Weekend Travels

Well, that seemed to work. I now have a damselfly on my sidebar. Cool! I need to learn more about HTML and it’s dialects. It takes time though — time from other things. Like the toes on the Ninja’s Tabi Socks which I’m just about to tackle. More anon.

I was kept busy this weekend, as usual. Firstly, on Saturday my dye study group met at a member’s house to chat and eat…er, to make stamps from foam core, string, and fun foam to use with fabric paint on textiles. I made about half a dozen, including one of a damselfly (naturally). I haven’t tested them all out yet to see how they “perform” though of course the damselfly is perfecto.

Then on Sunday, the T-Man and I went walkabout and had a lovely lunch on Granville Island. We did a little gallery goggling and stopped into Maiwa, where I stocked up on some more dye for my classes and I bought this book:


It’s called “Colour: Travels through the Paintbox” by Victoria Finlay (Sceptre, 2002. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s full of vignettes about pigments and their discoveries and uses in history to the present. Promises to be as interesting as “A Perfect Red” I think.

We also went to several book and magazine shops before heading home. I discovered this heavy tome in Oscar’s Art Books on Broadway near Granville (right across the street from the monolithic Chapter’s book store):


The book is actually wider than this but it wouldn't fit on my scanner bed. It was super-expensive but what a fabulous resource for a bead-lover! “Beadwork: A World Guide” by Caroline Crabtree and Pam Stallebrass (Rizzoli, 2002) is a huge book full of colour pictures of pieces (both ethnic and historical) all created using seed beads. (There’s even two pages on Greenlander beadwork! When I was researching that subject I didn’t find much info available.) The last section explains many of the bead stitches used in the pieces. It’s pretty rudimentary but probably helpful to someone without much knowledge of how beadwork is actually done. Someone with more knowledge just has to ogle all the lovely pictures to be very inspired! I think this is a book that will take some time to be savoured and slowly digested. It’s so yummy and rich. Yes, I know. I should start a chapter of Bibliophiles Anonymous but the trouble is I don’t want to be cured.

I’ve been specially requested to mention the Sock Competition at Fibrefest (March 31/April 1 at the Tradex, Abbotsford, BC). This exciting event is a first for Fibrefest and will be judged by the public with the prize a “knit-as-you-go bag”. It’s all in fun so every level of ability can feel free to join in and submit socks. They don’t have to be perfect because nobody is going to check every stitch. Socks can be dropped off at the Cortes Island Homespun booth at the fest or mailed to Jan Curtis. Email her at curtis at oberon dot ark dot com (you know how to make all the usual substitutions there) for more information. I hope to have a pair or two ready to enter though of course I’m going to need to use some of my socks for my demo talks! And don’t forget to join in the Spin-In and Knit-Out on the Saturday 10am to 2pm. It’s going to be a fun festival!

First Snow Then Sun

Boy, is it ever bright out there when the sun shines on snow instead of wet grass, sidewalks, dirt, and blacktop. I now remember why those who live where there’s a winter full of snow don’t suffer as badly from Seasonal Affective Disorder as those of us who live in the soggy wet. (It’s not surprising that the top specialist in this field is from our own University of British Columbia.) However, the snow is melting fast. This is what it looked like on my top deck this morning.

Now it’s a puddle of sloppy slush. Brilliantly reflective slush. I can actually see the dirt on the floors that I missed when I vacuumed yesterday. Unfortunately it’s too wet to sit out at my favourite table today to knit and read the paper. Oh well. I did a workout on this instead.

I love listening to podcasts while I do my 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer. Time goes by so quickly and almost painlessly that way. Picture me with my eyes closed. There’s nothing much to look at in the laundry room/dye & glass studio anyway. In case you’re wondering, those steps and that little door go into the cold room/wine cellar under the front stairs. Like an extra huge refrigerator this time of year!

Remember my Indoor Garden? Some of my little seedlings are coming up already. That was fast. Good thing I checked them to see if they needed water because some of them also needed to come out from under their blankies to get some light! Gardening in the house is so rewarding. No slugs. No wireworms. No snow. However I did harvest a fistful of flower bud shoots (look like rapini) today from some broccoli-ish plant that managed to make it through the winter in my garden. I’m not even sure what it is (something in the Chinese/Japanese greens family) but it’ll make a nice stir-fried or steamed veggie. There’s still quite a few big leeks too which I had better harvest before they bolt. Last year was my first experience growing leeks and surprise! — they’re easy-peasy. Who knew?

In fibre news, I’m heading for the toes on the Ninja’s Tabi Socks. These darn things are so big and I knit so slowly. I’m a bit nervous about knitting the split toe but I found a pattern in the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook and also one at SpunMag. (BTW, the new issue of SpunMag should be up soon. Finally.) Between these two patterns I should be able to extrapolate a bigger size. I’m pretty familiar with making glove fingers and this isn’t much different.

Our fun Spectrum colour/dyeing/surface design study group is meeting tomorrow. We’re going to make some quick-and-dirty stamps to use with fabric paint on cloth. You take pieces of foam core board and glue string or craft foam shapes onto it. Painting over the string with acrylic paint makes it more durable. The best part of this group is the camaraderie and the potluck lunch! Looking forward to it.

Pardon me while I test a damselfly picture here. I'm trying to learn more about manipulating things on my blog.

It's Winter Again

Exciting storm we had last night! I actually waited up until the T-Man got home from his night school class because I was concerned about the road conditions. It was really windy and snowing/sleeting. I spent about 20 minutes watching the snow in the light of the streetlamp fall up and sideways and swirly and fast and slow alternately. It was fascinating! Right now we have a wee bit of snow falling but not much more on the ground than in the photo from yesterday. There’s trees and branches down in some areas of the city but no damage around here. It’s still “unsettled” though so who knows what will happen later today.

Rant Alert!
I was reading various blogs last night and came upon a crocheter who was complaining that she had been treated badly at several LYS when they found out that she crocheted instead of knit. I don’t get it. Yummy yarns and large stashes are important to both crafts. One craft isn’t more or less “proper” than the other. Many people even do both, like me. So what’s the problem? Where did this snotty attitude towards crochet come from? I’ve never experienced anything like it myself. If I did, the perpetrator would certainly get an earful from me!

Are there any particular crafts that you look down your nose at? Somebody mentioned scrapbooking as one of those. And I’ve heard/read disparaging comments about tole painting and decoupage. How about crocheted toilet paper roll covers? That’s even looked down upon by some crochet folks! Glue guns, googly eyes, pom-poms, glitter, and pipe cleaners? Where does your “craft tolerance” end? Or does it really matter if people are enjoying putting things together and creating works that please themselves alone? We can’t all be Kaffe Fassett or Pablo Picasso or even Martha Stewart (though she has a herd of peons who assist her). Why not encourage people to create, learn more, improve, be inspired, and enjoy whatever floats their boat? Think positive rather than negative. Be open-minded and accepting. Even if it’s not your cup of tea, at least they’re making something and discovering the joys of creating. That’s essential. Those I worry about are the ones who don’t make anything at all.

End of Rant.

Check out this gorgeous ball of sock yarn I got at my LYS. Isn’t it fun? Each strand of the 4 plies variegates differently and they’re my favourite fall colours. This is a 100g ball which will make a pair (for me anyway) but if I want to do my usual knitting on both socks alternately, I’m going to have to wind half of it off into a second ball. No idea if I can match them yet either, but I don’t really mind if they’re different. As long as they’re very different instead of just a little bit different. Shall I try a pattern stitch instead of my usual plain knit? Wait a minute! I’m not allowed to start another pair until I’ve finished both the Tabi Socks and the Jaywalker Socks. So there.

Speaking of socks, I’ve just been asked to do a half-hour talk at Fibrefest on both days. I decided to discuss all the different ways to knit socks, but since I only knit them one way most of the time, I’m not going to have that many examples to show. But I can print out some pictures and point out the differences. Also I can discuss the various sock yarns and about spinning good yarns for socks. It’s a big and complex subject that should keep me yapping for the whole time without any problem.

Ranting & Raving

OK I’ve seen it all now. This is The Most Expensive Skein of Yarn I’ve ever seen — $61 US for 145 yards of nice-but-not-too-exciting-with-a-few-beads. There’s only ONE ball in existence apparently. Not enough for a whole sweater. Awww…

Oh wait. There’s more — skeins of handspun funk yarn that are smaller but also super expensive. How about this one that looks like first-effort yarn from my beginner spinning class only multicoloured for a mere $31 US for a whopping 60 yards. Check them all out and wonder.

No-no-no, THIS is The Most Expensive Skein of Yarn — $125 US for 56 yards. Of course it weighs 6.6 ounces so it’s pretty fat stuff. The spinner known as Pluckyfluff is the queen of the wild yarn spinners and she does have a following who will pay her prices. I’d like to get her book demonstrating her techniques but even that is too expensive for me. Though I’ve contemplated it a time or two.

People, it would be a whole lot cheaper to pay me to teach you how to spin your own! After a few skeins even the price of a spinning wheel will be recouped. Of course, more power to those intrepid entrepreneurs who can get that kind of money for their yarn. I wonder if the market is limited though. Time will tell. Knitting is hot right now with the young-’uns who would be attracted to the funkier one-of-a-kind yarns but they tend to have a short attention span. Maybe my view is warped because I’ve been spinning myself for 30 years or so? Anyway I’m much more impressed with the marketing than the actual spinning involved.

Such lovely weather we’re having today. It snowed on the daffodils and cherry blossoms. I’m not inspired to do anything in my garden, which looked like this:

Yeah, I know that’s not much snow but it’s wet and dark and cold and windy. Ick. A big storm is on the way right now so even worse weather is expected later today. So I gardened inside and got all my earliest seeds started. This included broccoli, rapini, onions, leeks, peppers, parsley, cilantro, lettuce, mixed baby greens (arugula, mizuna, several more lettuces, and endive), and flowers (marigolds, ageratum, lobelia, and coreopsis). T-Man kindly washed out all the flats for me yesterday. What a guy! See the seedlies all tucked into their little beds with their blankies (newspaper) on top:

Oh yeah. You can't see them because they're underneath the Georgia Straight newspaper. (I've been reading this free weekly since I was 17.) I took this photo without the light on but it stays on to give them some heat. Later when they sprout I’ll take off the blankies and leave them in their little plastic-covered mini-greenhouses for awhile until they’re big enough to uncover all the way. I take out chunks of the supporting wood under the shelves as they grow to keep them below the lights, which go off at night when the seedlies are up so they can have a nap. When they outgrow their little seeding flats, I replant them in bigger pots (or in the same ones except deeper and farther apart) with potting soil instead of starter medium. In a couple of weeks I’ll start the next bunch: tomatoes, eggplant, basil, more cilantro, and dill. Later there’s cucumbers, summer squash, and sunflowers. The only things I plant straight into the garden are peas and beans. And I have to cover the peas with nets or the birds eat them off as they come up. I’m not bothering with potatoes this year since we don’t eat many any more and they never do as well as they should thanks to flea beetles.

It seems like a lot of work, but mostly it’s not a big deal. And we get to munch on the yummies in the garden all summer. “Pick ’em and eat ’em before they scream!” You can grow things that aren’t easily available in the grocery stores and you know they are fresh with no nasty pesticides. I only consider my produce as “semi-organic” because I do use a wee bit of artificial fertilizer when the seedlings are growing in the flats. Other than that they get fish fertilizer, some chicken and steer manure, and lots of compost.

We also have blueberries and blackberries and rhubarb. You can see the nicely pruned blackberry bushes on the back fence in the photo. Those suckers grow 12 feet in a summer! They attack cars driving by in the lane and eat small children and dogs…wait. I just wish they’d eat dogs. Particularly the large noisy ones next door that get let out right near my bedroom just when I’m trying to go to sleep every night. But I digress. (Learned that phrase from the T-Man.) The neighbours get much of the fruit on the outside of the fence except for the ones that are hard to reach. Why is it that picking somebody’s flowers without asking is frowned upon but it’s ok to pick their blackberries? Not just a nibble as they walk by, but with buckets? Some kind of hunter-gatherer remnant in our back-brains? So where are these people when T-Man is out there trying to prune back the prickly things, eh? Nowhere to be seen. But I again digress. We also have two blueberry bushes that give us plenty of yummy berries to eat and freeze and occasionally give a bag or two away. The nut trees (hazelnut, walnut, and chestnut) are a write-off thanks to the darned squirrels. And more neighbourly snitching in the case of the chestnuts. So much for my “city farm” attempts. But at least we get to enjoy a few fruits of our labours.

Musings In The Rain

“Craft is what I do all day; art is what I have at the end of it."
Harlan House, Ontario potter (He was born here in Vancouver.)

This is just another point of view — one that I happen to share, though most of my stuff remains craft at the end of the day nonetheless. A lot of Harlan’s art could be considered functional, but darned if I’d drink tea out of his gorgeous delicate celadon porcelain tea cups! I’d love to own one though…

It’s a grey and occasionally rainy day today. It felt strange to hear the rain on the roof as I was trying to sleep last night. Guess we haven’t had a lot of rain recently when I’ve been awake enough to notice.However, it is becoming spring-like very quickly. See?

This is the sidewalk beside a house that’s a couple of blocks from me. The owner is a gardener by trade and I always enjoy passing through what feels like a woodland glade instead of a city street. I check to see what interesting flowers or leaves are showing as the seasons progress. His backyard is just as interesting but it’s a hidden treasure behind that big old fence. (I peeked!) We could do something like that beside our house since it’s in the same orientation of southwest corner, but we don’t have a sidewalk on our boulevard. Just grass…er…moss. Our plantings are starting to impinge on the city property side of our line as we expand our garden. But it seems unfair that we would have to pay for a path or sidewalk either if we put it in or the city did. As a matter of fact, it would very likely cost us considerably more for the city to do it. People walk by on the grass all the time but it would be nice to have a meandering path.

This is a city-scape that I took last Friday. I was standing on Yukon Street kitty-corner from our city hall and looking north. You can’t really tell that there’s False Creek (really an inlet) between the construction cranes and the downtown highrises, can you? That area right beside the south end of the Cambie Bridge is getting a facelift these days. There are four (count ‘em!) cranes in this one little photo.

And some actual fibre stuff just to prove I still care: the Tabi Socks so far. I screwed up the heel flap on the second sock so I’m a bit behinder than I should be. These are pretty big — the Ninja has bigger feet than his dad. I’m glad I bought the third ball of yarn because this time I’m certain I’m going to need it.

I know I haven’t gotten back to telling you about the new podcasts, but I’ve still been listening to them. And there’s more coming all the time! The Weavecast is well done, though only up to Episode 1 (really 2, but the first one is Episode 0). I was thrilled to find out that host Syne Mitchell interviewed my old buddy Judith MacKenzie-McCuin. (Sorry, Judith’s website hasn’t been updated recently. She’s much more low-tech than hi-tech!) I haven’t listened to that podcast yet — I’m waiting for the right moment. Syne’s first podcast was very good however, as it should be since she’s a published writer. (Of sci-fi books. I bought her latest one for T-Man. It seemed more up his alley than mine.) She promises to post a WIF for the draft of each weaving project she discusses and there’s one up already for a baby blanket. I also have to mention that I love her Celtic Funk theme music! Somebody likes my kind of music.

A Lick And A Promise

I've been super busy for the last few days and just haven't had time to get around to posting. I've been shopping up a storm and got (among other items) some sheets and pillowcases for my bed (in black and red!), veggie and flower seeds for the garden, several books and magazines, some new clothes for myself and a few for the T-Man. Yes, I actually found some clothes that I liked and were within my price range (aka cheeeep) at the Bay of all places. Black cotton/lycra seems to be the fabric that attracted me. I got 2 pairs of loose elastic-waisted pants, a little jacket with zips, and a fine-ribbed snap-front cardy that all work together. Plus 2 industrial-strength sports bras for the elliptical trainer and 4 pairs of comfy panties in red, purple, lavender, and black. At another mall outlet I found a couple of long racer-back sleeveless ribbed T's in black and red. I wear these as undershirts in winter, as exercise wear, and as a top in summer and my vintage ones are wearing out. All-in-all much more successful than my usual clothes shopping trips which usually end up me coming home empty-handed or with just one item.

Now I'm making a new database of my seeds collection in my Palm. This will make it really easy to keep track of what I have and what I need next year. I need to get a bunch of things started under the lights in the basement. I rarely plant directly in the garden except for peas and beans because the seedlings just get chomped off as soon as they appear. If they're a few inches tall they have a bit more of a chance to survive. The tomatoes and peppers are allowed to get quite big and even start to flower before they go in the garden. When they run out of room under the lights they graduate to the little cold frame on my deck and thence to the garden when it warms up enough.

I actually harvested a bit out of my garden already. There are several herbs including my lovely rosemary (which is getting ready to bloom), parsley, and chives (garlic and regular) plus quite a few leeks. The purple sprouting broccoli looks too small to do much this year but we'll see. I'll try to plant it earlier this time so it's bigger before it gets cold. It should be at least a foot tall by Halloween and it's barely that now. Some years things don't grow quite as well as others.

Thursday Blatherings

I made the March First challenge deadline for my mermaid doll’s in-progress photo shoot. Here she is with her tail finished. (Yes, both sides!) Her name is Ulva which is sea lettuce. Next up: her arms and hair. Final deadline isn’t until May 1, so she just might be taking a break while I finish up some more things. I have a March 31 deadline for the Complex Weavers Kumihimo spring swap, which is a card embellishment. I only have a couple of weeks to do this and I’m really not inspired in any way. Bummer. It’s not so much fun when you’re doing it just because you feel you have to rather than because you want to.

What else? I’m up to the heel turn on both Ninja Socks. I have to get past that point on at least one of them so I can knit at my fibre arts guild meeting tonight. Mindless knitting is best for meetings. Otherwise I end up making a mistake and having to frog it the next day which makes it kind of pointless.

An interesting thing happened to me today. I was looking all over for my Del Mar fingerless mitts. (You remember those? Burgundy-ish handspun? With sparkles?) And I couldn’t find the darn things anywhere. I hadn’t worn them in a couple of weeks but my hands were cold. I still wanted to knit and the fingerless mitts are perfect for that. So I gave up looking in frustration until T-Man came home from work. I asked him if he had seen them anywhere. No. So I climb the stairs back to my study, turn around once, and scream — there they are on top of the marudai (Japanese braiding stool) in the corner by the closet door. I’d walked past them several times while hunting but didn’t see them. Did I mention that T-Man just has to walk near something to fix it? I think his gift is expanding into Lost-and-Found as well as Fix-It. Shhh…don’t tell anybody or they’ll want to kidnap him to use his gift for their own ends…

Geek Alert! Run. Hide. Cover your eyes, all you techno-peasants.

I did promise to give a review of the new podcasts that I found yesterday. However (do I hear a sigh of relief from you Non-Geeks, assuming you’re still reading?) I didn’t get a chance to listen to more than one. That one was really interesting though! CraftSanity is hosted by Jennifer, who seems to be interested in a wide range of fibre crafts. Her format is an interview with interesting craft people and the Episode 1 that I listened to (over an hour long!) she’s chatting with Regina (aka Linoleum Lady) the artist behind Monster Crochet. It was a very thoughtful discussion about art/craft and where it fits in our lives and a lot more. Regina’s work is very….ummm…shall we say, odd. But too cool! If you don’t get how to subscribe to podcasts, you can just click on the link to hear the MP3 audio. Or right-click and download it to your computer first and then click on the filename to bring up your resident player. I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of the episodes. There’s 6 up to the end of February including my old buddy John Murphy of Stupid Sock Creatures fame. Jennifer has been a busy lady! That’s a lot of podcasts in only a month or so.

The UFO Dilemma

Blogger isn't letting me post pictures right now, so don't blame me if this post is word-heavy! I started to write this as a reply to an email message from one of the YahooGroups I’m on, but the more I wrote the more it looked like a good blog post instead. So here it is — plus more.

I think we get too many UFOs when our desires become more than our time and hands can produce. We get excited about something new. Plus if something goes awry with a current project we want to go on to something else when we can't figure out how to fix it right away. Unless you are really super-disciplined (ok, downright anal) you're going to have a bunch of UFOs no matter how hard you try to avoid them. But sometimes your pile of UFOs can be a drain on your psyche, to say nothing of your storage space. So my thought is to kind of strike a balance between the desire to start new things and the need to finish old ones. Yeah, if only it was that easy. However I do have a few strategies and I'm trying to put them into practice.

I've discovered that there are some things in the UFO pile that will never-ever-in-my-lifetime get finished. I've vowed to either take them apart in order to reuse the materials in something else or (horrors!) Chuck Them Out! I thought about passing them on to somebody else but let's face it, everybody has their own UFOs — they don't want yours too.

OK that gets rid of some of your UFOs. The next bunch are almost-but-not-quite-finished. Maybe the bloom was gone on the romance with the idea or something else came and swept you off your feet. Whatever. These will be quick to check off the list because they're almost done! So either do it -- or see the previous paragraph.

The hardest things to eliminate from the UFO pile are the ones that aren't quite working out but still have potential. Sometimes after a good long separation from it, the cure will suddenly occur to you. Or you might go in a different direction entirely from where you left off. Or you just gird your loins, buckle down, and finish the darn thing. The latter works best for those projects that aren't really bad but just boring and tedious. Tease yourself to finish by offering incentives like "If I do X-amount of this, then I can do something more exciting for X-amount of time". Repeat until it's done. Remind yourself that it's the process that really counts anyway. If all else fails, threaten it with Reduction Into Spare Parts or The Round File.

Now if only I could take my own advice, eh?

Further to the UFO list is the Desire List. It's almost as long but doesn't take up as much room because it's all in my head or at most in my Design & Inspiration Book. Have I mentioned my Book? It’s just a fat 3-ring binder (and soon becoming TWO fat 3-ring binders) full of stuff that I started in the Fall of 2004. There are two major parts: the Ideas section and the Finished Objects section. It’s obvious why it’s going to be two books — there’s an easy division and it’s getting too full. All I have to do is take the second section out and give it its own binder. I’ll have to make coordinating cover insertions for it too. This one will be for each project as I finish it. I write it up, add photos, print it out on cardstock, and attach any relevant swatches or snippets to the pages. It’s all there for reference when I plan future projects or when I think I haven’t really done anything lately.

Other Stuff

Go check out the new Spring issue of Spindlicity just up today.

And tomorrow I’ll mention some more podcasts that I’ve been listening to while beading. There are getting to be so many now: mostly knitting, some general crafts, and just for you, Susan darlin’, there’s a weaving one! There’s only one episode so far however but I'm sure there will be more coming.

Last Day of February

For my Loyal Readers who’ve been asking, here is the Dreams rug in place over our bed. Now you see why I chose that particular colour palette. Notice the handwoven coverlet — the one that I’m totally tired of after about 15 years — with its handspun and dyed wool pattern weft. There's another handwoven blanket that you can’t see underneath this one, not handspun though. The bed itself was built in the 1970’s by T-Man out of cheap particle board when we were too poor to afford a “real” bed. It's really low to the ground because I can't understand why your bed should be so high you're in danger of breaking an arm if you fall out. Besides on mine there's box sides that keep you snug so it's really hard to fall out. The mattress has changed a few times but it’s still foam not springs. (Very comfy. Probably why I sleep about 9 hours a night.) Notice the flannelette sheets the exact colour of Bryce Canyon sandstone formations. (Love those.) Notice also the absence of cats. Usually they are on my bed when they aren’t in their own fleecy beds in the basement. I got this photo before they were allowed upstairs. (Yes, I’m that mean!)

Now for the persimmon paintings that I also promised. Due to physical restrictions I couldn’t get farther back from the nook wall nor could I get it in decent daylight. The flash made the turmeric-coloured walls a bit more orange than they really are and even Paint Shop Pro couldn’t fix I without distorting everything else. But trust me when I say I love my paintings! They go absolutely perfectly in my kitchen. I’m so happy!

And lastly my mermaid doll who is benefiting by a deadline where her in-progress picture has to be posted to the Beaded Art Dolls Yahoo Group website by March 1st. Yes, I know she doesn’t have many beads on her yet, but trust me when I say that what she does have took me many hours of work! The next deadline for her totally finished state isn’t until May 1st and I’m thinking we can make that ok. What I’m liking best about this process is that doll beading is very freeform. You can have an idea about what you want to do, but by the time the beads are being chosen and stitched on it starts to take on a life of its own and you kind of lose whatever real control you thought you had. It just kind of happens. My theory is that the doll is influencing you all the way into what she wants to be. It’s not really up to you. You kind of surrender yourself to the materials and she (or it could be “he” but it’s more often “she”) appears out of the chaos complete. Right. I’ve been working too hard on it, haven’t I?

Where Does The Time Go?

I haven’t had a chance to take pictures of either my Dreams rug in place at the head of my bed or my persimmon paintings on the kitchen wall. So I apologise in advance for the lack of photos in this post. I had good intentions but they were keeping me from blogging!

Let’s see — what’s been happening in Damselfly’s Pond? We had a fun Dye Day on Saturday with 5 intrepid newbie spinners. We painted both white and grey yarns and rovings in brilliant colours. I demonstrated overdyeing with some brightly variegated sock yarn that I had several small balls left over from another project. (Remember the toddler hat and poncho set?) It’s nicely “fall” coloured now and will make nice socks combined with another plain colour. There was a little kafuffle when some people couldn’t remember which rovings were theirs but all was sorted to everyone’s satisfaction. I really enjoy these classes but I was pretty tired on Sunday.

I might have been tired Sunday but we still went on a little walk and T-Man bought me a new SD card for my Palm. Oh yeah — Geek Alert! To explain, an SD card is a teeny little memory card that is used in a number of different devices such as some cameras and PDAs. I already had one for my old Palm but it was a very low capacity and wouldn’t hold much. The new one holds a gigabyte of data so now I can fill it with music and podcasts, plug in my earphones and use my Palm like an MP3 player. So cool! No, I do not have an iPod and although it can’t hold as many sound files, my T/X is actually much more versatile. Even though I try, ya just can’t have everything, eh? I did my 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer this morning while listening to Marie Irshad and all my favourite podcasters celebrate KnitCast’s first birthday. Now that was a geekfest for sure! They discussed podcasting equipment and software and how each person had gotten inspired into creating their first podcasts. Even though I have no desire to emulate them, I was intrigued by the dedication they show to continue doing this on their own time and often without any financial compensation. Just their own impetus and the appreciation of their growing number of listeners. As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, I really enjoy listening to podcasts because they are so personal and the enthusiasm comes through loud and clear. And it really doesn’t take all that much experience or equipment to do it so the door is open for just about anybody who wants to participate.

Today I was finally working on beading my poor nekkid mermaid doll. I have to post an in-progress photo on the Yahoogroup (and here as well) by Wednesday so I was hoping to get at least some embellishment on her. I'm not planning to cover her completely so it shouldn't take forever to complete. Her fabric is hand dyed and looks good on its own. So far she has a seaweedy hip belt and a few tail scales. More to come.

Finally Finished!

It only took 3 years, but the rug for the head of our bed is finally finished — and in place. Don’t have a photo of it above the bed yet, but here’s the original digital drawing I started with so you can see how far I’ve come:

The date in the corner originally said 2002! Here it is on my studio floor after final blocking:

And the rest of the specs:

Dreams Rug

Begun: January 2003
Completed: February 24, 2006 (finally!)
Design: mine
Finished size: 56.5” long by 18.5” high
Backing: primitive linen, 60” wide
Wool: natural Dorr wool (from Highland Heart Hookery in Halifax, NS) hand-dyed in 14 colours by me with washfast acid and Telana dyes. #8-cut.
Hook: Primitive hook made by Cindy Hartman
Whipping: Quebecoise 2 wool yarn, one strand each black and navy blue
Binding: natural cotton dyed green with Procion MX
Mounting: wood carpet nail strips

Comments:
This rug is meant to be used as a headboard for my bed. It took much longer than it should have to complete because I completely ignored it for about 2 years! I finally got inspired to finish by visiting the Silk Purse Gallery show of the local rug hookers recent works. The words are based on a lyric from a Beatles song (though I accidentally got “me” and “you” reversed!) The comet is Hale-Bopp from 1996/97 and based on a real photo specially colour-enhanced. The moon is inspired from those times when you can vaguely see the outline of the whole circle when only a sliver is lit. The stars are deliberately primitive. We had to move our bed lamps slightly on the wall to accommodate the rug. I guess I should have thought of that when designing it but I tried to make use of the full width of the linen without cutting it. The stuff is too expensive to waste. I hope it inspires a good night’s sleep for both of us!

It feels so good to get something off the UFO list that’s been there for so long. That was a biggie. Next!

Tomorrow I have a Dye Day with my last beginner spinning class. I’m all ready for them with yarns and rovings and dyes and notes. Whew! Bring ‘em on! We’ll make some rainbows together.

Back to The Rug

I actually spent most of the day still playing with my new TX but you don’t want to know about that, do you? Whatsa matter you — had enough high-tech mumbo-jumbo? OK, so I did do a little stitching on my hooked rug. I swear it almost takes as much time to do the binding as it did to hook the darn thing! I’ve finally finished the whipping with yarn around the outside and now I’m working on attaching the binding by hand over the hem. This last step gives a nice completed and neat edge underneath the rug. Since this rug is going on the wall with nail strips, it’s got to be good and strong, especially on the top edge. I had dyed the cotton twill tape with Procion MX dyes to (sort-of) match the green of the border. It was so long ago that I think it was before I decided to put the sky colour (blackish-brownish-bluish) on the very edge instead of the green. Not that it shows at all. Anyway here’s what my efforts looked like:

Notice my Japanese thimble. It’s plastic and leather and I like it much better than a metal one. The needle doesn’t slip as easily and my finger doesn’t get so hot and sweaty. I tightened this one up a little by running another thread through the holes where it’s tied and tied it tighter still. I have very small fingers! I don’t usually use a thimble unless I have to push hard on the needle. I don’t enjoy poking holes in the tip of my finger. I do find it takes a little while to get used to it every time. I keep wanting to use a different finger instead of the one with the thimble on it. It’s much more comfortable for this type of stitching than trying to do it barehanded however.

Steady Reader Susan (hi, hon’!) left a comment that she’s recently started to do bobbin lace. Of course my other Faithful Commenter, Melanie (hi, Nanamouse!) is a really wiz-bang lacemaker. Too bad you dears couldn’t get together on this, but you live too far away from each other! (You'll have to meet at my house some day.) It really is a lot of fun and I hope you’re enjoying lacemaking, Susan. It’s like weaving but with threads that can change places from warp to weft and back again, eh? They also don’t necessarily have to be perpendicular because you make the loom with the pins as you go along! I love to watch the different areas of cloth in the lace: plain weave (cloth stitch), triaxial/mad weave (half stitch), and leno weave (whole stitch) are merely the beginning. It gets more complicated from there, intriguing enough to keep dedicated people going forever it seems. I’ve enjoyed lacemaking myself in the past but I haven’t done any at all since I lost most of the feeling in my left forefinger 4 years ago. I just found it hard to pick up the bobbins, but I’m probably dexterous enough now that I’ve learned to live with my slight handicap. I was thinking for awhile there I’d have to learn to throw the bobbins palms-up European-style instead of plucking them gently English-style. Didn’t appeal to me much though. Maybe one of these days I’ll get back into it, though nothing too complicated — perhaps a little Torchon. Right now I’ve got enough things on my To-Do list to keep me very busy for several lifetimes.

Only A Bit Geeky!

Apologies to my loyal readers who are complaining about the high-tech talk in my last post. You might want to skip this one too, though I hope I’ve included some clarification this time. I’m really not that big of a geek — honest. I only know how to use things, not how they actually work! After all, I’ve had a computer since the early 1980’s. That’s almost 25 human years or 100 computer years. We started with a Commodore 64 in 1982. It didn’t even have a hard drive and only 64 kilobytes of memory in total, about enough today for one small picture or a couple of emails. My little Palm TX is many times more powerful! I could tell you some stories about the beginning of the Age of Cyberspace too, but I’ll spare you. Suffice it to say that I first got online with good old CompuServe in about 1994. Email addresses were long strings of numbers then instead of words and modems were very slow. Ah, the Olden Days! Give me my highspeed cable modem and my Pentium 4 computer, please! The biggest advantage I have over other people is my very computer-savvy husband. He can fix almost anything and if he can’t fix it, he knows pretty much exactly what’s wrong. He does it for a living though so sometimes it’s hard to get him to do it at home. See? It’s his fault. I caught a bit of geekiness from him.

With a perfectly good computer at home, why would I want a PDA you might ask? Well just for starters it’s a phone/address book, to-do list, several shopping lists, a knitting (or other) pattern book, a note pad, a clock, a calculator (with conversions), a calendar/datebook, a word processor and spreadsheet, several novels, a bunch of games, an MP3 music player, and a photo album. Plus it could (if I had the right cell phone and paid for the service) send and receive emails and surf the Internet. All this and much more in a device that’s only 5” x 3” x 1/2” big.

Sounds good but how do I use my Palm in Real Life though you might also ask? Some scenarios, all true. I’m in Chapters and I can’t remember if I have that issue of Handwoven magazine, so I look it up in my Palm. In the Fantasy/Sci-Fi department of the book store, I look in my Palm and see that I’m looking for the final book in a good series so I search on the shelves for the author’s name. I’m heading over to a friend’s house and can’t quite remember her street number so I look it up. I missed the bus and I don’t have my easy knitting with me so I play several games of Solitaire or Taipei while I’m waiting for the next one. I get to the grocery store and run down my shopping list, checking things off as I go. I’m at my birth mom’s and need to know the code for her to open the gate to get into the parking lot and the other code at the main door to get her to buzz it open. Neither code has anything to do with her phone number or her address and I’m lousy at remembering numbers. I’m ordering something online and want to use T-Man’s Amex for the purchase. He’s got the card at work so I look up the number in my Palm in a password protected file. I’m at a slide lecture and want to make notes in the dark. The screen is lighted so I can see what I’m writing. I’m eating lunch with DD at our favourite sushi restaurant and want to split the bill and figure the tip. (I’m lousy at math.) I’m at the flower show at VanDusen Gardens and want to make a note of the exact variety names of the interesting plants to look for at the nursery. I’m sitting in a boat while T-Man is fishing, knitting a complex lace scarf and need to check row 9 of the pattern.

OK, you get the picture! Remember I’ve had 6 years to get used to integrating a Palm into my life. Now I can imagine some new scenarios. Somebody wants to see a picture of my granddaughter for instance. My new Palm already has lots of them at different ages! I could even make a fancy Powerpoint presentation on my computer and put it in my Palm to bore people with. Ah, the new possibilities.

FYI, My Loyal Readers, WiFi is a wireless local area network system that you can access with the right hardware. You also need to be in a “hotspot” where there is a WiFi network running. There are starting to be more of these in public places like airports, cafes, and hotels or you can set up your own. (You can’t access a secured hotspot though without a special key code.) Using an open WiFi network you can access the Internet and send and receive email. A home system can let different computers talk to each other or a printer or other peripheral without wires. It’s not something I really need right now though. Especially when I would need a different ISP service and a new email address if I wanted to use it. Shaw is accessible through cable only — no dialup available. If I traveled more it might be worth it, but I’m pretty much a homebody.

Bluetooth is yet another wireless method of connecting devices. You can have an earphone that connects to your cell phone, a cordless phone that connects with its base, or have a Palm dial out through a cell phone and modem to access your email account. I can’t use this system either because of the same Shaw problem above and because my cell phone doesn’t have Bluetooth. However, Palm has a third wireless connection method with infrared which I can use. I can beam files from my Palm to T-Man’s Palm for instance. We already did that when I had a fun game on mine that he didn’t have. You have to be close together though so the narrow infrared beam can go straight. If I had an infrared-capable printer, I could send files to print. Mine isn’t though. See, I don’t have all the bells & whistles.

So maybe I’m a Lot Geeky. Who knew? I thought everybody knows this stuff since there’s a lot of people who know a heck of a lot more than I do. Enough tech-speak for today. We’ll see what subject I’m onto tomorrow. Time for some more high fibre content?

New Techno-Buddy

Pardon my gushing but I am now the proud owner of a new Palm TX! Yes, we did our homework and no, I didn’t get it at Future Shop but at Best Buy. They were nicer (the salespeople don’t work on commission) and the price was the same. This Palm is so much better than my old one! A colour screen makes a huge difference. Who knew? It’s like going from a monochrome monitor to a colour one. (Does anyone remember that far back? I do.) It’s got a huge screen and even rotates sideways if you like. TXs are only a few months old (Oct 05) so I’m not getting technology at the end of its cycle.

There are a few differences to the way it works but it’s not that far off what I’m used to so it feels quite comfortable. My old rug-hooked “Palm cosy” is a bit snug on it, but it’s better than getting it damaged in my backpack. Eventually I’ll likely make it a new cosy that fits better and doesn’t look quite so tatty. The only thing I don’t like about the TX is the so-called “cover”. It’s a flimsy fake suede thing that doesn’t even fit properly. An afterthought, I’d say. Luckily it doesn’t really need it though I’ll keep it on to protect the buttons on the front from getting pushed accidentally in my pack. Otherwise the Palm cosy itself needs a hard section over that area. A jock strap for PDAs! What an image.

What I do like about my TX (besides the colour — did I mention that?) is the ability to have the calendar, task list, and contact list sync with my MS Outlook on my computer instead of to the Palm desktop software. I could even sync email but that’s just a bit much for the memory in my case so I’ll keep that on the desktop. Syncing with Outlook saves me from having to enter everything in two different places. You can also put Word and Excel files, PDFs, photos and MP3s in the Palm. There’s a microphone jack so you don’t have to use the tinny little speaker. Unfortunately the sound files only go on the expansion card (which is my old teeny one) so I can’t get my podcasts on it because they’re too big. And iTunes rips files to a different format than MP3 so I’ll have to re-rip to the right format if I want to listen on my Palm.

The features that I probably won’t use (apart from email) are the WiFi and Bluetooth connections. For starters my USP is cable and doesn’t have a dialup entry. My mobile phone doesn’t have Bluetooth capabilities either. And I don’t really care apart from maybe looking something up on the Web occasionally when I’m away from home. I’m not away that often or for that long so that I can’t wait until I get home.

I found a program or two that doesn’t work properly with the upgraded OS but nothing I can’t live without. I have a bug or two to work out still. The sync cable is a bit flakey for one and works better if I plug it into my USB2 port and hold it carefully steady while it syncs. My old Palm had a solid cradle which held it comfortably so they cheaped out that way on this one. Ya wins some, ya loses some. OK I know everyone’s had enough of my new toy. Tomorrow we’re back to your regularly scheduled program. Or not. It’s up to me, now isn’t it? Right. Off to bed with me.

More Techno-Problems

Silly me managed to spill tea on my Palm cradle yesterday and now it doesn’t work. Luckily I have T-Man’s to substitute (we bought 2 Palms at the same time, but he rarely uses his) but I’m wondering if this is the sign I need to upgrade to a new Palm? One with a colour screen and more features. The T/X should do it for a mere $400 (give or take a penny or two). I just realized my old Palm M125 is 6 years old! That’s like Methuselah in computer-years. And I use it all the time — 99% more than I use my cell phone. (Did I mention I hate phones?) It has my schedule, phone numbers and addresses, lists of magazines and books (so I don’t duplicate), knitting patterns, calculator, important notes etc. The T/X can hold MP3s and podcasts and photos plus it will sync with my MS Outlook so I don’t have to keep 2 different schedules up-to-date. It hasn’t got a camera in it but that’s ok. It does have WiFi and Bluetooth which I probably won’t use. I don’t care if I can get my email in the cafe! If I didn’t feel so sinus-headachy at the moment (thanks to T-Man sharing his cold) I’d run out and get a new Palm right this second. Just saw an ad for one on sale at Future Shop.

Backing up a bit, yesterday we went to a real artists’ studio and picked up our new paintings for the kitchen. The artist is Judith Fairwood (plug, plug) and she’s The Ninja’s mother-in-law but we treated this like we were real paying customers instead of family. Actually we paid her more than she asked! As a new graduate from art school, this was her first commission so she underpriced herself, especially after the lovely framing job so all we have to do is hang them up. Here’s the picture she took in her studio:

Of course T-Man joked that maybe we should have discussed eggplants or tomatoes or something else instead of persimmons. We do love these though. It was so much fun to work with an artist and to get something that’s both hers and a little bit our own input. The paintings are done in acrylics on wooden boxes which fit into the wooden frames. The frames are also painted with acrylics to coordinate with the medium-dark oak furniture in our kitchen. Now I want more real art in my house. It’s so cool!

Since I'm feeling somewhat lousy today I haven’t done anything more on my rug, but I did cast on for the second tabi sock. The first one is partway down the leg and I don’t want it to get too far ahead of number two. I want to be sure to do both split toes at the same time so they come out the same. I’ve done mitten thumbs and glove fingers but never tabi sock toes before, so this will be a first. I'll reveal the whole scoop when the time comes.

Morning View

The waning moon in the west this morning when I got up. Yes, I get up early. (I go to bed early too.) It wasn’t quite as dark as this looks though. Doncha love all the gazillion wires going down my back alley? One of those is my cable for my highspeed modem. I do love my cable!

Whipping right along on my rug binding — I’m halfway down the second long side. My old body (well, maybe not-quite-so-old, just wimpy) is protesting the unusual arm movements so I’m slowing down even more. Meanwhile I’m working on The Ninja’s tabi socks and reading my email and blogs. And the T-Man is wearing his new socks to work today. They fit him abso-damn-lutely perfectly! I’m so good, I scare myself. Notice how I don’t mention the Other Pairs of socks that were started and got hung up? Obviously I’m attempting to avoid them. We won’t mention that Jay-thing today.

This afternoon we get to take possession of our new set of paintings for the kitchen that we commissioned from our daughter-in-law’s mom. She’s a really interesting painter who chooses ordinary subjects with a different perspective. Our set of 6 foot-square pictures are all about persimmons from a bunch of different angles. I’ll take a picture when they’re finally in place on our kitchen wall. That may not be until sometime on the weekend.

I hope I’m not starting to take this lovely sunshine for granted! Not after over a month of nothing but rain and gloom. It’s cold out today though with a wind, so I might not be sitting on the deck later when the sun comes around.

In the “You Probably Don’t Need To Know This” file: I’ve just used my fine Sharpie pen to redraw some of the letters that were wearing off my computer keyboard. This is a relatively young computer so I have no idea why the letters should wear off this soon. Maybe I use my computer more than most people? Nah. It’s a manufacturing flaw I tell you. I never managed to wear the letters off so much on my previous keyboards. (Spilling tea on them is another issue.) I’m not going to go complaining to HP though. It’s not like I ever really look at the keys or anything! Wonder how long Sharpie will last?

No Hedgehogs

Because they don’t make them in dark chocolate this time of year. Pooh. Only at Christmas, the bums. I did get a lovely red heart box with a selection of dark chocolates though. Poor guy, he had to choose between milk chocolate hedgehogs or dark chocolates. “Give her the hedgehogs or give her the dark chocolates but not the dark chocolate hedgehogs that I know she really wants because they don’t have any!” Not so tough. He would have won my heart anyway whichever he picked! Am I making it too easy for him? The box is already half empty. I shared.

Only a day late, but I’ll be giving him his new socks this afternoon. Currently they’re drying on the sunny but quite cool deck after their little finishing bath. Here’s the stats:

T-Man’s Socks

Begun: January 22, 2006
Completed: February 15, 2006
Yarn: 2 balls Sisu, 80% superwash wool/20% polyamide (nylon), Col 1480 Lot 3037, 3 plies really dark grey and 1 ply white, hand dyed in Lanaset/Telana dyes.
Needles: 2mm Clover Takumi dpns, 2 sets of 5.
Comments: Cast-on 68 stitches, 2/2 rib for 30 rows. Leg 6-1/4” more (9” total) before the slightly longer-than-usual flap heel (with one extra stitch picked up plus extra corner stitch for slightly higher instep). Foot 8-1/4” before toe decreases, decreased down to 24 sts. I used the “anti-ears” corner decreases to make 20 stitches total (10 top/10 bottom) before grafting toe. Finished foot is 10-1/2”. The bits of yarn in the picture are what was left over!

The “anti-ears” method is where you have your stitches ready to be grafted on their top and bottom needles, then you take each of the four outer stitches over the one next to it. This reduced the tip of the toe just enough to avoid that poking-out effect that can happen at the corners of the grafting.

If anybody is bothering to keep track of these things, I’ve completed a total of 13 pairs of socks in 2005 and 2 pairs so far in 2006. I was supposed to be starting a new class of sock knitters this evening but it’s been cancelled without enough students. I’ll be starting a new pair of socks anyway but they won’t have to be demo socks — they’ll be my first pair of tabi socks with a separate big toe for The Ninja. Plus I’m determined to finally finish the Jaywalkers that I started ages ago. They just aren’t “mindless” so I have to pay attention to them. Can't knit on them while reading or watching TV because I make too darned many mistakes.

On the rug front, I’m still whipping around the perimeter. I’ve discovered it takes more than half an hour to use up 2 yards of yarn. My shoulder is feeling stiff and my fingers are getting sore so I have to take it a little slower. I’ve turned my first corner this morning though. Second corner (sort side!) coming up. That makes me almost halfway around.

With T-Man sick this week, we didn’t get to babysit our granddaughter so we missed her latest trick. The news is she can finally walk on her own! Took her own sweet time on this, didn’t she? She’s 18 months old. Even her preemie dad was walking by 14 months. She just wasn’t willing to let go until she felt secure in her ability. It’ll be interesting to see how this trait carries on into her life, doncha think?

I Was Wrong

I didn’t need that last ball of yarn for T-Man’s socks! Duh. I was so proud of myself getting the same colour in the dyepot. I should have waited to dye it until I had run out of the original yarn. I had a whole 8 yards left! (Not much, but some.) Now I have an extra ball of this yarn that I don’t need. Oh well. I see “Monster Socks” in my future. These are made from whatever leftover sock yarns are kicking around. Gotta use up all those extra bits sometime. Pictures and stats for this current pair tomorrow after I graft the toes. I must be fresh for that operation!

I finished the hooking on my Dreams rug and am now in the throes of stitching the binding. This is actually a complex and time-consuming process but it really makes a difference in how professional the rug looks and I’m sure it contributes to its longevity. First I machine-stitched 2 rows of straight stitching around the edges, with the first row 1/4” from the last row of hooking and the second row 1/4” from the first. Then I went over those 2 rows again with wide zigzags. This stitching stabilizes the edge. Next I folded the linen fabric toward the back of the rug over a cord and basted it all in place. The corners are neatly mitered. The next step — which is the one I’m currently working on — is to use a doubled length of wool yarn to whip over the cording through the backing to cover up the linen completely. I used one strand of black and one of navy blue together to mimic the night sky background in the rug. The wool yarn I’m using is Quebécoise, a Canadian-made 2 ply 100% wool. It takes a lot of stitching to go around the rug. About 1 foot of doubled yarn only goes about 1” along the edge! Obviously, when you’re done hooking, you’re not done the rug yet.



Next I will need to stitch the wide cotton binding strip on over the remaining linen backing. This finishes off the back really nicely. Lastly, I need to put a label on. I didn’t do that on my first rug, Leaves, that I did four years ago. Maybe I’ll make 2 labels when I do this one. Back to stitching.

Happy Valentine’s Day to those who don’t think this is a holiday that's just a huge Hallmark grab at your pocketbook and calculated to make singles feel bad about themselves. We don't go over the top with this Valentine thing, but since I’ve had the same sweetheart since I was 17, I make sure to tell him how much I love and appreciate him as often as possible. [Cue the cupids and the violins.] But I believe that Valentine’s Day isn’t just for sweethearts but truly for anybody you care about. [Cue the floaty hearts and the sparkles.] However, I’m hoping for Purdy’s Dark Chocolate Hedgehogs. He’s not home yet so there’s still a chance.

Dye Success

I’ve been knitting away (in between rug hooking sessions) on T-Man’s latest pair of socks. I’m using Sandnesgarn’s Sisu (80% superwash wool/20% polyamide nylon) and I forgot that it has less yardage than my usual Confetti sock yarn. It’s only 160 m in a 50 g ball so 2 balls is not enough for a large pair of socks. Ok for me maybe, but not for T-Man. So I bought another ball (well 4 balls actually) of this:

It has 3 plies of very dark grey and one of natural white. I call that a ragg wool especially when it’s in natural sheepy colours. I wound one ball into a skein and popped it into a little dyepot to come out looking like this:

To match this perfectly:

Luckily, since I couldn’t remember exactly how much Lanaset/Telana dye I’d used for the first two balls, I just went with my instincts and it worked! I have to admit that I cheated slightly by having the red and black dyes already mixed up due to a long-ago error in volume. (Those evil decimal points just want to trick you sometimes!) So I didn’t have to measure minute amounts of different dye powders, just a single quarter teaspoon. Oh, and the other 3 balls? They will stay undyed and become the tabi socks for the Ninja.

Our Spectrum dye study group had a lovely day yesterday eating and chatting. We didn’t get a lot of monoprinting and stamping done but what was accomplished was really nice. I just worked on my rug though. I didn’t bring any fabrics to stamp on, naughty me. It’s not like I can’t do that at home. I have all the stuff and the workspace if I suddenly get the urge. It's the eating and socializing that counts!

It’s not so sunny today. T-Man has a cold so we cancelled our outing for today. We were going to take his mom out for a walk on the river seawall and to late lunch/early dinner at the Westminster Quay, but it’s been postponed until he feels better. Didn’t want to pass germs onto his mom. Hopefully my immune system is up to the task of escaping this one. But you never know. Meanwhile I don’t get my fish and chips! Darn, I had my heart set on all that greasy goodness and now I have to cook something healthy instead.

Second Sunny Day!

I’m so impressed — two sunny days in a row. It’s amazing! Yes, we are very tired of rain around here though the ducks are very happy. I put an extra blankie on the bed last night and slept like the ol’ proverbial log. So here’s where I spent half my day yesterday and several hours today:

And this is how far I got:

And now I have to cut some more strips with my trusty Bliss:

Good thing I dyed extra fabric after I realized that I was going to run out of green. Now I have way too much but that’s ok. Who knows — I may have trees or grass or something in my next rug. Just in case you were wondering why this particular rug (wall hanging, actually) has this particular colour palette, I have to admit that my bedroom walls are dark green and the floor is kind of brick red (cheap vinyl flooring). The dresser and the shelves are red cherrywood-coloured (not real cherry though). It’s not as dark in here as you might think because the ceiling, door, and window frames plus the handwoven curtains are white. Red and green tend to be a theme in my house, at least on the main floor, but it’s not at all Christmasy due to the particular shades of red and green that I like. Think bricks/chili powder/red sandstone and fir/hemlock forest with some turmeric/gold and a smidge of lighter dusty green. So you can see the reds, golds and the green in the rug, along with the slightly dingy white of a lot of my house trim. The sky in the rug is completely off the colour scheme, however the blue-violet (as I’ve discussed in past blog posts) is present up here in my study/studio area and outside on my house doors. Since I dyed all the colours in this rug myself, I got to use my favourites! I love the uneven look of mixing different mottled strips together. It gives life to wide boring areas like the sky and the border. And the blue-violet (I almost typed blue-violent, which it is!) is the hint of “poison” or spark that punches it up. That particular dye is Lanaset (or Telana) Violet and it’s just brilliant. The fabric is pure wool flannel from my mail-order supplier Highland Heart Hookery in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Anne has the best price for natural wool at $25 a yard for 3 or more yards. That sounds pricey but this is Dorr wool which is kind of the Rolls Royce of wool fabrics for hooking. Another supplier I’ve purchased from who’s closer to home is Sage House in Chemainus, BC. I’m happy that good Canadian resources exist (even though most of them are in the east) since rug hooking is similarly popular on both sides of the border.

Tomorrow is the monthly meeting of my dye/surface design study group known as Spectrum. I need to make a potluck dish because we likes our lunches! We’re supposed to be doing some more monoprinting and rubber stamping but I wonder if they would mind if I brought my hooking? Maybe I’ll bring both just in case I feel inspired to play along for awhile but then feel uninspired. Sometimes I can be a bit of a rebel. Must be my Scorpio sun sign or something.

Sunny But Colder

Well it’s gorgeous and sunny today but of course because it’s clear, it’s also colder this morning. Thank goodness for a warm husband to snuggle up to, at least until he got up at 5:15am to get ready for work. See the frost on my front lawn? That’s the first frost I’ve seen in months because it’s hard for frost to form when the front lawn is under water from all the rain we’ve had. Sure nice to see the sun for more than a few minutes at a time before the next deluge. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of locals who won’t be needing their anti-depression meds today. People who live where there’s snow have no idea how dark it gets when there’s nothing to reflect what little light we get in winter except the puddles! And it’s supposed to warm up somewhat later. Maybe I’ll actually get to sit out on my deck this afternoon?

Still plugging away on the rug. Now that I’ve started, I can’t stop! I want to complete this soon. I want to check it off my UFO list. (Though I keep adding more things, so the list never gets any shorter!) I’m heading toward the bottom right-hand corner and wishing I had a proper hooking frame with gripper strips. The hoop just doesn’t keep it properly taught with such a small area to hold onto. I’m ending up working on the corner with the backing loose. Maybe I’ll try the Nova Scotia method of wrapping the rug around my thigh to give my hook something to pull against. And yes, Mel, I do need an auger! Hence the honking big Hartman hook. The linen was supposed to be “primitive” weave but I think it would be somewhat easier with a #6 cut. I’m skipping a lot of threads to keep it from being too tightly packed which makes bubbles in my flat rug. When I started this rug I didn’t have a #6 cutter head for my Bliss, but now I have one, plus a #4. (I doubt I will ever go skinnier than #4.) I’m just not experienced enough as a rug hooker to get the finer points sometimes though. Like I’ve said before: rug hooking is easy to get started but takes time to master. Your Damselfly is just a dilettante.

Speaking of "dilettante" — I got this book a few weeks ago. I had a flirtation with making books a year or so ago. Books made from paper. Books that somehow I can never write in. Pam Sussman's book shows how to make art books from cloth, like teeny little book-shaped quilts. I still have a weird aversion to making "art" pages, but I'm seeing some more practical uses for these techniques. And maybe if I worked with fabric for awhile I might be able to learn to make book pages that serve no practical purpose except to just be. Or go back to working with paper. Fabric is so much more forgiving and looks better when it's funky and imperfect. Plus I have an awful lot of fabric swatches that I've been creating with my Spectrum study group: monoprinting, dyeing, rubber stamping, shibori (tie-dye), katazome (resist paste), etc. Maybe they would look better if they were cut up and reassembled into something? Plus lots more embellishments added. I want to learn to Free Motion Stitch with my machine. I want to learn Coptic Stitch to attach signatures together. I want to loosen up and layer and collage and paint over and stitch on top. I need to just start.

On A Roll

I was so pleased with how much rug hooking I got done yesterday that I did a bit more today. I’m trying not to overdo it or I will pay later when I’m trying to sleep with the aches and pains. My loyal reader and dear pal Melanie, has left me some ideas for how to hang this rug when it’s done in my comments:

You can run dowelling through binding twill at the back and either hang it like a picture or have wall brackets and hang it like a curtain with finials on the ends of the dowel.

I like the second option. That might work ok. We’ll discuss it more when the time comes. Also Mel mentioned about using a pencil-type hook. No can do, hon’! I love my big ol’ primitive hook. (It’s a Hartman for those who care about such things.) It fits in my hand comfortably and makes the hole nice and big for my loops. Remember, I’m using an 8-cut (which is 1/4” to those who don’t speak hooker-ese). Not skinny little 3 or 4-cuts. Ya need some power to get these suckers through the linen backing! However, apart from needing a little neck massage, I’m not in too bad shape today considering I did about 3 hours of hooking yesterday. It’ll be less than that today though! Sorry no pictures yet.

The sun is out and it’s windy. Feeling definitely spring-like out there. So I cleaned my oven! Maybe I’ll go for a walk when T-Man gets home. Who knows when the sun will shine again?

Tuesday Is Hooking Day

Yep, that’s what I did today. I hooked a section of my Dreams rug. I’m so proud of myself! I replaced the L with a more subtle colour than white (gold!) and then I hooked around the words until I needed to cut some more green strips. Then I cut a bunch of strips. Then I realized that I’d better not hook any more right away or I won’t be able to do it tomorrow! It does take some wrist strength and it’s a movement I haven’t done in quite awhile. Like the crochet. Actually very like the crochet which is probably why I’m feeling it. It doesn’t actually hurt — but I’m starting to feel some strain in my forearms, wrists, and fingers. Also my ever-uncomfortable neck. I’ve always got to be aware of my neck where the pinched nerve is. I don’t need to lose the feeling in any more fingers, thank you very much. One is more than enough.

I had an interesting experience today and I forgot to take a blog picture. Duh! A gentleman brought over a very old briefcase charkha. This is a spinning wheel for cotton with a spindle instead of a flyer and 2 accelerating wheels so that it has a very high ratio. It folds up in a wooden case. I have a book charkha myself, not so old but also from India. Harvey said that he had spent quite a bit of time in India and this charkha came from Gandhi’s ashram and may actually have been used by him! It was missing some pieces but I was able to get it to spin. There were some cotton punis tucked into their own little compartment in the briefcase. Though I didn’t want to take off the ancient cotton that was already on the single spindle to actually spin on it and I could have used my own cotton roving. It was actually quite exciting and I could tell that Harvey was moved to see that the wheel would actually turn and could conceivably produce cotton thread again. Score one for Damselfly — I’m one of the few spinners around who actually enjoys spinning cotton! At least enough to know how a charkha works!

OK, you’ve got to check this out! Scroll down to the bottom of the page. This is Jonathan Bosworth. I’ve never thought of playing a book charkha like a musical instrument! This is so cool. Jonathan makes the most wonderful charkhas in the world. His attaché charkha is the only other spinning wheel that I’d really like to own. I’ve spun on one and it’s a dream! Maybe one day. His spindles are really nice too though I think the shafts are too short. Just me.

All The Fibres All The Time

As you may have noticed, here in Damselfly’s Pond I indulge in many different fibre arts. I flit around. I can’t help myself. I’ve been encouraged to get back to something I haven’t touched in way too long. It all started when yesterday we had a lovely walk on the seawall with about a zillion other people who couldn’t stand to see the sun for the first time in weeks without being out in it.



Then we stopped in at the Silk Purse, the West Vancouver Community Arts Council studio gallery, for the rug hookers’ exhibit. The old house that was donated by the original owners to become the Silk Purse is right on the water in an area where the seawall doesn’t extend through, so you have to walk down the road right by it. It has a studio space and a little gallery area and a deck that’s only feet from the beach. The exhibit’s theme was “Tea and the Art of Hooked Rugs” though not every piece had the theme in mind. There were some spectacular pieces, including a couple that had been published in Rug Hooking magazine publications. There were also some fun pieces including a hooked “cake” and of course a tea cozy. We were just in time to enjoy some Murchie’s tea and coffee and some delicious goodies while we perused the exhibit and chatted with the hookers. (No, not THAT kind of hooker — these ladies are textile artists and many of them are my close friends!) Even T-Man enjoyed a lovely time.

Of course, seeing all those hookers hard at work inspired me to get back to work on my “Dream” piece that’s been languishing for quite some time. This is what it looks like at the moment.



See, it’s almost done! This is going to go on the wall behind our bed which has no headboard. It’s supposed to inspire sweet dreams, get it? I’m not quite sure how to mount it securely but I know the T-Man will figure something out. Now that I’ve got a picture of it to look at, I’m rethinking the upper left-hand corner with my L in it. I think it’s too obvious. Luckily hooking is really easy to pull out. Almost as easy as frogging knitting! Notice the comet? That’s my old buddy Hale-Bopp. I loved that comet! And we often get the moon shining in the high window over our bed. Just last night there was a half-moon smiling in as we went to bed. And of course the stars. The words come from an old Beatles song. Uh-oh, I just realized I got the “me” and “you” reversed. It’s staying that way. I’m going to have to change the date in the corner though. Ought-Three now needs to be Ought-Six. See how long it’s been waiting, poor thing? Will. Finish. It. Soon.

For those who haven’t tried it, rug hooking is really simple to get started but there’s enough to it to keep your interest for a lifetime. All you really need is a backing fabric (burlap or linen are standard), some wool fabric (or yarn) strips, and a hook. It helps if you have a frame or quilting hoop to support the work but there are plenty of hookers who don’t use one at all. I’ve been using a simple hoop with no stand and haven’t yet sprung for a nicer frame, but I might one of these days. I did buy a Bliss cutter to simplify cutting even strips. I’m pretty sure that cutting many strips using an Olfa cutter and mat was the reason my pinched nerve happened 4 years ago. Too much pressing down with my left hand so that the ruler wouldn’t slip.

Coming from a fibre point of view, I find some of the hooking conventions just a bit odd. Such as dyeing using teeny tiny measuring spoons (down to 1/128th of a teaspoon!) and recipes using a huge range of pre-mixed colours to dye “swatches” which are little pieces of wool fabric, usually in graduated shades. An other alternative is to haunt flea markets and thrift stores for wool skirts and jackets that can be recycled. I haven’t yet found anything that’s 100% suitable wool — it doesn’t get cold enough here and people want clothes they can machine wash. I bet the hunting is better in the colder parts of North America! Rug hookers can take classes from certified “McGowan” teachers who can help choosing the right colours for a particular rug pattern. Many of these patterns were designed by professional or semi-professional designers, past and present. Me being the rebel Damselfly that I am, draw my own pictures and use my skills developed from decades of dyeing yarns and fibres to dye most of my wools without any recipes. Of course, my hooking style is a funky bright modern wide-cut with maybe some minimal shading which is somewhat at odds with either the traditional “primitive” style or the “shaded” style in narrow thread-like wool strips. The latter are much like paintings and so detailed! Of course there are many other types of rugs in between these two extremes and lots of people have a distinctive style of their own. Rugs can be practical on-the-floor or hanging-on-the-wall art or it can even be 3-dimensional such as the afore-mentioned tea cozy and cake, or a foot stool, holiday figure, or purse. See what I mean? Simple — but not. I already have lots of other hooking ideas to try.

The Ruffly Scarf

Well here’s the finished item. Finally managed to get a picture even though we still needed the flash outdoors! Pay no attention to that double chin, eh? At least it’s not a triple chin, like it used to be before I lost some weight.

Ruffly Scarf

Started: February 1, 2006
Finished: February 3, 2006
Yarn: handspun 2-ply sport-weight from Aurelia rovings, one ply each of Boysenberry Glitter and Tamarillo. Took almost one full Louet bobbin.
Crochet hook: Clover size F – 4 mm.
Pattern: “Ruffle Scarf” free on-line pattern from Caron here.

Revised Pattern:
Ch 220.
Row 1 – Turn, ch 1. Sc in each ch across.
Row 2 – Turn, ch 2. 2 dc in each sc across.
Row 3 – Turn, ch 2. [2 dc in next dc, 1 dc in next dc.] Repeat across.
Row 4 – Turn, ch 2. [2 dc in next 2 dc’s, 1 dc in next dc.] Repeat across.
Row 5 – Turn, ch 2. Repeat row 4.
Row 6 – Turn, ch 2. Repeat row 3.
End off yarn. Bury ends.

Comments: This scarf went pretty quickly even though each row got longer and longer. Because my handspun was significantly finer than the called for yarn, I more than doubled the length of the initial chain. I also used a finer but probably heavier by weight yarn. (Handspun is often more dense than commercial yarn.) I added an extra row to make it wide enough. I love the effect of the curly ruffles. Now I have a set that looks great with my burgundy fleece jacket.

I have discovered that although I hold my yarn the same way for both knitting and crochet, crochet uses different muscles. My shoulders are feeling the effects of this last week’s marathon sessions with a hook. I’m going back to knitting socks for a bit. Just for the rest and the chance to catch up on my blog reading. I still want to make some felted crochet balls for The Sprout. But I need a break first.

Well, it seems as if the podcasters do have some little electronic birdie that tells them when somebody mentions them! This time I got a comment from DG, highly polished and competent hostess of CraftyPod. Hi, hon’! I haven’t had a chance to listen to more of your episodes, but I will very soon. Even if I’m not much interested in decoupage you did a great job of describing how to do it. Most impressive. Can’t wait to see what else you’ve got to talk about.

So I can see that big light in the sky is turned on today. We’re off to go for a walk on the north shore seawall and then to a gallery to see an exhibit of rug hooking — plus my favourite tea company is offering the liquid refreshments! More later.

More About Podcasts

Wow! I got a comment on my last post from Rhonda of the Knitting News Cast! How great is that? (Does she have instant radar that tells her somebody is talking about her?) Rhonda, hon’, I hope you didn’t take my gentle criticism too badly. I know everybody is new to this medium and I sure know that I can’t talk into a microphone to save my life! (Putting a microphone in front of me is the only one sure way to shut me up.) However, I have a slight hearing difficulty (tinnitus) which means that an even volume and clear diction are important to me. Otherwise I tend to stop listening as my attention wanders. (The interviews that Marie did at Ally Pally were hard for me because of all the background noise.) Plus I have weird…er, non-mainstream taste in music. (Think bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, fiddles, and lyrics in languages I don’t necessarily understand.) I’m also still running behind on episodes of all my favourite podcasts so I’ve been missing stuff. (I will catch up soon.) But I do know everybody has improved in the last while. It seems like it must be a steep learning curve, even for those with a background in broadcasting. You also need a background in using computer software.

Now that I’ve listened to About Time, I can speak with some confidence. Whit Larson’s podcast is great! (Yes, she’s a she. It's short for Whitney.) It was a bit disconcerting to start with one that was talking about Things Christmasy, but the next two are really good. Because the interviews are done over the telephone the volume is a bit spotty but it’s surprisingly clear. She includes a Pod Purl in each episode and the Robert Service poem in Episode 2 gave me a lump in my throat. Made me wonder why pretty much all I remember about him was “The Shooting of Dan McGrew.” I give this one a thumbs-up. Oh wait. Damselflies don’t have thumbs.

Obviously I’ve been out there hunting down podcasts to listen to. Another one I just found, although it’s not new, is CraftyPod. I know why I missed it before — it’s listed under Architecture in the iTunes store. Sheesh! She needs to get that fixed! Sister Diane is very professional, though I find the musical breaks a little annoying (but that’s just me). Mercifully they’re brief. I’m not a big fan of the words “crafting” or “crafters” but I guess it’s less intimidating to regular folks than “art” or “artist” since most people think you have to be Vincent “One Ear” van Gogh or Salvador “Cockeyed” Dali to be an artist. Not so, my friends! “Artist” is in your mind and your heart, not somebody else’s. Sister D even speaks in her first podcast about the fact that everyone should make things. Just do it. It’ll make you happy.

Another podcast that I listened to for a few episodes is Annie Smith: Quilting Stash. There are lots and lots of episodes but I’m not really a quilter (clothing and art quilts once in awhile maybe, but not regular bed quilts). Her focus is appliqué and that is sooo not-me. It seems quite good though if you’re into that kind of thing. There are other quilting podcasts as well.

OK, so who’s going to step up to the plate and do a beading podcast? Or a weaving one? Podcasting is such a new thing that there is plenty of opportunity for those would-be broadcasters with a niche focus to get out there and do it! Nope, it’s not going to be me. I like to type my thoughts. Told you about my little microphone problem, didn’t I?

So what have I been doing whilst listening to merrily podcasts? (Love that word “whilst”. It’s so British.) I’ve been crocheting up a storm on my latest project, the Ruffle Scarf. I used this free pattern, but because my handspun yarn is finer than that called for I had to more than double the number of stitches I started with. I also added another row of dc’s to make it a bit wider. I’ll post the full pattern tomorrow when I’m done and can get a photo. It’s quite heavy in comparison to a knitted or woven scarf but I love the corkscrewiness of this one. It was much easier to make than a pattern I saw for a knitted version. All that shortrowing and turning...ick. Hopefully I’ll still have some colder weather left to wear it in. Although it is starting to look more like spring around here all the time. Yes, the rain stays the same. But my snowdrops are almost out! See?

I’d show you my purple primroses but they’re so pathetically slug-munched that it’s too sad. I’m going to have to start thinking about my veggie garden and planting seeds in my indoor seed-starting area (a counter with grow-lights in the basement) soon. Flats of teeny little green things just fill me with maternal pride and joy.

P.S. The theme for this post is (Words Wearing Braces)! I seem to be full of asides today.

I Can't _fill-in-the-blank_ & Crochet At The Same Time

I can knit socks while reading my email or watching TV. (We won’t count the occasional boo-boos from the minimal and fitful lighting.) But I can’t crochet and do anything else. Which is a real drag because this ruffled scarf is a lot of crochet! And now I’m way behind on my blog-reading. So I’m back to sock knitting while I catch up. No crochet getting done. Later I’m going to try listening to podcasts and crocheting. I think I can manage that at least. I’m almost caught up on my podcast listening though so that may not last very long. And I’m totally sick of listening to the radio, even if the federal election is over and there’s not quite so much politics being discussed.

As for blogs, I’ve discovered a not-so-new one that I haven’t explored before. Mason-Dixon Knitting is two friends in different parts of the US who alternate on their common blog. They are as funny as Yarn Harlot! Didn’t think that was possible. I’m going backwards in the archives. So far I’m reading October 2005. This leaves me with feelings of inadequacy. I can be Amusing occasionally but I know I can’t be Funny. I guess I’ll have to settle for Possibly Interesting To Some.

And as for podcasts, there are a couple of good knitting ones and a fibre one. I’m sure there are others on esoteric subjects like politics and pop culture, but I tend to stick with the ones I can understand. Podcasts are like audio-blogs and are just as personal. Note that I don’t even have an iPod. I do however have iTunes which is pretty much the gold standard for fetching and playing your podcasts. Of course that means I’m stuck in the Study where I can hear my computer’s speakers.

The first one I discovered was KnitCast. Host Marie Irshad is Welsh and her style is to interview people of interest to knitters. This has included folks like Annie Modesitt, Debbie Bliss, and the Yarn Harlot herself, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee — among other notables. Marie is very good at making people feel comfortable and for asking those questions you would have asked yourself if you had the same opportunity. Her lovely diction is pleasant to listen to as well.

Then we have the “other” podcaster in Wales, Brenda Dayne with Cast On. Brenda is a transplanted American so it’s not exactly like there are two Welsh knitting podcasts. Not quite. Her style is completely different and she blends “podsafe” music (most of it quite listenable even for me) with monologues about the sweater she’s wearing and other knitterly (and non-knitterly) topics.

There’s Knitting News Cast with Rhonda Bell from Austin, Texas. Luckily she’s originally from somewhere else in the US so I don’t have to translate from “Y’all”. She does a lot of reviews of yarns, patterns, books, blogs, and the like. She’s pretty new at this (only up to Episode 5) so the quality is a little uneven. But she’s trying and learning. I like that all the knitting podcasts focus on different things so I don’t feel like I’ve heard it all before.

Lastly there’s FiberCast. Hosted by yet another American, Caroline. (Of course! Don’t they run the world? Just joking! Maybe.) This podcast is a little different in that Caroline is more interested in other fibre techniques as well as knitting. This includes spinning, cross stitch and quilting with the emphasis on spinning. She is even more new at this than Rhonda but working on it. That’s the beauty of podcasts: they aren’t like polished radio broadcasts. They’re real people talking about things that interest them because they want to. They aren’t paid. It takes a lot of their personal time. They’re doing it because it’s fun for them. And luckily it’s fun for us too. Give a listen for yourself. All you need is something that will play MP3s.

Late-breaking news! I just discovered another podcast: About Time. I can’t review it because I haven’t listened yet. I’m still downloading the first 3 episodes. And there’s one that I don’t listen to. It’s called Secret Knitting and the host is Daniela in Germany. She reads out patterns and you knit and then find out what it is you’re making! Definitely a secret. This unfortunately doesn’t appeal to me though it’s a great gimmick.

Off to listen to podcasts and get some crochet done.

Flaps Hat Finished

Well that was fast! I knew crochet was faster than knitting especially for me, but this worked up very quickly. It’s nice and warm and I’m really happy with this hat. No more labyrinthitis now!


Flaps Hat

Started: January 31, 2006
Finished: February 1, 2006
Yarn: handspun 2-ply sport-weight from Aurelia rovings, one ply each of Boysenberry Glitter and Tamarillo, used double throughout.
Crochet hook: Susan Bates aluminum size K – 10.5, Clover size F – 4 mm.
Pattern: “Fun Loving Flaps Cap” by Alexandra Lockhart from Crochet Fantasy, Winter 2005 issue.

Comments: The yarn was a bit thinner than that called for so I added a stitch at the very beginning of the pattern, which automatically added another one somewhere in the succeeding rows of increases. I started this hat three times because it looked funny the first time, then I added too many extra stitches and it still didn’t look right. The last time worked fine though I’m not totally sure what I did! It also took another round before the cap was the recommended 8” from the beginning. The only difference with the flaps was that instead of 6 stitches between flaps there are 7 and it’s quite tight enough that way. Instead of pom-poms I added crocheted balls stuffed with brown wool. It’s lovely and warm on my ears! Yes, the point at the top is deliberate.

Ball Pattern:
Use smaller hook and doubled yarn.
Round 1 – Using the slip knot method, ch 1 and 4 scs in round. Sl st into top of ch. Pull round tight. 5 sts.
Round 2 – Ch 1, 2 scs in each st around. Sl st into ch. 10 sts.
Round 3 – Ch 1, [1 sc in first st, 2 sc in next st] rep around. Sl st into ch. 15 sts.
Round 4 & 5 – Ch 1, 1 sc in each st around. Sl st into ch. 15 sts.
Round 6 – Ch 1, [1 sc in first st, dec sc in next 2 st] rep around. Sl st into ch. 10 sts.
Stuff ball very tightly with teased wool or stuffing.
Round 7 – Ch 1, dec sc in each st around. Sl st into ch. 5 sts.
End off yarn. Thread on yarn needle and draw up last 5 sts. Stitch to tie securely. Bury ends.


Next, I’ve started on the ruffled scarf that’s going to be the last item with this yarn. They’ll all go together but they don’t really have any common theme except the yarn itself: fingerless mitts (knitted in lace and ribbing), hat (crocheted in mostly hdc stitches with doubled yarn), and scarf (will be crocheted mostly in dc with just one yarn). It might take me another couple of days to finish the scarf since there’s a lot more crocheting involved than there was with the hat.

I have to mention the interesting event I saw today while walking home from the grocery store. I watched a flock of English starlings land on a lawn in front of a house and they started pecking at the bugs in the grass. Suddenly they scattered in alarm and I looked up in time to see a Cooper’s hawk fly through the midst of them and continue on to a tree branch further down the block. Needless to say, the birds all took off in the opposite direction! You don’t see that many hawks in the city, but I’ve seen this one (or one just like it) before when it sat on my back fence for half an hour one winter day a few years ago. Waiting for an unsuspecting bird to come close enough while it’s being distracted at my bird feeder. I often wonder how many people miss the wonderful nature moments that happen all the time, even in the city. You’ve just gotta pay attention.