Knitting Olympics

I have been really bad about posting lately. I've been busy spinning and knitting. I have a lovely blend of bison, cashmere and silk that I'm spinning on Seraphina (my Matchless) . On Lizbeth (Suzie Pro) I'm spinning some Ashford merino/silk. Finally, I'm spinning a teal corriedale on Rose (Ladybug). Except for the corriedale I'm aiming for lace weight so this helps avoid getting bored since lace takes me so long to spin. I am looking forward to finally finishing the Ashford because I've already spun up a bunch of the cinnamon and this is the last of that colour I have.

I've been busy knitting socks for the grandchildren. I finished 6 pairs for them and sent them off to my daughter last week. They arrived yesterday and I'm waiting for pictures of the socks on their feet. I have one pair for each to finish and then have to knit two pairs for my oldest granddaughter and her friend. She chose the colour. She said she wanted funky in green and yellow. I tried to find yarn that had just green and yellow and I wasn't successful so I asked Maggie from Dyed in the Wool Handmade to dye some for me. I sent Shayna a picture and she loves it. The yarn for both are now wound into centre pull balls and ready to go.


I know that there will be the Ravelympics on Ravelry again for the Winter Olympics. Originally I was going to participate but when I saw that The Yarn Harlot was doing the Knitting Olympics again I had to do it there. You see when they did the Knitting Olympics back in 2006 I tried to get a shawl done but failed because life got in the way and I didn't get a gold medal. I know it might sound silly but I was really upset. So here I am back again to try for another gold metal. I am going to knit the two pairs of socks for GD and her friend because frankly I need some incentive to get these done. Green is my least favourite colour. Frankly I can't stand them but I don't have to wear them just knit them. I'll also finish a pair of socks for my grandson. I work weekdays and tend to fall asleep early in the evenings so this will be a challenge to get done.

Ravelry also has another group for a 2010 Mystery Lace KAL. There will be a different clue for each month of the year. This is the clue for January. The yarn is my own handspun from Fleece Artist Merino/Silk sliver that I bought at Gemini Fibres.


On Saturday I finally finished Revontuli. I made this one from Meilenweit Solo sock yarn. I like the longer colour repeats. I just have to find the time to block it. Since I still have the first Revontuli I knit from Noro to block who knows when that will be.



My final craziness for this year is a challenge from Miko at The Purple Purl. She decided to come up with a knitting challenge similar to the cooking challenge in Julie & Julia. The challenge should you decide to accept it is to knit through all the patterns of a any knitting book of your choice over the next 12 months. The challenge began on February 1, 2010 and will end Jan. 31, 2011. We will have a big bash at The Purl when it is all over and done with. For this challenge I've chosen to knit all the samples in Knitting Lace by Susan E. Lewis. There are 92 samples in all and I'm already behind. I've only done these two so far. I've decided to do them separately and then join them all together when I'm done.


With all this knitting I hope I'll still have time for spinning.

Seraphina

I think I'll call her Seraphina. DH really surprised me when he told me to go ahead and order the Matchless wheel I've been lusting after ever since I got Rose, my Ladybug. I ordered her on December 23rd and imagine my surprise when Canada Post delivered her on Sunday January 3rd. I had a day to play before I went back to work. I have to say that this wheel really is a dream. I had tried a Matchless once when I first started spinning and I was less than impressed. I now believe that is because the wheel I tried was an older wheel and I'm guessing not very well maintained. This wheel is smooth as silk. The treadeling is effortless like on the Ladybug but I find the double drive a lot easier to adjust than on the Ladybug. She's set up in double drive right now and I think I will keep her set up in double drive for now anyway.


I finished plying this skein yesterday. The fibre is Fleece Artist merino/silk sliver that I bought from Gemini Fibres. The spinning was done on a combination of the Ladybug and Matchless. When the Matchless came I switched the flyer from the Ladybug to the Matchless and finished the spinning on the Matchless. The plying was done on the Ladybug. I haven't measured WPI yet but it's a lace weight yarn. I still have 50 grams of this fibre left that I've started spinning. We'll see how long it takes to finish. This I'd like to spin and ply completely on the Matchless. I find, so far, that spinning lace is much easier in double drive because there isn't that tug on the singles. In Scotch tension no matter how light I keep the tension there's always a bit of a tug. If I try to lighten the tension anymore there isn't enough tension to wind the yarn onto the bobbins. I think I am going to like spinning laceweight a lot more in double drive than I have with Scotch tension.

Socks Anyone?

Earlier this month I sent off a package to my daughter with a bunch of socks. Because I wear orthodics in my shoes, I can't really wear my own handknit socks. Therefore, most of my handknit socks go to my daughter. Well this package contained about 9 pairs, I believe, including all the socks I knit for NaKnitMo. The final pair I finished I didn't get a picture of but I did the circle socks and they looked great. I have to knit another pair because Henny loved them. Since I sent off the package I knit these socks. The pattern is a free patten from Wendy Knits and can be found here. The yarn is from Diamond Yarns and I got it at The Purple Purl. I'm very pleased with the result. After my daughter received all the socks the kids decided they wanted me to knit them all socks as well. I'm surprised it took them so long because I've been knitting socks for Henny for a long time. Anyway, I finished socks for the two boys and just finished the first sock for my GD. Once they're all done I'll knit another pair from the second ball and send them all down.
I've been spinning as well. This was spun on Lizbeth and I am pretty pleased with the results. The yarn is a light fingering, I believe. The fibre is Fleece Artist merino/silk blend. I'm going to knit socks from it I just have to decide for who and a pattern.
With the year almost over I'm not planning on any resolutions for the new year. I never manage to stick to them anyway so why start off the year feeling disappointed. What I do plan on doing is trying to spin more even if it's just 10 minutes daily.

The Matchless DH got me for Christmas / birthday should be here by Monday and I plan to become friendly with double drive since the wheel comes set up in double drive.

Finally, I'd like to wish all my friends, family and anyone who reads my blog a very happy, healthy and properous new year.

Schacht Contest

I found out on Sunday that I won Honourable Mention in the Schacht contest. Since I honestly didn't expect to win anything this is such a great thing. It has given me much more confidence in my spinning. I won one of their Dizzy Yarn gauges. I had to enter as an expert because I learned to spin in November 2006 and for their contest 2 years and more is considered expert. I, personally, don't consider myself an expert at all. There was time in there that I didn't spin at all or very little. I do see considerable progress in my spinning and I'm happy with that.

And speaking of spinning, I finished the Louet merino/silk fibre I've been working on. This was spun on my Schacht Ladybug. The fibre is the Louet Merino/Silk blend in Glacial Green. I'm not totally sure of the yardage but it's 220 grams and I think it's about 1300 yards total. There are two skeins. One is 137 grams and the second is 83 grams. I think it's lighter than fingering but not as fine as some lace yarn you can get. I still have to check the WPI as well. When I wind it into a centre pull ball I'll check with the yarn meter so I know the exact yardage I have. This way I can decide what the yarn wants to become. Right now I don't have a clue.

I've also been working on another sock design. The stitch pattern is from a Japanese stitch pattern book I have. The yarn is a Regia sock yarn. I am happy with the first sock but want to try something different in the heel for the second sock. I just have to figure out how I am going to do it. I've never tried it before. I'll have more details once it's finished.

Giuseppe, I haven't forgotten about your request for the picture. The skein I did at that time is very tiny. I haven't really done another skein because I haven't been very happy with the singles so I have been playing and taking it off the spindle and tossing it in the garbage. I will set up the charkha tonight, I hope, and take a picture of the spindle so you can see what I've done.

I put the spinning aside for a few days to work on a pair of socks. These are the September Sockamania Club socks. The pattern is called Hot Air Balloons. The yarn, unfortunately, doesn't really show of the pattern but it was a fun knit and I am glad I did them. The amazing part for me is that I started these on Sunday and finished them last night. That's 3 days to knit a pair of socks! I don't think I have ever knit a pair that fast before.



I know that there will be other knitting obligations coming up tomorrow but, for now, I think I am going to spin tonight. I finished the first bobbin of Louet merino/silk I've been working on. The second bobbin is going to take me at least two weeks to finish if not longer depending on how much spinning time I get in.



Saturday I spent the day up at Gemini Fibres for their spin in event. I had such a blast!! We were 6 people in all. 3 of the ladies had the Lendrum folding wheel, two of us had the Schacht Ladybug and one lady had the Louet Hatbox wheel. I've never seen this wheel before. It is as cute as can be but I don't think I would feel comfortable spinning on it with the orifice being so low down. After seeing it I can see where there wheel got its name. It really does look like a hatbox when it is packed away.



I didn't come home empty handed either but I wasn't as bad as I could have been. I bought some cotton punis, Ashford merino/silk fibre and another spindle. After I was done I thought that was it but I decided to get a new set of hand carders. I like the fact that the Schacht cotton carders are wider than the Louets and the teeth are closer together. The only thing I didn't like is that the carders are heavier than the Louet. I was also looking at the Clemes cotton carders but I didn't like the way they were finished off. The width and amount of teeth are identical to the Schacht but the Schacht looked like they were better made so I ended up bring them home. Now I have a bunch of cotton I have to card into punis when I have the time.



The charkha spinning is coming along slowly. I'm beginning to get the hang of one handed drafting. I just can't get it as fine as I'd like. I know that like everything else that will come with practice and time.

ETA: I can't believe I wrote this post over a week ago and never posted it.

This Spinning Thing

Things have been pretty hectic in my life of late. My MIL had surgery on August 25th and it's been a very rough ride. I believe she is on the road back and we are all so very greatful. I tried knitting during my time at the hospital but I just couldn't. Instead I was spinning some green corriedale on 2 spindles and finished this corriedale on the wheel. I spun it on Lizbeth and I am so pleased with the results. This is the third batch of yarn that I am really happy with. I know they say that when you spin fine you can never go back. I thought I would try to see if I could spin thicker than the laceweight Ashford fibre I spun and this is the result. I think it's about 20 WPI, if I remember correctly. I don't have it anymore so I can't tell for sure. I know it's about 1000+ yards and it's about 200 grams. I think it's close to fingering weight.

DH also bought me this gorgeous Golding spindle. I've been lusting after it for quite some time and when I showed it to hubby I told him I wish someone would just buy it so I could stop lusting. Well he told me to go ahead and get it so I did. It came last week and, needless to say, it spins like a dream. The way the gold and red look when it's spinning is just something to behold. Yet another great tool from Golding Fiber Tools.

Tonight we're having an impromptu get together with some friends and I am looking forward to it. I took some time off on Saturday and drove up to Gemini. I came home with some fibre and another spindle. I need good lighting for that so you can see the lacewood properly. I also bought some cotton to play with on the charkha. I think I'm beginning to get the hang of that contraption. On Sunday I spent a few hours at The Purl and came home with some violet corriedale. I finished spinning half the fibre yesterday. It's amazing how much quicker you fill a bobbin when it's not thread. Now to get the second bobbin done and get it plied. I'm hoping for fingering weight about the same as the corriedale pictured above. By the weekend I should know if I'm still on a roll.

Success!!!

As some of you know, I took my first spindle spinning class in November 2006. I got my first wheel just days before Christmas the same year. Finally, after all this time, I have some yarn I love and am knitting with.

This is Ashford fibre and it's a merino/silk blend that I bought from Gemini Fibres. I had 320 grams of fluff when I started and ended up with 316 grams when I was done. The yarn is about 28 WPI and according to the McMorran yarn balance is about 2950 yards per pound. That means I have pretty close to 2,000 yards.

The pattern I've decided to do with it is the Spring Blossoms Shawl by Eugene Beugler. So far I am really enjoying the knit.

Now to see if I can spin some sock yarn. I have some corriedale in a brownish red colour on Lizbeth and some Fleece Artists merino/silk sliver in a peacock blue colour on Rose. I want the blue to be laceweight and the red to be sock weight. We'll see how it turns out.

Meet Rose

I've been a little busy this week and haven't had time to post pictures but my new spinning wheel came on Tuesday. I didn't really get to play with her because I was out attending a memorial for a friend who lost his 15 year old nephew on July 11th.

Lily on the left is my Little Gem. I've decided to name the Ladybug Rose. If you look closely you can see the ladybug on the left rear leg. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this wheel. It is very easy to treadle. I haven't had as much time to play because I am trying to finish the second bobbin of Ashford merino/silk that I am spinning on Lily. Fine yarn takes forever to spin. I just finished the 2nd 100 gram bag of fibre and am trying to see if I can fit 60 more grams on each of the two bobbins. Then I'll use the wild flyer, I hope, to ply the two together. I want to be done spinning the rest of this by next weekend so I have the weekend to get it plied.


Here you can see a close of of the ladybug. I won't deny that I wish it was in a more visible place but I love her just the same. It is beyond cute.

I also learned from the Schacht group on Ravelry how to set her up in hybrid double drive. You can find out more info on hybrid double drive here. I am using the high speed bobbin that I got at the same time as the wheel and the super high speed whorl. Right now I am not having any difficulty treadling but that might change as the bobbin fills. I'm a little surprised that I did not have any difficulty going from Scotch tension to double drive. I've heard people prefer one over the other usually based on how they learned. I find much less tug on the bobbin when I am trying to spin fine singles and that works much better for me. I don't have to wrap the singles around different hooks to slow the take up like I have to do in Scotch tension.

You can see from the close up that the poly band that came with the wheel goes from the drive wheel to the whorl. The cord goes from the drive wheel to the bobbin. The bobbin gets flipped around from the way it is with Scotch tension and that's why I am using the high speed bobbin for double drive. I'm told that for Scotch tension it doesn't make a difference.

Back to spinning the Ashford. Let's see how much I can get done today.

Another Day of Spin In Fun

Today was the spin in at The Black Lamb. I was either excited about the spin in or nervous about the drive because I had a horrible night. I woke up too many times and when I woke up at 4 I had a really difficult time falling back to sleep. I finally went out to the living room and sat in the recliner and managed to doze off for a little while around 5 but was up by 5:45 after having the weirdest and disturbing dream. I left the house around 7:20AM and then went to the doctor. From there it was off to Port Hope with Cheryl. I'm so glad she came with me because the drive is so much easier when you have someone with you in the car to talk to. Before you knew it we were in Port Hope. There was a very good turnout and I don't think I have ever seen so many Little Gem wheels in one place. Not to mention Majacraft wheels in general. Makes sense since Laurie is a Majacraft dealer.

The weather was a little chilly but I didn't mind. I much prefer that to being so hot I can't spin because the fibre sticks to my hands. Overall I would say this was a huge success and I will definitely go again if Laurie does it again next summer. I know they are planning a spin in for WWSIP Day but I don't know if I will go yet. If they are doing something at The Purple Purl I will go there instead. You can see from the pictures that there was a pretty good crowd.



Cindy, from Studioloo, brought her Mach I and Travel Bee wheels. I tried the Travel Bee and it really is a neat little wheel. When it folds, and is in the bag you can get for it, it could be mistaken for a sewing machine. It also has ratios up to 36:1. How that is even possible for a travel wheel I don't know. I keep telling myself "I don't need another wheel, I don't need another wheel." If I tell myself that enough times I might actually believe it.

There was fun and games. I didn't try to identify the different fibres because I don't handle them enough and I knew there was no way I was going to get anything right. I did decide to try the spinning fine fibre competition. Laurie gave us some of her pencil roving and you had to spin it as fine as you could. This was my result and I won for the thinnest spun on the wheel. Suzie, a friend from The Purple Purl, won for the spindle. I am so pleased because I have tried for a very very long time to get my spinning fine enough and I think I am finally close to where I want to be. These singles needed more twist but the thickness is just about right.

Lovely Spin In Over

Yesterday was the summer spin in at Gemini Fibres. I headed up there bright and early and did some shopping before I pulled out my Little Gem. Last week I asked them to hole 2 spindles for me since I knew I would be back this week. This one is a Granny Forrester spindle in Padauk wood.
This one is another of his colourwood spindles. I just love the look of them. I have to get another one of his Pyrography spindles but he won't be making more of the colourwood, as I mentioned in a previous post, because he doesn't have the wood. This is the bottom of the spindle.
This is the top of the spindle. They are just so pretty and the colours look so nice when you see them spinning. There is one more colourwood spindle I wanted but the shaft was a little rough. I've asked that Mr. Forrester look at it and see if anything can be done before I bring it home.
I think I've figured out a way to store my spindles a little better than they are being stored at the moment. I have them in this plastic popcorn bucket that you get when you go to the movies. I found this wicker basket and I am going to put a piece of styrofoam in it and put as many spindles in there as I can. If I don't have enough room for all of them I'll get another basket.

Finally, I bought more fibre. You can never have enough. I've been spinning this same fibre in another colourway called cinnamon. It's an Ashford fibre blend of 80/20 Merino and Silk. I tell you this stuff practically spins itself. This colourway is called Juniper. It has purple tones in it and I love purple.They have another colourway called Mulberry that I want to get but someone else took all the fibre of that colourway that was in stock so I will have to get it the next time I'm out that way.

An Afternoon of Spinning

Yesterday we spent the afternoon by my in-law's and I brought my Little Gem with me. I finally finished plying the purple Lorna's Laces merino singles I finished spinning quite a while ago.I was a little afraid that since it's been so long since the singles were done the plying would end up being a disaster. I gave the yarn a nice hot bath when we got home and it looks really good considering. I have 122 grams but it's not totally dry yet so I am not sure of the yardage. I'll check that tomorrow along with the WPI. It took me about 3 hrs to finish the plying and boy did my knees hurt by the time I was done.
I was a little surprised I was still able to spin but I was treadling much slower with the spinning than I was with the plying so I was fine. This is just a little bit of the cinnamon merino/silk I bought on Saturday. I'm going to bring it with me to the spin in on Saturday and continue with it. I was also playing with my Golding tsunami spindle and spun about the same about of that I spun on Saturday during class. Now to try and keep it up and not put it by the wayside again.

Today I am going to finally cast on the February Lady for the Purple Purl KAL so I won't get anymore spinning in. For some reason I am really tired so I think I am going to konk out early tonight.

Where Does The Time Go??

My nephew Baruch is getting married today. Unfortunately, I was not able to get to NYC for the wedding. I spoke to my bother this morning and it's hard to believe that one of his babies are all grown up and one of the twins will be a married man tonight. Where does the time go? Don't ask me which one is which. I have not been able to tell them apart since they were babies. I know the twins are not identical but they sure look it to me. One is Baruch and one is Shmuel. The one getting married is Baruch.

Yesterday I went to Gemini Fibres for an advanced spindle spinning class. We got to play with some Fleece Artist BFL. It was great fun to spin. We did navajo plying on the spindle and other things. It was a great day with a group of very nice ladies. I had a blast.

If anyone knows me they know I couldn't possibly have gone there and come home empty handed. I prefer light spindles because I like to spin lace or sock yarn and Mr. Forrester found some more coloured wood that he was able to use to make more spindles. However, these are the last that he has of the wood so I won't be able to get more after this. I tried all of them. There was a very small one that I didn't quite get along with but I did love this one and the one below.

There are still two more that I want to pick up and I'll be back up at Gemini next week for their spin in so I'll probably get the other two then. One more is a coloured wood spindle and the second is a Padauk wood spindle.

I usually lean towards purples when I buy yarn and fibre. Once in a while another colour will hit my eye and I have to try it. This is one of those fibres. The colour is called cinnamon and it's a merino silk blend. I am looking forward to starting to spin this fibre but I am going to spend the afternoon trying to finish plying this fibre that's been on the bobbins way too long. It's about time I try and get back to spinning. It's been way too long.


I also bought a spinning book called Spin Control by Amy King. I've only had a chance to glance through it but I am looking forward to reading it cover to cover. Next I can't wait for Abby Franquemont's Respect the Spindle book to come out later this year.

Last but not least, to all the dads out there, Happy Father's Day.

It's Been Quite The Time

Yesterday was my birthday. Since I only work until noon on Friday I decided to take advantage of the situation and spend the afternoon at The Purple Purl. When I got there Robbie gave me these. Aren't they just gorgeous? They're purple Calalilies. I am going to leave DH in charge of caring for them because if it is left up to me I'll end up killing them.
After some knitting Miko walked in with this. Since I'm trying to eat more healthy I didn't want a cake. Jennifer had asked me what I wanted and I said I can have melon. This is the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen and the fruit was delicious, not just nice to look at.


I can't even put into words how much fun I had. I got tons of knitting time in. I'm almost finished with the second Sweet Dreams Baby blanket. Then I just cracked up as Amy serenaded us with a song she wrote. I just love her uke. It's small but it has really nice sound.

I am so lucky to have a husband that didn't mind me spending my birthday away from home. It really was the best birthday. I didn't go overboard with spending either. I just bought 2 skeins of Tanis laceweight yarn that I've been drooling over for way too long and figured what better time to bring it home than my birthday.

Today I spent the day up at Gemini Fibres taking an exotic fibre spinning class. We played with camel, silk and alpaca. I didn't bring my wheel with me because I wasn't feeling too well this morning so I used the Schacht Lady Bug they had at the shop. I tell you, it took every ounce of strength I had not to put a down payment on that wheel. It is a dream to spin and we really got along. The only thing I don't like are the hooks. I might get over that you never know. I really want that wheel but it will have to wait. These are two small skeins I managed to spin. The one on top is pure alpaca that was in roving form (I think) and the other was stuff we combed and had some silk blended with it.
Paul, Joseph, and I were going to go to Montana's for dinner tonight but I am so dizzy we are going to put it off to tomorrow. I'm not happy that Bonamine is no longer available in Canada. Now to figure out what else I can take when I have an attack since I can't take Gravol. Tomorrow I get to wear the birthday hat at Montanas since I promised Joseph I would. Pictures to follow. I'm sure I will look like a complete dork. Oh well, you only live once.

I Think I'm Losing It

I think I'm losing it. As I posted last time, I started the Manada shawl. I got to clue 3 yesterday and hit a snag. When I received an email from Renee, I realized what the snag was. I don't know how to read. That's my problem. If I knew how to read I would have seen where the pattern states that shaded rounds are where the beginning of the round shifts. Instead, I just figured it was for beads and happily knit away. What you see here is the result. I frogged it to a spot where I could easily pick up the sts and am now in the middle of knitting chart 1 again. When will I ever learn to read a pattern through before I begin? The problem is, when I do that I usually just get confused so I don't bother. Here is a good example of why I need to change that habit.

After this disaster, I realized something else. On February 21st Shannon, and I went to Kimberly's for a spin in. I didn't get very far because I didn't like the way Lily was treadling. It felt ackward and I'd never had that experience before. Ok, I figured the wheel needed oiling so I oiled where the thing goes round and round under the treadles. It didn't help and when one of the singles of the yarn I was trying to ply broke I just gave up and chatted instead of trying to rejoin. Today (over a week later) it dawned on me that I NEVER OILED THE TREADLE HINGES!!!! Once again, I think I might have lost it. Once I get caught up on the shawl I am going to have to pull out Lily and see if oiling the hinges will solve the problem. I was really upset by the treadle trouble but silly me didn't say anything to anyone. The Little Gem has never given me this trouble before. Now I am pretty sure it was the hinges. As Esther on The Golden Girls said "Senility is a terrible thing." It sure is.

Day 13 of NaBloPoMo

My order arrived from Shuttleworks yesterday. Here's what I got. I bought the Wild Flyer kit and I also got the tension knob for the Little Gem so I can use it with either Lily or Lizbeth. I also got an extra bobbin for the flyer. I decided on the wild flyer instead of the plying flyer because I don't like the delta orifice at all and the wild flyer has the circle orifice and not the delta. I also bought the Universal Tensioned Lazy Kate. I have the Kromski arched lazy kate but I am having problems with the bobbins constantly popping out of the tension string. I think it's because of the limited space I have here I can't put the lazy kate behind me. It's always off to the side. I decided to get this one so I can see if that will solve my problem. I had a little surprise in the box as well. This canvas Shuttleworks bag was included with the order. It's a really big, thick, very nice, canvas bag.

I acutally managed to get some knitting done yesterday. I knit up all the stuff I ripped out and I started repeat 30. I really have to be more careful. It's horrible to work for hours and then have that work thrown out when you find a mistake and have to rip out a few hours worth of knitting.

Finally, remember those knots I found in the elann.com Baby Lace Merino? I emailed elann and told them about it. They apologized and are going to send me another ball.

Day 5 of NaBloPoMo

Last night was fun at The Purple Purl. It's the first time I've gone to one of their regular Tuesday stitch nights. They had their Halloween Trick or Swap as well and I went for that. It was fun but I didn't end up trading what I brought. That is fine for me really because the Malabrigo Lace would have been difficult to part with.

I did have a wonderful surprise. I brought along the Louet Victoria wheel I have. I've been meaning to bring it there for quite some time so I could try to sell it. When I was trying to sell my Ashford Joy, I brought it there and it sold in a couple of weeks. I was hoping the same would happen with the Victoria. Imagine my surprise when I brought it there, someone looked at the wheel, looked at what I was asking for it, and decided to buy it! The Victoria has gone to a very good home and I have Lily and Lizbeth - Little Gem II and Suzie Pro.

I also made it to the halfway point of the edging on the Magickal Earth Shawl. I don't get to work on this every day because it gets tedious but I am relieved to be halfway there. I still hope I can get the edging done by the end of the month. We'll see. I started this on October 11th and it's taken me this long to get 24 repeats done. I did knit a pair of socks in there as well.

Day 2 of NaBloPoMo

On October 16th Jane Ellison and some of the gang from The Purple Purl were on Breakfast Television here in Toronto. Unfortunately, with my work schedule, there was no way I could be downtown for this and still get to work on time. But imagine my surprise when I watched the segment on BT and saw the Forest Path Stole I had knit for The Purple Purl right there behind Jane Ellison! It made me feel like I was there with them even though I couldn't be there personally. Paul FINALLY managed to get the segment off the PVR but I am not sure if I am allowed to post it or not. I know there are copywrite laws etc so this still picture will have to do until I can figure things out.

To my utter surprise and amazement, yesterday I received the replacement high speed head for Lizbeth. The new one was shipped from New Zealand and I think I got it in less than 2 weeks. I was having problems with the old one because it didn't fit in the slot properly. Turns out the "neck" on the one I had was 2mm smaller than the head that came with the machine. This new head is as snug as a bug in a rug and doesn't budge. If anything it is even more snug than the head that came with Lizbeth. I am very pleased. I managed to finish spinning the purple fibre I received as part of SP11 and I'm now letting it rest for a few days before I ply it. I figure since the rest of it has been resting for so long I'd better let the last bits rest.

What A Weekend

This past weekend was really busy. I only work until noon on Friday's so I decided to take Friday off and work a full day this Friday instead so I could get to the Creative Festival early. I haven't been in years but it was my understanding that the organizers are trying to get more of the fibre arts involved so I thought I would give it a chance. Kimberly and I met up at the Festival and were done looking around in less than 2 hours. There's too much scrapbooking and other things that have nothing to do with being creative at all, IMHO such as pots, makeup etc. Also, most of the yarn vendors had practically the same stuff and I just wasn't very excited. I think I will stick to the Knitter's Frolic in April and the Knitter's Fair in September and bypass the Creative Festival unless they have an interesting class I want to take. The only reason it wasn't a total wash out was because of Let's Hook Rugs and Black Sheep and Ewe.

Remember the rug hooking class I took in September? Well I wanted some hooking supplies and Let's Hook Rugs is the closest place I know of, so far. They are in Aurora but were away so I couldn't get up there to look for anything. When I heard they were going to be at the Festival it was just another reason for me to go. I bought the kit on the left and the book on the right. I am hoping that both will give me the help I need to start to get the hang of things. I also bought a smaller hook.

I tried to get to the booth for Gemini Fibres but it was so crowded I had to wait for a little while. While I was walking down the same aisle I saw the Black Sheep and Ewe booth and right there in front of my eyes was Grandma's Present. The one here in the picture is the one they have at The Purple Purl. I have been lusting after this thing ever since I saw it there. I asked if they were for sale and, unless they found some after I bought the one I got, it was the last one they had. Now to find the perfect place to put it. I haven't decided yet. When I do I'll take pictures. Right now we are trying to get the place in order and I don't want it to fall and smash into a million pieces so it's safer in the box.

Saturday was an afternoon full of spinning goodness. Shannon, Kimberly, and I went up to Maggie's to spend the afternoon spinning. Of course, it is impossible to go there and not get lots and lots of fibre goodness. Maggie brought out the fibre and yarns she's been dying and I couldn't resist. I don't have any pale pink roving and it is soft like butter. I am not sure what the second braid is but I think it's merino but it isn't superwash and it isn't as soft as the pink. The colours just called to me. There was no way I could leave either behind.

In the yarn department, I ended up getting one skein of merino sock yarn in the teal blue (sorry, can't remember the name) and the Satsuma is the orange which is a bamboo/merino blend.

After the fondling of yarn and fibre was over I actually got some spinning done. Not enough to take another picture but it felt so good to be able to spin. I've been having some challenges with Lily, my Suzie Pro, but Maggie helped me change the tension cord and all was great after that. Now I just have to wait for the new high speed head to arrive from New Zealand. I've been having trouble with the head not wanted to stay put. No matter how tight I tried to turn the nut into the bolt it still would tilt to one side as soon as I touched the head. 2mm is all it took to cause the problem. The original head that came with Lily is 30mm where it slides between the two posts. On the high speed head it's only 28mm. A new hhh is on it's way to me that will, hopefully, fit much better.

Sunday I was supposed to meet Ramona at The Purple Purl. Unfortunately, Ramona wasn't feeling well and ended up having to cancel. I stuck around to meet Jane Ellison and bought The Queensland Collection - Book 9. It's a book of patterns for men and it really is great. I got it autographed. The only unfortunate part of the entire day, besides Ramona having to cancel, was that Jane Ellison was sick as well so she couldn't give the talk she had planned. We did get to see lots of her designs up close and personal and I can't even describe how soft and gorgeous they all were. I know there will be some Jane Ellison design knitting in my future.