Hacking my 2013 calendar

Since I started teaching knitting and quilting classes at Joann's, I've needed a small planner in which to keep track of things. The first year I made my own, and the next year I found one by Carolinapad.com that worked even better. Unfortunately, the style is discontinued. So my search for an inexpensive monthly/weekly smallish tabbed planner has been in progress for a while. I am pretty picky.

Then I ran across another Carolina Pad calendar in the back-to-school section. It was nearly perfect. $4. Tabs. Month and week pages. Squares big enough. The whole thing close to small enough. The downsides:  Wire binding. Curling corners on the plastic covers. Too many months (18) and unneeded reference pages making it too thick. Here are two Before pictures, borrowed from Carolina Pad's online store:

See that big wire binding just waiting to be squished, catch on things, and help rip pages.

The weekly pages are big enough to record ideas, expenses, and student info.

My options were to keep looking, design and make my own, or hack this one. You know which from this post's title.

The front.

Here you can see a new plastic binding and the ends of the elastic that holds the calendar closed. I have a few coils around because I have a punch for making spiral bindings. It turns out that metal comb bindings like the one on this calendar are spaced at exactly twice the distance as the spiral bindings, so I threaded the plastic coil twice through each hole. My original thought was to repunch everything, but there lies madness if every punch is not perfect. Avoiding madness is a good thing.

The back.

On the back you can see the long section of elastic (mine is 5/8 inch, I'd have used narrower, but this was the only black elastic I had). It keeps the corners of the covers from curling. Using a craft knife, I cut small slits in the cover (you can place them on the back cover if you want the long elastic on the front), inserted the elastic, glued it, clamped it, and waited overnight. Here's a close-up of one corner of the inside front cover:

Placement of the elastic.

How long should your elastic be? How long did I make mine? Long enough to hold the calendar closed without stressing the elastic or curling the book. My book is 3/8 inch thick and 8 inches high, I figured that 8 inches plus 2 inches fold-over twice (12 inches total) would work fine and it does. The elastic has to stretch 3/4 inch (twice the thickness of the book). When you glue, make sure the elastic is NOT wrapped around the book.

Shown just because are the new binding from the inside, the tabs I didn't have to make myself, and the nice big squares on the monthly calendar pages.

One thing checked off my shopping list.

Happy New Year

Quick and dirty current events:

• Best wishes for a merry new year!
  
• I'm considering a resolution for 2011.
• Mailed my second-to-the-last knitted gift (mittens) yesterday.
• Will resume work on my last knitted gift (3-button wrap) today.
• Knitted gifts done in time: 3 pair mittens, 7 hats, 1 cowl
  
• It's cold here: 23 degrees F. Grateful for handknits!
  
• I've been teaching knitting classes at Joann's.
• The zippered and handled bags I made from holiday polar fleece and used as gift bags for the Little Kids' gifts were such a hit that it's doubtful I'll get them back to refill for next year. It was faster and less wasteful to sew these bags than to wrap the multitude of little, mostly crafty, gifts for the LKs.
  
• Bought more holiday print fleece for next year's gift bags.

Quick and dirty 2010 recap:

• Quit watching Molly & McGee once first clutch fledged.
• Checked the book Journal Junkies Workshop out of the library and was immediately fascinated by art journaling, especially the concept of obscuring the writing.
  
• Started watching art journaling streams, especially JournalArtista aka Paula Phillips. Can you say "flopportunity?"
  
• Started art journaling.
• Am still art journaling.
• Finished spinning and plying a small bag of blues colonial wool from Fantasy fibers. Need to get it off the bobbins next.
• Started Wendy Johnson's Elizabeth Zimmerman Pi shawl "mystery" pattern; am near the end of the last section before the edging. Paused for gift and sample knitting.
• Started a pair of socks from my own handspun. Also paused for gift and sample knitting.
• Built an art table out of an Ikea wardrobe door ($10) and a pair of 3-drawer cabinets ($2 for both) with nifty "pull" and "open" knobs ($4) on the smaller 4 drawers.
  
• Grew potatoes! Ate them, too.
  
• Grew more everbearing strawberries than last year. Ate them outside!
• Discovered several new authors including Charles Todd.
• Started playing "faux Scrabble" at lexulous.com
  

Caught a mild case of MOD

MOD? Molly Obsessive Disorder! I'm not the only knitter following the lives of Molly, McGee, and their four owlets (Max, Pattison, Austin, and Wesley) and the unhatched egg named Dudley. Broadcast live 24/7, the feathered family hunts, eats, expels owl pellets, sleeps, grows, defends, and learns new things every day. The oldest owlet, Max, is 22 days old. Did you know owlets hatch in the order their eggs were laid? You can tell the owlets apart sometimes from their size, but not when they're in a huggle (hug huddle) or under Molly (increasingly infrequently as the owlets grow larger).


The Royal family in Southern California put this owl box up two years ago hoping to attract owls. It succeeded, and they started sharing the video stream with friends and family who told other people, and so on. So far over 7 million unique people/computers/IP addresses have visited Molly. What started out as one camera and one computer has grown to about 8 cameras, 2 computers, and 5 monitors (that I've heard about; it could be more) on the Royals' kitchen table. The latest night vision (infrared or IR) cameras were set up to try to catch the owlets fledge in a few weeks. The kitchen table is so crammed that Carlos says has to take Donna (who is a knitter, BTW) out to dinner every night!

Carlos has been narrating and answering questions for elementary students across the country, using Skype to connect to the classrooms over the Internet. Most of these events are recorded and available for playback at The Owl Box page. For a retired guy, Carlos has a more-than-full-time job for the duration; he is often up in the middle of the night resetting, chatting, and sometimes talking on the broadcast. He is a hoot in himself.

Volunteers from around the world are moderating the broadcast's chat room so it stays family-friendly. Other volunteers are collecting data, screen shots, and video and blogging much of it. There are cartoons, mugs, tee-shirts, jewelry, and an e-book. Portions of each purchase go toward funding bird habitat, and generous Molly fans can make donations without purchasing.

Oh, and now there's the LOWLcat in this post that I made from one of last night's screen shots. Turns out that it's hard to chat, take screen shots, and knit at the same time. So far, knitting is losing!

Oh, and the viewing schedule? Very flexible, but it's something like this:

Dawn Pacific Time to Dusk: Molly and owlets stay in the owl box, napping, preening, eating, housekeeping, and staying alert for trouble. Molly literally can sleep with one eye open. I've noticed that she often feeds the kids in the 8 AM hour and again around noon. The daytime camera is full color with sound, and you can see a lot, especially when Carlos zooms or pans. During the day, McGee, the male owl, roosts nearby, often in the neighbor's palm tree.

Dusk to Dawn: The owlets continue their daytime routine but stay closer together so they're easier to protect; they form an ever-growing "huggle" that often looks like a scrum as they jostle for position. Molly does go out at night to stretch and eliminate. Recently she's started staying outside longer, often sitting on the perch or roof, and she's been doing some hunting and bringing back food. The big difference is McGee's visits. They're usually less than 30 seconds! He comes in, gives Molly a rodent or rabbit, sometimes gives her a hug-equivalent that involves lots of screeching, and departs. Usually all we see is his legs because the night camera is set lower to the floor than the day cam. Views both inside and outside the owl box are now possible, so we get to see McGee on the box and in flight. His first visit can be anytime after about 7:30, depending on how dark it is, and as the owlets grow he will be making more visits; yesterday I think it was 15!

I'll stop typing now. Maybe my case of MOD is a little more than mild.

LOLcat Astrology?

A case could be made that LOLcats are the new astrology. Many times those anthropomorphic subjects predict or describe elements of my life. In today's, my feline and word play aspects are touched upon as well as a recent excursion behind and under the refrigerator that revealed zero tiles, five faux mice and one real mouse skeleton.

It was a good party.

A spinning bud of mine had a micro booth at the Sock Summit, and I was a helper there and, for a shift, at SS registration. Both gave me an excuse to hang out at the biggest sock party in recent memory. It was a good party.


The biggest event for me was helping set the record for most knitters knitting simultaneously. I heard there were 935 or so of us knitting away; I worked on a dishcloth as circular and sock needles were banned. It was great fun, and I met some people from all over.

After all the shopping (see below), volunteering, and most of the booth responsibilities, the Luminary Panel was calming (a couple of hours knitting!) and enjoyable. Hearing peoples memories of Elizabeth Zimmermann (my knitting hero for many years), the backgrounds and anecdotes of nine Super Knitters, and Stephanie and Tina in their several roles (thanks givers, emcees, panel moderators) was worth the ticket.


While managing not to spend my whole August budget on yarn, I did buy some yarn and two knitting tools: a Susan Bates Handi Tool, (combines a crochet hook, US 3 knitting needle, cable needle in one) and a 9-inch US1/2.25mm HiyaHiya bamboo circular needle (you can shop around and find it for less; I paid $6).

The yarn I got, well let's just say that several vendors had bargain bins! I got three balls of Meilenweit for an average of $6.65: Mega Boot Stretch color 710, Fun & Stripes 633, and Multiringel 5050.

Then there was the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth. I found a Socks that Rock Heavyweight Mill End skein of Treehugger.

But my favorite skeins were two from Lollipop Cabin. They're a Merino-free blend of four sturdy wools spun as singles by a local mill and hand-dyed by the proprietress who is Ialiuxh on Ravelry. The first skein (already on the needles!) is shades of black and blue with a few flashes of almost-white), and the second is similar to the STR Treehugger; funny that I didn't notice it until now! This yarn reminds me of the Kumo'Socki I bought in Klamath Falls in 2006; both pair are going strong.

Later, gators!

New yarn for old film

Last week I was reading blogs, and Yarn Zombie put out an offer to trade fiber from her shop for old Polaroid film. Yes! My 4 packs of 10-year-old film flew off to Ohio, and this beautiful yarn flew here:


Mmm skeins, indeed. The whole process started Thursday and we both got our packages on Monday. Yay USPS priority mail. Trading is good; unwanted items stay out of the landfill, and it's thrifty besides.

Recently I bought a compact digital camera and made my first video:


We'll just pretend I used a tripod and that you can't see my reflection. LOL

Sock Needle Storage

As part of a recent effort to gather most/all my knitting and crocheting tools in one piece of furniture that I could park next to one of my knitting spots for easy, fast access, I collected my sock needles and sorted them by size in plastic tubes provided by a Scrabble friend.


My P-touch made nice labels with both US and metric sizes. To the right of the tubes you can see my traditional needle gauge and the digital caliper (less than $15 at Harbor Freight) that I use to get more accurate measurements. I've never claimed not to be obsessive about some things. Plus, I like tools.

My larger-sized DPNs are still in the roll-up I made some time ago.

Holiday Knitting: Done at Last!

Louise's Christmas present, this pair of (size 11!) socks, is complete, presented, and modeled for the blog. Knit from Lion Brand Sock-Ease in the Taffy colorway on size 0 US/2mm DPNs, the pattern is the Yarn Harlot's basic recipe with two additions: an extra long heel flap to accommodate Louise's high arches and 2x2 ribbing everywhere except the sole for good fit. The heel flaps are about 3/4 inches taller than my usual square flap, making the gussets extra deep.

Here they are in her clogs. Her pants aren't high-water; she's holding the legs up so you can see the socks. LOL

Mattie was very interested in the new socks; she loves wool, especially if there's a squeaker inside. I admit to making her some wool squeaker toys out of failed felting projects and from heavy wool fabric. They're guaranteed to please!

Speaking of Mattie, she and I have a game we play in which she earns treats by begging, "talking", barking, and rolling over. Yesterday I got her to roll over a total of 13 times, 4 per treat and one extra. Once she figured out there wasn't a treat in my hand, she wouldn't do any more. She's not stupid!

Yarny and White Christmas

See the blue recycle and tan yard debris cans? They're about 3.75 feet high. Here in Portland, we had a record amount of snow lately; as reported here:

The National Weather Service says the winter wallop that dealt the Portland area nearly 19 inches of snow in the last two weeks has by one measurement made December the snowiest month since January 1950 in a city more noted for winter rain. Based on the snowfall at Portland International Airport, meteorologist Charles Dalton said, the winter weather also gave the city its snowiest Christmas at least since 1940, when the agency began recording precipitation levels there.

The mythic desirable white Christmas was ours. Many Portlanders postponed gatherings to the weekend when major streets were clearer and safer. My brother's 4WD with studded snow tires got us to our family's gathering on the day itself. Here's what Powell Blvd looked like after repeated plowing and sanding. Sidewalks were often buried and pedestrians walked in the streets.


Here's a picture of my grandnephews and grandniece wearing the slipper-socks I knit for them from superwash wool. They were more interested in their new toys, but I'm hoping the slippers will be used and appreciated.


I don't get to see the kids often, so grandniece and I took the opportunity to do some finger knitting. That's grandpa, who was wearing the socks I made for him, napping on the sofa next to us.


My sister, who wore her felted clogs, gifted me with some Patons Kroy Sock Yarn and a gift certificate; I'd mentioned buying some sock yarn at Jo-Ann last week and she'd sounded unenthused at the time, but I understand why now. LOL The color she picked for me was the color I'd have picked if I'd bought one more pair of skeins, so it worked out perfectly.

In which I become a game

I ran across this at knitnut.net and had to see if I was Scrabble, too. Yes, with reservations (added below in blue).

You Are Scrabble

You are incredibly clever and witty. You can talk your way out of (and into) situations easily. NOT You are an excellent decision maker. NOT You are good at weighing the options in front of you. You're the type of person who can make something out of nothing. You are very resourceful. You know a lot of things. Most importantly, you know when people are wrong - even when they won't admit it. NOT

What Board Game Are You?

On the knitting and holiday fronts, I'm moving at glacial speeds. I have 2/3 of the kids' 3 pair of slipper socks to knit and about 5/6 of a pair of big adult socks (toe-up Jaywalkers of Sockease) to go. I'd show you, but my brother has my camera for a few days. He's selling Dad's excess cable chains on Craigslist; they're hot sellers just now due to the snow and predicted freezing rain in our area. We might even have a White Christmas which sounds romantic and traditional but just makes the travel between homes problematic!

"A" My Name is "____." My Husband's Name is "____."

Recently one of "my" bloggers posted 10 things she loved starting with the letter B and I opted to be tagged, winding up with the letter A.

First off, I thought of the alphabet jump rope rhyme that goes

A my name is Alice My husband's name is Al We live in Atlanta And we sell Apples B my name is Betty My husband's name is Bob We live in Boston And we sell Beans

The rhyme continues through the alphabet and was quite fun to jump to.

So 10 things I like that start with A:

Apple chopped up with celery, walnuts and cottage cheese or yogurt is a favorite meal. It's a variation of Waldorf Salad, something my grandmother made for Christmas Dinner (and others) every year.


Adhesive of various types is a necessity. Except when its remnants are stuck to my skin! One of my favorite adhesives is silicone.

Arse the word, not the thing. Stephanie, The Yarn Harlot, use this word and it cracks (ha ha) me up enormously.

Antigravity is a regular feature in Science Fiction stories, but beware that the mass is still there and can cause damage!

The A tile in Scrabble, drawn to determine who plays first, is beat only by the Blank tile. Drawing it ensures that my first word gets double points, a good thing indeed. On the other hand, the one who starts has to keep score!

Almonds are one of my staple foods. Tasty, full of mono-saturated fat, protein, and a few carbs, I eat them whole or chopped every day, often with cottage cheese and fruit, always in hot multigrain cereal, or any time I need to add a little good fat to a meal. I buy them whole at Trader Joe's and use my hand-cranked nut chopper as needed.

Alpacas are a favorite animal because they produce such soft fiber for spinning, knitting, and so on.

Air is my favorite mixture of gasses, though I admit to not thinking about it often. I'm starting to run out of ideas here! Do I have 10 yet? Only eight? OK. Two more. Where's the dictionary? LOL

Alligator, as in "See you later, alligator." If you get C, you can use "crocodile."

Arithmetic! It's so clear cut, black and white, with easy rules. Completely unlike history, literature, or philosophy. But let's not extend my favor too far into trigonometry or calculus!

If you'd like to play, let me know and I'll send you a random letter of the alphabet.

When life gives you scraps, make quilts

It's like "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade." My aunt had lemon, orange, and grapefruit trees in her SoCal yard, so they weren't the bad things the homily would suggest. Neither are scraps if you're fortunate to have the skill or inclination to use them.

Well, I've recently been handed a lot of sour bits and pieces.

A close friend's cancer metastasized. An in-law's cancer is more resistant to treatment than previously. One of my nephews isn't coming to Christmas this year. I got another diagnosis that requires permanent lifestyle changes to help ensure an active life; this follows a probably-unrelated diagnosis 11 months ago. Let's not get into talking about "fair."

One of the Lemonade Quilt designs I've discovered is to think about possible positive outcomes and reminders to cherish what's good now.

The recent diagnosis is a very strong incentive to create a healthy lifestyle for myself. It has immediate numerical feedback and some dire consequences to avoid. I can do this.

The several-day hospital stay that just ended (in itself a set of scraps of a totally new color that will hopefully become a nice quilt in a couple of months) produced another sour fruit: the night nurse spotted a probable sleep disorder. It's treatable and treatment would likely result in more energy and clarity.

All of these sour scraps are scary yet at the same time provide some opportunities.

And did you know that the phlebotomists use a new giant rubber band on each patient to prevent spreading germs? I brought home a couple of mine to open jars, pull needles, stop skids, etc. They're a less bulky and more useful memento than the pink plastic tub and curved vomit basin, for sure.

Better now than then

It used to be that people paid me to write. Paying attention to grammar, as well as other aspects of producing publications, was important; remnants are still lodged in my brain!

Recently I've been noticing the words "then" and "than" being misused frequently by people who ought to know better.

THAN is a conjunction that connects two things being compared. Turquoise is bluer than red. Barack is taller than John. Cinder has more fur than Jumper. This might be more than you want to think about.

THEN is an adverb of time or order. That was then, this is now. What did he do then? Jim burped first, then Nancy chimed in. When you get these two words straight, then what?

If you're interested in reading more about using these two words, this Google search is a good place to start.

Other often confused sets of words are its|it's|its', insure|ensure, and affect|effect. Washington State University hosts a set of pages clarifying the use of hundreds of words. Book and calendar versions are also available.

Multitasking

Recently I got a vintage Schwinn exercise bike and rediscovered that time slows incredibly when watching the timer, even with the radio on. So I built and installed a simple book shelf for the handle bars.


The scrap of plywood is bolted to two smallish L braces which in turn are clamped to the handle bars with hose clamps. It's easy and requires no permanent modifications that might degrade the bike's collectability. LOL Just kidding; you can barely give these things away anymore.

Scrap of rubbery drawer liner keeps my book from sliding off. Now I can read and pedal until either 1) the timer sounds or 2) my rear goes numb. When it's the second event (which it usually is now that I'm building up a tiny bit of stamina), I get off the bike, march around for a minute, and get back on.

I'm exploring options and experimenting with available materials to prevent NBS (Numb Butt Syndrome). I'll report if I find a solution that doesn't involve temporary dismounts!

Socks, socks, socks, and slippers

These are my 9th pair of socks, knit with Stahl sche Wolle Socka Color yarn purchased about 20 years ago for gloves never knitted. I used Wendy's toe-up, short-row heel pattern. They're excellent with blue or black jeans and my Birkenstocks. These next two pair are now in the possession of my sister and BIL. Knit from the purple & gray Opal Batik previously blogged, they came out well and please their new owners. They look a little sick against the gold-ish carpet. This is a better representation. Lurking behind socks numbered 10 and 11 are these felted clogs knitted for my sister. She and the green fuzzy feet never got along well but she wouldn't give them back so I could wear them! The solution was a trade: new slip-ons with non-slip soles for the fuzzy feet. We're both happy. They already have a crumb on them! The suede sole didn't require any "special" tools. I used a hammer, nail, ruler, and block of wood to punch holes at half-inch intervals around both soles "pinned" together with binder clips. Both just barely fit on one rectangle of Tandy Suede Trim Piece #4040 purchased at Joann because we have small feet (5.5 US). The difficult part was getting them sewn onto the clogs; the threaded metal tapestry needle got stuck in the felted fabric; I ended up using pliers with taped jaws to pull the needle through. Here you can see the stitching. The pattern is Fiber Trends Felt Clogs (AC-33), an oldie-but-goodie I hadn't tried before. It's a keeper!

Pondering a Goal for Tour de Fleece

I'm not usually a great goal setter, but the Tour de Fleece requires one, stated or not, to "win." We're supposed to spin from stash and do something that's a personal challenge. Given my relative newness to the craft and my self-teaching methods, I'm not up to anything fancy (yet). But I do have all the cheviot and karakul in 12 to 18 ounce batts. Those are *big* batts. I've spun some of the karakul already, so I'm thinking the white cheviot. A whole batt. Making quantities of yarn large enough to knit at least a pair of socks (3+ ounces). So, up to 4 batches of yarn, each consistent with itself. It will all be white (no time to acquire dye and dye the batt, even if I knew how yet), but I can dye the resulting yarn later.

My initial thought to spin a whole giant batt (visualize, if you will, spinning a giant bat around on a string!) (just kidding) seemed too grand until today when I read Stephanie's post. If she can spin 3 *pounds* I can spin one. I don't have budding Erica Claptons in the house playing the same song over and over and over! LOL

Here's the batt with Pepper included for scale. Or if you think she's a giant cat (she's not, at 10 pounds), the batt is about 22 inches by 5 feet. Yes, feet. BTW, it's overcast today, so the pictures are not the greatest, but they'll do.


And to show vegetative progress, here's my first baby courgette:


The cucumber trellis made of field fencing:


Cute cucumber tendrils:


And the tomato plant from Louise:


I got the field fencing at the neighborhood feed store. It has 6 inch square holes so I can pick/weed/whatever through it, and it was easy to set up using zip ties to "sew" the ends together and anchor the fencing to the handles on the washtub since that trellis only goes part way around.

Sock Yarn, I Has It!

Starting with some red and blue mystery fluff (probably Cheviot) and some "white" mystery roving, and some pastel blue lace weight (also mystery wool), I finally produced sock yarn!

The process began with carding little red, white, and blue clouds in two steps. First I put red fiber on half the card (dog brush!) and blue on the other and carded once or twice. Then with that fiber still on the card, I added a layer of the while roving and carded once more. I made a bunch of these.

Then I spun about 3 ounces of singles, letting the colors do what they would, resulting in variously shaded red, blue, white, pink, light blue and lavender segments.

While I was happy with the single, I was impatient and didn't want to spin another one. Second Bobbin Syndrome! Also, I wanted to tone down the patriotic color combo. So I plied it with some sky blue lace weight from the stash. The bobbin wasn't big enough for all the plied yarn, so it's in two uneven balls. It will be interesting how it knits up and how durable the resulting socks are.

Stats: 450 yards, 118 grams (4.2 ounces) = fingering weight

BTW, my "cones" weigh 8 grams each. LOL And that's BBKitty whose fur's in the background; he "supervised" the "photo shoot."

Magnetic Cat and Lots of Fluff

A little while ago, Jumper jumped onto the desk with this


stuck to the magnet (which unlocks the cat flap) on his collar. Kind of like a bow tie. He's getting better at not freaking out and coming to me so I can detach whatever he's picked up (spoons, tuna cans, etc.). At least he's not bringing in mice!

In the Fluff department, here's an angora bunny offered for sale at the Spring Fiber Sale (see sidebar for link) on Saturday. Only $30, and a very sweet, extremely soft bunny getting close to molting/plucking time. No, I didn't bring him home. The vendor told me how two bunnies escaped their cages for a brief while and, because they were opposite genders, increased his angora inventory.


A list of my fiber stash and a wish list on an index card (yeah, small stash still) help keep my acquisitions in check. I was looking for a sock-appropriate fiber blend and found this beautiful fluff.


Ten little bumps of wool and 25% mohair in reds, pinks, and oranges. Only $12 for 8 ounces. The vendor was wearing mis-matched socks showing two blends (one was Sunset, the colorway I got) and a vest from a third. She has batts for sale online. There should be enough for 2 pair of socks, so I'll spin one with stripes and one blended. I'm looking forward to it.

Dick Duncan was there with one of the electric carders he manufactures and a bunch of fiber on which to demonstrate. A nice guy, he understands about beginning spinners on budgets wanting to hold off on purchasing a drum carder. The batts he makes while demonstrating are offered for sale for $5. This 2.2 ounces of almost black mohair with a few bonus wool streaks came home with me.


I plan to blend it with more of the dog/wool/alpaca roving. It should come out better color-wise than the Six Breed blend using yellow mohair. Dick doesn't have a web site, but his contact information is Duncan Fiber Enterprises, 21740 S.E. Edward Dr. Clackamas, Oregon 97015, (503)658-4066.

The third thing I got was a couple packets of Cushings Perfection Dye (navy blue and bronze green), thinking ahead to those two brown shetland fleeces I have. I got a chance to talk to several people about the fleeces and ways to prepare the fiber. I had been considering combing, but it turns out that carding will work better as most shetland fleece has both hair and undercoat. Combing would separate the two; carding will keep them blended.

Here's the last fluff picture for today:

If the coloration looks familiar, don't worry. I was unhappy with the mega bulky yarn I respun from my attempt at spindle spinning. Couldn't make myself start knitting it! So I ylped it and nupsed it (if knitters can tink, spinners can nups and ylp, right?) and spun it and third time and plied it a second time, doubling its length to 68 yards and halving its diameter to bulky weight. The new calculations come out to 777 ypp. I've got it on 10.5 US needles now, and I'm happy!

As for the ylping process, it was awkward. Thankfully the ball measured only 34 yards. I plied the ball backwards onto a spool so the two strands weren't twisted around each other (much) and then put one strand on the ball winder and wound the other strand manually as I unwound the spool. I don't know that I'd do this again, but, darn it, I wanted to knit something useful from my first handspun yarn, even if it took three passes to get it knit-able!

Five (Maybe Six) Species Cooperate to Make Yarn

I've been doing some more spinning! The yarn cake is the dried and wound yarn I showed you the other week. Its 34 yards totals 1.4 ounces, which works out to a bulky yarn using the calculator and these charts.


The skein of yarn at the top, however, is my second attempt. One of my goals is to spin sock yarn, and this spinner/knitter recommends 10-15% mohair by weight to add durability to wool socks. The fiber is a combination of yellow mohair and sheep/alpaca/dog fiber (the last two pictures here). The other two species counted in the title? Cat and human! It's 99.9% probable that there's cat hair and at least one of mine in that skein! LOL

Using the giant dog brushes, I "carded" the fibers together and spun them using a very impromtu inchworm draw. The singles were still bumpy in places, but overall much finer than before. The thin spots tended to be the mohair because it's tough and longer than the other fibers in my "blend." I spun until the bobbin was nearly full, wound it into a ball, and plied from both ends. Measuring the skeined yarn, there's 89 yards that weigh 1.5 ounces. Using the same tables, calculator, and brain, I figure the yarn is sport weight. Despite everything, the skeined yarn hung straight, possibly indicating that it is, on average, balanced.

I found a book at the library, Spinning and Weaving with Wool by Paula Simmons that seems to be a good match to my learning style. It also has plans for building a drum carder, in case I decide to do that. In the mean time, there's an electric drum carder at a LYS that I can use for $10 an hour if I want to do some more effective and efficient blending.

What will I knit from my handspun? Probably an ear-warming headband from the green merino, and maybe some wrist warmers from my multi-breed sport, but a little googling may reveal a pattern to match the yardage/weight.

Do you have any suggestions? Please comment!

SAM3, Antibiotics, and Blackberries

Assorted odd (or normal, depending on perspective) things are happening around here!

1) I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the second time, noting 8 instances of "sock," 5 instances of "sweater," and 2 instances of "underpants." Still no instances of knitting, though. Why underpants? They're just funny.

2) My brother's elderly cat, variously named Kitty, Barebutt, and "the skinny one," joined my household and it was not uneventful. He likes to pat your face if you aren't paying the right kind of attention to him. After he patted my gums because I was talking to him at the time, I started keeping my mouth closed. A couple days later, I had an infected gum and got antibiotics. Neither my dentist nor the nurse practitioner at my HMO had ever seen anything like it and had to do some research to choose the antibiotic. I'm OK now, but Kitty got his. He tangled with a neighbor cat and got an abscess of his own! So he's got a shaved spot and his own round of antibiotics to finish. Payback's a female dog!

3) I had a garage sale last weekend; it was very last minute and not the biggest sale, but some stuff I didn't need any more found new homes and I got some yarn money. Not a bad trade.

4) I finished my SAM3 July socks, shown here with Kitty who is a good knitting buddy because he doesn't mess with the yarn or needles.



The yarn is Regia Mini Ringel knit on US Zeros. They're a little bright but come winter they'll be great with my Birkenstocks. They're the eighth pair of socks I've knit since my first pair last August. I liked knitting the Regia, and the color repeats were very accurate.

5) Yesterday I spent some time with a new friend teaching her to purl and reviewing cast on and knitting while starting a simple roll-brim hat. We sipped our drinks, knitted, and talked on the shaded sidewalk outside our local coffee shop. We even managed to pick up another new friend in the process! We're already thinking about having regular meets.

6) I gave up this year's battle with the blackberries a few weeks ago, and now they're ripening! As I pick, I'll be cutting canes out, too. Mmmm, cobbler!