How the Time Flies When Yer Having Fun!!



I suddenly realized I haven't blogged for ages. I've got new things on the go, too many places yet to go, less time to go & its almost time for the country to shut down for Christmas!! But, I suppose there's still time to hock our souls to the Gods of Guilt, Tradition & Commerce . . . Do I have the "Christmas Spirit"?? Hell NO! Bah Humbug & all that.
I see all the families telling their sad stories to the newspapers so they can get a hamper & toys for the kids - what about their struggle to survive the rest of the year??? And, what about all the people who have no one? Its lonely enough for some but this constant barrage makes it even worse. Is there Really ANY Christmas Spirit out there??? I wonder.


Speaking of commercial stuff - I got my 15 pound bag of Brown Sheep mill ends!!!! Actually, I've been spinning, dyeing & knitting up samples - couldn't keep my fingers out of it!!!! It came about 3 weeks after ordering, no duty or GST & the box expanded nicely when I opened it!!! About a third of the bag is wool/mohair in lovely roving. The mohair blend always has a pink line thru it to identify it which rinses out easily. This pic shows it as it comes out of the bag! I am just thrilled with the quality of fibre in the bag!!! It ended up costing $150.58 for 15 pounds. Gail & I are splitting this one so I guess we'll be spinning for some time to come. We've already talked about having a dyeing party in the summer . . . . .

The rest of the ends look like large, firm, oval eggs - the wool pulls out from the centre of each weird egg so I'm figuring this is the last inside bit from a huge cone that wound from the outside. There's about 5 kinds of fibre in this bag, a polworth I think - spongey, soft & stretchy; a hairy, glossy, almost hairy fibre in sheets - might just be mohair; a glossy, creamy roving; a really crimpy, dense but soft fibre & the mohair/wool.
I spun up a little of each, dyed some & knit a small swatch for my Sheep Book. I think I like the Polworth even better than the mohair/wool roving although the roving spins up beautifully, evenly & finely. Sigh . . . . . this is a wonderful bag of stuff!!!!


I am completing Sock #26 this year for the male part of the 'Parents Who Have Everything' just in time for Christmas. They get socks now for Birthdays, Christmas & Anniversaries which makes the gift giving easy!!
I'm using my Bamboo Skewer needles here with Confetti in the light blue splotch dyelot. I started off with 73 sts & am using the Queen Kahuna heel. Yes Virginia, I no longer knit a flap & struggle to see to pick up those stitches on either side!!!! It took 3 pairs of socks before I got the method firmly in my noggin but now I can do it in my sleep without the lights on. I like this heel because there's lots of room in it & I can do my favorite slip 1, knit 1 ribbed heel from the back of the heel all the way around to the instep, giving a nice cushy heel!
The BT loves this cushy heel & got his socks at the beginning of December. Two more pairs to go to girls who asked for Frankensocks!!! And how many days till the Big Day??? Yeah, I'll get em done!!!