Shameless plug

My most wonderful man in the world / DH ( dedicated houseboy) is an artist - extraordinarily so- and has a website:
Thomas E Jeweler Website - http:/www/sfstreetartist.com

Some of his jewelry is there for you to see.

The San Francisco Street Artist is a licensed program - a great opportunity for a small artist to sell his/her creations to the public. The image is from Sunday 3/27/06. He is usually at Justin Herman Plaza (near the Ferry Building) on Sat/Sun, weather permitting.

Spinning

This Sunday is the second Spinning Guild meeting and I will be taking a wheel over. DH just replaced a small leather piece that attached the arm to turn the wheel to the treadle, which promptly tore off the first time he stepped on the treadle. Guess I better learn the names of the parts now

This is a loaner wheel until another one is retried from a deep storage spot later this Spring. HAPPY SPRING!!!

Did the ol’dust off and lemon-oil cleaning and ithe Unknown Wheel cleaned up really well. Now to see if I can get it to work. At the last guild meeting I was given several pounds of raw and some once-washed fleece. I managed to procure some antique looking cards and figured out how to wash the stuff too. Wind dried! My first try at carding resulted in an hour long sidetrack in removing rust from the metal edging of the 2 cards. Don’t need rusty wool! I have (book and internet) 2 sets of instructions on using the cards, with 3 different ways to do it (par for the course). Nice to know there are variations. Anyway I did manage to card up some of the fleece I washed and then spun it on my spindle- wow- it was pretty nice going! Smooth.

The wool is a very soft Dorset. Have to give myself a pat on the back- my first yarn done entirely by moi. Lookie Mommie- I did it ALL BY MYSELF. Lol (mom died rather young folks - so forgive the personal aside). Now to find out how to really do it right. The guild folks will set me straight!

Sheep to sweater coming up!!! With some sidetracking into dyeing too.

Off to work. Just figured out my taxes. Yikes- I owe, I owe , so off to work I go (need to force that happy-song-voice in here).
Will be a tight belt time for awhile now- need to change my W-2s now that da kid is not a dependent. But that is another tale in itself!.

Good thing I can spin my own yarn now ( sort of - will be a raw newbie for awhile) and have some wool- time to NOT BUY YARN. My yarn junkie ways will have to be satisfied by the last pink batch of merino waiting to be picked up at the Post Office. eBay - What did we do without you???

No yarn on cones around my neck of the woods anyway. There is one yarn store that has ONE cone but I have never forgiven them since they disssed me when I mentioned I was a machine knitter. Heck- I still knit by hand every day too. Those brats- boycotted for now.

See ya!!

Knitting at Meetings

Recently Ms. Manners in the Boston Globe answered a query about the appropriateness of knitting at meetings with a how rude etc., response. Needless to say, the hordes of knitters on a knitting related list were not too pleased and a shortlived, lively discussion ensued, until it was halted by moderators and the passionate purlers resumed sharing tips and queries.

The below response says it all. I agree,except for I never bother to ask. When I am at monthly meetings at work, after my presentation “part”(which is first)is over (unless I am the minute taker which occurs sometimes), I find knitting has always helped me to listen attentively.

One caveat: On these occasions I do not handle complex patterning that would require looking at any guides. Knitting has definitely helped me endure er a ...integrate into my brain... 3 day workshops, much better than daydreaming ever could have!

Anyway, here it is:
Quote:

Subject: Re: knitting at meetings

Fellow knitters,

I am a psychologist, and have brought my knitting to many workshops
and training sessions. I always ask the presenter whether I can
knit, and so far not only has no one said no, but all have commented
on the benefits of knitting in terms of focus and concentration while
listening. One presenter, a nationally renowned expert in the use of
the body in psychotherapy, said that anyone who thinks that a knitter
cannot be paying full attention "obviously doesn't understand
sensorimotor integration." So there.

Unquote..

Happy Knitting!

Seminar

These are nice images. I will be knitting on my machine- prolly a baby blanket and a ruffled scarf for this:



I belong to a Machine Knitting Guild that puts on workshops every month- sometimes one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

This weekend is a special 2 day seminar. They flew out Sandee Cherry from Illinois ( to NorCal). She was really fun today (Friday) and more to come tomorrow. She really conveys many good tips in with lighthearted humor. I purchased one of her workbooks- a book of patterns and tips and her Designing 101 CD and last but not least a Garter bar V-CD.

The garter bar seems to be a tool I will be using plenty now- I love cabled sweaters and she showed how to use it for cables today. Her 20 minute pants look like a likely project for me too. Soo much was covered today- my head is spinning....with ideas and more insight into just “having at it”.

I Also must confess that I bought a spindle at Stitches West 2 weeks ago and last weekend went to a Spinning Guild meeting. I was able to go home with a great big box of wool I have to wash and prepare. How exciting! Then i had a spinning wheel fall into my hands too, right away.

Dang- not enough hours in the day for my hobbies! Good thing I can knit while I am at work at times! Otherwise I’d go crazy