Pupdate

A year ago today, Bear came over 'on appro' for a few hours, and having survived that experience, tomorrow marks the first anniversary of his official move Chez Catsmum, all the way from next door where he spent the first 8 weeks of life.
He is so integral a part of this place that I have trouble remembering that there ever was a time when he wasn't here
It should be noted that Oakley, Sophie and MissC remember all too well what it was like, and remember those halcyon pre-dawg days fondly

Alien Life Form Found In Central Victoria

A strange, and heretofore unknown, life form of presumably alien origin was discovered this morning in the unlikely surrounds of a dwelling near Castlemaine in the Central Victorian Highlands.
The householder, having been engaged in some spinning- related activity,

had taken a break to fetch firewood, accompanied by the family dog*

When she returned inside, after only a few minutes absence, she was astonished to see what appeared to be a blue sea anemone lying on the coffee table, and is totally at a loss to explain how it managed to materialise inside the house.

It obviously possesses some chameleonic qualities as it was observed to be mimicking the colour and appearance of one of the yarns being plied.
Although it is early days, local scientists have already postulated that the pseudo-anemone may have been attracted to the presence of the spinner's cats or possibly her son, and it is currently being monitored for further signs of activity

In possibly related news, what should have been approximately 300 metres of finished yarn, came in at just over 220m


* Bear is glad he was outside with Mum and is therefore above suspicion of involvement

BRRRRRR

Minus 2
Minus flipping 2 degrees
That's what it was this morning when I [ somewhat reluctantly ] crunched out through the frost to feed the goats and to cut some firewood...
and while it turned into a beautiful clear day [ which pretty much guarantees a similar temperature tonight - especially as it's already down to 5 degrees at 7.30pm ]
I spent most of the day - when not cutting more wood - indoors with David and assorted animals

there was spinning:
and if you'll indulge me in a slight detour ... spinning is supposed to be relaxing and zen-like, isn't it?
Right?
Well, can you tell that to my right spinning-appendage, please ?
That hand has a mind of its own. It's convinced that if I don't maintain a stranglehold on the emerging yarn, there'll be some sort of mass escape attempt... small puffs of roving will run for the hills, trailing my nascent yarn behind them. I keep telling it that a death grip isn't necessary, but it doesn't seem to get the message. Maybe it'll listen to you lot.
anyway
yesterday's output and today's
and a little knitting:
this is going to be a pseudo- footy jumper for my grandson, and my Aussie friends will no doubt be able to guess that his daddy, just like my late husband, and my grandfather before him, is a Melbourne FC man.
My dear Daughter-in-law follows a certain black-and-white team that we shall not mention [ *cough*collywobble*cough*cough ] but we love her anyway.

pattern:
improvised hybrid of several patterns because I needed something simple for the Tour de France KAL Time Trials **
yarn:
BWM Luxury superwash merino 8ply [DK] in Sunrise and Junior Navy
needles:
KP Harmony 4.5mm

my evening is going to involve more fibre, the fire

and Day 2 of Torchwood series 3, Children of the Earth which is on UKTV at 8.30 all this week.

Day 1 review and spoilers here


** I'm in Team Rabobank on Ravelry, along with Bells. Yesterday in honour of the TDF Day 4 time trials, we were challenged to knit like mad for an hour and then post the results. I knew mine would be down a bit because the hand was cramped up from all the spinning but I still managed a respectable 2380 stitches - just shy of 40 a minute.

Tour de Fleece / TDF KAL 2009

Consider me paranoid if you will, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the canine and feline members of this establishment were in cahoots to ensure that only what they considered a 'reasonable' amount of spinning was done today ...


Just because I could hardly walk after yesterday's marathon, they seem to think that I'm incapable of following sensibly pre-set parameters

So I gave up and knitted instead*
the Ice Queen cowl in overdyed BWM 2ply is coming along nicely [ and in case you're wondering,that turquoise is only a provisional cast-on which will get yanked out later ]

and after all the 'helping', this is how much spinning got done



and before I forget, a big "Thank-you" to Kate for her suggestion in the comments which totally helped with my pain management issues.

Kate/Massachusetts said... "When you sit to spin, try adding a second cushion to your seat so that your hips are higher than your knees. I don't know why it works for me but I seem to be able to spin longer and more comfortably in that position. "

the prodigal returns

Someone formerly very near and dear to me has been out of contact for quite a while, selfish little sod ... with nary a phone call, or email, and not so much as a nice postcard-with-view-of-foreign-parts
and then yesterday, without so much as a 'by your leave', or a 'do you mind', or even a 'have you missed me and I'm sorry I didn't call', she's back again
yes folks

my spinning mojo has returned

and just in time for the Ravelry Tour de Fleece.
and here is where I have a confession to make:
I've never been even remotely interested in watching the Tour De France, but Bells and RoseRed both blogged about joining the Ravelry TDF with the aim of knitting through the tour, and then when I checked out that forum, someone else mentioned that they were also participating in the Tour de Fleece which has the stated aim of spinning something [ anything ] on each of the days that the tour actually rides
... and I thought to myself "Self, Old Girl, that might be just what you need to entice that mojo back home Chez Catsmum ... what do you think, Old Bean? Topping, what ? " [ You'll have to forgive Self. She often talks like something out of a simply spiffing jolly Girl's Own Adventure ]

Anyway, topping or not, Self and I signed up, and then proceeded to haul Ms Charlotte Sheridan* out of her lonely exile in the livingroom and back into her previous place of honour in the rumpus room.
Bobbins, niddynoddy and Lazy Kate were located, rovings prepared,
and
I started at 11 last night along with the telecast of the day 1 time trials. I even managed to stay awake until Lance Armstrong had finished his ride, but at 1am, when they said Cadell Evans would be another 2 hours, I called it quits, massaged the gammy knee and headed for bed.

There have been a couple of sustained bursts of spinning activity during the day culminating in the completion of a bobbin containing 300 metres of Airforce Blue BWM singles


which was then plied with a bobbin of unidentified hand painted rovings [ which I am ashamed to say was spun in June last year ]

and of course you'll all believe me when I tell you that it was entirely planned to have 6" of yarn left over after plying**


[ and if you believe that there's a nice bridge in Brooklyn that I could sell you ]

... and now I remember one of the reasons that I haven't been spinning so much
my right knee hates me
so there won't be any green jersey sprints
and I'm unlikely ever to sport the coveted maillot jaune
but Spinning Mojo is home again and that makes me happy


* my favourite wheel
** this never ever happens

in a quiet corner of my garden ...

4th July 1950 - December 16th 1999

... because Marc didn't live long enough to see his dream of living bush come to fruition

Friday Fotos

only two for you today:

a close-up of the baby top I'm making at the moment ... and if it looks at all familiar to some of you, that's probably because it's the same vintage french pattern that I knitted back at the start of the year in pink for great-niece Isabella and in a paler blue for great-nephew Isaac [ known now to all and sundry as Zac ].

and this which is one of the more successful prints made today from a lino-cut design that I carved during the week. Gotta say that I do rather like the effect of the watercolour wash underneath.

Now I say "more successful" because the printing process is a very hit and miss affair, and at the moment I can only manage about a 50% success rate.
too much ink
too little
too wet
too dry
not enough even pressure
and don't get me started on my complete lack of decent results on fabric

and in case you're trying to work out what the heck it's meant to be ... and I for one wouldn't blame you if you couldn't make it out ... the starting point was a pencil sketch of a raggedy pine cone on a lichen covered twig.