ProseKnitic – of Words und Wolle

Back in October I decided that I really wanted a yarn bowl. One of those lovely single purpose pieces of pottery designed to keep a ball of yarn from rolling around on a dog hair infested floor. I must have looked at dozens of different models on Etsy. Decided I liked the ones in this shop the best. While I was at it, I ordered a tea mug to match.

my matching set

I have them now, they are great. Clear ringing tone and incredibly smooth glaze. Special combination of black and red just for me.

Now, all I have to do is see if Angela is up to making a new model – one with a divider in the middle so that I can use two balls of yarn at the same time for stranded knitting.

Rather than go back into the city and spend more money on things that I really don’t need, I decided to stay in Guildford today and accomplish pretty much the same thing.

a Guildford Pub front

Mary had teaching this morning, giving me a chance to sit and knit for few hours. I also wandered a few stores and otherwise relaxed. After lunch at Wagamama’s, we wandered through the Guildford Museum. Because of the government’s commitment to history and the arts – the museums are free. I was able to spend time looking at two of my favourite things – needlework and implements -

lace

Victorian needle work tools

paired clamps for skeins

and model railways.

a model of Guildford

On the street – A regular (the keyboardist)from Threepenny Bit with a couple of extras were busking. Wonderful, fun foot tapping tunes to make one’s heart glad. I picked up their CD for £5 and tossed my small loose change in the case.

ThreePenny Bit

To put a great end on the day after finding a pair of shoes and Clark’s, Mary and I spent the evening doing needle work.

Having read a post by Mary Scott Huff that she wrote last winter, I was able to maintain my cool when transitioning from ribbing to the pattern portion of a vest. A cabled vest, and me on a plane without a cable needle.

One of the smaller size KP harmony end that was just swapped off the cable worked as a substitute and I even still had both loose needles at the end of the flight.

Now, the previous evening I had dug change out of the bed (€, $, Sterling and a couple of Florints), tracked down needles hiding under the bed, collected yarn from a bin upstairs, and rescued pouches of stitch markers from two suitcases. Remaining on the must find list – after I had located one of the must be dozens of needle size gauges that I own – was a tape measure.

I think they are alive; capable of slithering off on their bellies to secret themselves in dark warm places. I buy tape measures frequently, but never seem to be able to locate a single one.

Unless, of course, I am have just returned from acquiring a tape measure. It is at that point that I will find a tangled nest of them in a knitting bag that I could swear was empty just hours prior.

I suppose I could solve the problem if I went through the whole house (which house? UK? DE? ) and collected all my knitting stuff into one location and spent the required time to sort things out. Stocked project bags with the required tools and placed all the extra in my nice wooded Lebküchen box.

Oh, wait. I did that once, right before I moved so that everything was organized. That was Jan 2008. I wasn’t two weeks on the ground in the UK and didn’t have a tape measure in sight.

Two of them that I located last night were still in their original packaging. I have not a clue what one was doing in the kitchen service manual drawer or why the other was hanging out with candles in the dining room. But certainly, they did not fight me when I placed them in my project bag.

I did make a significant mistake: I unpackaged them. Tonight I find that both had vanished, slithering out of sight sometime in the last 24 hours when I was not looking. I hope they are having a good time, perhaps exploring a Lufthansa flight back and forth over the Channel.

She arrived while I was on vacation. I could call her Victoria, or come up with a better name. Weighing in at slightly more than 3kg, she is lighter than my laptop…..

There is a certain quiet of a house when the dog has gone. Toys sitting where they have been forgotten, dog bed empty and the food dish just waiting to be filled. There is dog hair on the carpet of several rooms waiting to be vacuumed. Completing all these tasks will make things a bit more final than I think my daughter is ready to have happen.

Friday night we had dinner in Guildford with a friend which eased things a bit and yesterday was a quiet day with Internet only an option at work. Today it was more of the same. BT down and me thinking about how I can force them to give me two days credit for service not delivered.

I am not talented in jewelry making. Ms Soprano messed around a bit and came up with both button cuff links and a good dozen lovely stitch markers for me.

stitch markers and cufflinks

The black wool that I received in the Ongoing Swap (Ravelry UK Spinnners) is now spun -

singles

The Dreamsicle merino/silk is now plyed

two ply with remaining fiber

I also finishing spinning and plying all of the grey shetland that I had coned. Not being smart enough to take a picture prior to dropping it in the sink, at least I managed to weigh it (445 gm) prior to the start of the soak.  There seemed to still be a bit too much lanolin left so I expect to lose as much as 50 gm in the washing.

Now, all I need is a set of wringers. You know, the kind of wringers that used to top every old fashion washing machine. If you crank yarn through them, you can powder remaining veg matter….

There is something so fun, so appealing about all those bright and shiny dangles. Over the last year, I have collected quite a few and thought briefly about making my own.

I have jewels,

creatures

dragon flies and Loons

and abstract objects.

And then there are those that I use on a daily basis. They are really simple. They are thin and they have no dangles. There is nothing to get caught in that row, the one below or the one below that. No struggling with a yo increase next to a marker.

I buy another batch every time I place an order with The Loopy Ewe

Phoenix

Finally got to the armhole and 17 rows past it. Two views (with and without flash)

27 March - 165 rows

172 Rows - 27 March 09

Watching and listening

more CSI: Miami.
City of Fire – Ellis on audio.

Doors