I Love My Boots

After several busy days which included walking in slushy puddles up the wazzoo, I’m here today to sing the praises of Australian-made Blundstone boots. I've probably mentioned this before but I adore my Blunnies! I know they’re expensive but they’re worth it. I now own 3 pair, the oldest of which has been turned out to pasture as gardening boots because they are so split in both uppers and soles that they leak badly. I’ve decided they aren’t worth getting resoled and reglued yet again. They’re still really comfortable however and I’ve been known to wear them anyway when it’s dry and I don’t mind looking a bit grubby. I can’t complain though. I got somewhere around a decade of wear out of them. This first pair is the Original style.

The next pair I’ve had for a couple of years. I bought them because the first pair were scraped up and repaired and I needed some nicer boots for “dress-up” wear. Yes, I dress up and wear what are essentially work boots. High heels and my feet are not on speaking terms! Heck, dress shoes of any sort and my feet are not on speaking terms. This time I got the Wedge Sole style, still in black. Though they say they fit wider, I found them firmer on my feet than the original ones. They took a little longer to wear in, maybe 2 blocks as opposed to immediately! Did I mention that I walked home from the store each time I bought boots? It’s about 4 or 5 kilometers. Easy-peasy. Try that in heels.

So this time I fell hard for the Chunk 2 in brown. I love the kick toe and the brown is so dark it’s almost black but the elastic gore is a nice medium brown. I’ve been wearing a lot of brown lately and decided that since almost every other pair of shoes/sandals I own are black, it might be a nice change. (I have to say I was momentarily tempted by the Eh! boot with the red gores and maple leaf. Only in available here in Canada. But I controlled myself.) These ones were just as comfy as my last 2 pair when I put them on. I walked home in them as usual. Next day I walked downtown and back in them. I was having some pain on my left shin where the boot hit after so many kilometers of walking but it wasn’t at all bad until the next time I wore them. Ouch! It’s like I have a bruise in the bone there (only on one leg, go figure) and it just hits that spot. Not the Wedgies though. Just the Chunk 2’s. I’m hoping they will soften up or my leg will get used to it eventually. Meanwhile I’ve been wearing them with a foam pad in my sock and only for short walks. The Wedgies are the Blunnies of choice for longer walks, at least until this problem goes away.

Anyhow, my Blunnies kept my feet warm and dry in all the slush and glop even though it came right up practically to the pull tabs! And T-Man was wearing his Chisel Toes for the same reason. We hates wet feets. We loves our Blunnies.

One of the places I went in the last few days was my friend Kirsten’s for lunch and a spinning lesson for her and her daughter who was visiting from Toronto. K had gotten a bunch of spindles given to her which included a Navajo spindle and several small bead whorl spindles, plus the usual heavy old “boat anchor” types. One interesting little spindle was of a type I’d never seen before. (Notice K's lovely handwoven mat she made.)


It has a little “bobbin” that turns only one way on the base, due to wooden wedges underneath that function like a ratchet. It has a wire guide to both hold the yarn away from the bobbin and to help guide it on.


Instead of a hook, the top has a hollow with a hole in the side where the yarn goes in and comes out through the top, very much like the orifice in a regular spinning wheel. We discovered that you need a threading hook to get the yarn started through the “orifice” too, just as in a spinning wheel.


A neat trick to wind on was to roll the bobbin on your leg while holding on to the spindle and allowing the yarn to be guided onto the bobbin. We have no idea if that was how the maker intended it to be used, but it worked quite well. I left K’s daughter spinning away on this little spindle. I'm still curious to find out where it is from and who made it!

In other crafty news, I’m done the Sis-IL Socks except for grafting the toes and blocking. I’ve cast on for both of the Ninja’s Birthday Socks and am part way down the leg on one of them. Today is his birthday — Number 33! Happy birthday, my baby boy! Unfortunately he had to work today so we’ll be celebrating on Tuesday at his mother-in-law’s. I still won’t be finished the socks but at least he’ll be able to see what they will become.