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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Friday, March 28, 2008 Much work, no blogging Much work, and for a nice change, much visiting as well. My youngest came down for the week during her school's spring break, and we made bread, roasted coffee, made a half batch of soap, and visited all the yarn shops within easy driving distance. Katy knits and crochets, and has the same interest in self-sufficiency as I do, so we had a lot of fun together. After she left, the first thing I saw was the bag of yarn I had bought for her a month ago, and never remembered to get out while she was here. Oh well. Care package on the way soon.She was going to take half the soap home with her, but either I mis-measured when I weighed the ingredients or the recipe I was using was off, because when I tried to un-mold it, I got a spray of free liquid lye all across the layers of newspaper on the kitchen counter. So I'll have to rebatch it. I had meant to buy a good heavy lab apron to use for soap-making, but didn't think I'd really need it. It was just one of those things you do to be careful. Now I know I need it. So no more soap until I can protect myself as well as the counters and floor.I had started a pair of socks for my four-year-old grandson, but then got a message from his mother with the requested length of his foot. It was obvious that I'd made the leg too small, so it all came out and I've just started over. I can remember when having to frog a project and re-do it pretty much meant not doing it at all. I couldn't imagine ripping out the labor of days or weeks and doing it over again. Now I seem to frog almost as much as I knit. When I get it a bit farther along, I'll post a picture.My Clapotis is finished, except for weaving in the ends. Only trouble is, of course, I don't need a scarf in this weather. So I guess it will be put away until next year. Katy's older sister is expecting a girl in August, so I'll be busy making baby things for the immediate future. Work goes on, tomorrow should be a knitting-at-the-coffee-shop day, but my helper is coming to find where the mice are getting into the ductwork (and the conditioned air is also getting out), and stop it up. So I'll be home all day with that. On Sunday, the whole work routine starts up all over again.Much work, no blogging for a while, not much knitting either. posted by Liz @ 9:13 PM | Sunday, March 09, 2008 Miscellaneous knitting I finally managed to finish spinning up the Cotton Candy roving I bought last year at The Woolery, and I've plied about half of it so far. That turned out to be an interesting procedure, since I misplaced one of my bobbins and had a merino singles on the other one, leaving only one bobbin available for plying. So I skeined off the merino, hand wound that bobbin with one skein of the Cotton Candy, and put the other skein on my swift. It worked all right, but it isn't something I'll do again. Kristen mentioned reading of someone who had wound their singles into balls and plied from the balls, and that sounds like a much more sensible thing to do. Ordering some additional bobbins might be a good idea too.I'm an inch or so into the first sock with this, and in spite of the fact that I made no attempt whatever to control the color changes --during either the spinning or the plying--there is some subtle striping. And they feel wonderful, soft and cushy and alive. I'm anxious to finish them so I can wear them.My other big knitting project at the moment is a pair of socks for an orphanage in Akkol, Kazakhstan. I really meant to knit just a plain pair of worsted weight socks with a skein of violet Cascade 220 from stash, but I can seldom leave a good thing alone. There was this darker purple Cascade, you see, and it just insisted on getting into the act. I'm not happy with how the striped toe came out, and I'll have to pay more attention on the next sock to what color is going where on the decreases. I also learned that it isn't practical to kitchener in two colors. Maybe it can be done, but I don't have the patience to figure it out. I undid the mess I made of it, and just gathered the toe together.Working with multiple colors can make some interesting designs on the inside of a garment as well as the outside. This is the reverse of the two-color band at the top and bottom of the sock leg. I like it well enough to think about incorporating it into something else, a reverse stocking stitch band on a sock or sweater cuff, perhaps. posted by Liz @ 1:29 PM | No War Required Holy Canola! Red Birch gets it, even if no one else does.Red Birch is a local chain with several gas station/truck stop/convenience store locations in the nearby area. I often stop in there, partly because their gas prices are among the lowest in the area and partly because they have pretty good coffee. I knew the company was pushing canola oil for use in biodiesel--there are signs at every location, but until recently, I hadn't really paid much attention. As I was driving into one of the stores the other day, I glanced up at the marquee and saw, emblazoned in all its electronic glory, "NO WAR REQUIRED."Huh?? Instead of heading for the gas pumps, I pulled over to the side and watched the display cycle through fifteen or twenty screens before it came back to what I thought I must have imagined. The rest of them were a typical mishmash of patriotism (eagle and flag), country music (Willie Nelson supports biodiesel) and religion (various scripture verses). But there it was again, first "Grow Canola for Biodiesel," then "Support Virginia's Farmers" and then again, "No War Required."The first thing I did when I had computer access was to look for their website, and amazingly for these days, they don't seem to have one. But I did find an article in the Martinsville Bulletin, and a similar piece in the Convenience Store News.Burning canola oil probably contributes just as much carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as petroleum. In addition, canola is one of the big three GMO crops (corn and soy are the others). Since this canola isn't intended for the food supply, there's no reason to assume that Dean Price, Red Birch's owner, would refrain from using a GMO variety. Regardless of the possible negatives, I was impressed that he not only saw the connection between oil and the current excuse for war, but was willing to acknowledge it in public. Good for him. posted by Liz @ 12:56 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me INTERNET TRAFFIC REPORT SOCIAL SECURITY CLOCK Which one has the Crisis ?! 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Much work, and for a nice change, much visiting as well. My youngest came down for the week during her school's spring break, and we made bread, roasted coffee, made a half batch of soap, and visited all the yarn shops within easy driving distance. Katy knits and crochets, and has the same interest in self-sufficiency as I do, so we had a lot of fun together. After she left, the first thing I saw was the bag of yarn I had bought for her a month ago, and never remembered to get out while she was here. Oh well. Care package on the way soon.She was going to take half the soap home with her, but either I mis-measured when I weighed the ingredients or the recipe I was using was off, because when I tried to un-mold it, I got a spray of free liquid lye all across the layers of newspaper on the kitchen counter. So I'll have to rebatch it. I had meant to buy a good heavy lab apron to use for soap-making, but didn't think I'd really need it. It was just one of those things you do to be careful. Now I know I need it. So no more soap until I can protect myself as well as the counters and floor.I had started a pair of socks for my four-year-old grandson, but then got a message from his mother with the requested length of his foot. It was obvious that I'd made the leg too small, so it all came out and I've just started over. I can remember when having to frog a project and re-do it pretty much meant not doing it at all. I couldn't imagine ripping out the labor of days or weeks and doing it over again. Now I seem to frog almost as much as I knit. When I get it a bit farther along, I'll post a picture.My Clapotis is finished, except for weaving in the ends. Only trouble is, of course, I don't need a scarf in this weather. So I guess it will be put away until next year. Katy's older sister is expecting a girl in August, so I'll be busy making baby things for the immediate future. Work goes on, tomorrow should be a knitting-at-the-coffee-shop day, but my helper is coming to find where the mice are getting into the ductwork (and the conditioned air is also getting out), and stop it up. So I'll be home all day with that. On Sunday, the whole work routine starts up all over again.Much work, no blogging for a while, not much knitting either.
Sunday, March 09, 2008 Miscellaneous knitting
I finally managed to finish spinning up the Cotton Candy roving I bought last year at The Woolery, and I've plied about half of it so far. That turned out to be an interesting procedure, since I misplaced one of my bobbins and had a merino singles on the other one, leaving only one bobbin available for plying. So I skeined off the merino, hand wound that bobbin with one skein of the Cotton Candy, and put the other skein on my swift. It worked all right, but it isn't something I'll do again. Kristen mentioned reading of someone who had wound their singles into balls and plied from the balls, and that sounds like a much more sensible thing to do. Ordering some additional bobbins might be a good idea too.I'm an inch or so into the first sock with this, and in spite of the fact that I made no attempt whatever to control the color changes --during either the spinning or the plying--there is some subtle striping. And they feel wonderful, soft and cushy and alive. I'm anxious to finish them so I can wear them.My other big knitting project at the moment is a pair of socks for an orphanage in Akkol, Kazakhstan. I really meant to knit just a plain pair of worsted weight socks with a skein of violet Cascade 220 from stash, but I can seldom leave a good thing alone. There was this darker purple Cascade, you see, and it just insisted on getting into the act. I'm not happy with how the striped toe came out, and I'll have to pay more attention on the next sock to what color is going where on the decreases. I also learned that it isn't practical to kitchener in two colors. Maybe it can be done, but I don't have the patience to figure it out. I undid the mess I made of it, and just gathered the toe together.Working with multiple colors can make some interesting designs on the inside of a garment as well as the outside. This is the reverse of the two-color band at the top and bottom of the sock leg. I like it well enough to think about incorporating it into something else, a reverse stocking stitch band on a sock or sweater cuff, perhaps.
No War Required
Holy Canola! Red Birch gets it, even if no one else does.Red Birch is a local chain with several gas station/truck stop/convenience store locations in the nearby area. I often stop in there, partly because their gas prices are among the lowest in the area and partly because they have pretty good coffee. I knew the company was pushing canola oil for use in biodiesel--there are signs at every location, but until recently, I hadn't really paid much attention. As I was driving into one of the stores the other day, I glanced up at the marquee and saw, emblazoned in all its electronic glory, "NO WAR REQUIRED."Huh?? Instead of heading for the gas pumps, I pulled over to the side and watched the display cycle through fifteen or twenty screens before it came back to what I thought I must have imagined. The rest of them were a typical mishmash of patriotism (eagle and flag), country music (Willie Nelson supports biodiesel) and religion (various scripture verses). But there it was again, first "Grow Canola for Biodiesel," then "Support Virginia's Farmers" and then again, "No War Required."The first thing I did when I had computer access was to look for their website, and amazingly for these days, they don't seem to have one. But I did find an article in the Martinsville Bulletin, and a similar piece in the Convenience Store News.Burning canola oil probably contributes just as much carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as petroleum. In addition, canola is one of the big three GMO crops (corn and soy are the others). Since this canola isn't intended for the food supply, there's no reason to assume that Dean Price, Red Birch's owner, would refrain from using a GMO variety. Regardless of the possible negatives, I was impressed that he not only saw the connection between oil and the current excuse for war, but was willing to acknowledge it in public. Good for him.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
INTERNET TRAFFIC REPORT
SOCIAL SECURITY CLOCK
KNITTING BLOGS
A Stitch in Time Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-SUFFICIENCY andINDEPENDENT LIVING
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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