Sunday Spinning

I *heart* spindle spinning. And I am obsessed with spindles, so much so that despite having only spun a skein on a spindle once (well it produced two skeins I suppose) I have 4 spindles... I got a new one today, she is so cute and small. She is for laceweight and I'll call her Tiger (not original, the tag talks about Tiger Mountain near issaquah WA...). I tried out a little fiber on her and wow is it so nice (so is the fiber - Blue Faced Lister)

And a close up of course - note the tiger stripes

I mainly spun on another spindle today though. I think it is white alpaca. I don't think I like the alpaca as much as the BFL. It is very slippery and there is white fiber everywhere from it sort of flaking off. I don't know what I'll do with the yarn but I have now remembered why I love to spin.

I tried spinning on a wheel once and wow was it hilarious. I really couldn't get it going at all. But I figure eventually I will succumb to the allure of the wheel. I can see how it would be nice to have more product for an afternoon of spinning.
Oh and by the way, I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

Freakin' Calgary weather, I swear spring is like a little kid at a window sticking its tongue out at you. I grew up in northern Ontario, I know cold weather. I can handle cold weather. But this swinging from 20oC (68 F) to -24oC (-11F with wind chill) is not cool. I wish it would either stay cold or stay warm, stupid chinooks. By the way, the above picture was taken just after it started snowing. I think we got over 5 cm yesterday, more today and still some to come tomorrow. Predictions say 7oC (45F) on Saturday... Here's hoping.

Missing in Action

I know I've been sadly lacking in the "pictures of my knitting" department. I will make up for it all in one big post. I could space it all out but I don't know if I'll have time in the near future to do another post with pictures, and I don't know if I'll remember to post later. So I'll just trust that you will read my witty posts (ha!) without pictures later on. We'll start with the old stuff and move to the new stuff.

First up is a picture of my finished Mystery Stole 3. I took a picture during blocking but forgot to get a picture before I gave it to my mom.


And this is a picture of a Wonton I made for a friend's cat. I love seeing things I made be well loved, and if the recipient is a cat, well they don't lie to make you feel good about a project. I can safely say that Dixun loves his wonton.


A while back, though not more than a month, I finished the Practice Makes Perfect Scarf found in Inspired Cable Knits. It is warm and wonderful and knit in Berroco Ultra Alpaca (Lavender, 3 skeins). I really liked the pattern too, and have several projects from this book on my mental queue.



Awhile ago someone was asking us to post pictures of where we knit. Well I sometimes knit on the chair that was seen modeling my scarf. The kicker is that my great-grandmother used to knit on that same chair (as did my mom). It has been reupholstered since then. I love it almost as much as our cats do (which says a lot, it is red velvet, you can imagine how much they like it). Here is a better photo. I love the history associated with the chair.


And finally, my current go-to project, a Mitered Squares Blanket a la Mason Dixon Knitting. I am knitting it in a washable yarn that is cost effective. It is Patons Decor - 75% Acrylic, 25% Wool. After the alpaca scarf it was a bit hard to go to the acrylic. But I know that I will need to wash this thing and so wool was out. And good cotton (like they use for the sample in the book) was out due to costs. Perhaps someday when we can afford it I will knit it again with a more expensive yarn, if I am crazy enough to deal with all those ends! I am approximately 30% done the blocks. Then there is the sewing up and the border. But so far I love how it is coming along.


And on a final note, do your cats sleep like this? (by the way Amy, it reminds me of that picture you recently posted of Cave Troll)

Tampon Crafts: For Any Time of the Month

I'm snagging this from Emma on the off chance that you don't read her blog. Though you should, she posts way more regularly than I do. This will be my response to people who think that knitting is weird. I present to you Tampon Crafts ... Enjoy

Doing the Signifi-dance

I am doing the signifi-dance - you know the dance you do when you realize that your results are statistically significant. It is like riverdance but better, it is like riverdance for academics! Yeah, one of my side projects that is going in my thesis just finished up and I ran the stats today - p = .054 baby! Well, I guess that the .004 means it isn't significant but with this topic I'll take whatever I can get.

How did y'all find me?

Just a brief note, and then I must get back to work - semester end always involves a clump of work that I've ignored for longer than I should have. I've been wondering how people have found my blog. I am sure that some of you found my blog based on comments that I left on your blogs (or on someone else's blog). But when I follow the links of your comments I am sometimes really baffled. I am really interested in how y'all found my blog and would appreciate it if you would satisfy my curiosity. 

Overheard on the Bus

I suppose when it rains it pours - I have another thing to blog about and I don't want to save it for tomorrow. I had a wonderful encounter on the bus today. A little background first, the bus was fairly crowded because the earlier bus had not come for some reason.

An old man gets on the bus and a young woman starts to get out of her seat so that he can sit
old man: No no you sit, women they are the queens of Canada. They need to sit
young woman (puzzled voice): Okay, yes we are
old man: You are like the Queen Elisabeth
young woman looks perplexed

bus driver: Move to the back
bus driver: Everyone needs to move further back please
old man (with humor): We move back more and soon we go up to the roof of the bus!

Then it turns out that the man and his wife (or sister) live in my building so they get off the bus, he gets off first and gives her his hand to step down (it looked sweet). We walk towards our building and I hear this strange noise, I turn to look and he is making a lot of kissing noises. I held open the door for them and the following took place

old woman: Thank you
old man: Thank you, you are very nice
me: Well I try to be
old man: Happy Easter!
me: Happy Easter to you too.

I don't know if the man was just silly or a bit senile but either way he made my evening! It is times like these that help me remember that tripling my commute time by taking the bus is (sometimes) worth it.

Brief Ode to My Macintosh Computer

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love how you never get sick 

I love how my husband's computer games don't work on you so he doesn't install them

I love how sleek and  silver you are

I love how you come with most drivers installed

I love your special programs (most notably iCal and photobooth right now)

I love how you came with a built in camera before most other laptops did

I love how you are not a microsoft computer

I love how your quick keys are so intuitive

I love how your power cord is connected with a magnet so that when I am clumsy (often) and trip on the power cord you don't pull yourself onto the floor

But most of all I love how reliable you are.

Okay, so I'm scrounging for topic ideas but I think this is at least a little amusing. I guess you could say that I really like my computer. Oh and don't worry I am fully aware that I am a geek.