Well, here you have one heck of a podcast.

Psst: this conversation is confidential between us because Mandie has her head under the bedsheets right now.

So.. as you know, Mandie had a booth at Bendigo, where she did really well, and sold tons of fiber. What she kept quiet was that she had been interviewed for David Reidy's podcast 'Sticks & String'. The podcast has been released, and I think it's super. Everybody should have a listen. I will forgive him for messing up her name at the end, but just this once.

Let me quickly change the subject before she hears us talking.

If you're in Calgary, or thinking about a visit, Marilynn told me about a great place for attraction coupons. What fabulous deals!

Ok.. we Ravelympians need to get back to knitting. I'm almost at the 'I need sleeves' stage, which is my knitting wall. What I actually want to do is cast on socks and forget about sleeves for 3 or 4 weeks.

Shawls do not have sleeves. Socks do not have sleeves. I'm just sayin.

Hey, here's a really cool thing...

Seems like magic to me, anyway. I was reading blogs one day, and saw a similar picture to what I've posted, above. Someone had placed their cake of yarn (previously referred to as a hockey puck) on the spindle of a bulk cd holder - you'll have to click on the picture to actually see what I'm talking about. It works so well, & I'm just thrilled with it. When I wound this centre pull ball (it's the silk/wool that I was spinning a few days ago) it was so tight in the centre, that I couldn't get it to feed... so I decided to work from the outside of the ball, and to try the spindle. You should SO try this! You're gonna love it.

I've been working on a Fir-cone shawl that I found in that list of shawls I posted yesterday. It's going well. I need a lace success. I must have 5 Evelyn Clark shawl patterns on their way, so soon I'll be up to my ears in shawls (or.. I'll have Christmas 2008 handled).

I watched a number of George Strombouloupoulis podcasts; it's either that or stay up too late at night. Do you ever watch Strombo? You ought to give him a whirl; he's totally great.

Mug and I were at Make One this afternoon (by the way.. I don't hate circs at all.. I hate circs that are longer than I need.) I bought a shorter set for a piece of lace I'm knitting; it's a major improvement, and knitting is going well. Anyway.. back on topic... Heather was there with her sweet little puppy. Mug fell in love, and discovered that it would cost many, many hundreds of dollars to have such a puppy. She is totally heart broken. Spent the entire afternoon counting coins, and discovered she had a $600.00 shortfall. She offered to wash windows.

So.. poor thing cried herself to sleep. Reality is a tough lesson. It's hard to be a mom some days.

The C word

I was doing some mindless prep for a hardwood feathering; which makes it a perfect day to listen to podcasts. I love them. They are just perfect for my job, and I hardly listen to music any more. iTunes is losing a fortune on me these days.

Anyway, I have been listening to Barbara Dayne's Cast On of late; working my way from the most recent back to the earliest. I think I'm somewhere around last spring at the moment, and she was using the C word.

That's right.. crochet. Just say it.

In my mind, crochet is something hard and scratchy. It's something that melts near an open flame. The colours singe the retna. I have to admit that things may have changed in the last 20 years; perhaps fibers in the plastics family are no longer the first choice for crochet. It is possible that I've seen a pattern in Amy's new book that has me thinking that *perhaps*, just maybe, I should learn the skill.

(Following is a picture of said sweater, lifted directly from Amazon.ca. Is that hot, or what? I feel thinner and taller just looking at it. And it's TAUPE.)



I can cop to knowing how to make a granny square, and according to today's podcast, that means that I know enough techniques to do everything. A few short weeks ago Marilynn tricked me into buying a tiny hook. You know.. to put beads on knitting. But are hooks like needles? Do they suddenly appear in a basket by the dozen? Soon I'll find out there's a *faster* hook, or a purple, laminated, whatever-hook that one blind man in Borneo carves by hand. Somehow I'm going to press: Paypal, and I'm going to own that hook. I can see it now.

So today, crochet has been seeping into my consciousness. I'm thinking about firmer button bands. I'm thinking about crochetting (how the heck DO you spell that?) into just the front loop and coming up with a more drapey product. How does it look if I just go into the back loop? The same? Different? Softer?

See... there's only one darned way to answer these kinds of questions. That darned C word, eating at me already.

must.finish.Christmas.knitting.

Wildfire and real fire and mystic waters

The other day I was listening to Stash and Burn (which, in my opinion, is a very useful and interesting thing to do. I wish there were more to listen to), and the discussion was 'wildfire patterns'. What makes one? Certainly we can easily name one or two (Clapotis.. Fetching..). I watched a clip of the Yarn Harlot discussing the very same thing recently. Really, wildfires extend beyond patterns, and must include products and designers and innovation and style. It makes me think of knitters as a sub-culture, and how great it is to join KALs, to wait with anticipation for your Tulip cardi kit to arrive, and how somehow life doesn't seem totally fair if you've never knit with STR. How the heck can I funtion without Options?

Have you been singed?

Alright.. I'm hesitant to share this, just in case you might think I have a shred of common sense. Yesterday Dida was here with me for the day and I was showing her how to dye roving. Because of the lack of space here, I have to spread plastic wrap over a counter and across the top of my gas stove. I laid out the roving and leaned over it to begin dying when I accidentally brushed up against a control. An element ignited. Poof. The 'Playing with Fire' series of colourways has its first authentic submission.

Pictures of two absolutely gorgeous (unsinged) rovings to follow after BF gets back from pick ups and drop offs and errands and adventures.

Sigh... I have put Mystic Waters on hold for the time being (forgive me if I'm repeating myself). I can't concentrate on that level and do Christmas prep. So after all the excitement dies down, I'll pick it up as my primary project. It's sad.. because that darned shawl is gorgeous and sparkley and soft and amazing. I wish I could wear it at Christmas. Or, give it as a gift to someone I really love.

I need more hours in the day.

I'm addicted to podcasts

I really am. I've forgotten about music completely as a result (except for Paul Potts, who i LOVE).

I started out on a small scale, and downloaded a selection of knitting/spinning/dying related podcasts. I have immediate deletion criteria; as follows:

- Music/intro goes on too long, or is particularly dated.
- The first thing the podcaster does is apologize. Enough already. I'm hoping for content.
- Podcaster is boring. (I'm sorry; but some of you could cause unscheduled naps)
- Audio sucks for no apparent reason.
- There are huge gaps between podcasts that don't have a reason; for example, if the podcaster goes on vacation, he/she will tell you that the week before. AOK. If the podcaster disappears for weeks and comes back relating all the things that are of more importance than the podcast (read: audience), then, not so ok. I would un-subscribe unless I was a true, long term fan. (Yes, I understand you have a life; but put the podcast on hold for a period of time, and let your audience know)

Anyway, my initial decisions on subscribing/not subscribing are probably based on less than a minute listening time to a few different podcasts. After a few weeks of research I came down to this: Let's Knit2gether is quaint and sweet, and I really love it. Stash and Burn kicks arse; completely. Bravo. I love It's a Purl Man, tho he's a rule breaker. He has enough interesting content that the rule breaking is no big deal. Right now I'm looking into Cast-On. I have a feeling she's going to be a regular.

I'd like to host a podcast one day. BF and I have been talking about it, and I'm thinking about hooking up with a local stitch and bitch (if they'll have me) to use as a home-base. This is quite a way down the line, but we're doing some research and learning some things here and there. Learning what I like and what I dislike really is a first step. We have most of the technology.


Just a little photographic break here for your pleasure. Don't know who took the picture, or where it came from... I just like it.

We went geocaching today and BF found a really fabulous cache by the industrial airport. It was just too cool for words, but I won't spoil the surprize for any local geocachers who happen to read this bog. We also went to Chapters for a copy of the winter Interweave Knits (I have a paid for subscription since August, yet have never received a magazine. They don't seem to answer emails. Weird, huh?). We had a coffee, grocery shopped, cooked an Indian meal, gave BF a salt scrub... I started a Mobius Capelet and dyed a 1/2 lb. of superwash Merino. It accepts dye differently than BFL. I think I'm going to have to overdye it tomorrow to get the effect I'm looking for.

Tomorrow.. I spin.

I've decided to hybernate the Mystic Waters until after my Christmas Knitting is complete. I hate to fall behind, but it has to be done.

Finally, kudos to Dr. Henkins. I am in fact walking upright on sunday. Yeah!