April sunshine

Startling in its intensity is April sunshine.  I'm beginning to feel like spring has arrived and with it, today, a warbler in one of the maple trees.  Not a leaf in sight yet, but the wee warbler was singing his heart out.  I wish I knew more about birds so I could identify this earnest little critter by his song.  I sat in a lawn chair, in sunshine, drinking a coffee and listening to him. Eventually found where he was perched and could see the swelling tiny breast as it prepared to give voice again and again.  Is this courting behaviour I wonder? Would it work for me?  What would I have to sing?

I'm knitting a pair of socks with a 3/3 cable pattern and moss stitch between the cables.  This pattern is fun, though not precisely fast.  

Still no word on how I'm going to recharge my digital camera battery or even how soon I might know about that.  And of course there's suddenly so much to photograph--buds on the cherry, peach and pear trees and the magnolia.  The daphne is in full bloom.  The roses are waking up. We had a good soaking rain on Friday and so the grass is greening rapidly.  Today I saw the rhubarb budding through the soil and the first fronds of lovage.  I need time to do some pruning and digging, but had to work today to prepare for a meeting tomorrow, so that didn't happen.  Soon though, soon.

Last night I went to C's house to drink wine, nibble cheese and work.  It has been rather a work focused weekend.  I didn't get home until after midnight, which is late enough for me, but will have been tough for her with a 6ish wake up call from her toddlers.  Neither of us noticed how late it was getting, we just kept plugging away at what we had to do.

As I was leaving C said, watch out for wildlife because in the past I've encountered deer on her road.  Last night I sighted something much more terrifying--a rubber chicken.  Now I don't know any more than you, what a rubber chicken is doing on the road at midnight in this town.  I can only imagine it was tossed out of a party and didn't have the wherewithal to umm, cross the road.  Trust yours truly to find the only post-partying rubber chicken in the country.  And, because I know you're all thinking it--I did NOT have that much wine, for between us we did not drink half the bottle in three hours.

I think I will go knit on my cable sock and meditate on the meaning of rubber chickens flaked out on the road at midnight.  There must be something important to glean from this, eh what?

And there she goes...

The days have been surprisingly sunny the last week or so and this is such a shock to the system that I feel like a mole just out of hibernation but not convinced at all that winter is over. I'm looking over my shoulder, perhaps even somewhat hunched over in the expectation of some major snow wallop. Perhaps the cold nights and brisk frosty mornings account for this fatalism, or perhaps just a relentless winter which I was strangely certain would NEVER end.

But there are crocus blossoms sprinkled about the house foundation near the kitchen door. The snowdrops are done for another year, blooming in the snow beginning early March. I don't know how many times they were covered by snow and just kept on going. A nice lesson here in resilience.

There was a meeting at work yesterday which in the space of a few minutes removed 90% of the stress I expected to have to wade through over the next month. I don't have to do 6 road trips in the first two weeks of May and have everything ready for the designer by THIS Friday. The fact that this is pretty much impossible didn't stop me from expecting to pull it off as I could see no alternative. The contract ends on the 15th of May, period. Everything must be done by that date as no money can be spent (according to contract requirements) after that date. Hence I believed I needed to go into overdrive to get all the commitments done.

Now the situation is this: a few more days at the editing end; later deadline if necessary to get everything to the designer; a bigger block of time to get things to and back from the printer and the CD burning folks. Then two trips the week of the 19th of May, one to Truro and one to Sydney. The other four will be done by and colleagues early in June. So, you know what? I feel so much better and I can breathe! Still have lots of work to do of course but without the added pressure of an impossible schedule.

Saturday the 26th I'm going to a Lace workshop in the valley at Gaspereau Valley Fibres.
I am looking forward to this, since I'm very new to lace knitting and would appreciate learning anything useful and meeting others with a similar interest.  The cost is $25 so it won't break the bank.  I'd hoped to have company for this jaunt but my friend isn't feeling well, so I'll go by myself.

Today I find out what my tax situation is--will I have to cough up more or will I get something back? Will what comes back (if it does) be of any real use in the travel fund?  I have to make a decision about the Knitaly tour in the next week to hold a seat.  Even with all my number crunching I'm still at least $3K short of what I need to do this.  And I'm going on pogie in a month, so my income will be less than half of what it has been for most of the winter.

In early June I will have a two week writing retreat, aka house-sitting gig.  I'm looking forward to being away from home with laptop, pens and notebooks and plan to make a concerted effort to whack away at the Boomer book project.  Between that and playing with the kitties it should be a very pleasant break.  Let's hope it will be a productive one as well.  I will be staying in Lunenburg

Lunenburg has many lovely cafes and is about 10 minutes closer to my absolutely favourite haunt The Biscuit Eater.  This is the best local haunt for writers, artists and interesting folk--you'll see everyone there, enjoy great coffee, delectable sweets, and monumental biscuits--of course I go at every opportunity!

I've saved the best news for last.  On June 14th we will celebrate the 2nd Annual Mahone Bay Knit in Public Day at the Biscuit Eater.  We meet at 11:oo and can knit through the afternoon if we like.  Last year there were some fascinating sock projects and wonderful company.  The B.E. provided a number of surprise draws, think books and cake and Have a Yarn offered a lovely discount to participants.  Great fun--join us if you can.

April glowers

Yes, I know that should be showers in the title but we don't have those today, just those glowering darkish skies that might portend rain but probably only mean that the day hasn't found the energy for sunshine yet.

There is glowering elsewhere in Dreamin Diva's life today, she (as in I, but I need some distance here) has lost the battery charger to the digital camera. Since the battery and charger are both proprietary, there's no possibility she can go to the local mall and just pick up something to resolve this situation. Therefore she's seriously pissed at herself for being such a doofus as to let the charger become separated from the camera. What's the camera case for if not to keep everything together, eh?

So all four pair of the marvellous socks I've so painstakingly knit in the last month can't be photographed because SHE can't keep her life organized enough to keep said charger where it can be found when needed.

Sigh...why can't we (she & I) get it together, eh? What's with this muddle in the life? Oh, yeah, it might have something to do with all the time I spend working, spinning, knitting or reading, which leaves little time for the routine tasks of cleaning, sorting and umm, putting things in their proper places.

On the desk today: taxes and the passport application.

On the needles: two shawls, one complex and very interesting, in a Faroese style, the other simple and endless but pretty so we continue; a pair of cabled socks in some plum coloured alpaca blend that's very lovely. Enroute to me: more sock yarn and a spectacular shawl yarn in sufficient quantity to keep me out of other mischief.

On the work front: the last or nearly last run through of the changes to the Age Advantage program that I've written; a phone meeting with the designer to see what format/form she needs the files in; bookings for the six road show venues for early May (and how gruelling will that be???); preparation for the first session of the first of ten Portfolio Development sessions to be facilitated in the next ten weeks (two groups so actually 20 sessions); and miscellaneous other bits and bobs to complete the work contract by May 15th. The Portfolio contract which I'm doing at the same time as my work contract by taking vacation 1/2 days, continues until June 19th. And this is in aid of building my travel to Italy fund. We'll see how that goes.

Five day weekend to veg

The Easter Bunny didn't come to my house, yet again. I don't know why exactly, lots of its friends live here, the dust bunnies you know. Perhaps they aren't on speaking terms for some reason. Some ancient family feud no doubt, wherein the EB looks down on the DB side of the family as a bit less than what they might be. The DB clan doesn't amount to much most of the time and no chocolate is involved, talk about your distaff side of the family.

Not to worry though, I still have chocolate left over from Xmas so I'm not in any distress.

I've spent four days of my five day weekend hibernating on my sofa--I've had a few phone conversations, no visitors or visiting. I was/am in need of quiet time to be by myself. Today I turned the heel on the second sock of the blueish pair and dyed a couple of skeins of yarn in a lavender shade that fades to some blues and soft fuschia--not on purpose, that's the way the dye struck the skeins. I'm calling it a design, because I doubt I'd be able to over-dye this and get much better in the way of results. Probably this is the fault of the bad vibes between the EB and the DB clan, creating havoc in my kitchen.

On another, um note, I've reloaded about 50 albums into my iPod so today I could listen to one of my favourite Hildegarde von Bingen albums by Sequentia--Canticles of Ecstacy via the Bose dock. Glorious, glorious sound.

Tomorrow, oh blessed day, I think I'll be able to hang laundry on the line. It's been such a long wet winter that I can't remember when I last got to hang out laundry so I'm really looking forward to this as some kind of major life event this weekend. Since I've been hibernating, it doesn't take much at all to create a major event in my world.

I did some spinning this afternoon. Working on spinning up the qiviut roving that came back from the mill earlier this month, I'm nearly through the first 'bump' and have about half a bobbin. I'm not impressed with the de-hairing as I still have to continuously pick out guard hair which makes the spinning a very stop and start process and takes some of the pleasure out of it.

No pictures of anything yet as I still haven't set up a photo shoot area that will handle the relevant tasks--nor have I begun organizing or cleaning my house, it's just been a long weekend to rest and try to find my way back to myself. I get rather lost in work related stuff and then feel so disconnected from my personal reality that it takes serious sitting still to find my way back. Thankfully I listened and sat still because i am feeling significantly better than I was Thursday when my weekend began.

Time to wander off to bed to read for a while--I'm reading Sir Walter Scott's Bride of Lammermoor and enjoying it very much.  It's been some time since I've read anything with a decent vocabulary, I mean beyond the 600 words we're apparently down to in most interaction, communication and writing.  When was the last time a tv or radio program used the word gaunt, and used it correctly.  I love the really chewy sentences and long detailed descriptive paragraphs of writers like Scott, Dickens, Austen, Gaskell, Trollope and Eliot and read them for relief after reading some of the weird contemporary fiction I also sometimes enjoy.  But more of that another time.  And so to bed...

Food Schill

How is that restaurant food so often doesn't taste anything like what it is supposed to be? How can a kitchen with trained chefs, sous chefs, specialized equipment as well as ingredients I can shop for in my local grocery store, produce coffee, tea and meals that have no taste? What happens to create this? Is it me? Do my taste buds refuse to cooperate once I'm eating some selection from a restaurant menu? I don't have high expectations, just possibly unreasonable ones. I want the food to taste like what it is supposed to be. If you purport to offer me French onion soup that has nothing approaching the flavour of said dish--how do you achieve that and consider it reasonable to charge me $6 for it? And in a dish so shallow that one cannot fill a soup spoon with the liquid? Are you, the chef, betting that I will happily dine on three drops of swill and be satisfied with my memory of what French onion soup ought to taste like? The menu claimed the soup was created out of broth, but for all the flavour in the broth it might as well have been the leftovers from the breakfast 'coffee' carafes. Do you as a chef (forgive my use of the term when it clearly doesn't apply) ever eat the food you and your staff make? Are you then all receiving medical treatment for digestive problems? Or for an overload of interesting unpronounceable chemicals in your bloodstreams?

And the coffee. Whoever decided that 'coffee' was merely a brownish liquid created from caramel and a toxic sludge of 'flavours' which have never even been in the same warehouse as a coffee bean; and then has the nerve to sell this as coffee?

No wonder North Americans are obese, we are forced to eat fried potatoes in some form or other merely to get something approaching flavour in an average restaurant. And I'm not talking here about my experiences in some greasy spoon off the main drag where surprisingly the food is often better and much cheaper. Oh no, my complaint stems from several days of eating in major chain hotel restaurants when compelled to do this while travelling for work.

To give credit where credit is due, I can say that even a hotel restaurant can do eggs over easy, but if I have to look at eggs any time in the next week, I'll probably cluck. End of rant!

The Ides of February

With official spring five weeks away, there's not a bit of relief from winter in sight yet. Okay so maybe getting more rain than snow counts but there's still snow with every precipitation event so I'm not sure if that counts toward springness.

The 'marmalade' sweater being done I had a look at how much handspun I had left. Is there enough to make a vest from this. My usual rough and ready guestimation process complete I believe I'm blessed with enough of the yarn.

Then I hear about the progress of my qiviut blend from the mill in NB where it has been sent for processing and I am now so twitchy and excited in anticipation that I'm even prepared to do some house cleaning (for which this is the perfect energy) while I wait. Don't faint dear reader, but hey I live in comfort knowing that you have no idea what that entails in my household. The qiviut will be a 60/40 blend with an oatmeal coloured merino. Alyson at the mill said it blends in so well that there's no noticeable colour change from the original qiviut down. There was 23.6 ounces of down when it was cleaned and de-haired. There will be 2 pounds of roving for me to spin.

I'm now considering what else I can afford to send to the mill this winter since I don't have time to pick and card my acquired fleeces due to work commitments and the weariness that ensues. So I'm dreaming of pretty fluffy roving from say a couple of Shetland fleeces and perhaps even the Cotswold.  Dare we dream?

Off to Sydney to do a two day workshop on The Age Advantage Program which I'm looking forward to, though much as I enjoy Cape Breton, it is not my destination of choice in February. Somewhere warmer might nice, but that's just about any place except my house, though the area right near the wood stove is toasty enough.  So I suppose I should consider myself fortunate to spend 3 nights in a hotel?

It's nearly time to prepare some chicken curry for supper.  I had my first ever taste of white truffle (or as close as I'm likely to get to that) when I put several drops of truffle infused olive oil on my scrambled eggs.  Not sure what to make of this very potent flavour, less than an eight of a tsp went into flavouring my eggs.  My early comment on the experience--haunting....

Wintery thoughts

Here's a lovely shot of Helene's Xmas shawl...


The wood stove is going 24 hours a day, and given the lack of insulation in my house, so is the furnace. Even with all that fuel consumption it would be wrong to assume that I was warm. Not frozen, unless I move away from the wood stove, but rarely warm unless I stay in bed.

But, this is near the end of January so one has hopes of warmer days soon. The days are certainly brighter and longer and that gives me delight. I haven't gone through my favourite list of winter soups yet so that's something. Today's plan is an Italian tomato bread soup to use up the last of a baguette and because I love tomato soup. I wonder if some roasted fennel seeds would be a good addition to this batch, I also have some fennel fronds for flavouring and will add a chili or two for extra punch.

A friend called me this morning and asked as we were wrapping up the conversation, what I planned to do today. Answer: as little as possible. As noon approaches I've done very well with this mission--haven't even had breakfast. Am toying with the idea of having brioche french toast, but the mind is not yet made up on that--and I'd have to move out of my recliner.

I remember when I lived out west that a day when it was a mere -20C seemed like a good day to go to town and do errands or just wander around for a change of scenery. Now, many years later of course, I figure if it is below -5C I shouldn't even have to go outdoors or maybe get out of bed. Some of this may be due to my bones getting older and colder, but I suspect I've lost my prairie hardiness in this softer maritime climate. Also, it is rarely very cold here while on the prairies it stays cold for months at a time.

This is my son G when he was four, and very cute...

Knitting report: the Pi shawl is making excellent progress and I'll have photos of it soon. The 'marmalade' sweater is done except for darning in ends so it will be washed and blocked today. Progress on the Seaman's scarf I began over Xmas has halted as I've been working on the Pi Shawl. Next finishing project will be the Sakori vest, the scarf and Ms C's thrum mittens.

Spinning report: two fibers being spun--one lot on the Little Gem, the other on the Schacht, but neither getting much attention. I don't have enough of anything now spun up to start a new project, actually not even enough for socks. That's not good. I'm spinning a charcoal fleece in hopes I have enough to try a gansey. The blend I'm spinning on the Gem is meant for a vest.

Weaving, 1974, Regina, SK, moi....

Beading report: I've been spending a great deal of time making the sweetest little stitch markers. I have several sets in the local yarn shop and will post pictures soon; today should see me cutting jump rings for the 30 or so sets that are ready for them.

Work report: Back to full time work for at least six weeks and probably longer. Bonus--it will make for better EI come spring. Meanwhile I have a lot less play time, or even time to keep laundry caught up. Hence my doing nothing on the weekend means laundry, cooking, knitting, beading and spinning. What of reading and writing you ask? What indeed.

Travel dream report: Have a stash of cash for a trip to Italy but still waiting for travel documents to appear--don't feel I should make definite plans until I'm sure I can get on a plane to go. This business is taking forever!

Softly snowing, even in my head

It's one of those days, when the fog turns to snow inside one's head, it being December and all. An inordinant amount of strong coffee has been consumed and still the snow keeps softly dancing, and no clear thought can form in its midst. It is snowing outdoors too.

The good news is that the stole is done, and goregous, though I can't post a picture until after Xmas. So on to other Xmas projects. Do we hear it for socks?--omigod do we have a sock list, some of it from LAST Xmas (it's in my head with the snow). Sorries go out to all friends still waiting even if you don't know who you are.

What I'd like to do today: sleep (the usual low pressure system response), start the next shawl (waiting on yarn so that's not an option), or just about anything except what I'm supposed to do--edits and content creation for my current income earning project. Maybe having a wee snack of something with almond paste in it would help? I bought a pound of the stuff last week and will attempt to make myself an 'almond ring' with phyllo pastry assuming I can find instructions some where.

Okay, to make the work stuff seem more palatable I could have a look at my stove, to discover where the bottom oven element is and whether I can replace it and have a working oven. This thought (inspite of inner snow) follows on thinking about baking something. Haven't had a working oven since June, but recently discovered that the bottom element might be the problem and not the electronic panel as I first thought.

December makes me yearn for Xmas baking, mostly the baking part because I no longer eat much of what I make but love to have it to give away. So I will in fact make myself attempt the repair of the oven element soon even though it requires major physical contortions to get at it. I hate that beached whale thing when I get down on the floor and can't get myself up easily or with much dignity; imagine that and crawling, somehow, into the bottom drawer area of the stove. Sorry, can't take photos of myself doing that!

Nearly done spinning the Blue-faced Leiscester for the trim on my 'marmalade' sweater and hope to have that done as a Xmas gift for myself. Also have two vests in progress and many, many socks. Will start carding and spinning for the gansey I want to make during the Xmas break. There are always more projects in waiting than I can probably do in this life, but that doesn't mean I won't keeping on building that list. When inner snow isn't falling I find the list quite entertaining, exciting even.

Ah, excellent....

It's been a week to endure and grin, whether I feel like grinning or not. Did a road trip to St. John, NB Monday and Tuesday, to present for and hour and a half on my favourite topic--how to get boomers motivated to take on new life challenges, post job loss, post depression and the 'what the @!*# am I doing with my life anyway'? Been there, done that, continuously re-inventing myself and with more revenue sources would be happy to do so even more enthusiastically. So driving 1000 kms in two days isn't my favourite way to spend time, but as a) I didn't do the driving, and b) I got to knit most of a sock in good company while Amie drove, I have nothing to complain about. Besides I was out of the office-cave for two days and spent those two days in daylight--what a concept!

Meanwhile on the knitting front the shawl project continues to grow (at last, attempt 7 is working). If my other six attempts had been successful, I'd be done by now, but we'll call this a learning experience. And another shawl I'm contemplating will be started in January so I have a year until my deadline, not two months and I don't know what I'm doing. I love knitting denial, it is so very entertaining.

Sunday afternoon, listening to opera on the internet, having already schlepped firewood to the porch, laundry in progress and knitting soon to be.

My biggest frustration, always, seems to be that I can think up so much more I want to do, try, play with, than I have time to indulge. I've had my painting stuff out and ready to play with for months and have yet to put brush to pigment. I've only been at the spinning wheel about 2 hours in the last month, I need to map out my new web site and revamp content for the present one; I have a dozen knitting projects I'm just twitchy with wanting to begin; there are a stack of books to read; I've not written anything except blog posts (and haven't they be massive and often?) since the summer. One would have to wonder what one does with one's time.

Do we have a time theme here? What me, the 60 year old Capricorn late bloomer boomer worried about time? Nah, couldn't be. For the record--I don't want to work at a job, I want to play, all the time, everyday: as a writer, painter, weaver, spinner, knitter, gardener and amateur chef. I don't have time for a job; but without one I don't eat, so what to do, what to do??? Oh joy, your other name is Old Age Pension! Four more years....

Where does the time go?

Every weekend I have a long list of things I WANT to do and a much shorter list of things I actually accomplish. For nigh on a month now I have been struggling to get a stole project to work to my satisfaction and I'm still not there. That means the piece has been frogged now 6 times. Each time I try a different something--tension, yarn weight, or pattern. Each time my very inadequate understanding of lace knitting comes along to bite my behind. I'm getting into a bit of a panic now as this is a project for Xmas giving and I'm no where near where I should be by this time--ie. I don't have anything that works. Yet I've knit for hours over the last month trying to make this work. I'm usually good with technical challenges so don't give up easily. There's something about knitted lace that seems determined to defeat me.

This morning I decided to try something else so will frog back the current 12 inches of stole and give it another go. Last night I tried a different pattern--and don't like the look or the feel of it with this yarn. To further complicate my life I'm working with my own dyed yarn, and have had fun with that--3 dye lots now, only one of which I think works. I have one more skein that may go in the pot this afternoon and with luck it will be close to the dye lot I've got two of to make this work and give me the yardage need to make a stole, not a doily. One dye lot has already been over-dyed and won't work for this project, and one I think I can incorporate as a design element? or whatever. If push comes to shove I'll over dye the finished piece and bring everything together that way. Who knew this would be so annoying and persistently challenging. Apparently I'm unable to read gauge, yardage count or needle size--but then that's not exactly news. Note to self--read the instructions and pay attention! Would it be too much to expect that I could do what the pattern says? Rebel good, untutored knitting rebel, not so good.

I'd hoped to be able to use the new 'Harmony' needles I bought from Knitpicks, but I don't have the requisite size yet. Nice needles though, so will consider getting more sizes eventually.

I took some pictures in the woods on a walk with Pia and Freya (the dog) last weekend; now these colours and leaves are gone, what with a wicked wind and rain storm this weekend. Undoubtedly winter is not so far off. The time changed last night so it was dark today by 5:30. I've never accepted the time change concept, having lived much of my life in a part of the country where it is not entertained. Twice a year this clock fiddling annoys the crap out of me, still. It's been ten years of this nonsense and I'm not at all resigned.

October weekend

Fall photos taken recently in Mahone Bay where I go each Friday morning to get bread from the French organic bakery for the week. And the occasional treat, chocolate croissant anyone? This was the view from the market's location throughout the summer. Now the bakery will move indoors for the winter, to the Biscuit Eater Cafe--what could be better than that, I can get all the essentials at one stop.

Down with a bacterial infection this weekend so haven't been having any fun, haven't been to the B.E., or even had coffee for that matter. Mostly I've been curled up on the sofa knitting a top down cardigan from handspun. Just got the Japanese Sukori vest out of exile so I can finish that up over the next couple of days. Fiddlesticks shawl pattern nearly done, only 5 more rows, but as friend Cindy said, that's 2000 stitches. Not sure I wanted to know that. The cooler weather inspires me to finish projects faster than summer humidity does which is good considering how high the current UFO count is (unfinished objects). I'll post pictures as I get things blocked and ready to wear.

No spinning this weekend either, haven't been able to sit upright never mind move anything other than knitting needles. Ah well, there's always next weekend isn't there?

So Thursday I managed to do two 'smiley face' events, one of which got me written up in the Halifax paper. Very pleased with my wee speech and considering the state of misery I was in at the time, I'm impressed I stayed upright--though I won't make any claims for coherence for anything I said that wasn't in writing.

I'm to begin working full time tomorrow, but hey, I'll start that with a sick day, I'm sure I've earned one by now, even working part time. Still too wobbly to attempt anything much, and then I need a nap.



I thought this was a particularly lovely fall shot; from the farmers market up the hill where I buy strawberries, raspberries, apples, pears, potatoes, onions, cukes and all the other usual farm produce. Great place to shop from June through December.

Fleece Judging workshop

The day started with a demonstration of shearing. While I've seen shearing before, I was more than pleased to watch as the instructor showed how to get the crud out of the way so that what winds up on the board when the sheep is done, is good useable fleece. Some folks I know don't skirt fleeces at all, and I hope that now the shearers and the producers will be clearer about the value of skirting everything obnoxious instead of rolling it into the fleece.





See, not a sheep turd in sight. And while I do appreciate the free manure washing a dirty fleece provides for the garden, I don't like the price I have to pay for it, ie. premium wool prices.

We learned to look for breaks, cotting, inconsistent staples, how to estimate clean yield, how to evaluate what was appropriate for the breed. And the instructor was clear (we needed someone with his experience to say this a number of times) that vegetable matter (VM), shit and pizzel stains were not wanted in a 'crafter's fleece' and producers should not expect to get spinning grade prices for fleeces that were dirty and full of VM. Bless you Morris says I. I've picked too much crud and VM out of too many otherwise lovely fibre to want to do that ever again. A little care by the producer and all will be well and I'll happily pay top dollar for their fleeces.

Here are the participants learning to judge fleeces laid out on long tables.

Knitting lace & listening to Pavarotti

I've begun my Fiddlesticks pattern lace project, after having learned how to install a 'lifeline' to avoid having to rip back to the beginning. Thinking at the moment that I should have a lifeline at every chart change on a knit row. This proves surprisingly easy to do with the aid of my beloved Knitpicks Options needles and a simple needle threader from the sewing box.

I have done a lace pattern swatch for another project I'm considering, but will need to check with the person I plan to make this for whether she wants a rectangular or triangular shawl. The one I'm making now is triangular, and the swatch is for a rectangle shawl from Victorian Lace Today.

What I am not doing is going anywhere near writing project work. All I can manage it seems are brief blurbs here or in my journal. I'm somewhat okay with that, and thoroughly enjoying the knitting time as well. It is very hot today and it seemed just the thing to sit on the sofa, listening to radio and engaging with the intracies of my first lace project. When I get weary of that, I'll work on the baby kimono sweater or any of various socks in progress.

After decades of listening to opera in general and Pavarotti in particular I was saddened to hear of his passing this week. A search of my iPod, which contains all the music I own, proved that I need to collect many more albums in order to have even a small representation of his work; two albums hardly counts. My wish list will expand considerably in the next few weeks as I begin to research what I want (note to G--iTunes gifts save on postage!)

I've enjoyed hearing all the tribute broadcasts this week on radio, though I could have done with hearing more of the range of Pavarotti's work instead of the same three or four pieces many times. My first wish is to have an early version of him in La Boheme.

Reading: Harry Potter, In Praise of Slow, Stress and the Crisis in Modern Life, Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop, Gladys Thompson's Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys & Arans.

And here's a pair of finished socks.

Not the greatest photos yet, but I'll work on improving that.

Are we having fun yet?

One of the rituals of autumn that I have participated in the last few years is to take Caitie shopping in the city for school attire. This means trawling through a long series of shops that cater to teen fashion at what is to me horrendous prices for the quality of the goods on offer. I recognize that fashion is paramount here, not durability, classic design or clothing that one can wear for several seasons and that I have to pretty much keep my gob shut about these things so I don't distress or otherwise take the pleasure out of the experience of this for her. But it is always a challenge to see money put down for things that either won't fit in a couple of weeks (or after the first wash) and that won't be wearable because they'll be a fashion crime by Christmas. Perhaps it is the weaver of near 30 years experience in me, but I demand a certain amount of quality in any garment I buy, and nine times out of ten will buy it used where I can buy better quality for less money. Then again fashion has never been a driving force in my life (see earlier post on being made over...) because I've never had the money to participate in that particular shill game.

My current goal is to create with my own handspun, a series of 'classic' knitted pieces to go with my standard khakis and jeans. The pieces I've made so far give me great pleasure and I feel good when I wear them. When I tire of a particular sweater or vest I can always choose to rip it out, and recycle it into another or simply pass it on to someone else via the donation box at the local hospital auxillary shop. My cost is primarily time.

I'm not suggesting that my young friend ought to do what I take such delight in, I just wish that what was fashionable for her age was of better quality, durability and price point, in a word, less disposable. I'd wish for precedent that things, including clothing are meant to last, and not to show up in landfill within the year. I'd wish for an understanding of the concepts of durability, quality and things built to last. Unfortunately these ideas seem to have gone out of the culture so it is small wonder that they are difficult for the young (or anyone) to grasp.

Pesto, oh pesto

Handsome eagle, ain't he?

I found lush bunches of fresh basil at the Farmers Market in Lunenburg Thursday so made up two batches of pesto in the amount of 2 cups for the freezer. This is pesto without butter or cheese so it actually goes a lot further than two cups may sound. If however I use this pesto as a pizza sauce, two cups won't go very far at all. I'll have to consider the best use of my little pesto stash, or perhaps make another 2 cup batch.

What hasn't yet happened is dill pickle production. The baby cukes are coming on fast they tell me at the market garden up the hill, but I'm not in gear to take advantage of the bounty. Perhaps tomorrow I'll see what I need to do to prepare, make a list of supplies and get on with it. We'll see, I may be compelled to spin for a good part of the day instead--which would be a different sort of comfort in the winter. Last time I made pickles I put up 18 jars of tiny cukes--each wee cuke needed to be scrubbed clean in several changes of cold water so the whole process took many hours. Tracking down sufficient fresh horseradish for my recipe is always a challenge as is peeling masses of garlic cloves. Barry and I usually did 50 pounds of cukes, and that with water that had to be pumped and hauled by hand, though with two of us working it only took a day to do that much. That was in another life or course.

Have begun spinning the fleece from Pia's 'Dottie' and oh my is it some lovely. It just flows onto the bobbin and I don't want to do anything other than sit there and facilitate such a wonder. Life as usual has a way of intervening and insisting on pesto making, nagging about good dills which won't pickle themselves.

Writing work on the current project has begun again, so spinning is reward for serious head work. But then so is talking to people, hanging out at the Biscuit Eater in Mahone Bay or knitting on the half dozen projects I have in the WIP piles. Began the Fiddlesticks Rainbow Shawl (3, count 'em, 3 charts to knit through!) today, though I'm knitting it in a single colour Zephyr called Ruby. Also knit most of a sock in handspun merino which is so lumpy that it looks 'handspun' as that is understood by the untutored. I have 4 skeins of this yarn which was the first spinning I did in over twenty years. I've improved considerably in the three years since and now couldn't spin such 'novelty' yarn no matter how hard I tried. Now ask me for fingering weight 3 ply--that I can do.

A very soggy day on the south shore of Nova Scotia today so I stayed in and played with fibre all day long. Even cleared space on the work table to try the wool combs I borrowed from Sharon, but there seems to be something missing in my understanding of the process for I didn't get the result I thought I would. The Cotswold cleans up nice however, even if the combing process needs some refinement. Will read the instructions I found on-line and try it again tomorrow.

Early August

'Tis the first week of August already. There has been considerable work done on the wheel this long weekend. I've begun to do the V-neck shaping on the vest I'm knitting and have borrowed a vicious looking set of wool combs from my friend Sharon. The last of the fleece has been washed and is laying on a piece of screening in the yard draining and hopefully also drying.

I visited Sharon to drop off a bag of qiviut which a friend will deliver to the Belfast MiniMill in PEI sometime next week. The hope is that the fibre can be de-haired and blended with something into a roving I can spin. It is beautiful but also problematic to card when I do not have a fine specialty card cloth option. I have a good pound and a half plus of the qiviut in a raw state and that's enough to make something fine and lovely--if I can get it processed properly.

Here are some pictures of the wheels in Sharon's studio. Two of which I covet (she knows, she humours me). The top photo is a basket of Louet roving, the next is a Reeves Norwegian style flax wheel, then we have a Wee Peggy from New Zealand, and finally the Bosworth Journey wheel. Rare beauties all of them, the first two have the covet factor for me...it's good to have dreams, eh?

Being made over

I spent the day in Halifax shopping in the best 2nd hand clothing stores for what I believe is called business attire. My personal style is on the order of, hey, this is comfy, not too ugly, a natural fibre and it works for me. Never elegant it's true, but I'm of the birkenstock generation and persuasion so comfort is very high on my agenda. Zoot suits, not so much. But now I have an image to foster: consultant and speechifying geek and comfort, while still important, is second to my image and first impression. Sigh.

Okay there were things I tried on that made me feel I was over 100, or shopping for my own funeral outfit, didn't buy those. There were other things I had to have and didn't buy because they were too expensive for used clothing; what I came home with were three jackets and two vests, all of it comfy for its type and adequate to the need to make a professional first impression.

Whaaaa, why can't I just wear handspun & handknit sweaters with dressy khakis? Not professional apparently, even when I feel proud as can be about the handspun sweaters. Clearly, not enough people in the business world share my taste for the handmade. And I'm deemed idiotic rather than competent for preferring my handmade casual style--as in you couldn't possibly have anything important to offer if you're dressed like that!

Next phase of this make over thing is to try on these pieces and make 'outfits'. Anyone who knows me at all well will laugh themselves silly at this notion of me and outfits. I consider myself completely outfitted for summer if I'm covered, wearing unstained clothing (always a challenge, that's what Shout is for) and have at least Crocs on my feet. Yes, outfit complete!

Actually the truly terrifying aspect of the next phase of this make over concerns under garments. I refuse to specify or give further details, all you need to know is that a forty year tradition is at risk.

Meanwhile, on the needles: a cotton tank top, a vest for autumn, a silk scarf in checkerboard lace, cabled socks, several pairs of plain socks in interesting yarns. Nagging to get on the needles: the Fiddlesticks pattern of the Rainbow shawl, done without the rainbow in garnet wool/silk blend; considering a legion of other projects but need to get more spinning done so I have enough yarn to swatch for them first.
I saw an interesting thing on a blog I read recently, a little colour bar that tells the reader how much progress has been made on each project on the needles, say 20% or 55%.

The lily surprise is from my garden. Last year the deer ate all the buds so I had no idea what I had, now I know, white and also golden lilies!

One of those delicious weekends

I'm just getting to the end of a weekend in which I actually had time to spin and managed to fill a bobbin with Blue-faced Leiscester for the fall sweater project. I so feel I've accomplished great things. Then there's the rebuilding of the stash room now that the production loom is installed in Pia's house. Oh, an organized stash--will I lose points for that, or gain them. There are points, one way or the other? Considered, briefly, that I could list the fleeces I have on hand, but thought that might be too worrying. Considered, for a slightly longer time, that I might want to buy a Patrick Green Triple Picker to help me get these fleeces into a spinnable state. Then I calculated the price; and so much for that idea, umm, fantasy.

Have begun sorting fiction books for sale. I have three piles, yes, no, and maybe. The object of this little game is to move everything possible into the yes pile, then actually get them all out of the house before I have time to shuffle them back onto a book shelf. Wish me luck, eh?

There was another wonderful concert at St. John's Church in Lunenburg tonight, the second I've been to in a month. A Baroque Ensemble called Tempest: cello, viola de gamba, violins, recorder, wooden flute, harpsichord and bass. If you get a chance to hear them, treat yourself.

Such delight for my senses this concert was, though I must say the seats in this church are miserable and the heat tonight no less so. Difficult to keep one's mind blissed on the music when one is in danger of melting or developing a permanent crick in the back, neck, knees and hips from the hard narrow wooden bench that passes for seating. The floor might have been more comfortable. But for all that for most of the concert I was indeed blissed. I didn't enjoy the tenor, but whether that is the fault of the musical style or the voice I'm not sure. Instrumentals, ah sigh, as lovely and memorable as the one really fine smooth scotch I've tasted, Langevulin (spelling?).

A perfect weekend then, delicious in many many ways.

To bed she said....

Work in progress, but not THAT!

'Tis summerish here, and today that means no fog and warmer temperatures. What I love about NS is just how variable the weather is. What me and the books don't love is 87% humidity in the house, though I suppose winter heating with a woodstove brings everything back into something like balance, but meanwhile it tries the patience and makes me sweat like a litter of piggies. Air conditioning would probably just give me snow in the house.

Works in progress? No, nothing in the writing line as yet, wait for the production loom to be safely moved to its new home, then we'll talk writing projects. So, w-i-p is a lace scarf knit out of many plies of very very fine silk thread. Same thread used to make the 8 harness silk satin at 90epi on the production loom. It makes me feel a tad nostalgic, but only a wee tad.

[pause for taxi service for Ms C and her friend...]

Supper completed, laundry in from the line, and two mesh bags of wool soaking in hot water and Orvus paste in the washing machine. This is a lovely soft white fleece from P and I'm really looking forward to spinning it up into fine sock yarn and then doing something fun with it in the dye bath.

Now the Cotswold, what will I do about the gorgeous Cotswold I have? Do I wait patiently until I can research and purchase combs and then comb this fleece, or do I just fling bits onto the carder tray and hope for the best? It is such lovely fleece that it seems to me to make sense to learn to use the combs and a diz, but I'm all for jumping in with my usual impatience and just getting what I get. I read recently that this fleece is called 'poor woman's mohair' and it certainly has the lustre and dyeing it gives luscious results whatever the colour.

I ought to be doing chores, vacuuming, organizing, clearing a path for the removal of the Lervad loom but I'm warm, weary and attached to a cold drink, my recliner and the macbaby. At least until I have to drain the washer and give the fleece a rinse in about 20 minutes.

The next couple of weeks will be summer busy, so I need to carve out as much time for the scarf project as possible so I can get it done in time to mail it for a September birthday gift. It would help immensely if I didn't have to take it apart every so often when confronted by a glaring error. Minor errors I'll live with, glaring, not so much. It does require a great deal of persistence when knitting the same 4 inches over and over again, so when I get to pull yarn from the ball I let out a cheer, yes, we're past the point of the last......umm, ____up. Way to go girl.

Considering going to Lunenburg after work tomorrow to see how close I can get to the Tall Ships in port. I mean if I have to walk from Mahone Bay or Blockhouse due to massive traffic snarls and zero parking, I'll be turning around for home without so much as a second thought about it at the earliest opportunity. I'm hoping to have a 'window' around 4:30 where I can get into town and find some place for the car and be homeward bound again by 6:30 or so.

Okay, so the strawberries are wonderful this year and I've made 16 cups of jam and have it stowed in the freezer for winter. I don't know how I found room, but I did. I know, I know, I've promised to excavate the freezer but I'm waiting for more information on the correct method, grid layout and possibly an historical artifact removal permit from the county. And then of course I have to carefully select my highly trained team. It could take years.

Spin, span, spun

What a glorious long (Canadian) weekend. I managed to wash another Cotswold fleece, beginning with a rain water soak or two and dumping the sludge onto plants and shrubs in my much neglected garden. The fleece then had a hot wash and a spin in the washer so it is now quite presentable. It still has enough 'eau de mouton' to be enjoyable but it ain't pissy rank.

Then there was spinning, many hours of it, while I listened to radio and the iPod depending on my mood. I've discovered the Putumayo genre recently and I'm definitely a fan. Knitting progress was made on the tank top as I watched the Rocky Horror Picture show (twice), Deepa Mehta's Fire and the first two discs of Season 1 of Arrested Development. Looking at that list I may have to worry about myself.

Spinning: I finished a bobbin of 'oatmeal' coloured Blue Faced Leiscester and am nearly done a bobbin of Louet's 'marmalade' colourway. I've quite a bit more to do as I'm spinning for a sweater project I plan to begin in the late summer.

Surprises: I have a textile book that I want to sell that is priced at over $400 on Abebooks & Amazon. How delicious is that? Then today I brought half a dozen books to a local book trader and sold 4 of them to him. I've just received an email asking me to pick up 3 of them because they are worth over $100 each and he thinks I should get that money. I take this as extraordinarly honourable and kind. So if you're in Nova Scotia, make a trip to The Biscuit Eater in Mahone Bay to enjoy this treasure as much as I do. Besides, he'll likely get the money I make on these books as I'll be able to afford more stops for coffee, biscuits, muffins and today's treat - carrot cake.

Time to hit the sofa and knit for the rest of the evening. Thinking I need to work on my shawl project (Bird's Nest pattern from Folk Shawls in silk and alpaca) or perhaps (dare I think it?) begin the Fiddlesticks shawl pattern I bought, I think it is a Feather & Fan, but then I'd have to use my hummm, profits (see above) to buy the yarn I want to make that in.