What is Blogspot Doing???

I've been having a terrible time accessing my Blog!! I don't know what Blogspot is doing but they better fix it before I go somewhere else!!

I joined the Tour de Fleece on Ravelry. I'm in Team Canada - CrankyPants which seems to epitomize my attitude about the world these days . . . My project will be to spin up THREE bags of PAUA from Aurelia Wool & Weaving. I just love the colors in Paua & will, hopefully, be able to keep them separated enough to get runs of one color or another as well as some blending to keep it interesting. I intend to knit up a nice big shrug using the Lion Brand pattern I found & talked about in the last blog. It's just a simple big rectangle folded in half with a short seam closing about a foot or so from each end, leaving the middle open. I could pick up the end & knit a loose ribbed cuff or crochet around the entire thing just to give it a 'finished' look as well. I suspect I'll do the ribbing. But first, I have to spin the fibre!! And, I'm actually really looking forward to spinning every day - the patio is bursting with color & it's wonderful out there in the mornings & evenings with a recorded book & a cup of tea . . . Hell, it's even better out there at midnight with a bottle or two of English Cider!!

So, what have I been working on lately?? Summer socks! I have to wear my support sneakers - yeah, I still pronate - roll inwards - & I still need a 10cm minimum heel - and I just can't wear them without a sock!!! Those cotton footlets keep my feet wet all the time so I knit short wool socks to keep the old dogs comfy. Apparently, I also give most of them away since I only have 4 short pairs in the basket!! Just finished another in the remains of the Regia - Saturn colorway that I used for Bryan's birthday socks. I think I almost have enough to knit another pair of short socks - which are already cast on the needles - they will get blue or black toes if I fall short. Was rooting in the sock wool basket & found a lot of odd balls - don't even ask why - I normally buy in twos for most socks or threes if I'm knitting Ex socks so I have no idea why I have WHOLE 50gm BALLS of one color. But, one ball will make MOST of a pair of short socks & a solid color can finish them off. I found an interesting ball with short runs of celery, pink, grey & black in it. Bit wishy washy right now but I'm sure it will work with grey, pink, black or green toes to brighten it up. Fun to make socks like that!! Not sure if it will become summer socks or baby socks at the moment - have to see.

The city is constantly digging up & rearranging the roads around here & my favorite Truck Stop Cafe has been in the middle of a Road project for the last month. I never know from one day to another just HOW to get there. Since I haven't been there for over a week, I called to see if I have to go around the ROAD CLOSED sign & con the Flag Girls this week or if they finally opened the BACK DOOR. The Builders, in their wisdom, decided to build a back road around the Industrial Park to divert traffic from the main road while they worked on it. Since the Main Road will no longer allow access to any of the existing businesses, they had to build a Frontage Road in the rear so that the businesses could operate. It turned out to be another SNAFU the friday before last. The detour was almost completed & even paved before someone said, heh - how do we get into the Industrial Park. Not only did the public have no access, the folks at work in the Park couldn't get out & the work crew couldn't get into the Cafe for lunch. They bulldozed a temporary driveway through the existing road, ditch & curb for lunch that day . . . .

What's New?


Not a damned thing if you really have to know! Other than my Regia socks in the Saturn colorway. I, well, I frogged them back to the ribbing. I guess I'm just not the 'lace' type. And maybe I just like to knit without ever completing anything. I'm beginning to wonder . . .

It's been a little cool lately so I need to wear socks. When I dug into the sock basket - I only have 21 pairs of socks in there - I couldn't find a thing to wear! Most of them are winter socks. And the remainder - all four pairs of short summer socks - get worn really quickly & tossed into the laundry basket. I usually do the wash every couple of weeks since I have to rearrange the whole kitchen to pull out the washer & get it over to the sink to hook up. With the antique wiring, I can't operate anything else while the washer & dryer operate other than the coffee pot! I also can't operate the dryer if the washer's running, not because of wiring but because it's on a slightly wobbly stand & needs the washer support underneath when it's running. If it's warm, my patio becomes the drying station with my folding wooden racks because I have no clothesline but I have to stay home all day while it's out there. While this normally isn't a problem, I can always spin while the clothes dry, right now it's too warm to run the dryer - it vents through a filter INTO the house because it's tiny & it's too cold to dry outside on racks - I'd be outside for days! The only thing left to do - knit more summer socks!!

So the frogged socks are rapidly becoming two pairs of short summer socks. I have to have socks in my sneakers. I don't understand how people can wear them without. Much as I'd like to, I can't live in thongs or sandals because I need side support & a bit of a heel or I hyper-extend my Achilles tendons. All this gobblygook means that if I slop around in thongs or sandals I get burning, crippling inflammation & PAIN in the backs of my heels. So I wear thongs at home or to jobs where I'm sitting all day when it's hot & my support sneakers everywhere else - just a little compromise that would make my foot specialist cringe! I try NOT to push it too far since I spent several years in pain & TWO years encased in support sneakers every waking hour of the day to get it healed. I draw the line at heavy winter socks in the summer though . . . The heels are turned on the first pair of summer socks & the next couple of pairs are already planned out.

I still work in a warehouse on Sundays. It's so peaceful & quiet in there that I just love it. But, the floor is cement & I need a little extra covering except in the middle of the summer. Most of the year I need something light but warm that doesn't get in the way. I tried a Danish Working shawl in handspun which worked quite well but my arms were still cold. I've noticed that Lion Brand has several really simple SHRUG patterns that might do the trick. They're simple rectangles folded in half with cuffs on the ends if you want them. They cover the back - depending on the depth of the rectangle - as well as the shoulders & arms but leave the front more or less exposed, again, depending on the depth of the rectangle. Any lace pattern would work or even simple garter stitch like the one in the orangey Lion Brand Homespun! I'm seriously thinking about whipping one up to try it out for the warehouse. Just think of it in handspun alpaca or llama with wool!!! It would be soooooo comfy this winter when I watch tv or curl up to read a book. Maybe that's the project I should work on for the Tour de Fleece this year - to spin up that alpaca I was given so I can knit the winter shrug!!

I'm glad I'm not a Hockey Fan


I'm glad I'm not a Hockey Fan because, today, I'd be devastated by the ruination of Vancouver's downtown core by mindless Idiots who call themselves 'FANS'. I'd be ashamed & embarrassed by the U Tube clips going viral on the Internet. And I'd be wondering why the 'fans' of the losing team have to destroy their own city in protest. Isn't there something written about not shitting in your own nest?? Even a Pig knows better . . .


As a non-fan I propose we track down all the Offenders & prosecute with every tool in our judicial toolbox. Dress them in orange jumpsuits with 'rioter' on the back & make them WORK off their debt - sweep the streets by hand, pick up garbage in the parks & on the beaches - expose them to Public scorn. All those with pictures & movies of the 'event' - turn them over to the Police, News & show them to all your friends. Let's identify the criminals who spoil all the good things in this city. They make the streets dangerous. These are the people who take away all the public festivals & celebrations. The Sea Festival & the Sand Castle competition come to mind. Don't let them get away with this behavior. You rise up in anger against the HST - how 'bout some of that anger directed towards the ignorant, mindless, violence perpetuated by rioters & looters in the streets. Or will you wait until the Playoffs are no longer held in our city?

Oh Look What I Found . . .



The Traveling mug is cheering on the Team

It's Definitely Summer

My Jungle is growing wildly & you just have to believe it's summer at last!! I hit the sale bin at the Home Depot after Mother's Day & picked up two sorry looking geranium baskets & one crushed pink something or other flowering basket - I have no idea what this is!! Brought them home, watered & fed them, let them sit on the floor under the table on the patio for a few days & then hung them up. WOW! All three are blooming their hearts out in hot pinks on my patio. I planted winter pansies & a 'spike' in a large pot which sits beside the door & the fern box - four feet along the shady back of the patio - is filled to overflowing with ferns of all kinds. It's a great place to spin in the early morning with a big cup of hot tea! And it's where I'll be competing in the Tour de Fleece in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure yet just what I'll be spinning - four 250 gm bags of MAGENTA Halfbreed wool or three 250gm bags of Paua - Corriedale wool in turquoise, blues & hot pink from Aurelia Wools - much prettier than in the photo to the right. And I found a whole light grey fleece in a bag in the closet. I'm leaning toward Paua simply because there's less of it, I'm tired of spinning white wool & I might just DO something with handspun sooner if its a nice color!! Ever notice how wildly colored socks knit faster than dull or dark colors??? There's that Kimono I've been drooling over after all & that very interesting wrap/shrug pattern I bought last year that can be worn backwards, forwards, right side up & upside down.

And speaking of socks - only one pair on the go at the moment. I'm knitting the second pair of Saturn Socks. I decided to put a little twist into it though & tried a simple pattern of K1, yo, K2tog just for fun. Not sure if I really like it yet & may rip it out to work a new lace pattern I've discovered @ Notions, an on-line magazine that has ceased to publish. I tried the pattern in another pair of wristletts for my niece. I like the pattern. It's a simple K1,P1, yo, K2tog, P1,K1 on the 1rst row, with Knit on K & Purl on P 2nd & 4th row & K1,P1, SSK, yo, P1,K1 on the 3rd row. It makes a nice stretchy pattern for a sock, arm warmer or mitt. The Saturn yarn may be too busy for the pattern to work well but I will definitely use the pattern somewhere else!

Not much yarny stuff today

I woke up feeling pretty damned good this morning! After three DRY & SUNNY days, my hands have almost stopped hurting. In fact, my hip isn't burning either. Looks like Summer has finally arrived. I knew it was on the way when the Strawberries exploded into action but it really felt like the Wet Coast was gonna STAY wet. We'll probably go from Monsoon to Watering Restrictions in the next couple of weeks. But, the Jungle has decided to make the most of the sunshine we have. I've gone from one Clematis bloom to several & the big, furry buds just keep on coming.

Today I'm cleaning out my bedroom closet. I started at 5:38 this morning! I thought about it long enough & even pulled a few things out. But, today, it's all going to get cleaned out. I haven't done much in there for eons because I'd rather knit or spin or dye or do just about anything other than housework - yuk! But, I know there's all kinds of crap in there that has to go. Good crap, mind you, but still crap to me. Someone once said that there's FREEDOM in divesting yourself of CRAP. We'll see . . .

And then there's the Office.