Wins

The Spiders won again!!! Our time of 5:53:34 was sufficient and a half hour faster than the 2^nd place team. Here's a link to the official results.






The Relay for Life was awesome - the weather was perfect, not overly cold overnight, not the dewiest we've knit through and experiencing it as a Survivor for the first time was very special. Thank you to all of my supporters - you were all with me in spirit!!!





Amanda has graduated from Grade 8! It was a lovely evening, she was (as if there was any doubt, last minute beauty emergencies notwithstanding) beautiful and her teacher made a wonderful DVD montage of the year for all of the graduates. I am so proud of her and can't believe that my baby is going to be in high school in the fall.







I am almost done the Wollmeise cami for Elise. I love how the straps are rainbow striping!!

I'm going to be at The Needle Emporium on the 9sup>th of July so if you're in the area pop in & say "hey".

Back to Back

Next weekend the Toronto Spiders are competing in the Int'l Back to Back Wool Challenge again. We will be going for the win at Black Creek Pioneer Village on Sunday June 5^th starting at approximately 10AM. We're hoping for an awesome sunny day & would love to have you come out and cheer us on!!

Celebration

Thank for all the support & - it seemed like it was going to be such a long journey back in July and now that treatment is over it seems like it's been a whirlwind! Now I need to adjust my mind set from "getting through" to "moving on" and while this will be another long/short journey I know that I will be equal to this task as well ... with the support of my friends!!

I met up with my friend Joan on Saturday for lunch and a knitting afternoon. She surprised me with a "Celebration Scarf" from the Toronto Spiders Back to Back team!! Everyone contributed - spinning and/or knitting - to a scarf that I can feel the love in. There's a square with a bit of sparkle, awesome variegated sections with fleece that was donated by Louet and OMG - check out the bottom LF square (or RH as you're looking at it ) ... yes, it's a spider!!! You ladies rock - we've won & lost the B2B title together and now we're winning the battle against (breast) cancer together! I'm especially looking forward to our Challenge & Relay for Life this year ... no matter how hot it is I'll be wearing my Celebration Scarf. Thank you my friends!!!

3rd time NOT a Charm

The 3^rd round of chemo was NOT a charm. Last time it was headache, this time it was nausea. Even with the meds I was down for the count - nothing that a friend bringing ginger ale, another bringing dinner and a couple of days in bed couldn't cure but still. Today is better but still not excellent - I've been spoiled by good luck so far.
The fact that my period is not lighter & did not stop altogether - both possible side effects - but has decided to come every 3 weeks with chemo cycle just seems like adding insult to injury!! It's screwing with my hormones/emotions and is probably not helping my borderline anemia. Sigh - it's always something with cancer.

But the knitting is continuing. I finished the Ana Bandana yesterday in bed with Mischief. I'll get Amanda to model it tonight maybe - I think it will look cuter on her.

<sup>I started a new project for Elise - I can't take a picture without giving it away (another Top Secret project) but here's what the yarn looks like. The beige is Kollage Sock-a-licious and the chocolate/cherry is Claudia's Hand Paint Fingering.

I've also finished the RF of China Clouds and am working on the ends!!! Just the back to do and final finishing - the end is in sight!!!





And how awesome is it to have friends whose last name is Comfort? Judy & Bob came by on the weekend to drop off the Back to Back trophy - yes, it's come back to roost in Canada.</sup>

We did it ...

The Toronto Spiders have taken back the B2B title!!!

International Back to Back Wool Challenge

P.O. Box 34

Birregurra Victoria 3242 Australia

20010 Results Annual Challenge

Promoting Wool World Wide & Fund Raising for Cancer Research

Ph: + (03) 5233 6241 Email: backtoback@iprimus.com.au

POSITION TEAM 2010 Time Previous Best Time

1. Toronto Spiders, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 5hr 52min 48sec 5hr 55min 50sec 2008 . Including a 5 min penalty NEW CANADIAN RECORD 2010

2. Team 1, Pelhrimov, Czech Republic 6hr 52min 10sec 7hs 34min 15sec 2009 . NEW CZECH REPUBLIC RECORD 2010

3. Hitsujikouboh Masako, Chibaken, Japan 7hr 14min 04sec 5hr 33min 46sec 2006 JAPANESE RECORD 2006

4. Spinning Knitwits-Newcastle, Patterson, NSW, 7hr 22min 35sec 5hr 43min 26sec 2004 Australia

5. Kurrajong Handspun Crafts, NSW, Australia 7hr 44min 00sec 6hr 34min 19sec 2007

6. Team 2, Pelhrimov, Czech Republic 7hr 44min 13sec 8hr 32min 40sec

7. Bloemfontein Spinners Academy, 8hr 13min 40sec 9hr 9min 15sec 2009 Republic of South Africa NEW SOUTH AFRICAN RECORD 2010

8. Gumeracha Gumknutters, Lobethal, South Australia 9hr 34min 38sec 7hr 21mins 59sec 2009

9. Gospereau Valley Team, Nova Scotia, Canada 9hr 59min 10sec 11hr 15min 00sec 2007

10. Cotswold Woolgatherers, Stroud, 10hr 10min 00sec 9hr 40min 13sec 2009 . Gloucestershire, UK

11. Thunder Bay Weavers& Spinners, Ontario, Canada 14hr 25min 12sec 17hr 46min 20sec 2008

12. The Unspun Heroes, George River, 7hr 37min 00sec 15hr 09min 00sec New Team . Cape Brenton Island, Nova Scotia Canada Including a 5 minute penalty

13. Spinthrift Scotsville Cape Brenton Island, 15hr 30min 00sec New Team . Nova Scotia Canada

Guinness WORLD RECORD

Pembroke Merriwa Jumbucks, NSW, Australia 4hr 51min 14sec ~ 2004

2010 Awards:-

Scottish Wool Centre - The winning team world wide.

Toronto Spiders, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 5hr 52min 48sec

Including a 5 min penalty NEW CANADIAN RECORD 2010

City of Geelong - Winning Australian team.

Spinning Knitwits-Newcastle, Patterson, NSW, 7hr 22min 35sec

Shipway Trophy - For the winning New South Wales, Australia, team.

Spinning Knitwits-Newcastle, Patterson, NSW, 7hr 22min 35sec

Canadian Cooperative Wool Growers Ltd Trophy for the winning Canadian team.

Toronto Spiders, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 5hr 52min 48sec

Including a 5 min penalty NEW CANADIAN RECORD 2010

Brigadoon Trophy- The team with the greatest donation to charity.

Results to be announced when all the results are in.

Media Release

Toronto Spiders Spin a Winning Woolly Web

The Toronto Spiders team competing at Black Creek Village in Toronto, Ontario, handspun and knitted a jumper from sheep’s back to theirs in just under six hours to win this years International Back to Back Wool Challenge.

Winning a whole hour ahead of the second place getter, The Czech Republic team, their time was not enough to break the Guinness world record time of 4 hours 51 minutes and 14 seconds, held by the Merriwa Jumbucks

Thirteen teams of blade shearers, handspinners and knitters entered at

twelve different venues around the world in the sixteenth Challenge, completed on Sunday 20th June 2010.

Each team consisted of a blade shearer, a country of origin sheep and seven

handspinners (with spinning wheels) and knitters who follow the identical

Challenge rules and pattern to knit the adult size jumper.

The teams were from six different countries, two teams competing on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada for the very first time.

Each team not only promoted wool world wide but raised substantial

funds for Cancer Research.

Countries competing this year included Australia, Canada, Japan, UK, South Africa and the Czech Republic.

Results:-

First :- Toronto Spiders, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 5 hours 52 minutes 48 seconds.

NEW CANADIAN RECORD Including a 5 min penalty.

Second:- Team 1, Pelhrimov, Czech Republic 6 hours 52 minutes 10 seconds.

NEW THE CZECH REPUBLIC RECORD

Third:- Hitsujikouboh Masako, Chibaken, Japan 7 hours 14minutes 04seconds

InsideToronto.com did a great article - check it out!!

A Knittin' They Did Go

Well, the Spiders competed again. It was chilly for the end of May which made the grease in the fleece that much trickier to spin & knit, but we didn't throw in the wool. I can't release the details until the final teams compete next week so you'll have to bear the agony of anticipation with us!!

Going for a 3-peat

The Toronto Spiders are going for a 3-peat of the International Back-to-Back Wool Challenge at Black Creek Pioneer Village on May 31st.

If you're going to be in the area, come on by and cheer us on - the middle bit is not much to get excited about but we sure do know how to rock out the beginning & finale!! Signature Needle Arts is the Official Needle Sponsor for the Spiders - all of the knitters will be knitting with Signature Needles. We're really hoping that this will help us take a few more minutes off of our time in our quest for the World Record.

We Did it Again ...

... and no "oops" about it!!!

Your Toronto Spiders have defended their World Championship title!!

B2B - IWC Results 2008 - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: B2B - IWC Results 2008

We freakin' rock!! And we won't stop striving for a better time, so come out and see what we can do next year!

Toronto Spiders - Brought it!!

We rocked it out and had a great time doing it! There's a great article in the Toronto National Post today (pg 3); here's the link to the online version.
There is a team in the Czech Republic competing this year - they'll be doing their sweater on the 14^th - nice for WWKiP Day!!! - so we won't know how we finish in the standings until the 15^th, but we're all agreed that we champions no matter what!!

Toronto Spiders - Bringin' it Again

It's that time of year again - the Toronto Spiders are ready to bring their best spinning and knitting skills to bear on the International Back to Back Wool Challenge. We're out to beat our best time of 6:00:18 - come cheer us on!! Details Spread the Word!!!

No Longer a Wollmeise Virgin

Now I know what all the fuss is about!!!
I'm sure that you've heard the name Wollmeise in your blog reading and Ravelry wanderings. I did and after much thought and consideration I caved ordered.

I was actually surprised when I picked this up at the post office - the order was shipped the day after I ordered it and 8 days (actual days not business days) from Germany to Angus!! Their customer service is top-notch.
I ordered a set of their sample skeins - because they offer light, medium and dark tones for all of their colours I thought that it would be excellent to have this "shade card". The sample skeins are all in the medium tone. Aren't they wonderful?!? Since I was ordering, I added in a skein of Dark Dani & Dark am kalten Polar. You may want to prepare yourself for the depth of the Dark - it might just take your breath away. Here they are beside the medium sample skein for comparison.

Dark Dani


Dark am kalten Polar

I warned you - the colours are so deep and rich that the rest of the world starts looking pale if I look at them too long. I can't wait to start a pair of socks with them!

The World Cup comes to Canada

A lot of Canadian teams have dropped the ball of yarn puck this year and the Stanley Cup but The Spiders have picked up the slack. We took the fleece, spun it & knit it really fast and now, Canadians from coast to coast have reason to stand and cheer - The Trophy is here!!!

I give you The World Cup of Knitting - the Scottish Wool Centre Trophy, awarded to the fastest B2B team each year. Hopefully we can get the team together for a celebratory dinner and some pics of the team hoisting the trophy , kissing it hello (no worries - no tongue).

Oh - good luck to Canada in the FIFA U-20!

And Canada gets the Gold

Dear Back to Back Teams Around the World,

Well.

The Thirteenth Back to Back has been run and won.

The results are a day early because of the horrific State Emergency floods

in New South Wales, Australia.

The Spinning Knitwits & The Masters Apprentices unfortunately had to cancel

their challenge today, being from the flooded areas.

Our thoughts are with them and their families.

The three top teams bettered their previous times enormously.

Perhaps this was due to Edie Shipway & the Merriwa Jumbucks sharing their knowledge on how to beat that clock.

Sincere thanks to Edie and her team.

RESULTS:-

How exciting.

New country.

New Winner

Results:-

First :-

Toronto Spiders, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

6 hours 00 minutes 18 seconds

Second:-

Bairnsdale Woolies. Victoria, Australia

6 hours 10 minutes 08 seconds

Third:-

Kurrajong Handspun Crafts, NSW, Australia

6 hours 34 minutes 19 seconds

Forth:-

Hitsujikouboh Masako, Chibaken, Japan

6 hours 51minutes 03seconds

CONGRATULATIONS TO:-

Lorraine Smith, Julia Lee, Denise Powell, Barb Jones,

Wannietta Prescod, Karen Richens,Judy Pergau

SHEARER John Steeles

Full result list will follow.

Cheers

Wendy

Wendy Dennis

Coordintor International ‘Back to Back’ Wool Challenge 2007

B2B pics

I've uploaded the B2B pics that Amanda took - have a peek.

And you know that I'm a sucker for these things! (I'm not a Snickers eater, but the description seems apt).

Snickers

Nutty and gooey - you always satisfy.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

And I'm afraid that we can't be friends anymore Sandra - I'm a middle finger and it just won't work out between us.

You Are the Middle Finger

A bit fragile and dependent on your friends, you're not nearly as hostile as you seem. You are balanced, easy to get along with, and quite serious. However, you can get angry and fed up with those around you. And you aren't afraid to show it! You get along well with: The Index Finger Stay away from: The Pinky

What Finger Are You?

Quick Update

Battery Dying - must be quick!! Etienne's AC power cord stopped working - the first battery has been depleted and this one only has 2.57 hours left. The good news is that after some adamant insistence Dell will be sending a new one out for tomorrow. 3 days - considering that I paid for the extended warranty - was just unacceptable!!

I have - thanks to Amanda, official photographer for the Spiders - a lot of pictures. I just have to sit down, edit, file & upload them. Here is one of the 2007 team. I'm all squinty-eyed - we were facing the sun and after being inside all day I felt a bit like a bear coming out of her cave. Bob actually took this one so that Amanda could be in it!

This is Lorraine's friend Mel who was visiting from Australia. While she claims no knowledge of knitting and/or spinning, we harbour the notion that she was a spy for the Aussie team(s). Mel was fantastic - she fed us (literally, she actually put the food in our mouths so that we didn't have to stop), she did some row timing so that I'd know if I was slowing down and she took Amanda with her around the pioneer village to see sheep being sheared, cedar shakes being made, butter churning & rope making.

And if you thought that life in a pioneer village was boring you could be right. Unless a sheep escaped from the shearer - then it was the most exciting thing going on!! Telling visiting children "Don't run after the sheep!!" really didn't work. I mean, what makes you think that children would listen to strangers dressed up as pioneers? I'm not sure what happened in the end - when we left the sheep had fled into the woods and the consensus was that it would probably come back but they hoped that a coyote wouldn't get it. Poor Amanda!!! She was very concerned for the little sheep.

Veni, vidi, vici

or more accurately,

Nos venit, nos knit, nos victum (We came, we knit - yeah, you got that one, eh? - we conquered).

We're not supposed to release our results until the end of the competition period, so until June 10th you will have to be content to know that we didn't suck. Actually, we spun & knit the sweater in a better time than last year - 6:51:15.

I'm pretty much still exhausted - the intensity of the physical and mental effort and sustaining that for the entire competition takes it's toll. I'm resting today but should be back to my old self (for better or worse) tomorrow!

Britanny, Roxie & Tammy are the prize winners (I'll e-mail you) - but the Spiders are the real winners having your support!! How 'bout we do it all again next year?

This, That and The Other Thing

Well, I've been working quite a bit on this: The BMFA Rockin' Sock Club February sock. I know, but better late than never ... especially when you're running late!! I got a lot of the 2nd sock done when I took Amanda to see Shrek the Third. I had to start on the 2nd one so that I had something easy to do in the dark.

I've done 3 cable crossings on the leg of the first sock. The good news is that I can get it on - so many others have had problems with the cables being too tight. I headed off this problem by changing to 3mm needles for the leg (I was using 2.5mm needles for the foot). The problem is that there is a wrinkle of excess fabric on the top of my foot. I think that I could alleviate this with some instep shaping, but the problem is that I don't have enough any experience with toe-up socks and I don't know how to just put it in there. I'm sure that it's not difficult, but I just don't have the time to research it right now.
So I have to decide if I can just live with the wrinkle - maybe it will work itself out - or rip them out and knit them top down, with the heel & instep shaping that I know how to do. Maybe I'll think about this on Monday.

When I'm not working on this, I'm working on that: With 353 stitches per row and a lace pattern and circular needles this is not progressing especially rapidly. But I'm being the tortoise on this one - steady & persistent will finish the race. Cindy's variegated yarn keeps it from being a sea of monotone boringness.

Then there's the other thing: the Fiber Trends Hydrangea Lace Scarf. 1 repeat down, 6 or 7 more to go. It's not an especially easy pattern to memorize, but it's an interesting pattern and the yarn - Claudia Hand Painted Silk Lace - is a pleasure to knit with!

Well, I'm off to bed. I've been awake since 5:30AM - curse the cheerfully chirping birds and the frellin' yappy neighbourhood dogs!! - and between the knitting, gymnastics and the almost-too-delicious smoked pork loins (I don't use the smoker a lot, but when I do I'm totally in love), I'm done in!! The team (Toronto Spiders) will probably take a year to forgive me if I don't show up well rested and ready to knit!!

Thanks to everyone for your speedy knitting/spinning wishes and for those who helped spread the word. I'll do the prize draws on Monday and let you know who will be getting the swag.

Touching Base

I'm still here. My back is feeling much better - thank you for your well wishes! I have been knitting - a lot, honest!! I've been distracted from blogging with some work issues, helping Amanda find back of her closet, the bottom of her drawers and the floor of her room. This has literally taken days of work after school because I refuse to do it all for her.
It's not entirely her fault - she's genetically predisposed to hoarding. Stash by any other name is a mess!! That and the ADHD in her makes cleaning up properly in between activities a hit and miss affair - missing more often than not!
Ah well, by tomorrow things should be fairly tidied - she choose to give a lot of her unplayed with toys to Goodwill and Kerwyn is going to put together a bookshelf for her books, activity books & DVD's tomorrow.

Amanda is going to be the official photograper and DJ for the Toronto Spiders at our B2B Challenge on Sunday.
Apparently there is going to be a 2nd team!!! I know - isn't it exciting?!? A Head-to-Head Back-to-Back. This is definitely a must-see event. Have you blogged it yet? I'm having a contest to help spread the word so that we get a lot of support. Check it out - the contest and the competition!

I've also started a blog for the DKC Knits for a Cure. It will keep everyone apprised of the scarves that we're knitting - all through the year, not just at the Relay for Life -, the sponsors who are making it possible and some of the ladies who are receiving the scarves.

I promise a proper post with pictures of knitting and everything tomorrow. I will do it. I will make the time while I'm waiting for the pork to smoke. C'ya then!!

In Which Our Heroine Says "Ouch"

or You Can Teach an Old Dog new Tricks but It'll Hurt

or Could I Have an Ice Pack and Some Tylenol3 with that Rum & Coke?

Apparently you use some unique muscles in your back when you ride a bike. And when I say "unique" I mean muscles that you don't use to sit on your ass & drive a bus or knit. And when put into service these muscles will complain. Loudly and painfully. But she wouldn't be your Heroine if she curled up and cried (even though that was her first second repeating impulse).

The left front of Vivacious is complete and the back has been started.
Beaded strands for Amanda's bedroom doorway were nearly thrown in the garbage untangled.
The Hydrangea Lace Scarf has been started. I couldn't get a nice picture, even with the Ott light, so I'll try again tomorrow with some natural light.
I started a new project for Elise - a child's sweater called Radiant Rays. This one is done in the round. and since it's so small I just started on it. The gauge is a bit off so I will start on it again tomorrow.
I did call in sick for my PM bus run to go to the doctor - much to the chagrin of The Evil Slave Driver. They will be pleased that the anti-inflammatory and Tylenol are working well together and I should be fit for duty in the morning.
No worries - I'll be back on the bike in a couple of days. Geez, just when I was really starting to really get the hang of riding on those rollers!!
I'm looking forward to a wonderful long weekend after which there will only be 5 more weeks of school. Can I hear an "Amen!!"?

Congrats to the Thunder Bay Weavers & Spinners Guild for a great effort in their 1st B2B! I hope that they come back again next year.
Don't forget about The Contest.