Waving Goodbye to 2013

Eastern Shore of Lake Superior

It was a very interesting year in many ways. As I mentioned last post, it was the first full year with Thom retired and we’re still shifting into a New Normal. Yes, I’m going to use his real name finally! After 8.5 years of T-Man or just T, I think it’s time that he be allowed to show his true colours. Or something like that. Heh! I’ve given up being coy, though I think I’ll still use the nicknames for my grandbeasties. They are yet too young to give their permission to be “out there” on the interwebs. Adult persons are fair game though. Heh.

I definitely learned a few things this year. Or let’s just say that my suspicions were confirmed – there’s a LOT of land between the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans! Places I’ve only heard about all my life now have actual mental pictures to go with them. Often they weren’t quite what I had imagined. The prairies aren’t really as flat as you’d think but there’s an incredible amount of grain (and other things) growing there. Manitoba has great lakes too that look as big as the ones they actually call the Great Lakes. Late summer in southern Ontario is horrible! Heat, humidity and bugs – blech. Niagara Falls is spectacular. And loud! But not as high as I would have thought. Forests of mostly hardwoods look very different from our usual conifers and there are many trees and shrubs in the east that I don’t recognise at all. For some reason that makes me uncomfortable. Weird, I know. New Hampshire and Vermont have a lot of those unidentifiable trees but not a lot of people. There is a ridiculous amount of trucks on the freeways in Michigan and Illinois. There is a ridiculous amount of corn and soy growing in Minnesota. South Dakota’s Badlands may be “bad” but they are very beautiful. Watching geysers blow never gets old and being kissed by one is hot. I still trust old-fashioned maps over GPS and Google Earth. In the end we couldn’t see everything, go everywhere or do everything we would have liked but it was still the trip of a lifetime. And the biggest lesson I learned from The Great Cross-Continental Trek is that there really is no place like home! Of course I kind of suspected that before we started.

After that amazing adventure we aren’t sure where we’ll travel this year. Our poor VW Westphalia, who is turning 25 years old this coming year, needs some TLC before we go anywhere again. She’s got a bad whine in the transmission now though it’s not actually broken. Yet. A bearing perhaps? And the gas tank needs to be replaced. We already have the part ready to go in. It was leaking just below the filler cap the whole time we were away which meant that Thom couldn’t fill the tank up to the very top or we smelled gas for the next several hours. Dangerous! The good news is that he finally fixed the speedometer which broke partway through the trip and incidentally also fixed the odometer which has been broken for years. Yay. Now we’ll find out how far we go in future. A bit late for the big one though. We only guessed at the 14,000 kilometres – it was probably more than that all told.

But I digress. I’ve already talked about my makes for this year in the last post. For 2014 I’d like to carry on making garments that work for my lifestyle. At the same time I need to clear out or refashion anything that doesn’t work. I know I keep saying that but this time I’m serious. Really serious. I’m tired of fishing though stacks of worn-out or ill-fitting items to find something better. You have no idea how old some of this stuff is! Wishful thinking is not going to improve them in any way. Most are not even good enough to donate to salvage. What do I do with rags that is the most environmentally sound? Do I just let the salvage figure it out? Or does it just end up in landfill somewhere anyway? This is the biggest reason that I hang onto things too long! Green guilt.

Oh, before I forget, I have a Finished Object, last one of 2013:

Retro Rib Socks

Begun:  October 25, 2013
Completed:  December 29, 2013

Yarn:  Cascade Yarns Heritage Paints, 75% merino/25% nylon, Colourway 9931 (browns), 400m = 100g. Used most of one skein. (Less than 30g left.)

Pattern:  Retro Rib Socks by Evelyn A. Clark, from Interweave Knits, Winter 2004. Errata PDF here.

Mods:  Because I always use smaller needles my gauge is tighter so I knit the legs with more repeats to make them about 8.5” before beginning the heel flap.

Comments:  This is my first experience with the Cascade Heritage yarn and I quite like it. Nice twist, extra nylon content but still soft. This pattern works well with variegated yarns because the ribs are definite enough not to be obscured by the colours.

I made the smaller size. Loved how the pattern moved neatly from one section to the next. Very elegant! However, the rib pattern never really became automatic so I made many mistakes. Especially in dim light! These socks took me much longer than socks usually do to complete. I’m very happy with the results though so it was worth persevering.

All in all, it was an OK year, 2013. Health good, spirits good, production good, family good, travel amazing. Can’t really ask for much more, can we? Except for another year like it! Moving right along.

Stop the presses! Whoo-hoo! I just got a prezzie in the post from a dear blogger buddy! (Thanks so much, Heather!) I’ll unwrap and show you later. Right now I’m going to kick the backside of 2013 and see you in 2014!

Tally Ho!

It’s that time of year when, like everyone else, I just couldn’t resist counting up the year’s makes. I’ve already blogged nearly everything here but can’t be arsed to link it all. Anyway the results are pretty interesting. At least to me! It’s nice to know I’m moving forward – at least some of the time.

Knitting:

• socks – 10 (+1 more pair not quite finished!)
• hats - 3
• mitts/gloves – 2
• scarves/shawls – 7 (+1 half-finished)
• sweaters/tunics – 4
• other knits - 3

Sewing:

• vests/jackets - 4
• dresses/jumpers - 3
• skirts - 1
• pants/shorts - 6
• bras/panties - 6
• other sewn items – 3 (bags), 1 (bug curtain)
• refashions - 2

Miscellaneous Items:

• kumihimo bookmark – 1
• eco-dyed scarves – 3

Total Makes for 2013 – 59

Conclusions:

Whew! The knit items somewhat outnumbered the sewn items. While we were driving cross-country for 2 months all I could do was knit. Otherwise the sewn items might possibly have dominated. I’m always amazed by how many pairs of socks I can finish in a year. Obviously they are my go-to portable projects. Most were plain but I did expand my toe-up skills on 3 pairs. The hats all used the same pattern: Sockhead. Definitely a hit. I’d like to make more sweaters, particularly cardigans since I get a lot of wear out of them especially in the winter months. If I’m going to continue to make scarves and shawls I’m going to have to start giving some of them away! They’re getting hard to store neatly. Heh.

This fall I also began test knitting/tech editing for Sanjo. They are redeveloping their pattern/yarn kits using some of their new delicious yarns. Here’s the first one I worked on. I think that’s my version in the photo (although the big leaf is showing its purl side.) I’ve just finished a second project for them that luckily was much easier than the first one. Even though I had to pull most of it out – twice! This is a collar/neck warmer using a strand of fine kid mohair/silk held together with a thicker silk single. Yum. To Dye For!

I’m really quite pleased with the improvement in my fitting and sewing skills this year. I feel like my wardrobe is beginning to reflect the “real me” and the way I prefer to dress. I wear me-mades every day, even if nobody but me ever notices. I’ve learned not to make too many dressier garments because I don’t really have much of an opportunity to wear them. Tunics are great layering pieces that make me feel both comfortable and feminine and I tend to prefer them over skirts or dresses. I’ve also learned that my preferred sleeve length is between wrist and elbow where my arms are somewhat covered but I’m not pushing them up constantly. Unsurprisingly I prefer garments that fit closely in the shoulders and upper arms but looser in the lower body. Boxy wide shoulders and droopy batwings are not for me. Neither are waistbands that aren’t at least half-elasticised. Asymmetrical shapes still please me very much – whether or not they are still considered to be in style.

This year I found myself drawn to ever more muted colours and farther away from prints. I’ve been trying to sew with the better fabrics but still using up stash. Favourite fibres are naturals and natural/blends and though I still love knits a lot, I’ve been sewing more wovens. I want to get confident enough in my skills to be able to sew comfortably with the really pricey fabrics. For instance, my own handwovens! Yes, I know I have to actually weave something first.

Of course I’m also working on using up stash for knitting. Though I did buy a few skeins this year, they were all sock yarn which gives a lot of knitting time for the buck. I find I’m preferring much finer yarns over the chunky stuff anyhow. Regular knitting worsted even seems too thick to me these days. I keep saying this but I think I’m going to have to get spinning up some of that fibre stash for the sweaters I want to knit this coming year. My default spinning is somewhere between sock yarn and DK. Is that sport weight? I’ve hardly spun at all this year. Sad really.

So this has been the first full year with T-Man retired. We had lots of plans to clean, refurbish, purge and generally re-order our home but…although we made a start and a few things got done, we’ve kind of slacked off rather sadly. The month or so before the Big Cross-Continental Trek was the busiest. After that we were gone for 2 months. We came back to a garden desperately needing attention which kept us occupied until all the fall leaves were raked up. However we both seemed to need a holiday from the holiday, if you know what I mean. So we’ve been reading a lot, puttering around, getting out for the occasional walk (weather permitting) but not working/creating with the intensity that we used to. Maybe it’s the dark and dreary season? Maybe we’re just having a creative time in our heads? I dunno. Hopefully we snap out of it very soon. I’m all for a work/leisure balance but when the bed starts to show permanent body indents, you know somebody needs to get moving. Oh. That would be me.

Big hugs to all my Loyal Readers for another fabulous year just past and I hope 2014 is going to be a happy, healthy, peaceful, and productive year for us all!

More anon. It’s nearly 2pm. I need to get up, get dressed and go do something useful.

Peace & Joy

My ancient Christmas cactus is blooming profusely on granny’s sewing machine cabinet. Most of my African violets are blooming as well. They’re providing most of the holiday decorating around here. Lazy, I know. But they’re pretty! And not plastic.

Now we’re into the middle of the family festivities and the Holidays are in full swing. A lovely time was had by the immediate fambly at Milady Daughter’s Solstice party yesterday. Gifts were opened by the Beasties, turkey dinner (absolutely delish!) was consumed and delightful conversation happened among squeals and remote-control toys. More quiet visiting at bro-in-law’s happens this evening and then the Big Chaos at Ninja Son’s tomorrow. At least 20 family members have been invited. I’m bringing the butter tarts. More turkey ensues. Yum!

Here’s wishing every one of my precious friends and readers all the health and happiness, peace and joy of the season and throughout the coming year. Go ye all and make stuff! Even if all you make is someone smile.

And if you can, just find a cure for cancer will ya? I lost an old friend yesterday and another dear sweetie is very ill. It’s just not fair! <damselfly stamps her feet> There’s a cloud on my Christmas. Sigh. Nothing is ever perfect, is it? Sorry about that digression. Back to your regularly scheduled Holiday Happiness.

Put On Your Woollies

It’s National Wear A Sweater Day here in Canada, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund – Canada. Turn your thermostat down 3 degrees C and put on a sweater! Of course here in Damselfly’s Pond it’s nearly always wear-a-sweater day. And my daytime house temp is 17C. We do have the heat come up to 19C morning and early evening for a short while. But then it goes down to 16C at night. Why try to heat up the whole world. According to scientists, it seems to be doing that too much already.

I’m so used to it being cooler in my house that I’m always too hot in what passes for normal room temperature. At least until summer when I seem to adjust. However I’m not one of those people who is always cold. Maybe they aren’t dressed warm enough? If I feel chilly I layer on more clothes! One should not expect to wear summer clothing in winter indoors. Even if the Vancouver Lower Mainland is the mildest place in Canada.

I’ve got to go get ready to go to my weavers’ guild meeting today! I started a new knitting project to take with me. More anon.

Damselfly’s Year In Review

What is it about this time of year that brings out all the retrospective stuff? I guess if you know where we came from then we can figure out where we’re going. Or at least we can hope to pick a direction and see where it takes us. We don’t really have a lot of control over some things, do we?

Such as, who knew that 2010 was going to be my Year of the Dermatologist? Yuck-O-Roonies! Though I suppose in hindsight things could have been much worse. They also could have been a lot better! Some doctors need re-educating in the caring and empathy department. A little “I’m sorry it’s not working but we’re trying everything we can” would help a lot. But I guess it’s too much to ask them to admit it when they don’t know something, huh? Their god-like status would then be in jeopardy and we might see that they are only human after all. Of course this does not apply to my GP. He’s pretty darn perfect as he is. And no, he’s not taking any new patients. Sorry I can’t share!

On a more positive note, my garden was better cared for than ever before because I was restricted to doing everything while wearing gloves. It did pretty well and we got quite a lot of produce out of it. I definitely made use of my new dye garden and shared the bounty with other interested folk, especially the woad blue. Actually a lot of dyeing of various sorts happened, including the old sheets for the Watercolour Quilt, a dozen pairs of cotton gloves and a lot of sock yarn, mostly for a sweater that I haven’t started yet.

My notebook says I made 2 pairs of knitted and felted slippers, complete with felt insoles, 2 pairs of legwarmers, 1 pair of tights and 5 pairs of socks. A sixth pair of kneesocks isn’t quite done yet, but they are past the heel turns. I also spun the yarn and knit 3 lace shawls and there’s 3 baby sweaters, 2 child-sized sweaters and 3 adult sweaters finished. Yes, and another hot water bottle cover, a baby blanket and 3 bibs, 2 neckwarmers and 2 iTouch cosies. The only sewing project I finished was a gift tote bag but this was also the year T-Man helped me make Debbie Double, my dress form. All in all it was rather productive, considering my hands were a mess for a majority of the time. Obviously it’s hard to stop me from creating, isn’t it?

I don’t know if my Inspirational Word for the Year really helps me focus or not but this will be the fourth one I’ve chosen: 2008 was Contentment, 2009 was Harmonize, 2010 was Conserve and 2011 will be Acceptance. I think this year was definitely one where conserving became quite important, especially in terms of my health. And I’ve already started working on acceptance: trying to come to terms with things as they are as opposed to how I wish they would be.

I’d cross my fingers that the New Year will be a much better year than this last one but it’s hard to knit like that! Here’s wishing a happy peaceful 2011 to all my Dear Readers. You don’t comment much – but I know you’re out there somewhere! My stats tell me so.

Before I forget I need to show this Christmas gift we got: a print of this painting by my daughter-in-law’s mom, Judith Fairwood (I don’t think she would mind me giving her some publicity!):

Entitled “Snooze”, that’s our mutual grandson looking much more like his dad at that age than he usually does. Isn’t it a great portrait? I just love Judith’s perspective on her subjects. The little guy just turned a Big 4 yesterday. Happy Birthday, Stargazer!

Solstice Aftermath

Man, that was big fun! But Bad Blogger never took any photos of the mayhem – even though I dutifully brought my camera. You’ll just have to use your imagination. We played Musical Baby and passed the newest family member around from one loving relative to another. We all got a chance to feed her a bottle and I was the official diaper-changer, a chore I do willingly because it’s such a delightful chance to interact with little ones. Yeah, I know. Coo-coo!

A big hit with the larger grandbeasties were the light bracelets that I bought cheap at Halloween and saved just for this light-themed celebration. At one point we were all (even the baby) wearing many bright-coloured bracelets and at another The Princess was decked out in all of them, creating necklaces and crowns as well as the bangles. We had our little gift exchange and one of Stargazer’s gifts was a large-scale tinker-toy-like building set where you are supposed to cover the structure with a spare sheet to make a fort. Even the adults got into this in a big way and we collectively built a castle that the Princess then decorated with the light bracelets. Very festive. There was wine (T-Man’s homemade of course), yummy food and not one but two desserts plus lots of laughter, kisses and joking. The Return of the Sun was toasted. We got home very late – at least for us early-to-bed types. This is totally my favourite and true winter holiday celebration.

Now on to the Big One! I didn’t get a chance to actually bake the shortbread yesterday because…duh! I cleaned the oven and by the time that was done I was out of time. I also was short of cookie sheets because I used 2 of them to make dark chocolate almond and cranberry bark and milk chocolate hazelnut bark. I’m not as fond of milk chocolate as I am the really dark kind but T-Man got both from the great little chocolate shop that’s on his way home from work. So I figured everything tastes better with nuts in it, particularly organic local hazelnuts! (Not ours sadly since the squirrels get them all.) Besides it’s real Callebaut from Belgium. The Good Stuff! Today I’ll bake the dough I made yesterday and probably the butter tarts as well. The freezer will keep them fresh for a couple of days.

I’m not so much of a baker anymore since my digestive system isn’t all that happy with too much flour and sugar. (I’m already feeling the effects of the pasta and two pieces of garlic bread I had yesterday!) However I don’t mind doing it and I really enjoy cooking in general. I always joke that my cooking skills are in an inverse relationship to my dear departed mom’s lack of them. I plead self-defence! What she could do to an innocent vegetable ought to be illegal. Though I really shouldn’t denigrate her too much – I still make her “Scots-haggis-in-a-turkey” oatmeal stuffing every year. (Yes, I actually have Stove Top this year for those who have a different idea of family tradition than mine.) And there are other recipes that are still in my repertoire – though I’ve tweaked them to have more herbs and spices than her more bland taste would allow. Even my shortbread is hers and the only modification I add is the cherry bit for decoration. Thanks, Mummy!

So I guess I’d better get to it, huh? Time’s a-wasting!

Happy Solstice!

Happy Return of the Sun! For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere and particularly those who live farther north, this is actually a big deal. Even here just above the 49th parallel it’s not fully light out until 8am and then starts to get dark again before 4pm. That’s only 8 hours of daylight and when it’s dull and rainy as it is so often around here, even the so-called daylight isn’t much. I know the change is subtle but it’s there. Even if there is the bulk of winter left to go.

I’ve been doing my best impersonation of Cinderella Pre-Ball and mucking out the dump cleaning house for the Big Turkey Day. How do I get myself into these things? Oh well. It’ll be fun! But please remind me that next year it is definitely somebody else’s turn, will you? Or I’m going to make a double reservation at an anonymous snowy resort with cross-country ski trails and just disappear for a week.

Carrying on, this morning I’m running the oven through a clean cycle in preparation for messing it up again with The Bird. I’ve softened the butter for the shortbread so I’d better get the dough made at least. I’ll have to refrigerate it because I can’t bake anything until the oven is cool enough to open again. Good planning, eh? It wasn’t easy to soften the butter in my deliberately cool house. I had to put it out on the counter so the morning heat from the furnace would start the softening and then tuck it in the bathroom cupboard with the towels to stay soft until I get to it. There’s a vent right under the cupboard that warms the towels and they retain the heat for hours. Nice.

I only have the butter tarts and chocolate almond bark (with cranberries!) still to make. Lots of time yet. No point in overdoing it! The Extended Fambly will just have to take us as they find us, paper plates and all. I’m not going to go all Martha Stewart at this late stage.

Tonight is our Annual Immediate-Fambly-Only Solstice Party at Milady Daughter’s. Much more low key. I have some of those colourful light bracelets that I got for $2 at Halloween. That ought to keep the grandbeasties busy for 5 minutes at least decorating everyone. I still need to make the salad that I’m bringing. And hope that T-Man has remembered to bottle a couple of bottles of his homemade wine (or he’ll be doing it quick-like before we head off to pick up Nana). And that’s it!

Sadly we missed the Lunar Eclipse last night. Didn’t even try to stay awake long enough. And I was trying to find a photo of a full moon that I took a few years ago but it’s buried somewhere. Yes, it’s also the Full Moon today as well as winter solstice! Converging Celestial Phenomena! Real things that you can’t argue about. Unless you believe the earth is flat. Then there’s just nothing more to discuss.

Nightmare After Christmas

Of course Tim Burton’s “Nightmare Before Christmas” is my favourite holiday movie, along with the original Grinch and the Alastair Sim version of Scrooge. We got a new copy of Nightmare too, in DVD since our last version was VHS (and who knows how long the player will last?). The disc was a used bargain at $5. I’m a very happy damselfly.

On Christmas Eve we went for a walk in the sunshine around the neighbourhood while carefully avoiding the shops. Then I made butter tarts and shortbread while singing snippets from the movie:

Kidnap the Sandy Claws, see what we will see
Lock him in a cage and then, throw away the key!

Much more fun than the “real” carols, IMHO. Yes, I’m perverse like that. Don’t judge me.

We lazed around in bed on Christmas morning, not having any little ones around to get us moving. I was served breakfast in bed (again! I’m so spoiled) and finally dragged my sorry behind up while his was still firmly planted in the bed. Eventually we headed for our son and DIL’s (The Ninja & The White Lady) for the Big Turkey dinner.

Unfortunately they were not feeling well at all, just coming down with a bug. Especially poor WL, who was really toast. Just what you need when you’ve invited 20 or so of your rellies to dinner, huh? And you can’t cancel because there’s a honking huge turkey and fixin’s that need to be cooked and eaten. So the guests pitched in – particularly my little French-Canadian sis-in-law who is a gem and a jewel – plus The Ninja managed to marshal his resources and a good time was had by all. Or most – The White Lady was definitely looking a bit peaky by the time we left. In spite of everything the food was fabulously yummy! The stuffing had sausage in it and was really good. Plus salads, smashed spuds, roasted root veggies, peas and lots more. I even ate the Brussels sprouts, smothered in cheesy goodness. Of course I made the gravy, that being my “speciality” (as Wallace would say).

The little cousins (5 in total) all got well-spoiled with gifts. I’m surprised that anyone knew which toy went with whom after the blizzard of ripped paper was over! Luckily though the kids had it all figured out which loot was theirs. And I got my fill of baby-jiggling while we were playing musical chairs with the littlest cousin. Hopefully he will get some play time out of the present that I made for him:

Dodecahedron Toy

For: Baby Great-Nephew (4-months-old)

Begun: December 21, 2009

Completed: December 23, 2009

Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett, 75% superwash wool/25% polyamide, colour 4255, 210 m = 50g. Took less than one ball (leftovers from Milady’s Gloves).

Hook: Clover SoftTouch 3.5mm (E)

Pattern: Celestine Crochet, free pattern from Berroco

Modifications: I worked the rounds without a ch-1 step-up, just going in a spiral.

Comments: The shape is a little wonky due to the fact that my tension got tighter after the first point and also that I can’t count! I think maybe only one point has no errors in it. I got very good at fudging the numbers so they came out right at the end anyway. The very last point was difficult to crochet, especially in the beginning few rounds. If I was to do it again, I wouldn’t stuff until about round 3 just to give myself something to work with.

I stuffed it with fiberfill and included a film canister with a few little rocks in it for sound, wrapping the canister well with fiberfill and yarn to cushion it before placing it inside. It rattles quite loudly! Hope it doesn’t drive his parents nuts.

So what was the Nightmare After Christmas? Trying to get home! A journey that took us less than a half-hour on the way out took over 2 hours to get back again. We didn’t get to bed until nearly midnight. There was an accident on the freeway that slowed traffic to a crawl. Once we got past the next exit, the one where the radio news had been telling everyone to take and was now seriously blocked up by folks trying to avoid the first problem, we sailed the rest of the way. Our exit was before the reported accident which was probably cleared by then anyway. Sheesh! At least there was some nice 17th century Baroque Christmas music to listen to on CBC radio so I didn’t fall asleep in the car. T-Man’s clutch-foot got tired though – the disadvantage of the standard transmission in our MINI-Cooper. It was nice that it has heated seats. It was frosty out there.

Hope everyone had a Very-Merry and a Happy-Happy! Wishing you all Peace On Earth. It can’t hurt, eh?

Odd Day

Yes, it is indeed an Odd Day – 5/7/09. Apparently this is a fairly rare occurrence, but since I’m math-impaired I’ll take their word for it. So celebrate, people! Methinks I’m odd enough already though I’m sure I can think of something even odder than usual to mark the occasion before the day is out.

So I’m heading off in a short while to my friend Cathie’s for the monthly Spectrum meeting. Hopefully this time I’ll be able to concentrate and get some play time with my Art Journal. Last month all I could think about was the Papyrine Shawl but since I’m reduced to knitting little leaves and roots at the moment, I think I’ll leave that at home. Besides I have to take the bus with all my stuff and I don’t want to risk getting the paper wet in the intermittent rain showers we’ve been having. I’m using my little wheelie pack because I have so much stuff to bring that I can’t carry the weight. It’s not too bad in a sprinkle but an extended rain will eventually seep through the nylon. Even though it’s not raining right this second, you just know it’s going to start again the minute I step out the door, don’t you?

The lecture last evening with Jane Kenyon was totally fun and inspiring! I can’t wait to try a thing or three for my Art Journal. She spends quite a bit of time with collage, painting and mixed media that often ends up as a design basis for her thread paintings. In her slides, she showed us the steps that the design goes through to the final piece: small artwork or photo, cut/paste/layer/colour in Photoshop, and then stitching, stitching and more stitching. I think everyone has patience for the things that they love but wow! The number of hours Jane spends at the sewing machine is truly amazing! Her final pieces are ALL rayon embroidery thread and feel like solid but supple cloth. Sorry, I do have some photos but they are still in my camera and I have no time right now so you’ll have to wait for them.

More on Jane anon. And thanks so much for the Happy Blogiversary wishes, my dears! I have a bus to catch. Adventures In Public Transit, here I come!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

That’s how they say Happy Chinese New Year around here. It’s a really bad transliteration of the Cantonese and doesn’t actually mean Happy New Year, but what do I know? I think it’s actually something about wishing you prosperity which is always a good thing. I’m hoping for better things this year anyway. It’s the Year of the Rat, the first of the Chinese zodiac animals. This one apparently is a Brown Earth Rat. Asian rats are not bad guys like in western culture, but are considered industrious and prosperous and good at organization. Also charming and sociable. We actually had a number of them as pets (the tame variety) and they were dear little things if somewhat short-lived. Milady Daughter was born in a Water Rat year. No wonder she used to live in a rat’s nest…Oops, did I say that? She’s a reformed woman now. Could be something to do with her Fire Snake husband. But what do I know? T and I are both Metal Tigers. Rrroww.

I’ve finished Nana’s Socks but I won’t post the final info with photo until tomorrow. I was thinking as I was knitting (and reading) that I don’t much like evenly dyed or super-even commercially-spun yarns and the combination of perfect spinning and dyeing in the same yarn is even less appealing to me. Since I overdyed a self-striping yarn for these socks I got automatic uneven colouring. It had a short 2-row stripe and a lot of dotted area between but now it’s dark burgundy red with subtle areas of even darker burgundy. I like it. For some reason I don’t mind an evenly spun yarn for socks. My handspun yarns are just not durable enough no matter what I try: stronger fleece type, blend with stronger fibre, ply with stronger fibre or spinning a multi-ply tight twist. Especially if I want it fine enough to fit into shoes. Maybe one of these days I’ll try again. But right now I’m very happy to use commercial yarns for socks — particularly if I dyed or overdyed it myself.

For some reason I don’t have the same problems with commercial weaving yarns. Of course I can (and have) woven with my handspun, but most of my weaving yarns are finer than I can spin myself. Some are in fancy yarn structures that I can’t easily reproduce myself, such as chenille or brushed mohair. Some are actual “thread” rather than yarn and some are also good for lace knitting or crochet as well as weaving. It’s true that I often buy only white or natural and black or perhaps navy blue. Then I dye other colours in whatever quantity I need for a project thereby introducing that bit of subtle (or sometimes not-so-subtle) variegation. I guess I’m still looking for a more handmade-looking product. I enjoy the little imperfections and irregularities. (For some reason my crappy tension looks better that way!) My esthetics are obviously influenced by the gazillion years that I’ve been spinning and dyeing and knitting, crocheting and weaving for myself. Perfect yarn is much too boring. And ordinary.

I’m heading out to a Spectrum Study Group meeting this morning. This time we’re going to make cards. I’m not feeling much like playing with paper but I need a couple of birthday cards and a valentine so I guess I need to get with the program. At least the food and company is good!