Rainy day blues.

Actually, not. For all it is pretty dank and nasty out there, I am relatively cheerful.

I have been waiting for a man again. (No, that isn't what makes me cheerful, I don't do waiting all that well.) He was supposed to arrive at 8.30 (ugh) but phoned instead to say he would be an hour late. After two hours, he turned up (Yeay!!) So hopefully, when he and his marra have finished, our flagstones will no lo0nger go bonk-bonk every time someone arrives at the house.

So, during thast waiting time, have I been productive? Weeeell.......

I have vacced a bit and unloaded the dishwasher. That counts, no? But I have spent a lot of time slaving over a hot laptop, checking blogs and Ravelry.

Now, I am a huge fan of Icanhascheezburger? If there is anything guaranteed to make me cheerful, it is that. But be warned if you visit, you either love it or think it the most twee and ridiculous thing evah. Anyway, on the Lolcats group on Ravelry, I followed a link or two and found out something very significant about myself (other than that I have an endless capacity for wasting time.)

Your Score: Longcat

65% Affectionate, 45% Excitable, 40% Hungry

Protector of truth.

Slayer of darkness.

Loooooong.

It is prophesized that Longcat and his archnemesis Tacgnol will battle for supremacy on Caturday. The outcome will change the face of the world, and indeed the very fabric of lolcatdom, forever.

Be grateful that the test has chosen you, and only you, to have this title.

To see all possible results, checka dis.

Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

I also found out that there is an Ankh Morpork Knitters Guild, but I can't...no, wait a sec, I can show you the Coat of Arms.



I feel particularly cheerful about this, as at Coven last night, we were all given new broomsticks, courtesy of Nanny Ogg's daughter-in-law (she always did now how to pick/train 'em) I'll mebbe photograph it when it has had its custom job.

OK, time to check on the flag replacement activity and do something serious by way of knitting or spinning. Tomorrow we are going to York, and I have conned the DSM into promising a visit to Sheepish.

Like I need yarn.

(I have just reviewed this post and do believe that I have finally lost it completely. But I make no apologies. We are all allowed to display our barking (inappropriate, sorry) madness from time to time. So.)

The Joy of Sox

I'm not going to apologise for that, I like the phrase far to much.

I finally have a finished pair!



I had heard people raving all over the place about Lorna's Laces sock yarn, and it is ok but that is all. There are others I like better. But I have tried it and am satisfied with that.

I wandered in to my LYS. It isn't brilliant, but tries and I feel I should encourage them as much as I can, which isn't much because of spinning my own yarn most of the time. But I had heard rumours of a Jitterbug sighting. And there was some. Not too much - this is one of the troubles with the shop, they don't carry a good range of anything other than perhaps Kid Silk Haze which is THE in-yarn at the moment (I think?)

But I bought two skeins, and added it to the stash - which is partially pictured here:



The screaming fluorescent lime green to the left is one of the Jitterbugs, the other is just visible underneath, a much more discreet blue/purple mix.

I also asked about Pony Pearl dpns. I am tired of breaking bamboo or birch ones, even though those are the nicest to knit with. Thought I would try something else before reverting to metal. But the owner didn't think they made them. Sigh. o I came home and ordered them from Pstternworks. Sigh again.

OK. I have ironed. I shall spin.

Bits & Pieces

Considering I was through here spinning at 2am, I am doing remarkably well today. Nothing wrong, or on my mind - just two bored cats playing the latest game. Curl up next to mum for a few minutes, just long enough to lull her into a false sense of security. Suddenly jump off the bed in a very heavy-pawed fashion. Almost instantly leap back on again, but this time in very close proximity to her head.

Repeat. and repeat. And etcetera.

This is not conducive to repose.......

But I have a triumph, of sorts. I found the camera handbook, and found the setting for taking close-ups.

This one didn't work so well.....



I bought this glass pendant at SOAR last year, and when I came to make a beaded chain for it, I decided that it didn't need one, and here was a good opportunity to do some more braiding. I even had coton perles of just the right colours. I have more of it (I'm never one to do things by halves) and have to work out what to use it for. Bookmarks?

Then, some completed yarns.



This first is a very nice baby alpaca roving that had been maturing in the stash for a while. I've spun it quite fine, and intend attempting a lace shawl from Knitters Stash (so be warned). And then I might or might not dye it.

The second is Freyalyn's Demeter, aforementioned in this blog somewhere.* I am really pleased at how it has turned out. This will join some other yarns in the yellow/brown spectrum (not my usual c0lours, but I am changing, which is interesting) and hopefully grow up to be a shrug.



I'm finding time to spin more, and not only in the middle of the night, which is a Good Thing.

I am also nearly at the end of the Lorna's Laces socks. Well, I am at the end, the toe end - just have to finish them off and weave in the ends, and they are done. So I am hunting up yarns and patterns for the next pair(s) - I want to make sure of having plenty to keep me occupied on holiday. Of all the important things to remember to pack, knitting is the most.

*This vague reference and indeed all the deficiencies in today's blog post can be attributed to a husband kindly choosing to sort out a way around printer problems - which involves giving me a quick tutorial on writing stuff to disk. Now, at once, immediately. Any pathetic bleats about "Can't I just finish...." were swept aside.

Still, I have my sock patterns now.

When I'm cleaning windows

Well. not me, of course.

MaryG told me on Friday that I hadn't said much on the blog lately about how the DSM was doing. So - up and down, but that is pretty much all his head. Physically, he is doing just great.

There I was, peacefully buzzing about on Ravelry (I'm CarolL, now there's a surprise), when there was a clattering over my head and this appeared. So, especially on the off chance that someone at SOAR might log on, here is the latest photo of the ol' fella.



Looking pretty chipper, eh?

Tasseography

At Coven on Thursday nights, we always have tea and cake. This week was no different.

I was drinking my tea, minding my own business. Getting towards the bottom of the cup, I took a swig and was putting it back down on the table. My brain registered ....something which I thought was a large crack. Oh, dear, I thought. M has a large crack in this mug. Picked it up, took another swallow, was putting it down again half checking on the supposed crack.

Brain synapses fired off in all directions. Crack-notcrack. Unimaginableunbearablethought.

Very bravely, I bring the mug up again and.....look.

Silent scream.

In a quiet, restrained shriek, I ask Magrat to look at what might be in the bottom of the mug and tell me it isn't what I think it is.

Magrat exits the room with a yell and a flurry. I was right. I feel more than a little queasy.

It WAS a spider.

Poor M, who had poured the tea, was mortified, and indeed telephoned me first thing on Friday morning to make sure I hadn't had a nightmare-filled night. Fortunately not, and I can see the funny side.

So I go off with MofF&M for a day out at the Fashion and Embroidery Show, which was very good. I spent some money, quite judiciously. Bumped into and chatted with more people that I would ever have imagined possible and really enjoyed catching up with all sorts of friends. Excellent stuff.

Pleasant morning today running errands in town with the DSM, we had lunch sitting in the sunshine, and a small glass of dry white wine is making me sleepy. So I shall knit in a calm and reflective manner, possibly with sound effects, whilst he watches the rugby.

They do reckon fortune tellers only tell you the good stuff.

The world in its infinite variety

Two hours one-on-one teaching is exhausting! Rewarding, but exhausting. This particualr "student" is a real pleasure to work with, very pleasant and bright and likely to end up an amazingly good spinner. But by the time we have covered what she wanted from me today - longdraw and navajo plying - plus answering all the questions she has lined up, I am approaching brain-dead.

So I chose to recover with a soap opera and some knitting.



Bright red spiral rib mittens from Homespun, Handknit. Chunky yarn, so gratifyingly quick to knit. Not completely mindless, and a different thumb technique from the previous pair I made. (All the fingerless ones I have done, I have made up the thumb treatment as I went along.)

Longdraw. Sylvia asked why I had doubts about doing this on my new wheel, which rather gave me pause, as she is a fine and knowledgeable spinner.

I have previously spun on a Pipy Poly, which had a large hook instead of an orifice, and a Majacraft Tiny Tim with a delta. This is what the Little Gem has, too, as do, I believe, all of their wheels. Hooks and deltas behave rather like the spindle on a great wheel or charka: if you don't have the thread coming off the point at just the right alignment, then you get a lot of bumping and bouncing, which I find tiring and unpleasant. You will get yarn spinning ok, but you may not enjoy the process. Both longdraw and point of contact need, in my opinion, to come off in a dead straight line with the "point" of the delta; that is what I meant.

As I love little better than discussing the finer points of spinning technique in a thoroughly geek-like way, feel free to agree/disagree/otherwise comment!

Actually, that brings me back to my teaching session. This morning's visitor has previously had sessions with a very well known and well-respected spinning tutor. I have several areas where I disagree with her pretty fundamentally; this happens, it is quite normal, and I am not (necessarily) casting nasturtiums. But it can be a ittle tricky to handle in a tactful manner, other than saying the above. I do hope that works!

And now for something completely different.

A few years ago, we had a magical evening in San Francisco just prior to SOAR. A bunch of people met for a social gathering, great food, great wine, great and joyous laughter. Few of us had ever met face to face before; we were - are- all on the same email list. I don't think I will ever forget driving back out of the city on a warm,calm evening, the lights in the buildings turning the world to fairyland, having spent precious time with strangers who were in an instant firm friends. Whenever people curse the internet, I think of that.

However - we met at the home of Joy, Nyondo and Lena, and although I have never met them face to face since, I am in contact and follow their adventures - which are magical in themselves - via Joy's blog. Today, this pricked my conscience.



I don't know that there is much that we as individuals can do about Burma. Of course, there are countries where such suppression of democracy (whatever that is) have lead to very different words and actions....But the very least I can do is raise my hand and join the chorus that says "This is wrong".

And at the same time, I commend Joy's blog to you, with particular reference to the Tsao Pema Medical Emergency Fund. The back story to this is in the archives. I was told a very long time agao that the bes way to get aid anywhere was to channel it via a personal contact. Here you can see how a very little sent this way can achieve so much.

And them's my thoughts for today.

Time passes

I have my least favourite kind of day ahead. Which is waiting for a man to come. I mean, this is not a good thing whichever way you look at it, but I am referring to the sort of man who is coming to fix or check something, and they add an extra layer of man-ness to the proceedings. I do not do this well.

Plus, the last couple of days I have been feeling seedy. Nothing too specific or worrisome, just annoying, but yet another thing to have to deal with.

Bah, humbug.

It is possible that part of the problem is that I should be in the final stages of packing for SOAR, and of course, I am not. In a year when I really could do with seeing folk...oh well, Norway soon, and I am looking forward to that, despite the odd concern about lack of daylight hours. All the more knitting time!

And apropos, I have finished the latest hand warmers, functional but uninspiring, and cast on for the spiral rib mittens in "Homespun, Handknit". So by the time we go, I should have duplicates of everything to keep me nice and warm in an unaccustomed wintry landscape.

I manage a few rows on the "lace" shawl most days, but it is taking forever to finish - the ball of yarn seems never-ending. Serve me right for spinning quite fine. How those who do real laceweight stuff manage, I simply do not know. I have also been spinning more, always soothing. I have finished the "Demeter" colourway from Freyalyn, and have also used some more of her stuff to get familiar with the Little Gem. Which is taking some doing, Majacrafts being unlike all other wheels. Quite nice, though, and because you can angle the flyer, ok for point of contact, and hopefully, longdraw.


Which reminds me, I must go hunt up my short stapled fleece, I have someone coming tomorrow for a lesson in that and navajo plying, and I am reviewing drafting methods at AH next time as well.

It is going to take me a bit longer to unveil the last extravagance. It had arrived safely - well, more or less, one bit missing that I need to email about - but it is still an unphotogenic pile of sticks. Our intention is to tackle it at the weekend, so maybe it will be confession time then.

Still no ring at the door. Grrrr. OK. Fleece, then coffee. Then spinning.

OK. Loins girded.