There's no place like home
G'day all!
The days are getting noticeably longer now, well at least while the weather is fine. Sunset is now around 5:30 and sunrise around 7:30. That's pulled back more than half an hour. Spring will be here soon! Plus it was 18 degrees today. That is warm for a winter's day and beats a lot of English summer days! (but not this year!). The snowdrops have been flowering for a couple of weeks, some of my jonquils have already come and gone, and on Saturday I noticed the first cherry-plums in full bloom plus some magnolias.
Now whilst I am on the topic of the weather, here is a sample of the long list of people that I have to thank:
The Yarnharlot (Toronto, Canada)
The Etherknitter (New England, USA)
Drop Stitch Knitter
Crazy Aunt Purl in LA, USA)
KnittenKnots (Fredericton, Canada)
Sitches of Violet SW Michigan, USA
plus oh so many more of you out there in blogland. Now why do I want to thank you? For reminding me that there is no place like home. Yep, I love my city's mild weather. OK, I'll curse it in another couple of days when it goes sub-antarctic but really we never get snow, we never get a hard freeze, we can put sub-tropical plants in a warm spot, coddle them a little and have them survive a winter OUTDOORS, it rarely drops below zero and temps rarely go below 10 C during the day. Then whilst our weather may bring four seasons in one day (particularly in Spring), it is so rarely humid in the warm months. We usually get dry heat and even when it hits 40 C it just is hot and your sweat whisks away in a trice. Of course we reserve the right to whinge as we choose about the weather but we have it so good here. With global warming we will get a bit warmer and a lot drier. I guess this means we will turn into Perth, Western Australia. (BTW, Perth does not get humid unlike Houson, TX.)
Now for today's real news. Ummm... erp. I don't have any! But I do have some spinny pics and some news from yesterday!
Yesterday's news - I finished the knitting for the Vogue Jacket! Hooray for me! I did a happy dance (whilst sitting down entangled in the yarn from three different coloured balls). Then I read the instructions and realised that they want me to pick up 69 stitches around the neck for the collar. Blow that for a joke! The thing is enormous and very unwieldy! So I have cast on 69 stitches and am knitting the collar separately. So I haven't finished the Vogue jacket's knitting. Then I have to sew it all up and crochet around the edges - that will be fun cos I am not the world's best hooker!
Here's some stuff I've spun up recently:
candy pinks with lurex thread - this is so fat in spots that I have to pull it through the orifice of my old Ashford Traddy. Any suggestions for a larger orifice (and flier and bobbins?). Would a bulky flier do the trick? There's two lots of this, btw, inspired by LisaG.
Some Wendy Dennis polwarth and silk plied up to be a fairly chunky, obviously homespun yarn - more than what we call a 12 ply, heavier than an aran weight certainly. Not really bulky though - not pencil thickness. Yes the middle skein is paler - I guess it got less dye. This is the joy of hand-dyed fleece and home spun yarn.
That is your lot for tonight! The boy is home from choir and now it is time to go for a walk in the very pleasant 15 degree temps at 9pm. Gotta make the most of it whilst it lasts :-)
anon!
The days are getting noticeably longer now, well at least while the weather is fine. Sunset is now around 5:30 and sunrise around 7:30. That's pulled back more than half an hour. Spring will be here soon! Plus it was 18 degrees today. That is warm for a winter's day and beats a lot of English summer days! (but not this year!). The snowdrops have been flowering for a couple of weeks, some of my jonquils have already come and gone, and on Saturday I noticed the first cherry-plums in full bloom plus some magnolias.
Now whilst I am on the topic of the weather, here is a sample of the long list of people that I have to thank:
The Yarnharlot (Toronto, Canada)
The Etherknitter (New England, USA)
Drop Stitch Knitter
Crazy Aunt Purl in LA, USA)
KnittenKnots (Fredericton, Canada)
Sitches of Violet SW Michigan, USA
plus oh so many more of you out there in blogland. Now why do I want to thank you? For reminding me that there is no place like home. Yep, I love my city's mild weather. OK, I'll curse it in another couple of days when it goes sub-antarctic but really we never get snow, we never get a hard freeze, we can put sub-tropical plants in a warm spot, coddle them a little and have them survive a winter OUTDOORS, it rarely drops below zero and temps rarely go below 10 C during the day. Then whilst our weather may bring four seasons in one day (particularly in Spring), it is so rarely humid in the warm months. We usually get dry heat and even when it hits 40 C it just is hot and your sweat whisks away in a trice. Of course we reserve the right to whinge as we choose about the weather but we have it so good here. With global warming we will get a bit warmer and a lot drier. I guess this means we will turn into Perth, Western Australia. (BTW, Perth does not get humid unlike Houson, TX.)
Now for today's real news. Ummm... erp. I don't have any! But I do have some spinny pics and some news from yesterday!
Yesterday's news - I finished the knitting for the Vogue Jacket! Hooray for me! I did a happy dance (whilst sitting down entangled in the yarn from three different coloured balls). Then I read the instructions and realised that they want me to pick up 69 stitches around the neck for the collar. Blow that for a joke! The thing is enormous and very unwieldy! So I have cast on 69 stitches and am knitting the collar separately. So I haven't finished the Vogue jacket's knitting. Then I have to sew it all up and crochet around the edges - that will be fun cos I am not the world's best hooker!
Here's some stuff I've spun up recently:
candy pinks with lurex thread - this is so fat in spots that I have to pull it through the orifice of my old Ashford Traddy. Any suggestions for a larger orifice (and flier and bobbins?). Would a bulky flier do the trick? There's two lots of this, btw, inspired by LisaG.
Some Wendy Dennis polwarth and silk plied up to be a fairly chunky, obviously homespun yarn - more than what we call a 12 ply, heavier than an aran weight certainly. Not really bulky though - not pencil thickness. Yes the middle skein is paler - I guess it got less dye. This is the joy of hand-dyed fleece and home spun yarn.
That is your lot for tonight! The boy is home from choir and now it is time to go for a walk in the very pleasant 15 degree temps at 9pm. Gotta make the most of it whilst it lasts :-)
anon!
I think I wanna live where you are!!! Our weather was nice for the 5 days we were away, but now we are home again and it's warming up, like someone turned up the burner! Love the yarn!
ReplyDeleteMost definitely coveting the candy pinks handspun, verra nice!
ReplyDeleteLove the yarn! You do such a great job with your spinning.
ReplyDeleteThe weather has been getting nice here too on and off. Its stayed darker a little later of late.
katt