Saturday Sky

They say if you live in Melbourne you will experience 4 seasons in one day. Well I thought today was going to be one of those days.

Last week we had a record 30C degree day. Today Melbourne's top temp was only 14.6C, with winds from the Antartica. Snow even fell on the nearby hills. We are experiencing drought conditions, but last night Melbourne had some lovely rain. However, it did not fall where it is needed the most.

This Saturday morning sky was taken at 7.45am. A short time later the sky was cloudy. Tonight we are in the loungeroom with the heater on. It's a cold night !

Flax Spinning Class

No ....... these are not witches hats on broomsticks, although some of the students came in through the door to class on their brooms !!!

Today, the students of the 2006 Certificate Spinning class learnt how to dress their distaff (in this case, their broom taped to the side of their chair. On top of the distaff they placed a cone of cardboard and wrapped their flax onto the cone. They spun the flax dry and also wet.

Most of the students have never spun flax and they all managed extremely well and produced a very fine yarn.

48 THINGS YOU CARE LESS ABOUT

1. FIRST NAME? Vivien

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? - nope

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? – can’t remember

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? – nope

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCHMEAT? - salami

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? – yep

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? - only online

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? - yep

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? - Definitely No, No way!!!!

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? – Cocoa pops

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? - yep

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? – sort of !

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR? - macadamia

14. SHOE SIZE? - 9-10

5. RED OR PINK? - red

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? - my weight

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? – my dad

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? – sure thing!

19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? - Navy blue pants, navy & white short sleeve shirt and brown (!) Rebock shoes

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? – cable TV (Diagnosis Murder)

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? - blue

23. FAVOURITE SMELL? – fresh roses

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? - my mum, wishing her a happy birthday

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? – if they are friendly !

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? - I have never met her as she is my SP9. I think I would like her as our answers are nearly the same !!!

27. FAVOURITE DRINK? – mango cordial (certainly not diet/light cordial!)

28. FAVOURITE SPORT? – I don’t play sport but I enjoy watching golf, rugby and cricket on TV

29. EYE COLOR? - blue

30. HAT SIZE? - large

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? - nope!

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? - Happy endings – I hate sad endings!

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? - winter

36. HUGS OR KISSES? - hugs

37. FAVOURITE DESSERT? – lemon merangue pie

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? – don’t know

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? – don’t know

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? – Colour in Spinning by Deb Menz

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? – nothing…. It is just dull blue (how boring!!)

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? – Star Trek on Cable TV

43. FAVOURITE SOUNDS? – my husband breathing in the morning! (then I know he is still in the land of the living!!)

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? - Beatles

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Disneyland in California and England

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? - I'm a good listener

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? - Mooroopna hospital near Shepparton Australia

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? - I stole it from Jenn, my SP9 participant’s blog

Happy Birthday Mum

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Mum. I hope she many more happy ones to come.

I LOVE YOU MUM (kiss kiss)

Saturday Sky

Saturday 21 October 2006 - Caulfield Cup Day. It was a fairly cool day.

This day 12 years ago, my Dad passed away, the day before my Mum's Birthday. I find it hard to believe how fast the time goes. Sometimes I feel that he is still with us. We all miss him very much, but we have wonderful memories of him.

We had our Handweavers and Spinners Guild Meeting today. Chrissy Lauritz from Fibre Fusion gave a wonderful felting demonstration. Her designs are unique and inspiring.

Secret Pal 9 (SP9)

The 15th October saw the beginning the Secret Pal 9 exchange. This is an international exchange. We exchange a knitting related parcel in November, December and January. I am looking forward to participating in this exchange. I asked if I could exchange with someone overseas. I have been lucky enough to exchange (or should I say spoil) Jenn in Montreal Canada.

Sue from Melbourne will be sending me my parcel. In fact, Sue has relatives in my nearby suburbs..... we are the same age and our favourite film is Brigadoon. Jenn from Canada is a 21 student and is probably saying "Brigadoon??? when did they make that film?????"

Brigadoon is such a magical musical ....... The moral of this film is, if you believe in something..... stick to it !!!

A Generous Friend

A while back, I was in the Guild and we were talking about dishcloths/washclothes. One lady (Catherine M) said that she had a bag of cotton yarn and that I was welcome to it. She gave it to me the other day. Thankyou Catherine for your very kind generosity. It is very much appreciated ..... now I have to think what I am going to use it for???

SATURDAY SKY

14 October 2006 saw the sky over our house overcast although it was warm (15C). By the end of the day the sky was blue with some cloud and it was a little cooler. Melbourne had a top temperature of 23C.

So what did I do inbetween 9am and 5pm????

Ellen picked me up at 9am and we went into the Spinners Guild ..... the Certificate Spinning students were spinning cotton. We weren't teaching, but we wanted to go in and see how they managed their silk homework.

The class only goes until 12.30pm ..... so why did I get home around 4.30pm ..... dunno! I guess it was because we talked, and talked ...... and yes ..... you guessed it..... we talked !!

SATURDAY SKY

Photo taken outside our house at 9am Saturday 7 October 2006. A beautiful clear blue sky.

SECRET PAL 9

1. What is/are your favourite yarn/s to knit with? What fibres do you absolutely *not* like?
I don’t have a favourite yarn. I like unusual yarns to knit with. Acrylics are probably the one yarn I don’t like, although there are some very interesting acrylic yarns around, whilst there are some that absolutely shout out “I’m an acrylic!!”

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
My needles are stored upright in two large jars (one for smaller size needles and the other for the larger size needles. My hooks are stored in a pencil case.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I have been knitting since I was about 8 years old. My mother taught me to knit. I consider myself an intermediate knitter….. although I absolutely love the lacy patterns, I find it difficult to concentrate ….maybe I am just a lazy knitter. My crochet skills are basic!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No except 25 hours in a day!!

5. What's your favourite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)
I don’t burn candles or use bath products (I love a shower, but due to water shortages, showers aren’t that long). I suppose my favourite scent would be roses.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favourite candy?
DO I HAVE A SWEET TOOTH ????? Doesn’t everyone !!! I live in Australia, and we call candy “sweets, lollies, confectionary, chocolates”. I have been dieting for 14 weeks now …..oh it is going to be difficult at Christmas time.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Yes I do spin, and thoroughly enjoy it. I enjoy dyeing (colouring) either with natural dyes or commercial dyes. I have tried nearly every other craft, but spinning is my passion (although I am not an expert).

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I must admit, I don’t listen to a lot of music, eg CDs. The radio station that we listen too plays a lot of older type music…..from the 1950s to the 80s. Now that is dating me! But yes, my computer does take a CD.

9. What's your favorite colour(s)? Any colours you just can't stand?
I suppose my favourite colours are blue and purple. I don’t like straight orange.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have a husband called Ern and a lovely 2 year old Border Collie/Kelpie X called Chloe.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear scarves, hats and gloves.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Presently I like to knit scarves, beanies and the occasional jumper (with no intricate work).

13. What are you knitting right now?
I am currently knitting some handspun wool and silk scarves.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
OF COURSE….. handmade gifts come from the heart and I always appreciate the work and thought that has gone into the making of such a gift.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I use straight needles for a small amount of stitches and circular needles for a LOT of stitches…..

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes I own both

17. How old is your oldest UFO? Ummmmmmm ……years
18. What is your favourite holiday?Last year I went to Disneyland (California) with my sister and her daughter. We had a wonderful time. In the past, I have always enjoyed travelling around Australia.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Ummmmm………..dust ……… I hate housework and much prefer to do something else, like craftwork. Seriously though, I don’t collect anything now.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?I am waiting for the new book “Spin to Knit” to be launched in Australia. I don’t have any knitting magazine subs.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? None at the moment

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
No ….. earlier this year I knitted one sock (half a pair) and framed it!!!
Length of my foot is a dainty 10.5 inches.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) 22 September

Silk Scarves

I was an assistant tutor for silk spinning. Ellen was the tutor. These are my scarves that I spun and knitted for the display/sample table for the 3rd class.

From the left:
. Blue wool and sari silk handcarded together;
. Two black alpaca scarves. I handcarded throwsters and sari silk with the alpaca.
.Underneath the black scarves is a blue wool scarf plied with grey reeled silk.
. The fawn scarf is alpaca and wool blended together with white throwsters silk.

The 1st class was spinning silk caps. We began the lesson with the students knitting straight from the silk cap. That way, they got the feel of the cap.....then they spun it.....

The 2nd class was spinning Bombyx and Tussah silk.

The 3rd class was spinning "waste silk". This is a wonderful session, as it includes throwsters (white and dyed), noils, pulled silk waste, reeled silk, recycled sari silk and whatever else we can think of. I even shredded an old silk scarf and carded the silk with some wool fibre.

Wool and Sari Silk Scarf

This is my latest handspun scarf..... I cut up some recycled sari silk and handcarded it with blue wool. The sari silk makes a lovely addition to any fibre when spinning.