weeks) so that is why they start so early.  It is a literature and writing class and it is right up her alley.   With the exception of one weepy moment, all reports from her have been great.

When we got back from that trip it was a quick clean the house and then my company arrived!!! YAY for girlfriends providing diversions! I got to meet two of Vicki’s daughters – and it’s absolutely true, they are wonderful so our Vicki must be doing something right. Cara and Meli were her too and that little Meli gets cuter everytime I see her. Unfortunately neither of them

  1. left a daughter behind for me and
  2. I took not a single picture.

We had a SnB on Monday night with Flair, Ricki, Peggy and Kathleen.  We were so busy laughing that I am not sure if any knitting got done.  Someday I will post a video of Flair doing her best Tom Carvel impression.  The rest of the visit was spent relaxing with our knitting, watching the Olympics and gabbing.  I happen to be a gabber of Olympic proportion.

young & beautiful, someday your looks will be gone ……

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A blonde heard that milk baths would make her beautiful. She left a note for her milkman to leave 25 gallons of milk When the milkman read the note, he felt there must be a mistake. He thought she probably meant 2.5 gallons. So he knocked on the door to clarify the point.

The blonde came to the door and the milkman said, ‘I found your note asking me to leave 25 gallons of milk. Did you mean 2.5 gallons?’

The blonde said, ‘I want 25 gallons. I’m going to fill my bathtub up with milk and take a milk bath so I can look young and beautiful again.’

The milkman asked, ‘Do you want it pasteurized?’

The blonde said, ‘No, just up to my tits. I can splash it on my face.’

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any guesses as to the title of this post? I was aiming for some ear worms, but Cara didn’t get it.