Still knitting

It's been a challenging few weeks, but I am finding a way, every day, to keep moving forward.
It's different from the dissolution of my marriage; it hurts in a different way, but the pain runs deep. It seems to be not about the years together, but that intangible investment that your heart has made.

My hands are fine, though I might just touch base with my family dr about my left one. The middle knuckle is still giving me gyp, snapping my fingers with that hand still makes it ache. I think that it may have actually been broken.

I have finished my Churchmouse linen st scarf!! Took a lot longer than it should have, but we got there.





It needs a blocking, not the least so that the fringe straightens out so that I can trim it.
I like it a lot. *Almost* hoping for cooler weather to put it to good use.
Julie has sent me a couple of small projects. I'm starting with this wee stuffie.


Georgitte is a cutie, no doubt about it, and will perhaps change my attitude towards stuffed animal projects. We shall see shortly.

I have been spinning. It is good therapy as I can't let my emotions intrude upon my process or it gets ugly fast. I am feeling more confident in spinning a fairly consistent light-weight single. I think that it will be closer to a sport weight than the fingering that I was hoping for, but only plying and setting will tell.
I am halfway through the super wash roving that Barb gave us at the Frolic class.














I have found quite a bit more roving that had slipped my mind that I will spin up and practice on before I give a real shot at spinning a serious length of yarn for a project.

The puppies are well.
Chica's caring style is to keep me preoccupied with throwing her ball. Lol.





She loves that thing and makes me laugh with her antics.
Petey is my sensitive carer. He will not watch me cry. He jumps up and is licking my face until I stop - if for no other reason than to halt his zealous ministrations!!





He snuggles beside me, morning and night, silently, consistently comforting.
I had Toby for two weeks while Kee was away for work. Chica & I will miss him a lot. We had some great fun at the soccer pitch. I told Lee that he had to keep forking out for the Chuckit ball.








Baseball has been terrific this year; I'm so glad that I got onto a mixed team. There's more overall playing, and it gives me that many more games and exercise. I bring the puppies sometimes; Chris & Maria are their fave minders.


I am working towards a big change. I'm due for a positive one that I choose for myself. It's geographical. Nothing definite at the mo, but I won't give up on this. I need somewhere new, where I can make positive memories unclouded by the past. Not haunted by memory triggers everywhere I turn.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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!!

And She Spins Too!!

It's my 1^st real yarn!!!

My first bobbin of singles is on the Right - I totally got better on the 2nd bobbin!

I estimate that there is approx. 31metres (34 yds) - not much but I'll work it into something!!

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!

Latent Skill

I can spin!! It's in me and look out world! now it's out. It wasn't me, it was the tool; I wasn't meant for a drop spindle, that's all.
I went to see Kathy and we chit-chatted while her Ashford wheel got used to a new presence in the room. I didn't make any overt, startling moves toward it and it didn't make faces at me (yes they can!) or start spinning it's wheel menacingly. Once we had gotten used to the idea of each other, Kathy showed me how it's done. "You sort of loosen up the fleece like this." uh-huh "And just feed it in like this, holding it sort of like so." Yup. Got it.
You know how it is when someone is really good at something and they just sort of do it and tell you how easy it is? I mean, it's like riding a bike. "Hop on and just pedal." But there are like, what, eleventy-hundred and one other things to do & think about & coordinate in order to ride the bike as opposed to just not falling off of it.
It looked very easy and there didn't seem to be any real pitfalls (or maybe Kathy just didn't want to scare me) so there was nothing else but to give it the old college try.
Amanda had to be dragged away from her good times with Elizabeth & Kathryn so her focus is a little off, but you get the idea. I spent hours spinning and plying. I will definitely have to work on consistency & loosening up a bit. (No Kyle, this is not proof that I'm uptight.)
Then Kathy wound the yarn onto a kniddy-knoddy that her husband had made out of plastic pipe. I know, he made it for her - not just thought about it. Apparently the skein is a bit long, but he made her a kniddy-knoddy!! We steamed the skeins to "set the twist". I was totally unprepared for the magic of this - it's like high-speed blocking. When you block a sweater or shawl you see the wrinkled, uneven stitches then after considerable time & effort you have wonderfully even & smooth stitches. As the yarn was passed over the steam, I watched it scrinch up and straighten out!! I giggled out loud - it was amazing!
I used some fleece that I had in my stash - for thrumming & for felting over soap , the coloured one was Fleece Artist.
The yarn is nice; the smaller skein feels nicer as it isn't spun or plied so tightly.
I might just have to get a wheel. Definitely maybe ...