Cancer sucks.
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mostly about knitting, spinning, weaving and who knows what
Showing posts with label hootie kitty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hootie kitty. Show all posts
October 13, 2010
April 5, 2010
And Sometimes its Good to be Bad
OK, not really bad. Blame it on Spring Fever, or maybe the cat, or wool fumes. I went to an event where a sheep shearing was going on, and I came home with fleece. Two of 'em. (remember, I wasn't going to buy any fleece until BSG). There's a place not too far from me where they train herding dogs, so they have sheep. And last Saturday they had a wool festival day, of sorts. Herding demos, sheep shearing and such. I only went to just sort of check things out, I knew the sheep weren't kept for wool so much as for the dogs to work, so I didn't expect to see much worth having, fleece-wise. (I didn't take any pictures, but Lori did) Included in the flock were Dorset, Rambouillet, and Dorper (ugh,hair sheep). There was at least one Cheviot, too. Some may have been crosses as well. In fact probably were.
I ended up spending way too much time there, watching the shearing, and came home with a sunburn and these 2 fleeces. I'd spotted some dark brown/black sheep and I wanted to see how those fleece looked off the sheep. Several of the sheep turned out to be hair type or hair type cross sheep. They get woolly in the winter, but it usually falls out in spring, leaving a sheep that looks more like a goat, but sometimes that wool just doesn't drop off so shearing is needed. Anyway, that stuff is not for spinning, its full of coarse hair.
I watched the shearing for a while, but didn't see anything I wanted (I wasn't there for fleece anyway) I'd just about given up, but it turned out the last dark sheep was a true woolly, so I bagged that one up. Not sure what type of sheep, but the cut end of the fleece is true black, bleached out brown toward the tips. The fibers don't look crimpy, but are springy and stretchy and seem reasonably soft.
And then there was a final Rambouillet ewe, her fleece seemed very nice too, ah, what the heck, why not make it a pair of fleeces?. Nice crimp, nice staple length, very fine fiber. It really makes sense for me to practice fiber cleaning before BSG, don't you agree?
Both these fleeces are dirty, but not gross, and have lots of vm, mostly hay. This time around, rather than deal with washing the entire fleece at once, I've pulled out what I think are the best/cleanest/least matted bits and I'll wash those first, one test batch at a time. If the test batches are too much work to clean, everything goes into the 'other' pile. The 'other' category might be felting, mulch or trash bin.
As you can see, Hootie Kitty sees no fault with my lapse of resolve. In fact, before I left the house on Saturday, I'm sure she whispered a wish for fleece in my ear.
BTW, did you feel the earthquake yesterday? I sure did, was outside sorting the fleece and thought I was having a dizzy spell. Then I heard the water sloshing in the pool. Crazy stuff.
I ended up spending way too much time there, watching the shearing, and came home with a sunburn and these 2 fleeces. I'd spotted some dark brown/black sheep and I wanted to see how those fleece looked off the sheep. Several of the sheep turned out to be hair type or hair type cross sheep. They get woolly in the winter, but it usually falls out in spring, leaving a sheep that looks more like a goat, but sometimes that wool just doesn't drop off so shearing is needed. Anyway, that stuff is not for spinning, its full of coarse hair.
I watched the shearing for a while, but didn't see anything I wanted (I wasn't there for fleece anyway) I'd just about given up, but it turned out the last dark sheep was a true woolly, so I bagged that one up. Not sure what type of sheep, but the cut end of the fleece is true black, bleached out brown toward the tips. The fibers don't look crimpy, but are springy and stretchy and seem reasonably soft.And then there was a final Rambouillet ewe, her fleece seemed very nice too, ah, what the heck, why not make it a pair of fleeces?. Nice crimp, nice staple length, very fine fiber. It really makes sense for me to practice fiber cleaning before BSG, don't you agree?
Both these fleeces are dirty, but not gross, and have lots of vm, mostly hay. This time around, rather than deal with washing the entire fleece at once, I've pulled out what I think are the best/cleanest/least matted bits and I'll wash those first, one test batch at a time. If the test batches are too much work to clean, everything goes into the 'other' pile. The 'other' category might be felting, mulch or trash bin.
As you can see, Hootie Kitty sees no fault with my lapse of resolve. In fact, before I left the house on Saturday, I'm sure she whispered a wish for fleece in my ear.
BTW, did you feel the earthquake yesterday? I sure did, was outside sorting the fleece and thought I was having a dizzy spell. Then I heard the water sloshing in the pool. Crazy stuff.
May 29, 2009
Wool Wash Day
I spent most of Wednesday washing a Shetland fleece I procured from fluffysgarden about a month ago. She and her DH were present for the shearing of this sheep, and you can watch a video of the shearing (other sheep, too) here. "My" fleece is from the first shearing shown in the video. I also washed some mystery fiber, click here to see the animals it came from.
I really don't understand why I buy raw fleece. I know it must, must, must be washed. It stinks, its full of greasy lanolin and who knows what . In fact, I consider it a minor miracle if a soaking in hot soapy water and a few rinses is enough to get fleece ready to spin. Maybe not such a big deal for a few ounces of fleece, but an all day project for an entire sheep's worth. And guess what? Beautiful, soft, clean ready to spin fiber can be purchased! That's right, its available in a ready to spin form, as much as you want, no washing required, no pulling off (skirting) the truly ickky bits, no stuffing the closet full of bags of washed fleece. You can buy it from your LYS, or online or at fiber festivals.
Working from memory, because I'm a little bit afraid to actually find out right now, I must have at least 5 or 6 washed sheep fleeces, plus 2 more (small) from last spring that still need washing, and 4 or 5 bags (pillow cases) of alpaca. At least alpaca doesn't need as much washing. You want to know how much of it I've spun? Hardly any, perhaps 4 or 5 small hanks done while I was experimenting with stuff. And the truly sick part of all of this, is I. want. more. Yah. Sad.
One thing I've learned about myself is that I love considering possibilities. (Myers-Briggs testing, anyone?) What a world of potential! All this fleece is me, giving in to my delight at the promise of what this fiber can become. Afterall, we shouldn't always have to deny our inner nature. I was going to finish washing the last of the fleece from last year, but the weather is not cooperating, its all misty and wet outside. Instead, I'm going to hank the yarn I finished plying last night (purchased as lovely clean, soft dyed roving), work on my summer waistcoat knitting project, and just maybe rearrange all the fiber in my closet so I can reach some of my clothes.
I really don't understand why I buy raw fleece. I know it must, must, must be washed. It stinks, its full of greasy lanolin and who knows what . In fact, I consider it a minor miracle if a soaking in hot soapy water and a few rinses is enough to get fleece ready to spin. Maybe not such a big deal for a few ounces of fleece, but an all day project for an entire sheep's worth. And guess what? Beautiful, soft, clean ready to spin fiber can be purchased! That's right, its available in a ready to spin form, as much as you want, no washing required, no pulling off (skirting) the truly ickky bits, no stuffing the closet full of bags of washed fleece. You can buy it from your LYS, or online or at fiber festivals.
Working from memory, because I'm a little bit afraid to actually find out right now, I must have at least 5 or 6 washed sheep fleeces, plus 2 more (small) from last spring that still need washing, and 4 or 5 bags (pillow cases) of alpaca. At least alpaca doesn't need as much washing. You want to know how much of it I've spun? Hardly any, perhaps 4 or 5 small hanks done while I was experimenting with stuff. And the truly sick part of all of this, is I. want. more. Yah. Sad.
One thing I've learned about myself is that I love considering possibilities. (Myers-Briggs testing, anyone?) What a world of potential! All this fleece is me, giving in to my delight at the promise of what this fiber can become. Afterall, we shouldn't always have to deny our inner nature. I was going to finish washing the last of the fleece from last year, but the weather is not cooperating, its all misty and wet outside. Instead, I'm going to hank the yarn I finished plying last night (purchased as lovely clean, soft dyed roving), work on my summer waistcoat knitting project, and just maybe rearrange all the fiber in my closet so I can reach some of my clothes.
March 22, 2009
Clapotis on a Sunday
For some reason, I like getting up a bit early on Sundays. No matter how much I was convinced the night before that come Sunday morning I'd be snoozing away past 8 a.m. (yes, for me that's sleeping in), I find my eyes opening by 6. But I don't mind. I like the quiet of early Sunday morning. Traffic noises are few, and seem in no hurry to waft over the hill, the house is still except for occasional creaks and pops, and the birds outside are conducting their daily roll call and warm ups. It's just me, my knitting, my cat and my coffee.
Hootie Kitty is an superb lap warmer, although she believes my early morning meditation would be better spent in kitty appreciation and petting and not clapotis knitting. I've completed the increase section of the pattern and am now working away at the straight rows section. Did I already mention that I bought 5 skeins of yarn so I wouldn't need to work the math for the 5 sections of the pattern?
Pardon the photo quality, the cell phone cam doesn't work so great in low light situations.
Hootie Kitty is an superb lap warmer, although she believes my early morning meditation would be better spent in kitty appreciation and petting and not clapotis knitting. I've completed the increase section of the pattern and am now working away at the straight rows section. Did I already mention that I bought 5 skeins of yarn so I wouldn't need to work the math for the 5 sections of the pattern?
Pardon the photo quality, the cell phone cam doesn't work so great in low light situations.
February 19, 2009
Kitty and drum carder
Yesterday was a beautiful day for playing with fiber. Plus, I just had to investigate the possibilities of feeding the fleece into the carder sideways. More on that later.
December 1, 2008
Awwww Crap!
Life can get so weird sometimes. A few months back my 8 year old cat had a tumor removed from her right shoulder. She goes in for a 4 month checkup at the end of the week, but so far everything is looking really good. A week ago Friday I took my 10 year old dog in ( or maybe she's 9, I can't rememeber right now) for a lump on her right leg, down near her paw. Mast cell tumor, unusual in this breed the vet tells me. And the 12 year old dog has a small mass on his right elbow, but no surgery for him, his heart isn't so good anymore. I don't consider myself a suspicious person, but this all seems spooky. I'm having a hard time believing this is all coincidence. Theories?
Annnddddd, to bring this back to knitting, I've got about 6 more inches of sleeve to complete my Sahara top, plus weaving ends and blocking; and I've been knitting mini Christmas stocking for decorations and gifts. Pictures soon!
Annnddddd, to bring this back to knitting, I've got about 6 more inches of sleeve to complete my Sahara top, plus weaving ends and blocking; and I've been knitting mini Christmas stocking for decorations and gifts. Pictures soon!
August 25, 2008
The Sky is Falling!
Ok, not really the sky (what would pieces of the sky look/feel like?), but raindrops. Some of that 'monsoonal moisture' finally made it west of the coastal mountains, and here at my house we had a brief soaking. I hope it washed the solar panels clean.
Hootie Kitty Update: Not quite 2 weeks ago I took Hootie back to our regular clinic, but this time to meet with Dr. Hall, who has much surgical experience and has removed kitty tumors before with good success. Dr. H felt Hootie was a good candidate for a surgical cure. So last Tuesday, Hootie had surgery and came home minus a tumor, and still in possession of 4 functioning legs. The surgery went about as well as possible, and there was no evidence of any spread. I should have the histopathology reports in another day or so.
Besides weather watching and stressing over my cat, the family, including dogs and + one Offspring Friend, took a brief road trip up to San Francisco in order to visit colleges. After all, Offspring #1 is a senior in high school now. The Berkeley and Davis campuses were everyones' favorites. The dogs were the best travellers; they don't bicker in the car, complain about one's driving, or have any negative feedback about the food they're given to eat. :-) I knit while riding in the car, and practiced using a drop spindle during down time at the hotel room. Oh, sorry. I've posted so little lately that I don't think I mentioned the drop spindle before. I decided a must have one before this trip, so I could have some portable spinning. Its a bottom whorl, and it seemed really fiddly to learn at first, but then suddenly I was able to spin!
BTW, Westin Hotels are now doggable and there is one near the SF Airport in Millbrae that is right across the street from a bay trail path, a great place to walk the pooches.
Here at home I've been learning about making fleece into yarn. So far, it is much more time consuming than I expected. I've washed about 1 lb of rambouillet and 2.5 lbs of cormo x without felting it up. But I can see I'll want to be even more careful next time around. I didn't try too hard to preserve the locks during washing, and so some bits can really only be opened up with carding. Which wouldn't be so bad if I was any good at, or knew the first thing about, carding.
And it takes a long time to make enough rolags for a good spinning session. I am getting better with carding, but my first efforts seemed all neps connected by a few fibers, it doesn't spin up very pretty. I think it will be okay for felting projects though. The results are much better if I remove visible neps before I load the carder. The flick carder (aka, a kitty slicker) works very well for removing neps and debris and for opening up locks that I didn't screw up during washing. BTW, 2.5 lbs of washed fleece fills a king size pillow case.
Even though I can plainly see that much more knitting and spinning would be accomplished if I was buying prepared roving, top or batts, I still love the idea of fleece. And I have more coming, at least one black rambouillet fleece, and I think a white one, and a white merino, a little bit of brown merino and gosh, I'd really like maybe a silver/grey or brown rambouillet/cormo/merino as well... Here's to hoping I don't end up sick of fleece/wool before I spin it all. :-)
I'm focused so much on spinning right now that Tina says I'm cheating on my knitting, but really isn't it just keeping the love all in the family? Now that the boys are in school again, my knitting will get more attention as I wait to pick the guys up after school.
Hootie Kitty Update: Not quite 2 weeks ago I took Hootie back to our regular clinic, but this time to meet with Dr. Hall, who has much surgical experience and has removed kitty tumors before with good success. Dr. H felt Hootie was a good candidate for a surgical cure. So last Tuesday, Hootie had surgery and came home minus a tumor, and still in possession of 4 functioning legs. The surgery went about as well as possible, and there was no evidence of any spread. I should have the histopathology reports in another day or so.
Besides weather watching and stressing over my cat, the family, including dogs and + one Offspring Friend, took a brief road trip up to San Francisco in order to visit colleges. After all, Offspring #1 is a senior in high school now. The Berkeley and Davis campuses were everyones' favorites. The dogs were the best travellers; they don't bicker in the car, complain about one's driving, or have any negative feedback about the food they're given to eat. :-) I knit while riding in the car, and practiced using a drop spindle during down time at the hotel room. Oh, sorry. I've posted so little lately that I don't think I mentioned the drop spindle before. I decided a must have one before this trip, so I could have some portable spinning. Its a bottom whorl, and it seemed really fiddly to learn at first, but then suddenly I was able to spin!
BTW, Westin Hotels are now doggable and there is one near the SF Airport in Millbrae that is right across the street from a bay trail path, a great place to walk the pooches.
Here at home I've been learning about making fleece into yarn. So far, it is much more time consuming than I expected. I've washed about 1 lb of rambouillet and 2.5 lbs of cormo x without felting it up. But I can see I'll want to be even more careful next time around. I didn't try too hard to preserve the locks during washing, and so some bits can really only be opened up with carding. Which wouldn't be so bad if I was any good at, or knew the first thing about, carding.
And it takes a long time to make enough rolags for a good spinning session. I am getting better with carding, but my first efforts seemed all neps connected by a few fibers, it doesn't spin up very pretty. I think it will be okay for felting projects though. The results are much better if I remove visible neps before I load the carder. The flick carder (aka, a kitty slicker) works very well for removing neps and debris and for opening up locks that I didn't screw up during washing. BTW, 2.5 lbs of washed fleece fills a king size pillow case.
Even though I can plainly see that much more knitting and spinning would be accomplished if I was buying prepared roving, top or batts, I still love the idea of fleece. And I have more coming, at least one black rambouillet fleece, and I think a white one, and a white merino, a little bit of brown merino and gosh, I'd really like maybe a silver/grey or brown rambouillet/cormo/merino as well... Here's to hoping I don't end up sick of fleece/wool before I spin it all. :-)
I'm focused so much on spinning right now that Tina says I'm cheating on my knitting, but really isn't it just keeping the love all in the family? Now that the boys are in school again, my knitting will get more attention as I wait to pick the guys up after school.
August 6, 2008
I'm Sad
Last week brought sad news. A lump on my kitty's right shoulder is a soft tissue sarcoma. It is nasty stuff, invasive and quick moving and hard to dig out. I've since learned that this particular sarcoma is linked to routine feline vaccines. Anywhere from 1 in 1000 to 1 in 10000 cats will develop this cancer, and time to manifest ranges from 3 months after the injection to 11 years. It's termed Vaccine-associated feline sarcoma, and the American Veterinary Medical Association has a task force and a web page devoted to this problem. Please, if you have a cat, are thinking about being owned by a cat or know anybody who is owned by a cat, visit the web site and learn about this cancer. Discuss the risks of vaccination with your cat's veterinarian and make an informed decision regarding routine vaccines for your feline friend.
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