Donate! It's Good for the Heart!

Did you know that in Waterloo Region, a person suffering a cardiac event can be whisked from wherever they fall, by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital and a possibly life-saving angioplasty in less than an hour?

That's what I've helped accomplish over the past 5 years.

Once again, on June 1 this year, I will be participating in the Bike and Hike Corporate Challenge, raising funds for the St. Mary's Regional Cardiac Care Centre, a facility which has gone from barely established to one of the top Cardiac Care Centres IN CANADA thanks in part to support from this event.

I know my readers are few (Hi Mom!) and often distant (hey! Y Knits looked at my blog!), but if any of you are so inclined, I would appreciate any and every donation you could offer to this worthwhile cause. I have needed critical, though not cardiac, care in the past, and while I hope to beat the odds, there is still a statistical likelihood that I will again. I want that care near home, accessible, and top-notch. So on June 1, I'll be hauling my bike out to go the distance. Click the link below to help me get there.

To donate, please visit My Bike and Hike Page.

An electronic tax receipt will be sent to you by email.

Bit of Better Meezer News

Maui's staying for another overnighter at Dr. Bonnie's Home for Incorrigible Meezers (aka The Cat Hospital of K-W), as he was severely dehydrated which was the most acute cause of his discomfort and disorientation.

We're not sure what the root is, but he stopped eating/drinking at some point. X-rays were normal except for air pockets in his intestine, which, while not "normal" could have had alot of mundane causes and may simply be cat farts waiting to happen. A quick blood biochem showed only the dehydration, nothing else odd. The methodology to follow this up was repeated X-rays. If the bubbles moved - normal and OK. If the bubbles didn't move, either we were looking at something that was NOT necessarily just gas, or was gas but was indicative of some kind of obstruction that was not itself visible. But, they moved.

So, Maui's on an IV and at an evening visit, had perked up a bit from even 1 pm. He's vocalizing more normally (for him) and was feeling better enough to be annoyed at the IV and complaining that his leg must have been broken in several places by The Evil Doctors, as it was obviously useless (he said, falling over sideways into his litterbox for the third time). I wasn't buying it.

For safety, the sanity of the sleep-deprived humans, and further observation, he's spending the night and as much of tomorrow as it takes for some kind of, well, poop to happen, so we know he's not entirely clogged. THEN we're going to have to reassess the Leukeran approach -because the cause of all this still remains some mysterious discomfort in his gut, we think, based on his fur-removal pattern.

More Meezer Misery

Ah, there's more angst in the cat house.

Maui's been perking along with an approximately monthly injection of Vetacortyl, basically a broad steroid to control whatever combination of allergies/IBD/lymphoma he has - with cats, really, what can you do but try to make them "feel better"? It's about quality of life for them and for us.

Well, after the last one about 3 or 3.5 weeks ago, he really didn't seem to perk up. The fur got thinner and thinner again, and the slow weight gain reversed again. He's back to being pretty boney, pretty naked, and miserable. So, after discussion with Dr. Bonnie, we decided on another course of the Leukeran. We think it snapped him out of the downward spiral last time, and even though he didn't bounce back until after we'd stopped it, he did seem to recover for a while. Dr. Bonnie has suggested a different dosage approach - relatively large hit over 4 days, once every 3 weeks.

Well, we're on day 2, and last night was not fun. There's very little documentation of feline reactions to leukeran. It's generally reported to be well-tolerated. Bone marrow suppression happens with long-term dosages. But Maui, as always, has to be different. He started wandering, stumbling, and howling last night. I have no idea if this is the Leukeran, whatever's been wrong with him anyway, or something else. It's not quite as severe as his already documented hypersensitivity to sedation and anaethesia, but partway there. Almost like he's having a bad trip. And he's not eating, and not (apparently) going to the bathroom. I keep walking him down to the litter boxes, and he heads right back upstairs, stumbling and tripping as he goes.

And I couldn't get a call back from the vet today. *sigh*

Been Too Busy to Blog

Yep, so busy I'm titleing both today's blogs (the dye blog and this one) the same. Different content though. Check the Gallery, my Lofty Blog, or Etsy for the dye jobs.

Monique and I are slowly working away on that 100 grams of superwash I bought for "practice".



It is possible that trying to spin all of it into one long single for Navajo 3-ply sock yarn wasn't the quickest way to spin gratification.

And, I do still knit. April's Sockdown! socks, which became very boring after a while, but got done:



I just had to show off the clear shoes, too.

G'night. There's more yarn and fibre drying, see ya tomorrow.

Store is Open!

Quick note here, as I'm at work.

Check out the Etsy Mini (the yarn pictures, over there --->) on the right. I've dyed up a few more skeins, and have two more dye project trips this month, so I took the plunge into the online sales world with Etsy.

We'll see how that goes. It's not a living to be made, but maybe a step to a self-supporting hobby.

Also, I've added a new blog, specific to the spinning and dyeing projects, at Lofty Fibres.

*Deep Breath* I Quit.

Well, quit school, that is.

I think I'm finally giving up on the idea that I want to "further" my education, at least in the computing field. I just dropped my course at Athabasca.

Pretty much since graduating, with distinction, with my B.Sc.Eng., I've been "in school" trying to get somewhere. The M.Sc. fell through, then my health nearly fell through, and since getting over the whole who-needs-a-pancreas-anyway thing, I've been noodling about between Guelph, Conestoga, and Athabasca trying to fit in to a Comp Sci part-time program and get a certificate or minor or something.

I think it's time to toss it in. I'm not interested anymore. I did well in academia when I was immersed in academia, but now I'm in a healthy career that's going places in spite of my education, and really doesn't seem to be furthered by my attempts to stress myself out of sleep and into an ulcer over pointless recursive programming exercises. I think those who decide my annual bonus are more interested in me brushing up on project management - though not enough to fund it. And I want to spend my free time on the rest of my life at this point.

I suppose someday when the IT market dunks again and I'm laid off an in need of "retraining" there might be motivation to go back. But for now - I think I need energy to invest elsewhere. Gonna go have a coffee and ponder, as this is a little disorienting after spending all but the first couple of years of my life with "schoolwork" of some sort looming over me. Good riddance.

Bad Blogger, No Cookie!

OK, OK, I am a neglectful blogger this month. Work is draining, I've been busy, I've been away, I've been reading Ravelry melodramas....

There's been nothing that exciting, really. I'm writing right now as the spouse is trying to nap in the other room and I can't really do anything that might make the slightest noise or it wakes him up - or at least, it sets the cats talking to me, and THEY wake him up.

Here's some socks that got done:



And another pair I just finished:


Lapis Monique and I have come up with two yarns, but nothing great:




I'm spinning too fast and over twisting, so these are a bit string-like.

Other than that, I just spent 3 days in Toronto, mostly at The Yoga Show doing some great workshops, and catching up with friends in the evenings. The TTC went on strike WHILE I was waiting for a bus and hence stranded me north of Dupont, but luckily it was just outside my friend Stephen's house and he drove me back to my conference hotel.

Back to the mundane tomorrow.

Inexplicable Knitter Update

So, nothing new from me today, but just got to update on yesterday's amusements.

Hot as my Firefighter with Sock was, I totally got trounced by some of the Toronto competitors.

Nobody actually caught David Miller, but a couple of people got the Mayor's EA.

We had Mounted Police Officers.

Apparently a somewhat questionable mis-interpretation of Mounted Police was not only allowed but encouraged by the Harlot.

These two totally take not just the cake but the whole damn buffet though: Gord Downie and MARGARET ATWOOD.

For.The.Win. Go, knitters, and congrats, all - I never had so much fun missing an event in my life.

Inexplicably for The Harlot

So, I'll bet today Stephanie Pearl-McPhee has accomplished more for Toronto Tourism than the city's entire budget for the year.

You can check out this post for the explanation of the inexplicable, but as many things Stephanie suggests seem to do (see: Knitters Without Borders), I'm guessing this got bigger than she ever thought. Just for fun I thought I'd play the home version, since I couldn't get away this time to go cheer her new book launch.

You'll be able to check out all the photos, mine and everyone else in the Canadian and International Freestyle categories, over here at this Flickr group. Have fun.

Here are my highlights:

First, one of the few that was an exact category point:


This is a Tim Horton's Employee holding my Sock, as well as The Doughnut Of Our People, a Maple Glazed, er, Maple Dip (Stephanie said Glazed, but there are Maple Dip and Canadian Maple, I think).

And while I couldn't get one of "Toronto's Finest", I hope I can still get a point for what I bumped into in the Tim's line - one of Waterloo Fire and Rescue's finest, and wow, this one's even a candidate for that Firefighters' Calendar they do every year.

In order to one-up the generic Tim's point, my entry to the Canadian Freestyle is Mark, here. Mark serves up a mean cuppa mornin' Java at Whole Lotta Gelata, a VERY Knitter-friendly business in Uptown. Whole Lotta' is not only a regular knit-night venue but the home of a weekly Roving Spinners' meetup. Mark is holding what may very well qualify as The Gelato Of Our People - a luscious Maple Walnut frozen confection handmade by his boss and the cafe's proprietor, Chris.

We took the sock out to Walk Club this evening, and while it was really too cold and windy to walk too far, my coaches and I wrapped up with some photos, including this one, which I *think* may be an angora goat have now identified via reliable intelligence as a Jacob Sheep. So I DID get a sheep point. If you look at the right of the photo, you can see the bum of her little lamby-pie there, the baby was busy licking a fence for some reason and wouldn't come over.



OK! So the whole photo tour will be on the Flickr group shortly.

Beginning the Journey!

Hee! Look what's arrived this week:



After a week's dalliance in a Customs depot in Quebec, during which she seems to have acquired the name Monique, my long-sought JourneyWheel made it here, safe and sound. The first evening was spent figuring out how to get the belts on properly - several times over as I was retying them to adjust - and then having Adam do her glamour-portrait as you see above.

However, by this evening, we seem to be working well together!



Having not spun for a month and just starting the honeymoon with my brand new wheel, this single is rather uneven, but I will work it out. I think the wheel's full name is now Lapis Monique - Monique acquired during her wait in Quebec, and Lapis as she looks good with blue. Also because I've dorkily extended my longstanding habit of naming computing devices after semi-precious gems to my spinning gear, apparently. Why not? She's going to be even more joyful to play with than Obsidian the Macbook.

Help Keep Us All IN THE DARK!

A year ago, one city, Sydney, Australia, decided to take an hour to reduce energy consumption. Their goal was 5%, their means was to turn off the lights for one hour during peak evening consumption. They reached an energy consumption reduction of over 10%, calculated by some reports as equivalent to removing 48,000 cars from the road.

This year, March 29th, at 8 pm local time, cities around the world are turning off the lights. Yes, it is mostly symbolic, and no, one hour a year is not enough. But I encourage everyone to try it out. Turn off the lights - and computer, TV, and stove! Maybe even your furnace, just for the hour (in this climate. Turn off the AC if you're in the warmer latitudes). Light a candle and have a cold picnic dinner. Go outside for a walk and watch the stars rise. Who knows, if enough of your city participates, you might SEE stars like you never do, with all the light pollution. Take the opportunity to think, as well. Imagine if this was not a voluntary, symbolic project. Imagine the day when the lights are out, because we cannot sustain the consumption we currently do. Think about the impact if you could not turn ON the lights (or anything else) and what could happen then. Spend an hour in the dark, and learn to appreciate what you have - and then use it more wisely.

The Knit Spot

After a couple of scores at upscale furniture store Schreiter's over in Kitchener, our loft decor and furnishing intentions got stalled for a little more than a year. The sofa itself has seen little enough use as it seems we spend most of our time in desk chairs, even at home.

However, I was still harboring the intention to get rid of the last few student doofers and slowly-disintegrating chairs, so a couple weeks back another trip to Schreiter's ensued, this one ended up up at least partially with instant gratification as I stumbled upon *exactly* what I had in mind for our next chair, and less than half price as it was a remaining floor model from the boxing-week "Ready To Go" sale.

Voila - the Knit Spot!



Yes, it's a black chair. Technically, it's slightly off-black, there's a very deep cool charcoal tone to it. And, yes, I got it knowing that I have a pale cat. However, it is the same high-grade microfibre suede-finish as our sofa, which means most of the fur wipes off. And it is *not beige*. I have declared our palette to be in the grays, and given the sofa we landed, muted blues, out of my still feeling excessively saturated in Builder Beige. I think a pop of black, and our nod to "colour" being a big red ottoman, looks fresh and a bit edgy with our cottagey wood tones in this place.

Nicer than the colourway, really, is having a cozy chair. It's low but high enough to get out of, I can tuck my feet up, and it's a 360-degree swivel, which is exactly what we needed. It meets Adam's criteria of not blocking off the doors/view/light from the glass wall, and being completely round, there are no edges and corners to bash into with doors and cupboards.

There is a storage Ottoman on the way which does not match either, but coordinates with both, the sofa and this chair as it's in a medium gray microfibre. That'll be my replacement coffeetable (as you can both sit on, and put things on, an ottoman) and it is also sized to go with our sofa, so that when slid into the L of the L-shaped sectional, we have a spare bed in a pinch.

Not so happy to find that yarn bargain...

Ah, there's some bitter in the world today.

My "LYS" (Local Yarn Shoppe) is a little place called Cloth and Clay, right across the road from me. Upscale yarn, though not always crazy priced (some is, some is normal-priced for quality yarn, and there's always a bargain bin). They're also a little gallery gift shop, featuring Canadian artisan and crafter wares - jewelery, housewares, pottery, etc. I've shopped there for gifts and little treats since long before I picked up knitting again, as I've lived in this area a few years now, and since I DID start knitting again - well, no shop has EVERYthing you could want, but I always check there first. They've really improved their stock, variety, and organization in the last couple years, too.

Well, today it was made public that they are closing up shop. Nearly 35 years in business, 27 in Waterloo Town Square, and 14 with the current owners, but they can't keep it going any more. Town Square rent is too high, and there's no comparable venue that's more affordable.

Normally, a 50% off "lowest marked price" on yarn will have knitters slobbering, but boy, is that a bitter score for this knitter when you know it's the last you'll see of the place. I felt guilty, like I should apologize to the lovely staffer who was working the counter today (she's hangin' in there, but it's a sad time). I told her it feels a bit like fighting over the will before the funeral. The irony of such a thing is for the next month, they'll have more business than they could want all of a sudden, as everything gets picked over.

*snif*

OK, THAT was a good day to dye...

Pretty pics.

February 18th, the day my Shelridge trip didn't happen again:

That is the dried and wrapped first skein I showed you hanging sideways last week.

February 21st, just because there was more yarn and cake dye lying around:


February 25th, Lettuce Knit squeezed me into their tiny dye kitchen for a great how-to with Laura and now I know how to play with Acid Dyes safely:


For a complete chronicle and photos of all 9 dye lots, check out a new Colourplay section under my Sockumentary section in the Gallery.

In other Knits, you can also peep at the 2008 Socumentary for the latest completed pairs - Adam's spiral rib socks and my Salish Sea Socks.

By the way, if any sockknitters have strayed by - 8 of the 9 yarns I dyed were double skeins and hence 1 pair's worth of each is for sale if you're interested. I'm not set up for an online shop or anything (umm... yet.), but mail me, we can chat.

Well, I just about dyed....

So, for the second time, a road trip to Shelridge Farm for a yarn-dyeing workshop got called off.

I decided to take matters into my own hands, and did a remarkable job of not painting the kitchen in Pollack-reminiscent splatters of icing dye.

While my very first "dye jobs" are hardly masterworks, 2 of the 3 were mostly what I meant to do.


Oops, sorry about the rotation....

Here's the next:


I'm mostly happy with both of those. The first was done via a "hot pour" method in crock pot and took a second dumping of dye to get even the coverage I got. The second was a graduated dye, where I slowly removed the skein from the pot, while slowly adding more dye to the remaining skein.

This was the accident:



I'm not even going to try an explain what I was going for here, but the end result was nothing like it. Still a perfectly knittable yarn, but the colour... well, I have all kinds of names for the colourway in mind but they involve the word "bruise".

There was actually a 4th item dyed, but in the same colours as the first yarn, and it looks messy but should recover:



This is a roving, not yarn, and the reason it's hanging all over my shower like a technicolour squid is that I got worried about how much handling this fibre, though it's "superwash" was getting. So I didn't want to squish or spin it to dry it, and I just draped it there to drip away. I think I've done a bit more reading and wouldn't dye a roving via the exact same process as a yarn again - I'll go with the wool sausage method (pantyhose casing!) next time, as per That Laurie's guest spot at the Yarn Harlot blog in 2005.

Not such a good day to dye, I guess.

So, today was supposed to be a road trip to Shelridge Farm, but the sunny but cold and windy weather here is apparently snowsqualls all over the highway up to Durham. So those of us who didn't get phone calls about postponing to next week's snow date were met at our rendezvous by someone with the message that we were having a brunch'n'knit intstead. The road trip was hosted by Karen of Shall We Knit, my new favourite LYS even though it's not quite the most L of the LYSs around. She's out in New Hamburg and has the cutest shop.

So, at brunch I made a bit of progress on these:



The 3rd attempt at Adam's next socks.

Yesterday was a divided day. I had a relapse into a quilting project, and organized 102.5 of 104 hexagons into this layout:



I've temporarily titled this Wall of Confusion but I don't think that'll be the final name.


After I decided I had to leave that stew on the design wall for a while, I moved on to this:



The first of the Salish Sea Socks from the December 07 Rockin' Sock Club. This sock is designed by Cat Bordhi, based on one of her New Pathways architectures. Her book has already been added to my library, and it's a brain-twister. Everything about this sock looked outa whack until I completely finished the heel and foot, and then WOW - totally cool perfectly fit sock. Lots of fun. I only knit one at a time instead of my usual two both because the left and right patterns are different and because I wasn't sure I was doing it right and didn't want to have to rip two socks if I messed up. I'm going to start the second before finishing the leg, though, just to ration my yarn evenly. After all that work, I wouldn't want to be short by 2 cm or something.

Today's goals: get past the heels on Adam's socks, update Ravelry, and cast on for another Moebius (Karen's brunch was bad for encouraging that - everyone was wearling like, 3 of them).

... a really good thing I'm a process knitter.

... because they got frogged AGAIN last night after I concluded a) the toes were too pointy and b) due to my own lack of ability to learn from past arsing up, they were waaaayyy too BIG this time because I changed both stitch count and needles size at once. I should know better.

In better news, though - I skived off part of today with a hurt back, heading home at lunch to "work at home". Actually, I was working at home, both for real and BECAUSE... an hour after I escaped, The Management declared the office closed due to inclement weather and sent everyone home - and I have the pager so my pager shift started at 3 instead of 6. Ah well. Still nicer to sit on the couch with my laptop when my back hurts.

In even better news, the Universe sent some fun Karma my way the last couple of days. First, I got totally sucked in to helping organize Thom's Afghan, a Ravelry group and project team focussed on knitting 320 tiny little squares and sewing them all up into an afghan for Ravelry's Grandpa, (father of Codemonkey Casey and dad-in-law of Co-founder Jess) who was badly, badly injured late last fall and is still bound to bed/wheelchair, with broken bones in at least 3 limbs. It wasn't my idea but I nominated myself project manager by starting the group to organize it. Oy! Hours spent online when I should be knitting!

But here's the Karma part - I won yarn! And stitch markers! Despite having ripped out the RPM socks, those would have been my 3rd entry to the December Sockdown contest, and I had two in already. Pair #2, which was my Lenores, won in the finishers draw! I get some handpainted yarn and stitch markers. Great knitter mojo going on this week, sock mess notwithstanding. This was the biggest Sockdown to date, too, with 216 entries and I still won in the draw.

And now, we return to your regularly scheduled sock knitting, while staring out back at the heap of snow that has buried my patio. I have to finish Sockdown: January! so I can cast on for Sockdown: February!

Good Thing I'm A Process Knitter

See how much of these sock toes are done?



Well, that's how much of the socks were left to be done last night. Yep, I had the REST of the socks knit about 24 hours ago. Then I tried to have Adam try them on, thinking I'd just get a hint of how much farther the toes had to go... and he couldn't get them on. Holy poopers, I'd knit all but the last 2 inches of both of a pair of size 13 socks, and he couldn't even get them on his feet. Despite the fact that they were the "large" size of the pattern. And they were loose on my feet. *sigh*. For some reason I think Adam and I have about the same ankle circumference (he's bigger - I'm pudgier) but it just doesn't translate.

Sooooo... off they went back into a yarn cake, and I'm starting over at the toes.

No pic tonight, but I"m doing better with the second go at Titania's Revenge.

And I'm looking forward to this:

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE RSC!!!!








For some reason I had a brain glitch and forgot to photo this skein before winding, but this is installment 1 of Rockin' Sock Club '08. A Chinese-New-Year inspired colour called Dragon Dance. I must admit, I find it close to last summer's Firebird, and though I quite like it - haven't disliked ANY of my STR yet - I didn't dive right in. Just pondering it. I'll have to start soon, though.

Then there's this, arrived a few days before the Dragon Dance:



A pinkey-purple Merino called Plum Crazy by Crazy4Dyeing. Pick Up Sticks' January club. I think this might make a Mom sock, and the club pattern it came with lends itself to my expandable ankle trick as well.

So, once I finish the re-started Bearfoots, I've got some more lined up.

Is This Supposed To Make Me Dizzy?

Well, I'm keeping up with my spinning class.

If I'd been thinking about it, I really should have taken pictures of last week's materials before, and at various stages during working them.

Here's the better of the results:



What we got sent home with were a couple ounces of fibre in primary red, blue and yellow, with instructions to card, blending if we wished, spin, and ply the yarns. Check out the Gallery under Handspun 08 for more.

After finishing all my homework, I decided that, since my wheel is a loaner and I won't have it a month from now, I should have another go at the drop spindle method. Now, I got a "learn to spin" kit last summer, and really haven't done much after my Smurf Poo debacle. However, two things have happened since. One, the spinning class has given me a better sense on drafting, and PREdrafting, and I'm a little more comfortable handling fibre. Two, I asked the lovely folks who make the Journeywheel, which I am awaiting in the March batch, if they could make me an exotic wood special-request spindle.

This is she:



My pretty Pink Ivory mini-Bossie with a Tulipwood shaft. I still suck, and my single is alternately over and under-spun, however, it much more clearly resembles yarn than the stuff I tried on the Louet. I can see from this spindle why even amongst casual spinners, spindle collections quickly develop. First, you probably need different spindles in different weights to accomplish different things. But also, the tools themsevles, from the Bosworths' and many other coveted makers, are works of art. I'm already developing a list of vendors to keep an eye out for!

Firsts of the Year

Finished this weekend. First socks of 2008 (admittedly, started in December but I count by finish date):



My Lenores. I can't really call them anything else, the pattern is Lenore by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and the yarn is the Lenore colourway, the club preview of the Raven series Socks That Rock from Blue Moon.

And the first other knit thing, my Thrummed Moebius:



It is very warm and cozy, but I fear it looks like I've gone out and scalped a Muppet. I have since taken the large, poofy, widely-spaced thrums off and broken them into smaller, closer ones. It may be either around-the-house wear or under-a-coat wear (except, it's not cold enough!) but I love it anyway, the Moebius concept is brain-twistingly brilliant.

OTN for now: The perpetual scarf, Titania's Revenge socks for the Jan Sockdown, and RPM socks for the him, also qualified for the December Sockdwon though I might not finish them in time. My goal is to get both socks done by end of month because I'm starting two pair of Cat Bordhi "New Pathways" socks for the Feb Sockdown.