Fiber Tourism - part II

On Saturday morning we headed out of Ottawa torward Toronto to take in a Blue Jays game before saying goodbye to my parents and heading north again. Enroute, G kindly allowed me to detour us to Port Hope to visit the Black Lamb.

I tried out a Majacraft Suzie Pro and a Little Gem. I really liked both of them. However, I liked the way the Suzie treadled better than the Gem. I would still like to try a few other wheels, but so far, I'd say the Suzie is my favorite of the ones I've tried.

The Black Lamb had big baskets of fiber tempting me in every corner.


I succumbed to some tencel roving. I've spun merino/tencel before, but never 100% tencel and I think this could be a fun challenge.

Sunday afternoon we watched the Jays play the Cleveland Indians. Although they lost 4-5, it was one of the highlights of the trip - my first ever major league ball game!

Fiber Tourism!

My family met up with my parents in Ottawa last Monday for a week of sightseeing and fun! Of course, I couldn't leave any yarn shop unvisited and included a few in my travels. My goal was to try out a few wheels. Don't tell my Ashford Traditional, but I'm looking for a replacement.

On Monday night, we watched the Mosaika show. It was quite enjoyable: the show uses the parliament buildings as a screen. Tuesday, we toured the center block of the Parliament Buildings.

I enjoyed it much more than I expected. The architecture is really impressive and I hadn't known that the building was built to honor the soldiers who lost their lives in WW1. The library was really amazing, all the wood details were well worth a visit. Tuesday afternoon we visited the Aircraft museum.

Wednesday and Thursday and Friday, more museums, including the War Museum, the Museum of Civilization and the Nature Museum. And a bit of Shopping!

One of the shopping stops was Wabi Sabi, a fun fiber arts store in Ottawa. Both M and I found some merino/silk fiber that begged to be brought home with us (with really great prices, I might add).



M helped me pick out mine: it was a toss up for me between two teally greens and this one. M pointed out that this one was really more my color!



And of course he picked out the purple. He says this will be the first he spins on my wheel!

Wabi Sabi has a Louet S15 and a Babe in store that I got to try out. I can appreciate the price of the Babe and the double treadle, but really didn't like how it wobbled. Plus, I just can't get past the PVC. (my apologies to any die-hard Babe fans). The Louet I liked better, but found getting the bobbin off a bit fiddly, I'm sure I could get used to it and I like it's modern appearance and smooth treadling.

And since my parent knew I was looking for a new wheel, they brought me this:


Isn't that a cute little wheel? "Respect the Spindle" was brought along for reading material on our trip - highly enjoyable and informative!

I saw Alpacas Today!!!

The local Spinners and Weavers Guild held an open house today at an alpaca farm about 20 minutes from my home. I didn't even know there were alpacas living so close to me. I have been bursting with excitement all week and this morning was awake before everyone else, partly from excitement, partly because hubby tends to snore.



There were about 20 different darlings grazing about the farm - two tiny babies among them.

This is Jasper - I missed getting a photo of M feeding him some pellet food.


This is Coco and Cody, her cria. Cody was born premature, but is doing well.

This is Coco too! Couldn't go to an alpaca farm without coming home with something to spin.

The guild members demonstrated weaving on tabletop 4 harness looms. I've always been so fascinated by weaving. They had some fun weaving activities for the kids, but M and B were more interested in the alpacas.

B found their feet particularly cute.


These alpacas were ones she watched almost the whole time we were there.

And the spinning demonstrators were more than willing to let people try out their wheels. Up to now I've only had M spinning on a spindle, but after he spun some Romney on an Ashford Traveller like a pro, I've promised him a bobbin on my wheel.


Many of the guild members and visitors to the open house were quite awed by a young boy spinning happily away at a wheel.

It's All my Fault

Hi, Mommy said I had to tell all of you what I've been up to the last few days. Well I do lots of stuff every day, but Mommy said I should start my story with what happened on Monday. On Monday we went for a WALK and it was so much fun and there were birds and people to sniff and OTHER DOGS!!!


We go for walks almost every day but every time we go out the smells are new and exiting and yummy and snuffly and... oh, right, Monday... On Monday there was a little grey mini schnauzer that always looks like he'd be really good to sniff and lick and maybe even PLAY WITH, and Mommy wouldn't let me play with him. Mommy says I also have to tell you that since I'm a VERY big dog when I try to go in a direction she doesn't want me to, especially when I go very fast, she doesn't like it. She hasn't taken me out for walks since Monday, actually she hasn't seemed very much herself since then. She keeps taking medicine and putting funny smelling cream and warm things on her neck and back. She hasn't been sitting infront of the thing that spins around and that I have to be careful not to get my feet under, doesn't sit at the computer, hasn't been doing that thing with the pointy sticks and string, gets the smaller people and Daddy to lift things for her, and seems really grumpy. I hope she gets over this soon, I've got a mini schnauzer to snuffle.

That Pretty Much Sums it up...

This poem that I received for Mother's Day touched my heart and made me laugh.



Now you know what I've been busy with for the last month! There has been some knitting and spinning, but mostly mothering.

Better than the Book

Usually when I read a book first, then watch the movie, I'm disappointed. Sometimes I'm pleased and think it's almost as good as the movie, but this weekend I watched a movie, that although not exactly faithful to the book it was taken from, was way better than the book! "How to Train Your Dragon" was cute and funny and Toothless was by far my favorite character - he reminded me of my cat Mia!


I'd read the book a while back when my son's teacher was reading it to his class - I like to know what's going into my kid's heads. And although I didn't have any objections to the book, I could see why it appeals to 8 year olds. But the movie was fun! Even G, who usually cringes when I suggest we take the family to an animated movie liked it - said it was better than Shrek!

On the fibre front, I finished up the singles from the "Harlequin Girl" Batts over the weekend and plyed them last night. It is very soft, which surprised me - I expected the firestar to make it a bit scratchier, but it's wonderfully soft.




250 yds fingering weight 3 ply.

Do I have too much yarn?

Yesterday was 100 Day at the kid's school.

The primary grades celebrate the 100th day of classes by having fun activities involving the number 100. It's a way of making math concepts fun and making the otherwise dreary winter days of February a bit more exciting. One of the assignments they have to complete at home before 100 Day is to bring in a collection of 100 somethings.

M asked if he could bring in 100 snippets of yarn. "It's ok if you don't have 100 different balls to snip from, I don't mind having some repeated," he said. We had sort of forgotten until he woke up that he had to bring the project to school, so while he got ready for school, I began snipping. He put it all together with time to spare.



I guess I must have been in denial about the size of my stash. I never really thought I had that much yarn, but I was able to sit on the couch and snip 100 bits of yarn off different balls and skeins without leaving the couch. After M had left for school, I noticed that I hadn't even touched the stash in the laundry closet.

It really does beg the question, "Do I have too much yarn?"

Rock Monsters Bake a Cake

M is crazy about Lego's newest: Power Miners. He doesn't, however, like that they have cast the Rock Monsters as the bad guys - so he's made his into good guys. His favorite is Sulfurix. He's been going on for about a month that I should make him a lego cake for his birthday party - which is today. I warned him that I'm no Duff, but he had faith in me and here's what we've got.




This is Geolix defending the smaller monsters from the Power Miners Drill rig.


Here is Meltrox giving a hand to Glaciator.

One Warm Foot

With the fun and busyness of Christmas winding down, I decided to knit myself a pair of slippers. I had some inexpensive worsted weight wool yarn in reds and purples that I thought would be perfect for some Cosy Cosette Footsies, from Flawful Fibers. The pattern calls for sportweight, but with a few modifications I've knitted up a cosy little slipper for myself. I decided to do an applied I-cord edge. I really like how it tidies up the edges, but it did make the slipper a bit tight to put on. For the second slipper, I tried picking up a stitch twice in every other stitch and it works a bit better. I've ripped the I-cord off the first slipper and just have to reknit it.



I've been doing a little other knitting - mostly on my Print O' the Wave shawl.



And some spinning - a super soft 1 oz alpaca sample - on my spindle.



But the biggest chunk of my knitting/spinning time has been spent on this (B's Christmas gift):



It felt wonderful not to be pushing for a deadline with my knitting, as I was for the last few months of 2009. All the gifted knitting seems to have been well worth it - each recipient loves their gift. Even though my brother thought the bunny for J was a kangaroo. In his defense, I guess the ears got squashed by Elie during shipping. And E won't play with Elie, apparently she feels that Elie is "too precious" and should sit on the shelf in her room.

One highlight of the holidays: The Olympic Torch Run came through our town and a nearby city on January 1st!



The kid's figure skating club put on a little exhibition as part of the celebration. Their coach did an amazing job putting together the 10 minute mini-show and the kids skated wonderfully.

And G's bagpipe band played as part of the festivities in the nearby city.

G with Quatchi and Miga

Miga - stuck in the door

Miga - recovered, laughing at Quatchi in similar circumstances

Apparently Quatchi and Miga had a difficult time getting in and out of the warm-up trailer. For some reason this struck me very funny!

The kids went back to school yesterday and it already feels like we've zoomed back into our busy routines.

Happy New Year to you all!

Scrubbing, Snowman and Socks

I've spent the whole morning cleaning B's room. It truly was in a state of chaos and I don't think she really knew where to begin anymore. She still sleeps on the top bunk in M's room, so her bed and floor were no longer identifiable. I tidied everything away, picked up three laundry basket-fuls of clothes from the floor (don't really know if it was clean or not), made her bed, rearranged her pillows and stuffies, put about 40 books onto the shelf, found about 50 hair elastics and 100 bobby pins, tossed rough copies of about a dozen homework assignments, tossed more Halloween candy wrappers than I could count, cleaned up three candies stuck to the floor in various spots, swept and mopped her floor! It looks great! Now I'm doing the loads of laundry. I noticed that her dresser and hangers were almost completely empty. I think now that she doesn't have to make a new path to the dresser and closet (since not only can you now see the floor, but it is also clean) to put away or take out clothes, there may be a better chance of her actually using them to store her clothes.
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Completely unrelated: I finished my snowman from this kit. I am so pleased with how he turned out!
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I had some ecru roving left over after I covered the "snow balls" so I spun up a 3 ply fingering weight yarn. I really liked the way this Romney roving spun up. I ended up with 10 yards that I figured should be enough for a little scarf. I cast on 4 sts and knit in seed stitch until I ran out of yarn. I dyed the scarf green and I think it makes him look even cuter!
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And the last "S": I finished my Socktober Mystery Sock KAL.
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Through the Loops designed these beautiful socks for the KAL. I'm just in time to get in on the prizes too, if I post my FO photos before midnight tonight on the Ravelry thread. These poor socks really stalled after the Rowan Felted Tweed Aran arrived at my home. Just in case you're wondering, only 9 more sleeps until I can show you that project!
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A Whirlwind Day away

I have sufficiently recovered from yesterday's travelling to write something about it.

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We had planned a day trip to Sudbury for yesterday as B & M needed new figure skates. While there, we thought we should visit Science North just for some fun.

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Since Sudbury is 4 hours away and we wanted to do the trip in one day, we woke up at 5:00am. I packed a yummy cooler with bacon and cheddar biscuits (made by B), yogurt and fruit for breakfast. And potato salad, sandwiches, more fruit and oreos for lunch and we were on the road by 6:00am. We saw some beautiful wildlife on the drive. A cow moose and her two calves were looking to cross the highway. The little calves were staying back near the trees while Mama was closer to the road checking for traffic. A little while later we saw a weasel cross the road! I have never seen a live weasel before! Just to clarify, I've not seen any dead ones either - just pictures in books). And we also saw a coyote trotting cockily by the side of the road.

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Once in Sudbury, our first stop was Jump! B is advancing further and further in this sport and we felt she needed to have a proper fitting rather than mail ordering a pair based on a faxed copy of a tracing of her foot. Her new skates should arrive here within a week (they didn't have her size in stock). She will be getting Jackson DJ2700 boot with a Gam G4SS blade. She is very excited for skating to begin again and I'm glad we'll be on vacation for the two weeks before skate camp or she might drive us all crazy spinning and practicing jumps on the hardwood floor in the living room. Turns out M does not need new skates, just that these need to be stretched for width in the toe. This is good, since I was already missing an arm and a leg from buying B's!

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Then it was off to Science North. We had plenty of fun. M's favorite part was the K'nex speedway. He spend most of his time building racers and testing them out. B and I challenged each other on "The Body Zone". We raced up stairs and sprinted together. She also enjoyed watching a "blue coat" dissect a cow's eyeball. The resident beaver also caught her attention, he was much more lively this time than the last time we were there. He even came right up to the glass as if he was trying to sniff her.

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Then it was off to DQ for Blizzards. We so rarely get to enjoy these that it's always such a treat when we can! On the way home I read several chapters of T.H. White's the "Sword in the Stone" to the kids.

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And I've almost finished the second Urban Necessity - I'd forgotten that I'd have almost 8 hours of knitting time with the ride to and from Sudbury!

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Good Morning, Charlotte!

One of our favorite stories is Charlotte's Web by EB White. I usually read it to the kids every year or so. And this web reminded me it's time to put it back into the bedtime story lineup.

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B and I saw this web on our run this morning and after seeing this one, we saw them everywhere. It made you realize how many spiders are out there - a rather creepy thought! Fortunately there where no beautiful misted webs on the running track!

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He made his own spindle!

After spinning his first bit of fluff, M felt he was ready for a spindle. So I promised him that the next time I was in town, I'd pick up a wooden wheel from Michael's and some dowel to make him his very own spindle. He was thrilled, but I guess he couldn't wait the week...

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This is his very own original creation. I was quite surprised when he came into the room and asked "Do you think I could spin on this, Mom?" I was amazed at his ingenuity and promptly gave him some greyish brown wool to try with. It appears to work very well.

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I have since made the promised spindle for him, but he prefers his K'nex spindle!

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He loves fiber!

M has been asking me for some time to teach him to spin. When my May Phat Fiber box arrived, he claimed the little "Spring Rainbow" sample that came from Calizona Designs. He said I could keep the yummy lipbalm, though!

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I didn't think he'd be quite ready for the drop spindle yet, so I set him up with a stick that he rolled down his lap to add twist to his soft, brightly colored merino wool roving. Unfortunately he was quicker than I expected and once I'd finished cleaning up the kitchen and was ready to photograph that part of the process he was already done!

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But here he is plying with my drop spindle. I love the pictures of his little hands!

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And his finished yarn. He's so pround of all 16feet of it!

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Saturday Morning Visitor

This morning there was a chubby bird with a bright red spot on the back of his head poking along the sidewalk. B wondered kind of bird it, was so all off us, Dog included, hopped on the couch and peered out the window.

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Looks like a wood pecker to me, digging for insects in the cracks and seams of the sidewalk. He really waddles when he walks. Much more graceful, "walking" up and down the trees!

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"Always Winter and never Christmas"

Both my dad and I felt the same way on Saturday. Funny that on opposite ends of the country winter is still holding fast and both of us are thinking of Mr. Tumnus' description of winter in Narnia! Only Dad was concerned about 3 inches, while we received over 12 inches on top of the over 10 feet that has already fallen this winter.

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Here's B and The Dog enjoying the lastest foot of snow that was dumped on us. They were out shoveling the snow away from the house so that we would be able to see out of the window again. They'd moved most of the snow by time this photo was taken. When there is no snow, B's head comes up to just above the handle of the snow shovel.

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And I've pulled a few projects out of hibernation. Must be this long winter that has hibernation on my mind!

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The first of several is Bob. This is a free pattern from Mochimochi Land. I started this last summer for B, but never finished for some reason. He just needs his little feet. I probably needed the needles for something I was more interested in!

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The Adventures of Super Eraserman

No knitting content for today. All my current projects are non-bloggable, but I do have some doodles B made during Social Studies Class yesterday!

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