lucky kitten.

On Mother’s Day my mum couldn’t wait to take us into the garage to see “what she found for me”. She was helping clean out a friend’s house for several weeks …

I stood there with my jaw bouncing on the ground for a bit. Really? For real? Am I dreaming?

Shouldn’t I be giving her a gift? (Don’t worry, I did. I repaired a handbag she likes.)

I am in shock. This sort of thing happens to everyone else. It’s not a wheel I’d go out and purchase, but I vow to give her the love she deserves. I’m still trying to convince E she can go somewhere upstairs once I get her cleaned up.

If I had known, I would have gone out to help! (There was yarn too. I also acquired a very nice basket of some… kitchen cotton. Which is actually good. While it’s not colours I would choose for myself, I still need to write up and make a new sample of the woven/knit towel pattern and don’t actually have kitchen cotton in my stash!)

The wheel is patiently waiting for me to clean her up and tie the drive band*. While she waits, I introduced her to the bee. Yesterday they had a talk about the many differences and similarities in wheels. Then they had a lively debate about this wheel (and its double treadle sibling) that ysolda tweeted about the other day.

Overall she looks to be in good shape. While the finish is showing some age, the leather of the maidens and footman looks still to be okay. She only has one bobbin (I suspect along the way they were separated and since no one who was helping tidy up knew about wheels, they have not been reunited.)

I’m still waiting to hear back from my mum to learn more of the wheel’s story. She should be at least as old as I am (*cough*29*cough*).

My current understanding is she sat in the prior owner’s living room and was well used for many years.

No, I don’t know exactly who made her yet. There isn’t a signature or mark anywhere on the underside. There may be a mark at the hub/centre of the wheel but even my pencil rubbing didn’t seem to shed light on the maker. I thought she may be a leclerc, but after looking in my copy of Spinning and weaving with wool by Paula Simons (updated edition, © 1977) … I don’t think so. Close, but not quite.

Hopefully this will energize my spinning … that bee is still waiting for me to finish the singles and ply!

* The rope you see on the wheel “tying things together” most likely is the drive band. I’ve just not had time to untie it and figure out if it is and how to tie the the double belt yet.

This little one has been enjoying our open salad bar and wasn’t scared of me at all as I got closer and closer with the camera. He seems to prefers the clover in the front.

But what’s that, up in the tree just off the deck?

I guess all our robin love paid off? I’m excited to watch this new family:

Even if they were quite vocal in protecting their nest. We’ll be careful now that we know you’re there!

There were several busy bees out as well, but I didn’t get any photos of them.

Now he just needs to be patient as we wait for it all to grow. Moments after this photo he meowed asking (I assume, I’m still learning the language) why it wasn’t ready yet.

Whoops! I didn’t intend for this post to become so detailed… but it has. Enjoy!

Clockwise from upper right. Socks are listed by their pattern name and the designer if applicable, what I tend to call them in my head if they’re no real pattern. Links are either to my Ravelry project page (all should be public) or to posts within this site..

2 pairs of machine knit cotton socks. I wear these when I run.

The next row contains the socks I don’t wear that frequently, either because they’re for a specific thing, or are cotton, or are the very first pair of socks I knitted (I should just frame them), or for one reason or another, just don’t make it into the frequent rotation.

• Holly Golightly by Heather Ordover – I test knit these and while the yarn is a bit bulky for me for every day wear, I find them fun.
• cotton socks
• Seaside by Sara Morris
• second verse – uses the same yarn as ….
• the first pair I began with the intent to follow Ann Budd’s pattern, but it didn’t quite go as planned. For the record, I think this yarn wears like iron, but i really really don’t like the colours!
• simple
• Jeweled Steps by Cat Bordhi – this yarn felted a lot on the bottom of the foot. I don’t really like the colours, but they’re a great pair of socks when we’re working around the house or doing yard work.

Bottom row. These are in the frequent rotation:

• Afterthought Heels by Heather Ordover – I love the fit of these and they were perfect knitting for last summer. The yarn is wearing well, and I like them.

• Solemate socks – I wasn’t sure if the yarn would live up to its hype or price, but it has. I do love these.
• e’s socks – He never wore them so I took them back. Oops? They fit me perfectly.
• Rick by Cookie A
• Pomatomus – these are my absolute favourite socks. I detest yellow. Yes I love these. I don’t rotate them in as frequently now as they’re starting to show wear along some of the yarn-overs.
• Alpaca Discovery Sock by Cat Bordhi – I know this yarn (Berrocco Ultra Alpaca Fine) drives Steve Elkins of Webs nuts, but it’s very warm and they’ve worn very well so I’ll allow it the quirk of being machine washable. I still need to knit that second pair.
• Simple Socks – My sock drawer evidence to the contrary, I really don’t like highly variegated, patterning, or self-striping yarns … but sometimes, yes, it’s nice to just let the yarn do the work. This is a very hard wearing pair. I should really darn the heels (and wish I had knitted them with the included nylon thread for reinforcement) but I still wear them at least once a week.
• Barcelona Socks by Mona Schmidt These were a surprise gift from Sara
• Rushing Rivulet (Riverbed) by Cat Bordhi
• Sock-Ease Discovery Sock by Cat Bordhi
• Monkey by Cookie A
• Jaywalker by Grumperina This yarn has worn incredibly well. I am only now in danger of wearing through them (pretty much everywhere). I think I’ve worn them once a week since I completed them in 2006. Quite fascinating since I detest pink!

The Bin of Anklets: 2007-05 | 2007-07 | 2009-05 | 2011-06 | 2011-08

knee-highs and felted gifts: instant autumn socks | felted | felted (gift from Will) … Felted gifts? With a tiny foot, once a sock for a normal size foot felts, sometimes I can wear them. I find them awesome for the winter when I run around the house and leave my slippers elsewhere.

Not Pictured: Earl Grey by Stephanie Pearl-Mcphee

I’m wearing the pair that Heather knit for me.

Curious what to look for in a sock yarn? You MUST read Clara Parkes’ The Sock Knitter’s Book. I look for well-twisted-multi-ply-wool-blend. Sure, I have some acrylic and some cotton, but it’s the yarns with these characteristics that are tough and I wear frequently. I can’t wait to finish knitting down my sock yarn stash so I can begin to knit all my socks in the colours and yarns I like best. The pretty yarns are reserved for where they can be cherished and not worn so hard.. shawls and cowls are my favourite use of these precious sock yarns.

I machine wash most of the socks (not the Pomatomus pair) and then air dry either just pinning to my drying rack or if they’ve shown too much felting (from my feet, not from my washing machine) I put them on blockers.

And yes, Shadow did try to help.

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

PG, Ping, and I wish you a Happy Penguin Day 2013!

Miss my posting more frequently about penguins? You can view the Penguin [image] of the Day via British Antarctic Survey and Ping told me this morning the Discovery Channel’s penguin cam is much better than the kitten cam, though it’s adorable too.

This photograph is from when PG and I were younger (August 2006) and had a fun afternoon in a Tokyo toy shop. We wanted to adopt all the penguins!

(sending continued love to boston & mit)