Me and Them discuss contract knitting

by Gale.

Hair mask

Did you hear about the time I had banana head? I heard that mashed banana was a good hair mask, so I tried it. Short on details, I left it in my hair too long and was picking hunks of banana, and banana seeds out of my hair for some time. Kim cut my hair during the banana days, and the quote is: Well. (pause) That's a first.


So tonight I invented a concoction of my own, involving mayo, an egg yolk, honey and some apple cider vinegar.



Pray for me.

The Aeolian is cruising towards the finish line. I'm on the last chart. I really love it.

Oh duh

It just struck me that I could put more than one bead on a crochet hook at a time, and therefore speed up the process of inserting them.

I've been knitting the Aeolian, and so far, so good. It requires approximately 2250 beads; the discovery was significant.

The Columbia from AK



Some BFL/Silk that I'm spinning. 4 oz down, 4 to go.

Red garter stitch

I dreamed of it last night... a simple piece of red garter stitch that was so beautiful that I remembered the dream this morning. A piece that you might imagine came from the needles of the marvelous Mr. Flood. That kind of.. simple.

It'll stick in my head until I spin something suitable, until I can come up with the right pattern, until I can turn the dream into reality. Or, until something else catches my attention.

And in that mode, Sherri, Tracy and her blackandredness, AnneK, have been helping me out with another dream; this time some simple, white lace. The longest time ago Sherri have me a partial bag of Columbia fiber from one of Tracy's sheep. I didn't know how to clean fleece, and had no idea how to use raw fiber, so it sat around for the longest time. Eventually I thought.. gosh, what a great piece to start with. Small bag.. nothing to lose.

Pfft.

It washed up sparkling white, and after being carded into the crudest rolag, spun into the most precious little skein of light fingering yarn.

I've been wishing and wishing that I could do some more; thinner, for a shawl.

Initially Tracy let me take all I wanted from a large bag of Columbia, but unfortunately the colour wasn't quite right (tho the yarn will be beautiful one day) I asked AnneK if she had any to spare. Affirmative! She brought a nice big bag of locks to the store on my birthday. Since then I've given it all a good wash and it's dried and ready to go. Tonight I pulled the locks apart and flick carded them.. then spun. I've got a really fine, white single that's looking fantastic on the bobbin. It's going to be perfect.

And simple.

In 15 minutes

I'll turn 53 for the second time. I really, really loved the first time; especially when the kinds commented on my ability to subtract 1957 from 2009. Turns out it's a number ending with a 2. Imagine my surprise!

Tomorrow is also TKR's knit night, so I'm hoping to see lots of people and have plenty of laughs. While knitting.

I hope your 0909 is as fun.

Why it's good to toss your stash

Because you find stuff.

Like a sweater's worth of yarn I had forgotten I had.

Jacinda's Tibetan spindle.

The Girasol.

Edlyn's Clapotis that Jocelyn fixed for me. (Thank you Joce.. it looks great!). It's about 2/3rd's complete.

THE SECOND SKEIN OF SILK KOIGU FROM NEW YORK!!!! yayyyyy!

A skein of handspun Optim that I had been looking for, given up on, and passed it's sibling along to Dida.

A big fat Addi Turbo.

The labels for the cashmere I dyed for Marilynnie.

A piece of fabric that I promised to Bess.

I also organized all of my yarn and fiber, and it's all in good shape with no surprises. Honestly, that's the best part of all.

ok.. I've got some stuff for sale

Prices do not include shipping. Heavier items such as the wheel and the fabric cannot be shipped. Email me at spinknit@me.com if you see something you'd like, or you have further questions.



A Rubbermaid container full of soap making materials. Dyes, fragrances, essential oils, molds, a book, etc. $15.00



Here's an interesting story.... A few years ago I had the honour of purchasing the estate of one of the Lethbridge Spinner & Weaver guild founders. One of the things included was this bag of vintage handspun. It's a big bag, the yarn is sound, and some of it is labelled with handwritten notes such as: Carded by Donna. :) $25.00



Anybody still have a VHS machine? Here's an Ashford how to spin instructional tape. Buy something else, and I'll throw it in if you ask for it.



A small bag of Suri and a bit of tinsel. Buy something else and I'll throw it in if you ask.




Kid Merino, hand dyed locks. $5.00 each.



Some Rose Llama from Saskatchewan, hand dyed rose to.. well, rose it up. $7.50 SOLD



A Yak sample. $5.00 SOLD






Miscellaneous bags of hand dyed BFL. $10.00 each.




This is a whole lot of scoured and drum carded Shetland. I bought a small fleece from Linda Wendelboe at Olds (you know she rocks!). You have have this and the balance of the unscoured fleece for $25.00






This fabric is 100% silk, 6 yards, and the colour is golden not taupe



This is a large Rubbermaid container full of yards and yards of fabric. At one time I was doing some costuming, and this fabric is from that period. There are maybe one or two small pieces, and the balance is yards and yards and yards per piece. There are silks, upholstery fabric, cottons, muslins, etc... Spectacular! $200.00 for the works, which is approximately what I paid for the silk alone.





Here's the wheel I mentioned the other day. It's an Indian Princess Style with a massive bobbin; mostly used for spinning art yarn. The wheel is rustic, but spins just fine. Speaking of fine, I put some tension on the bobbin, and I was shocked to find that I could spin quite a fine yarn with it. So.. It's up to you what your final result is. $75.00



Loads of bags of pretty marbles and polished river stones. The very second you buy this, I'll remember what I was going to do with them. $15.00 for all of them.



A mixed bag of fun stuff to spin art yarn (or.. for crafts!). Ribbons, flowers, buttons, crochet thread, giant paperclips, novelty yarn, a cute little bird... too much to mention. Everything for $15.00




A large bag containing many, many balls of handspun singles. Wool is not identified. Also included is a back, two fronts and a part of a sleeve for a partially knitted men's cabled sweater. An intermediate to advanced knitter would easily be able to complete this garment. All for $30

Arse 1000

Ok, it's actually the ARS 1000, but who am I to spoil a good joke.

That's the name of the seat on my brand new bike.

After hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of kilometers logged on my hyrid (including that effityeffpigdog 28km mountain at the end of day one of the Ride to Conquer Cancer), I felt that I had earned a road bike. The issue was finding one that fit a person with my lack of altitude. I was really, really wishing for a Giant Defy Advanced 3 (2?, 1?), but there were no x-smalls to be found and no date when I might be expect one to arrive. I tried a Cannondale Synapse, and a Cervelo S1. The problem there was the customer service at Bow Cycle. I know they're busy, but damn... their expectation was that I pay them for a bike that was uncomfortable to ride, and then they would make the changes that they felt would make the bike fit me. I was told that their techs didn't have the time to waste 5 hours making changes to a bike I hadn't purchased just so that it would fit me. Alright Bow Cycle.... see ya. Then I went to Calgary Cycle, and in three visits, I was able to get someone to acknowledge me once, and he was just too busy to help me (that's fair.. it happens). Then there was Cyclepath. I didn't bother going because IK and Mr. IK tried to buy a road and a mountain bike, but weren't able to get acknowledged by the staff. (Their money went to Bike Bros., who have absolutely fantastic customer service)

Meanwhile, I was losing sleep over the issue. I'll bet you're thinking that I'm just a tiny bit crazy overall; cuz really.. wasn't there a cruiser hanging from the living room wall? A TREK mountain bike in the shed? And, don't forget Mildred (she's my favorite; I must admit it). And don't I have a perfectly good Cannondale Quick Fem 4?

So here's the thing. August is really tough for me. I go some shade of crazy every August as I try to get through the anniversary of my son's death. Each and every year I am focused on something, trying to dampen the pain, and this year was entitled THE YEAR I HAD TO HAVE A NEW ROAD BIKE. (or I might die)

Finally, finally.. I walked into Speed Theory and there it was. A 2010 Argon18 Krypton in white, black and red. Full carbon. Light. Fast. From a Canadian company. Extra Small.

(And Bow Cycle? The guy at Speed Theory did make the changes he thought would be necessary. He watched me ride. He made adjustments. He spent some time with me. In exchange I gave him a lot of money)

I can't afford to pay attention, but I have my bike. And yes, it did help. She helped me climb the 2010 anniversary of losing my beloved HC. That's worth something.