Baaaaaaaa.....

We went sheep shearing today (my kids, my friend Barbora (she's not in the picture) and her girls).



The kids got to feed some lambs.




We watched some sheep get shorn, although this one didn't want to come.......



Eli wrote lots of notes so that he can do a power point presentation for his classroom (because he wants to).



and............ I might have bought some fleece (a South African Meat Merino named Victoria... pictured above as the stubborn sheep)........

even though I wasn't going to (I know, I know.... Even *I* didn't believe myself). Thankfully, Tamara agreed to split the fleece with me (she wasn't going to buy fleece either).

Spun to Done....

Last week I received some fiber from an un-club by JulieSpins (etsy link). I actually ordered 5 braids of a lovely family of browns and 1 braid of a colourway called Jungle.











Because I had just received my Woolie Winder the week before, I was completely motivated to sit down and start spinning. I decided to start with Jungle. I had thought that I would spin it thinly and then Navajo ply it to preserve the colour shifts, hopefully ending up with a fingering weight yarn. I would then use the resulting yarn to do some kind of fair isle mittens, knitting from each end of the same ball of yarn so that the colours would shift past each other.......... It sounded like a great plan.... but the execution was a little shaky.... I (this seems to be a consistent issue for me) under-spun the singles, so they kept drifting apart during the N-ply process. Plan B was then hastily constructed and implemented.

The resultant yarn: 2ply, between fingering and sport, 408m.


Once Chey saw the yarn... she HAD to have it ("It so soft and GREEN, Mommy!").... I decided to knit a pinwheel cardigan (you need a free membership to get the pattern, I believe) because I thought the circular design would highlight the colour changes in the yarn, but I didn't think I had enough for a sleeved version and decided on a vest. The pattern was written for worsted weight yarn, so to compensate for my lighter yarn, I kept increasing the spiral until it measured about 4 inches wider than Chey's back (at her underarms). I also decided to do a bit of a ruffled rib pattern for the edging. To accomplish that, I increased the stitch count by approximately 20% on the row before I actually started ribbing. I then increased again, halfway through the ribbing (making the 2x2 rib into a 3x2 rib). I think the vest is VERY nice..... and She loves it to.

and I have enough yarn left over for a hat... I'm thinking a spiral beret.....

I think it's safe to say....

Spring has SPRUNG!!! Lookie... a flower in my garden!!!! I planted over 500 bulbs in the fall..... I'm very excited to see the continuing show through spring and early summer!




I've been spinning again. I started spinning some gorgeous silk, just before Christmas, but lost my mojo. I decided to finish the singles yesterday (I had 1/2 bobbin left to fill) and when I was almost done... the doorbell rang and the Woolee Winder I had ordered in January was at the door. This lit a fire under my butt and with the Woolee winder I was able to ply 408 meters on ONE bobbin, amazing!..... It's a light fingering weight yarn (although I haven't done the WPI to check for sure) and purdy as hell....... I am now motivated to do more spinning which is probably good, considering that I ordered a sweater's worth of Roving a couple of weeks ago and it's due to arrive at any time......

Fourth time's the charm?

I'm finally finished my Geodesic Cardigan this weekend. I quickly tried it on and really liked how it fit, but the colour was no better on the finished product than it had been in progress. I just didn't like the difference in the light purple and the darker raisin....



Plan B was then initialized. I had thought that I would overdye the cardigan in red with a slight hint of blue to blend out the lighter purple of the cardigan and give the whole sweater a more "tone on tone" look, but something went wrong in the process and I ended up with a cardigan that was basically the same colour as the original, but with deep purple-ish, blue splotches on the shoulders and blobs of the same colour on the arms... it looked like a dye pot had been thrown at me and dripped down the sleeves..... it was weird.

So, I tried again... this time without any blue and was rewarded with the exact look I had been going for..... well, except the blue splotches were even more pronounced....



So I tried again.... this time with just a small amount of blue and NO red....... apparently it was not enough blue..... the sweater remained basically unchanged......


And so..... the sweater hit the dyepot for the FOURTH time.... with more blue..... and it came out a lovely dark, dark, dark purple..... there are still some lighter reddish purple spots on the arms and back and the yarn felted every so slightly, but overall, I am happy with the result...... and more than that.. I am thrilled with the idea of the "overdye"..... what a great way to make a sweater the colour you want..... well, assuming you actually GET the colour you want in the dye process.... practice makes perfect, I suppose.....

I could NOT get a decent picture. Outside, the sweater is so dark it's almost black and inside with a flash, you can really see the weird variations in colour that are still in the garment.

why, yes.. I do still knit...

I was looking at my last couple of posts and realized that they didn't have any knitting or knitting related references in them.. Shocking really.... so this one should make up for it..... it's gonna be ALL knitting.... you have been warned.

I finished these gloves tonight. After the mismatched fiddlehead mitten fiasco, I really wanted to make something that, well.. to be frank.... fit... AND that fit the same person, at the same time without any injuries that would require a mitten to fit over, say a hand that has swelled up to three times its normal size (the mis-sized mittens from hell did find a good home though, so I'm happy).... and I LURVE Julia Mueller's patterns..... These gloves (pattern is Rococo from Twist Collective) are to be given to my friend Barbora for her birthday. We are having lunch tomorrow and I am pleased that she will receive a pair of gloves that I can be proud of.... and both at the same time which is an extra bonus...(I was prepared to give her one with the promise of a second).





I've also been trying to write up patterns for both Chey's mitten scarf AND this fun fur vest thingy..... When I made the orignal vest for Chey, I just winged it in the car on a very long trip around a rock slide on a drive home from BC... I turned out to be quite cute, but the pattern notes I made did NOT create the same garment (I tried several times and failed and the yarn I chose does not like to be frogged, so the results were tossed)..... I then decided I'd do it top down, but it's just not turning out right... so I think I'm going to give it up...... I have knit two vests in the last two weeks and they don't look bad when they aren't ON, but lose much of their appeal when worn. The mitten scarf is being test knit (by myself) and it's going slowly because the damn scarf part has to be twice as long as a normal scarf so the scarf doesn't choke the wearer when the mittens are on.... and I need more yarn to complete that, which will happen tomorrow..... and hopefully the pattern will be done shortly after that.....

Original Vest	Top Down Versions

I've also been working on this cardigan. It normally only takes me a couple of weeks (it's been three and I still have both sleeves left) to finish a cardigan, but I'm just not lovin' this one and it's slow going as a result. The colour is "meh".... I plan to overdye it when it's finished, but first I must actually FINISH it......









And finally...... I've joined the Western Canada Oddball Baby Blanket Society (I was peer pressured into it.. I'll admit it). This is a wonderful group of knitters who knit baby blankets for the NICU of the Foothills hospital in Calgary. I knit with several members and their overlords (just kidding, sort of....*wink* ) and was feeling a bit off... being the only person at knit night who wasn't a member.... and so here I am.... contributing to my first blanket.... The theme is the 3 little pigs and I am knitting the last piggie and then finishing the blankie up with some kind of border..... I'll post pictures when I'm done (or at least have started on it... I must buy yarn first as I don't actually have any acrylic in my stash that would be suitable). I officially have a month to do my 6 inches and the border, but my intention is to finish in a week or so.....

Oh... and I made another crochet hat (the same as all the ones I made in December) in there too..... just thought I'd mention it....

A random kid post

I sometimes wish I had one of "those" kids. You know, the really quiet, smart, polite and super well behaved ones? The ones that work at school to their full potential, are helpful around the house without being constantly reminded and cajoled, are always quiet and polite and always, always use utensils and chew with their mouths closed...... I am sure they are out there, they must be, based on the side-ways glances I, still, occasionally receive when the kids are being particularly boisterous. Unfortunately, I do not have those children. Not for lack of trying either. I am strict (some may say overly). I problem solve with sticker charts, chore charts, timers, rewards, consistency and discipline. And I still don't have "those" kids. That's not to say my kids aren't great... 'cause they are. Chey is adorable, sunny, witty and bright. She can walk into a room and instantly improve everyone's day. She loves everyone and everyone loves her. Eli is curious, intelligent, funny, creative and sweet, but "those" kids, they aren't.

Eli, in particular, can be quite a challenge (I think I post more about Eli because he's past the toddler/preschooler age and moved onto a more complicated personality.. Chey is still developing into herself and has a lot of baby left in her... I'm sure that won't last and I'll post more about her soon or perhaps she'll be my "interesting" teenager). He has a particular knack for stressing me out. If it's not an emotional outburst more on the level of a four year old than an eight year old, it's underachieving at school or a chronic propensity for the negative. He worries about bees.... because if they die, we all die.... he worries about a comet hitting the earth... he worries about H1N1... he even worries about the bubonic plague and is glad that Alberta is "rat free", hopefully keeping an imminent outbreak at bay. He's a complicated kid.... but he's also sensitive (when it suits him), charming and quite witty (ask him to tell you a joke sometime.. he's got some good ones).... and I can see more and more of the nice young man he will become.....

and so... even if they aren't "those kids"... they're MY kids and they make it all worthwhile.....


PS. This is an older post (November to be exact) that I didn't finish and post for some reason.. and there is no particular reason that I'm posting it now, other than I like it more now than when I originally wrote it.... and it was time for a new posting...

Gratuitous Olympic post....

I LOVE the Olympics. I have no interest in sports, generally, but every two years (because I watch summer AND winter Olympics) I take complete control of the TV (not that anyone really gets control the rest of the time, but violence is promised if the channel is changed without permission during the Olympics). I enjoy watching the human beings of our world who commit themselves so fully to their passion. I love their stories. I love watching them at their absolute best (and sometimes worst). I cry when Canada takes a medal. I sobbed when Joannie Rochette skated only days after her Mother died, suddenly. I cried when I watched Silver Medalist Marianne St. Gelais' reaction in the stands as her boyfriend Charles Hamelin raced his way to a gold medal in the 500m short track speed skating. I had tears in my eyes when Alexandre Bilodeau's brother Frédéric raised his fist in triumph when Alexandre's score flashed across the screen and won the first gold for Canada. My heart ached when, on the first day, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died during a training run. There are so many more moments that I can't even list.... winning medals in long track speed skating, barely missing the quarter finals in the women's team pursuit, the loss of Canada to the USA in men's hockey and their fight back to the gold medal game in which Canada was fully redeemed with Sidney Crosby's sudden death goal in overtime (phew... that's quite the run-on sentence). The dominance of the women's hockey team and the men's curling team. Our best ever finish for men's cross country. Our medals at the Whistler sliding centre, at Cypress Mountain and more..... I love the fact that, for once... Canadians as a whole have stood up in front of the world and said in unison... WE ARE AWESOME!!! Canadians usually are much more reserved. We are proud of our country, but we are always understated in our outward displays of pride and patriotism. In a group of Canadians we might say that Canada is the best country in the world to live, but if there are other people from countries involved... well, we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or make them feel bad or to seem antagonistic, so we say nothing at all. Several Canadian cities are constantly listed as being in the top 10 places in the world to live, but we are likely to say... "Thank you for the honour and sorry about that"....... than "You're Damn right!"....

But we should be proud... we DO live in one of the best countries (see... I still can't publicly say THE best... I'm bred to say ONE of the best) in the world...... Go Canada!