I just finished making a scarf for a close friend. Took the photos, thought about waiting until she received it and then realized -- it won't spoil the surprise. She hates blogs. Which I cannot understand for the life of me. I can understand not having time for blogs (it's definitely a way to eat up the hours). But as a way of keeping tabs on people you know and like, or interesting people you don't know, but who kindly offer a slice of their life, blogging is definitely the best invention of this century, according to me. My mother also hates blogs -- make that computers in general. I suppose I could chalk it up to age, but in actuality she's the fittest, most well read active woman in her eighties that I know. Works out in the gym three times a week. Spends a half hour on the rowing machine (which stresses me out at 15 minutes). And reads constantly. So I don't think it's beyond her. Just not appealing. Different strokes, I guess.
So here's the scarf: Thanks to knitter robot who posted (of course) on her blog. I handspun this yummy cashmere and
And here's a picture I thought I'd just post for the heck of it. The light was hitting the flower and the glass in just a perfect way.
And then the cat jumped into the frame. Life is all about moments, captured.
When I was a philosophy student, my favorite class was epistemology -- how we know what we know. The upshot is, we operate as if we think we know a lot more than we really do. And that some things are basically unknowable, given our perceptual and intellectual equipment. This is about science triangulating on itself and bumping into Mystery. I give it a thumbs up.
As I think I mentioned, a couple of months ago I acquired a large amount of raw fleece -- five bags full, in fact. I gave away all but one bag, which I retained in order to have the critical experience in every spinner's life -- the sheep to sweater phenomenon. I thought it might be fun to share the process with you visually.
Here's what comes off the sheep -- pretty smelly, dirty stuff. These guys don't have the daintiest toilet habits, and the fleece is matted with vegetable matter (hay and grass) and other unmentionable "matter." It takes a fair amount of washing and sudsing to get the gunk out. It is also quite greasy, full of lanolin. The guys who shear sheep, evidently, have the softest hands in the world
machine that does this mechanically, but most people just sit down and fluff it up by hand. Tedious, best accomplished while talking to friends or listening to great music. But it is amazing and magic, how large the pile of picked locks is compared with the washed fleece.
Then you feed the cleaned, picked locks into the carding machine which gets the fibers all going in the same direction. This is a pretty cool step, and this is my new (old) carding machine. It's possible (but not fun) to do this all by hand with two brush like things called hand carders. You can see a small one of these in the foreground. We are watching a BBC series on the Medieval Mind, and it makes you realize that there was a time when these tools and processes were essential if you wanted to wear any clothes at all, especially warm clothes.
The output of the carding machine are these nice tidy "batts" or "rolags." all ready to be put through the spinning wheel. As you may remember, this also involves two steps -- first you spin singles, then you "ply" the individual strands into yarn. Some of us think this is the fun part.
And one final picture I took with Ihor's new camera of this great poppy that is currently blooming in our garden.
As far as I am concerned this is the best time of the year to live in Victoria. Why? It's still cool enough to wear a sweater, and there is a profusion of the most amazing wildflowers. Here are two special ones that we are lucky enough to have here on our land.
I've always thought Italy was simply incredible, and this trip did nothing to dissuade me from that opinion. The people are fun and friendly, the food is great, the countryside is gorgeous. And then there's Venice, which is clearly the world's most romantic city.
Since my brain is not currently in the same time zone as my body, this post is going to be heavy on pictures and light on narrative. We began in Rome. What I think is most amazing about Rome is how the ancient bits are side-by-side (or on top of) a fully modern city. The contrast is just incredible.
It was my first time inside the Coliseum, which was quite the technical masterpiece of its time. This view shows the understory of the place, which was where the animals and the gladiators hung out.
My inner strega (witch) really enjoyed all the pagan shrines and altars.
This one, in the forum, was a shrine to Saturn.
And then we were off on a train to Spoleto, where we embarked on the hiking part of our journey. (I don't suppose the 20 k per day we logged in Rome counts.) After that I lost my pedometer, which may have been just as well. Although billed as a "walking" tour, it's important to remember that the part of Umbria we were in is situated in the Apenine mountain range, so there was quite a lot of up and down. We were joined by Pat and Linda of Calgary and we supported each other quite well through the rigors, which included hail at one point and misleading but hilarious written directions that were translated from Italian. One phrase I remember was "the path unravels ahead." Which put me in mind of yarn, which of course made me think of sheep. Magically, who should appear but a very friendly Italian sheep. Note to my spinning buddies, check out the staple length on this guy. I think these sheep are mostly kept for their milk and cheese making potential, not their wool.
Think pecorino. Ihor made friends with many critters on the path,
Evidently the monks founded their abbey on a "holy spot" co-opting the local pagan practices. As we were hiking through the hills we would often see signs for the "strega" hike, and I am under the impression that this area was quite a hotbed of pagan practice.
I think if I had been better able to adjust to the time zone, I would have enjoyed the hiking part even more than I did. We had mostly good weather and the scenery was really incredible. Here are a couple more shots of us on the trail, courtesy of Linda.
That's me picking my way down the hill ever so slowly with two walking sticks. I definitely do the uphill parts better than the downhill parts. Starting to feel those joints.
Then we had a couple of recovery days in Assisi, a wonderful, but touristy, old village,before getting on to my favorite part of the trip, Venice. For as many pictures as I have seen and movies I have watched and books I have read about Venice, I was still unprepared for the reality of it, which gives new meaning to the words, "over the top." One of the nicest parts was that there are, of course, no cars. Just simply amazing art and views and gondolas. We went out to the famous glass-making island of Murano and unexpectedly fell in love with the chandeliers, so after looking at thousands of them, we commissioned one to our specifications. It should be here in a couple of months and I'll be sure to post a picture.
It was a great trip, but really intense. I must say it seems like we were away a lot longer than we actually were, and it feels really good to be back to "la dolce far niente," that is, the pleasure of doing nothing.
My fondest travel memories are of Italy, where I have been three previous times. It feels good to be able to relax and not feel the need to see everything on this trip. I wish I had spent more time brushing up on my Italian, however. It will be interesting to see how much comes back to me. But I've discovered that even a little bit of Italian opens doors in that very friendly country.
I'm hoping Ihor gets bitten by the bug and falls in love with the people, the food, and the eye candy. It will be different for me, traveling as a couple. Solo, I tended to be perceived as a native, and was treated quite royally, I thought. The men were especially gallant and helpful, and not at all sleazy.
We are not bringing computers, and it's a pretty packed trip, so it's unlikely I'll be blogging or checking email very often.
I really am enjoying reading this new book by Chris Hedges. I love and live with a huge fan of what I have come to think of as the four horsemen: Dawkins, Dennett Harris and Hitchens.
Anyway, Hedges has very nicely helped me figure out why the pop atheists give me the creeps and why they sound so much like the fundamentalists they deplore. What Harris points out they share with the fundamentalists are qualities of certitude, moral superiority and disdain for the unenlightened (those who don't share their point of view). Hedges (who has been in a number of debates with Harris and Hitchens) skewers the atheists' tendency to share a near religious belief in the saving power of science and reason to the point of being willing to commit mayhem towards those who don't share that belief.
This sweater was so much fun to knit, and I'm discovering that it's even more fun to wear! For the uninitiated, Kauni is a yarn with long color repeats, so it gives the effect that you are physically manipulating the colors, but really it's just the yarn doing its thing. I knit it in the round with one strand in each hand -- my right hand was "throwing" and my left hand was "picking." This is a relatively easy technique to learn, especially if you are naturally a "thrower."
Continental style (picking) is only difficult when you try to purl, and you don't have to purl when you knit in the round.
The original Kauni pattern called for horizontal stripes with little squares -- I found a vertically striped pattern on-line that suits my overly horizontal torso a bit better.
The frog closure was a solution to the problem of the completed sweater being a bit too small for my horizontal self. Although I never would have done it, had I not needed to, I'm liking the way it feels compared with other button up cardigans.
And the ruffles on the sleeves and collar -- what can I say -- I'm a curly girl.
I've never really enjoyed baking that much. Cooking nourishing food seems like a worthy use of time -- but spending extra time in the kitchen in order to clog your arteries and those of your loved ones seems a bit off, although I do make an effort for Ihor's sugar tooth. A friend (who loves to bake) gave me this book -- mostly for the giggles title, knowing how I wrestle with domesticity. Doing nicely on that front, thank you, what with grinding wheat, carding wool and various pioneer woman crafts.
But cupcakes! There's a different kettle of kebabs, if you don't mind me torturing my metaphor. Nigella (who I don't believe I've ever seen on T.V.) has convinced me a) that baking can be silly fun; and b) the most silly fun you can have in the kitchen involves cupcakes. I know I'm late to the party on this one, but count me in as a cupcake fan. They are so adorably girly and fun -- brings out the six year old in me. And that is entirely a good thing.
Voila! Cherry chocolate cupcakes.
Recent Comments
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writebrained said:
[this is good]oooh gorgeous. i love the cat and red flower picture! read more
on What do some people have against blogging? -
Curlysalamander said:
I'd be honored. I did post it in my projects already and linked to your pattern. read more
on What do some people have against blogging? -
knitter-robot said:
[this is good]That's beautiful...! I'm flattered that you'd use my pattern for your handspun!Mind if I use your photo on the pattern's... read more
on What do some people have against blogging? -
Dabysan said:
I liked Blink quite a lot, so maybe I throw this one on the list. read more
on The feeling of being right
on What do some people have against blogging?