Saturday, August 30, 2014

Not a Single was Harmed

I have finished spinning the colourway 'Cupcake' which D3 generously gave me to supplement the two braids which I received and spun ages ago but realised that there was not really enough to knit anything meaningful.  Today I plied it and tomorrow I will skein it off, wash it and see if it matches the first skein.  It is always a worry that, especially when there is a time lapse between spinning the first and second skeins, that they will be of different thickness; although I am spinning much more consistently than I used to.

It takes me two hours to ply two full bobbins onto a jumbo bobbin and up until now I have always stood to do it; today I decided to sit down ... not a good idea.  For some reason the bobbins kept on unwinding down onto the Lazy Kate and I would have to stop and unwind the singles.  Then disaster struck and the plied yarn fell off the bobbin and into the bearing.  I had to remove the jumbo bobbin and wind on the plied yarn by hand  - until I came to an almighty tangle of singles.  I thought that I would have to break one of the singles and spit-join it all up but, with much patience and swearing I managed to untangle it without breaking anything.  I had a cup of coffee and plied the rest of the skein standing up.  There is still quite a bit of spun singles on one of the bobbins and I might ply it with some remnants on another couple of bobbins and start knitting Granny Squares.

It hasn't been a good week; my dishwasher suddenly started screaming a couple of nights ago and then flashed a message "Technical fault: Call maintenance" .  The next morning I looked at the book of words which said that I should wait for five minutes and try again and if the same message flashes up to do as I was told, so I tried again with the same result.  I phoned the Miele maintenance people who can't come until next Friday  -  over a week.  So I am washing up by hand and Multiplex, in its wisdom, neglected to give the apartments draining boards so I am having to take one of the racks out of the dishwasher to stack the dishes on.  It is all very untidy.

I am decreasing for the raglan sleeves of the 'sloppy joe' sweater which I am knitting with the Rosewood colourway from GreenwoodFiberworks and I am going to have heaps over because I spun seven skeins and will probably only need half that amount  -  scarf, gloves and hat?

Here is a picture of the two skeins of Cupcake.  Click on the picture to enlarge it.

 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

I have finally signed up to paypal

... and not without difficulty.

I filled out the online form which paypal promptly rejected, telling me that I had left something out  -  it didn't say what I had left out but it zero'd my password so I tried changing it.  Still paypal rejected my data.

I worked through, changing minor details while I looked for a field which I had missed but still it said 'no'.  Finally I started tinkering with my postal address  -  I have seven of them, most with variations.  Suddenly I was in and a message popped up to say that they had checked my address against the Post Office records and I had (finally) given them the correct one according to Australia Post.  It is not my address according to the Claremont Council and not my address according to the Electoral Roll but it is the only one which paypay recognises.

I have been spinning a fibreclub offering which is basically red , green  and yellow and white in between.  I have an aversion to spinning red and green together as it ends up a sort of muddy brown so I laboriously separated the colours and used my blending board to make rolags of the different colours.  I am not very good at spinning woollen and the tension on Roberta was playing up but I got it all done and the effect is wonderful.  It is red at one end and graduates through pink, apricot, yellow and green.  I will post a photo of it wound into a ball for knitting as it shows the colour gradient very well:  then I will knit a scarf.

I am about halfway up the back of the Sloppy Joe which I am knitting with the Rosewood colourway and there is going to be a lot over so I might get a slouchy beanie and a pair of mittens to match but they will have to wait ... I have a lot of braids waiting to be spun before I branch out.

Oh  -  and I finally finished the Beastly Black jacket and it fits, is warm and very comfortable  -  and we are having the warmest August on record.  *sigh* 

Edited to add the promised photo.  Click on the image to enlarge it. 

 

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Now I think that I have seen everything ...

I was wandering Coles Supermarket this morning looking for a showercap (sometimes they have them but mostly they don't) and my eye lit upon Caffeine Shampoo and Conditioner "To stimulate the roots of your hair".  I think that beats 'Posturepedic" mattresses.  Since Orthopaedic means "straight child" I assume that posturepedic means 'posture American child'.  I need to come out of the closet at this point and admit that I am a member of a Pedants Group on http://librarything.com but posturepedic makes as much sense as buying a caffeine shampoo.  Why not simply use a coffee rinse of you are gullible.

I moved into this apartment on 2nd August 2011 so I have now been here for three years, although it still feels new and strange.  I lived in the last place for almost 50 years and although I did a major renovation it was always home.  I haven't been back since the day I moved out; I don't want to see or know what has been done with it by subsequent buyers.

I am spinning the 'Minestrone' colourway from Kathy's Fibres and will make a quick-knit scarf as I will only have one skein and the spinning is very uneven while I teach myself to spin rolags on E.Roberta.  I have had to increase the twist to prevent it from breaking and for some reason it is not winding on as consistently as it does when I spin tops with a short forward draw.  With the rolags I am having to take advantage of the Irish tension and do a sort of modified long backdraw to keep firm tension on the singles.

I am wearing the BB in the evenings and it is lovely and warm and comfortable but I am not sure just how durable it will be.  I'll know by the end of winter.

Here is the BB, modeled by D2.  Click on the pictures to enlarge them.