New interpretive toy tool in pieces:
Kromski Mazurka Wheel for the Park purchased through Wild Rose Fibres. We have a few wheels at the Park that are intended for interpretive programing but they’re in bad shape and when something consistenly flies apart when you’re trying to use it, it makes learning how to use it difficult. So I found this wee wheel to make spinning easier and more fun for the interps.
The funeral was nice, it was nice catching up with family (and oddly enough we caught up more with Dad’s side of the family than Mom’s), and the weather was so nice that my dad finished combining! Dad and I got to go fishing on Monday and I actually caught 5 and kept 2 (Dad caught 6 and kept 4) and Mom, Dad, Trever and I ate them for supper that night (the only time other than rushing mornings that the four of us spent together).
An interesting part of the funeral was that my grandmother chose a really sweet urn with an angel on it, but my grandfather, having been about 6′4″, was too big so we actually had to have a second box to store him in. And when my grandmother passes away, she doesn’t want to be cremated and she wants Grandpa’s urns to be placed in the coffin with her.
We all pulled through everything quite well. My grandfather would have turned 91 next month, so he has had a good go of it, and everyone was really supportive of my grandmother. She was kind of blessed (in that uncomfortable sort of way) in that he had been in a home or the hospital for over a year so she had already gotten used to him not being in the house, but it’s still going to be an adjustment as she had visited him quite often.
Thanks for the kind words and thoughts; I’ll post something lighter soon, I promise. Likely it’ll be something to do with socks.
At 11:30ish last night, my maternal grandfather breathed his last breath. After work tonight I’ll be heading to Red Deer to reunite with the family (including my brother who I just visited in Montreal), and I likely won’t be blogging until Sunday or Monday.
I wasn’t close with my grandfather, so I’m okay, it’s just good to be with family at this time.
So, keep your family close and hug your pets; I’ll catch you on the flipside.
Today is Election day here in Canada…let’s see if we get a new Prime Minister…
Um. Okay, so I’ll admit, there’s been a dirth of linen in the costume shop I work at. I do most of my fabric shopping in quilt stores so there’s not a lot of linen offerings. So when I was in Montreal, Firefly generously drove me into a warehouse-y part of town where we checked out Telio and I found some linen.
As most of the costumes are out at the dry-cleaners right now (green cleaners too!), we’ve got some time to do some sewing, so I built a man’s bib-front shirt (The Victorian Shirt #202 from Folkwear Patterns; sometimes it’s nice not to have to draft everything). I think it will look way better on a real man, beneath a waistcoat, but the thing I have to say about linen is how crisp the pressed seams are. You could slice bread with these things!
Yesterday I made a silk hankie. We had made one in level 3’s class work back in July, but yesterday I wanted to try a different method and I’m glad I did. I degummed the cocoons! The end result is a much softer, drapier hankie.
I started with pre-dyed cocoons I got from Celeigh Wool in Millet (no website, sadly). Look how dark they are!
Then I put them into 7 cups of water (1 cup each, not that I think that matters) with 1 Tablespoon Orvus paste, and a heaping 1/2 Tablespoon Borax. I accidentally let them boil in the water for a couple minutes; I was only trying for 185 F and stepped away to talk on the phone for a bit and they boiled. Hhhhh. Ah well, I think no harm, no foul.
Then I rinsed them a couple of times in hot tap water, and the last rinse had a shot of vinegar in it to cut the base of the Borax. The cloud isn’t leaching dye, it’s degummed fibres.
Then I stretched them on my hankie frame. It wrinkled my finger tips.
And once it was dry, I had a cute little hankie, and it’s a lot paler than we started with. I still intend to spin it, but I got distracted by some machine-carded bamboo I got in the mail and needed to do a little non-homework related spinning. So the spun hankie yarn is still to come.
I finished the last touches on my Level 2 homework at noon yesterday and mailed it off! Huzzah!
I didn’t cast on my Through the Loops Mystery Socks until 10:00 last night though, so I don’t have a decent picture, but here’s a shot of the yarn cakes:
So…I didn’t finish my Master Spinner Level 2 homework and had to get an extension. I think the cut-off date is November 1…tonight, if all goes according to plan (which it hasn’t been…I had to go to my office twice this morning because I forgot things there that were important to finishing; like my carders, my wool combs, and for the second visit, my scale!) I should be finished.
Earlier this week I decided I wouldn’t let myself do any personal knitting until I did finish it, which has been PAINFUL. Especially with the Through the Loops Mystery Sock Knit Along for Socktoberfest. I didn’t, however, stop myself from buying the yarn nor from starting to dye it. I purchased some Sandnes Mini Alpakka and it’s currently languishing just below 200 F in a pre-mordant bath of Alum and Cream of Tartar. I’m going to dye it with Cutch Extract from Maiwa.
And on Thursday I bought myself a little gift to hang out in the office. Yes, it’s a cactus, and yes, it’s got pink needles. Noice.
It’s a quote from a song, but I don’t remember which song or which artist…I’m thinking Barenaked Ladies though.
Anyway, Firefly said that so far only 10 people have signed up for the Boo-ty Swap…come on, you know you want to sign up. It’s only five little things (and you can combine them and send fewer if you go that way), it’s a brief swap, and the joy of it is you get to meet someone new AND give to them AND receive something from someone else who is new! Come on, join the swap…tomorrow’s the last day to sign up. PLEASE sign up. The more, the merrier!
Also, Through the Loops is having a Socktoberfest Mystery Knit Along if you’re a member of her fan-group on Ravelry. She’s the designer of my Achillea socks, so it’s going to be an awesome sock! Yay!
Delly Bean
