Click-Clack

Follow Me, Please

2007-08-23T05:44:01Z

Because I've moved!

Over the past little while I've been working pretty hard on opening up my own yarn and fibre shop! I'm very nearly ready to go, but in the meantime I'm blogging at the new URL and I'd like everyone to come and join me:

http://www.dyedinthewoolhandmade.com/blog/

See you there!

Pensive

2007-08-13T21:57:36Z

Our friends have gone and the house is quiet. Debbie and Randy are so easy to live with (even in a house with only one bathroom) that the visits always feel too short. Today I took a long nap to try to recover from the weekend's drinking and staying up too late.

Tomorrow we're celebrating my mom's (belated) birthday by spending the day and having dinner over at their place with them. Then I've got SnB which I'm really looking forward to.

This weekend I learned that I'm really no longer a smoker, even though it's been 6 months and 13 days since my last cigarette. We had a little get-together on Saturday and all the smokers refused to smoke anywhere near me. Even though we were all outside, they left the deck and went to stand in a smoking section of their making. Believe it or not, but I felt totally left out. I know that everyone was being respectful and kind, but I wanted to shout, I'm still one of you! But I guess I'm not. And while this is a good thing; indeed a very good thing, it's disconcerting and weird.

I am without social subculture.

One More Sleep!

2007-08-08T19:34:05Z

Tomorrow afternoon my Jersey friends arrive and the drinking begins! I have about 24 hours left to get the place in shape, and I'm almost there. But first, I there is procrastination to be attended to. Like checking out the new Magknits. Only one thing appeals to me, though: Lemonade. I love this! I'll probably go with wool and make it long-sleeved for fall wear. I'll probably have to redesign the whole thing to make it work for me, but it looks pretty straightforward and easy. I love the shape and the neckline and the single button.

I don't know when I'm going to make it, since I seem to be way more interested in spinning lately than I am in knitting at all. I'm on a fat singles kick since they're so fast and fun. Here's the yarn I spun last, the polwarth I mentioned before is on the left and on the right is a skein of corriedale (both hand-dyed). The yarn is lighter than worsted weight; I'm having some trouble making the singles fat enough. I'd like a worsted to heavy worsted single for felting. So far, corriedale is my favourite fibre to spin this way. The skeins are about 4 oz. each. I spun them on the Lendrum, which I am starting to prefer for thicker yarn now that I have the two wheels.

I also just finished this merino 2-ply. It's a squishy worsted weight, maybe a bit on the heavy side. I didn't measure WPI or YPP or anything on these yarns. I'm trying to keep a notebook with these kinds of details but it's hard to force myself. I dyed this fibre too, in shades of peach and silver-grey. There's lots here, 218g. It turned out just right. I love this one.

Powder Keg

2007-07-26T19:48:21Z

I guess you could pack more onto one bobbin than this, but I'm not going to try it. It's pretty much the George's wallet of bobbins. Don't add any more to it, or it'll explode!

These singles are having a soak right now. When the hank dries, the yarn should be perfect for felting. We'll see tomorrow! If it works out, Freakgirl, this yarn is yours.

Who Wants Pictures?

2007-07-25T19:46:18Z

I cast on for these socks the other day and they are really short and cute. Once they're done I was thinking of crab-stitching the top, to give it a picot appearance. Picot hems on socks tend to feel very thick to me, so I wanted to try it a different way. The yarn is pretty nice, wouldn't you say?

This is what's left to ply of my second batch of corriedale, which is being immediately knitted into this shawl:

I think it's going to drape really nicely. I just hope I have enough yarn to make it a decent size. I should probably have used a slightly larger needle. Anyway.

What else have I been doing?

A little of this.

And that.

And this, too:

My handspun on display:

Can Opener from HELL

2007-07-24T20:36:42Z

I just want some tuna. Is that too much to ask? We bought a new can opener since the last one rusted shut and it worked just fine until today. It just won't grab the lip of the can. I'M HUNGRY WANT TUNA. I've opened two cans previously with it to no avail, and now the universe has suddenly decided I should be out $8 and that I can't have lunch.

Tonight we're going to hit the drive-in on cheap night to see the new Harry Potter movie. Alex saw it last week at the IMAX with his dad, but Jeremy and I have not, so we're all going. I should get some good knitting time in, hopefully. I've cast on for yet another pair of socks...I'm making some cute ankle ones.

Spinning has been uneventful. I'm plying my second skein of corriedale (for the Flower Basket Shawl), playing with some BFL that I dyed and I want to try to make a few worsted weight singles yarns for felting projects. Not enough hours in the day! Plus, too much laundry. And in two weeks, these freakazoids will be in town, staying in my house, cramping my styles. Can't wait! Can't wait!

Too Big!

2007-07-16T17:46:02Z

It's a little big, but it's totally adorable. It'll fit her in the spring. Loves it!

New Addition

2007-07-15T17:47:04Z

It's a bit blurry because I didn't have the greatest light, but she's pretty just the same! This is my new Majacraft and I love it. I've had it a couple of weeks now. It took me a few days of fiddling and getting to know the wheel but now it's worked in smoothly and I like it more than my Lendrum. Eventually I plan on selling the Lendrum and replacing it with a Little Gem, because I love the way the Majacraft wheels have interchangeable parts and bobbins.

This is one of my latest handspun yarns. It's superwash merino roving, hand dyed by me and spun to a fingering weight of about 1800 ypp. I'm not sure of the exact specs because I can't find where I wrote them down. This yarn was spun on the Lendrum and plied in record time on the Rose.

I did complete another skein of yarn, this time in some hand dyed corriedale, but I forgot to take a picture. This yarn I spun and plied entirely on the Rose, and it's my finest yet, at 2000 ypp. I've already started knitting with it: I'm making Evelyn Clark's Flower Basket Shawl. I dyed 8 ounces of the fibre, and I'm in the middle of spinning the remaining 4 ounces now.

Now, have some kitties:

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Cuba is happy now that her offending teeth are gone. She's more energetic.

Pippa is just plain crazy.

Let's Put Our Foot Right in Cancer's Ass

2007-07-15T03:34:22Z

I know you want this pattern.

Mezzo Diva is participating in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer. Sponsoring her is the only way to get the sock pattern, and it's well worth it! Check out more photos here.

Believe It or Not, I Actually Knit Something!

2007-07-13T22:53:36Z

I started out making Grow With Me in the smallest size, but I really disliked how the bodice part turned out. It was way too thick and when I bound off the stitches, the edge flared out. I imagined that once I added the smocking, the bodice would become even thicker. So I ripped back to the underarm, picked up the MC and decreased one stitch at each edge 4 times, then decreased at each edge every RS until I had 46 sts left. I knit 2x2 ribbing (starting and ending with k4) while continuing on with the decreases until I had 38 sts left. Then I bound off next RS row, in pattern.

I made the back exactly the same way, and then for the ties I cut 3 long strands of CC, folded them in half and pulled them through the ribbing at the top. I braided them (each section was 2 strands of yarn), fastening off by making a tassle. Then to finish I took CC and embroidered some simple stars on the front.

The dress is for Jeremy's 9-month-old niece, who'll be visiting us from Petawawa on Sunday. I think it'll probably fit her like a dress at first, and then hopefully she can wear it with a t-shirt underneath as a top when she gets bigger.

I made it out of Cotton-Ease, and I've already tossed into the washing machine. I dried it on low until it was just damp, and hung it to dry the rest of the way.

April 1

2007-06-28T23:14:12Z

Stolen from Jenla.

Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday month and day only. Then post three events, two births and one holiday that occurred on your birthday.

Events
1924 - The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed.
1976 - Apple Computer is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
2001 - Same-sex marriage comes into force in Netherlands [Comes into force? Heh.]

Births
1932 - Gordon Jump, American actor (d. 2003)
1971 - Method Man, American rapper

Holiday
April 1 is known as April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day in many countries.

Getting a Few Things Done

2007-06-28T01:30:35Z

Jeremy's got the week off right now so we've decided to take care of a few things. First, I'm very happy to finally have light fixtures in the bedrooms instead of bare bulbs hanging from wires. We have planted our front garden and put some plants on the deck. Tonight we're going to secure the new shelf we mounted above our television so that we can actually put stuff on it. Also, I've got plans tonight to touch up the ceilings in the bedrooms so it no longer looks like a kindergartner painted our house. I would have also painted some of the trim but I'm totally sluggish from being drunk last night. Margaritas.

The other day, our across-the-yard neighbour's tree decided to break and fall into our yard. It didn't damage anything, but it's sitting on top of our fire pit. No storm, it just fell. Scary! The neighbour is a totally good sort who understands it's his tree and that he's responsible for clearing it off of our property. He's going to chop it up so we can use it for firewood.

Tomorrow is going to be a hard day. Cuba's going in to the vet to get some teeth removed. The cats were in for their yearly checkups and the vet found a lot of damage. We had no idea because she's always been a happy piggy who has had no problem crunching up her food. Her front teeth are a mess and have to go, but she'll keep her molars and fangs.

Knitting-wise, I've started a new project, Grow With Me from Knitty. There is errata. Apparently the editors accidentally edited away the stitch pattern for the bodice. The missing information can be found on the Knitty message boards here (you have to be registered to follow the link). I'm using Cotton-Ease. It needs to be washable and I just can't justify the cost of Rowan Denim.

I don't have much else to share since I've been spending time working on a project I can't discuss, as well as sporadic spinning and dyeing. Mostly I've been sweating and praying for rain. Just not on Sunday night, please. It's triple-feature at the drive-in, starting off with the new Die Hard movie, and Jeremy and I are going to try to sit through the whole thing.

Cupcake Challenge

2007-06-21T15:38:18Z

Debbie, if you make these for me, I'll be your best friend!

Afghans for Afghans

2007-06-21T01:17:20Z

I got an email today bringing my attention to the fact that The Knit Café is serving as a drop-off point for items being collected for Afghans for Afghans. They're looking for garments and blankets, knit or crochet, in natural animal fibres to clothe Afghan people.

No synthetic fibres
No representational imagery (faces or animals), no religious imagery
Avoid white and light colours that are hard to keep clean
No used items or scarves
Please knit items to standard sizes, keeping warmth in mind

More information, guidelines and patterns can be found here. Thanks to Anita for helping to organize this. The Knit Café is located at 1050 Queen Street West. Deadline for items is September 25, 2007.

Two Years Already

2007-06-17T01:40:01Z

As of yesterday, we've lived in our little house for two years! Time is getting away from me, obviously. Over the past two years, we haven't finished a single reno project. We always get bored and quit with just a teeny bit left to go. I still don't have any art on my walls. I never did get around to touching up the ceiling in the bedrooms (it's a mess). The only room in which we have permanently installed baseboards, they remain unpainted. There is still no trim around Alex's bedroom door. The trim in our bedroom and most of the hallway has not yet been painted. I could go on. Eh. Whatever.

Instead of doing grown up things like making dinner and caring for myself and my family, I've been spending a lot of time on Ravelry. I got in there really early on and it's already changed and evolved so much. It's a really great little community. My username in there is, crazily enough, Maggie. Come friend me!

Rochelle came over today to hang out and spin, and she brought her big Secret Pal haul for me to see. I left a comment on her blog today that, if you happen to be Rochelle's Secret Pal, you wouldn't think is very nice but I was pretty much astonished when I saw what she got. I can't imagine that the person who sent along all that stuff actually thought they were sending nice things in good faith.