The weather improved and I was feeling up to walking on Wednesday which I’m sure did me good to get some exercise. I was only a little wobbly and didn’t hold on to T-Man much at all. We saw another partial rainbow over downtown, looking like it had been ripped off the earlier one and planted a few kilometers west. Sorry I didn’t get a pic. It was pretty but I’m not sure how many shoppers noticed it. We seemed to be the only ones standing on the corner of Broadway & Granville ogling in that direction anyhow. Everyone else was rushing around, some with big bags of Christmas shopping and some with cell phones clutched to their ears. Missing a special sight that doesn’t happen every day. Poor things.
Speaking of celestial phenomena, I’m hoping the comet Holmes is visible again now that it’s clear and the moonlight isn’t obscuring it. It might be too far away or faded too much to see with our puny little binoculars. I’ll let you know if we see it tonight or if it’s too late. I’m really surprised that I didn’t hear much about this comet in the media. If we hadn’t been in the right place at the right time (local small observatory on a clear night right after it blew up near the end of October!) we would never have known about it. I love my Universe! It’s just so amazing.
Still not finished the Pink Froth socks though I’m nearly up to the toes on them. I spent some time knitting on the back of the Hepburn Cardi that I cast on yesterday. It’s sure a lot easier than the sleeves! 147 stitches straight up to the underarm decreases. I always forget how large sleeves are in relationship to the other garment pieces. It seems like they should be smaller but they’re nearly the same size as a front half. Which means that I’m about 30% done. The sleeves weigh 125 g (nearly 4.5 oz) which means that I have plenty of yarn to finish. Whew! I started with a one pound cone and about a third of another one. It’s very “vintage” wool and I can’t get any more so I was sure hoping there was enough there. I’m definitely feeling more confident in my calculations now.
I’ve been spinning on the madder-dyed wool and I think I’ll have 4 skeins of it when I get done. That should be enough even if I’m going to do sleeves on this sweater instead of a vest. I’ll know more when I get a yardage count as I wind it into skeins for washing and setting the twist. The second batch of wool is much more matted than the first and I probably should re-card it but it’s not too bad if I just strip it into 4 sections and pre-draft. I have to pull it sideways first before it will pull lengthwise but at least it’s not a total loss. A bit “textured” however as I spin it up. No biggie. It looks more handspun than my usual yarn, which is hardly a crime. I’m not trying to win any blue ribbons anyway.
Tomorrow is Spectrum Day. (Hmm...that rainbow theme again.) This time we’re foregoing our continuing felting study for a paper session. We’ll be making a paper and cloth keeper for needles and thread and patterns based on a Miao Chinese design from a class one of us took at the Maiwa Symposium recently. It’s kind of an ingenious “book” using folded paper to make pockets to hold items and then it’s covered in fabric (traditionally, shiny dark indigo-dyed) and fastened with a braided tie. I actually don’t have much use for this item since I don’t do embroidery hardly ever, but it might be a nice gift for someone I know who does cross-stitch.
Meanwhile the sun shining in the windows reminds me how much cleaning I haven’t done around here lately. Oh well. “Clean enough to be healthy, messy enough to be comfortable.” That’s my motto. If you know anyone with a spotless house, they either have a maid or they need to get a life. Back to spinning instead.
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