A Foray into Geekdom

http://xkcd.com/356/
Hee hee. Julie why did you have to post this link?

http://www.toroidalsnark.net/mkbook.html
OOH! a Fiber and Math together!

See! I'm NOT alone!! Someone wrote a BOOK about it! I still want to know how Mme Lafarge KNIT the names in A Tale of Two Cities. Although, it does seem like a really SLOW way to take notes.

Back to washing the fleece! The box GROWS! Why must Tigger LOUNGE across my wrists when I type?

Market Day at Birka and Other Meanderings

Reminiscing along the way to Harrisville Designs...

Frost heaves... There are warning signs all over NH in the winter about FROST HEAVES! The most memorable sign is the one on the way to the Dartmouth Skiway. Kathy and I used to speculate wildly about them, in the days before the internet. What is a frost heave and why are they so dangerous? We decided that that frost heaves were little creatures that lived in the forest that looked vaguely gnome like except with hair like frost. They would LEAP out into oncoming traffic and scream HEAVE!!! Then scamper back into the woods, often causing accidents and other mishaps, which is why they need such large warning signs. Then we decided that people with over active imaginations probably shouldn't be allowed out without a keeper. Subsequently, in the internet age we have discovered that frost heaves can cause cracks in the pavement and other irregularities in the road so the signs are there simply to warn motorists to be aware of bumps in the road. How prosaic... It was so much more fun to think there were little frost imps staring at cars and giggling madly as they plotted their next surprise. hee hee.

So... What do you think FROST HEAVES are? Post a comment.

Yes... I actually pulled over to take pictures of the road sign. Completely ignoring the marvelous vista to my left. Hey! after four years in NH and nary a picture of a sign I felt it was time to rectify the situation on this visit.

The really picturesque town of Dublin. It's just shouts NEW ENGLAND! It's so cute. All the time Christina lived in Peterborough and I drove though thinking, next time I will stop for pictures. Well, Christina left NH, and I still didn't have a picture of the place. So I figured, it's now or never!

The town hall

The Yankee Publisher, the original publisher of the Farmer's Almanac

The library. I just love this building! I probably should've peeked inside, oh well.

The church, pretty

Route 101, the road that runs through Dublin. Pretty view off in the distance.

Harrisville Designs
It has a cute little yarn shop. I picked up their rose trellis sweater kit, which I need to start on. Maybe on the trip to Taiwan if I remember to wind up a couple of skeins. I checked out their looms. Interesting... Let's just put that on a wish list if I ever get decide I really really NEED to learn to weave.

Birka
Well it's a large SCA shopping event. Guess what I got? A spindle! from Spanish Peacock, big surprise. It's a bottom whorl with a bead whorl. It's spins really nicely, especially when used supported.
And an obscene number of books and pamphlets from Devra the Baker at Poison Pen Press. But I really wanted SHOES!!! WHERE were the SHOES????

We managed a little Sheep to Shawl team meeting and talked about fiber, fleece, spinning and weaving and figured out some organizational issues.

Then we went to dinner at JD's.

Robin, Tessa, and JoAnna.

There's John, isn't his garb so cool?

Judith and Corwyn

There was dancing afterwards. That's Stan getting ready.

There's Judith again!

More Judith and Stan! Yay!

Then, Tessa and I went back to the hotel to get an early start the next morning.

King Arthur Flour
This is NOT good. It's SNOWING!! Oh well, we get dressed and have breakfast. And head off for Norwich Vermont and King Arthur Flour!! Oh!!! Shiny! Guess who we see there? That's right! John and JoAnna! JoAnna is working on her SECOND shopping cart. I pick up various odds and ends as well as a SCALE for my fiber! Yay! Then we go back across the river to Hanover and I pick up a bumper sticker as a sweatshirt as well as CRULLERS from Lou's!! Yummy. HA!! I have to put at LEAST one bumper sticker on the car, after Grace has festooned it with Princeton stickers. I mean really!

Then we head back home.

Tired.... Must sleep....
Had a blast but it's good to be home with Tiggy the Psycho Cat.

Finally! Washing the MSDW Fleece

This is the 9.75lb Romney/Corriedale cross fleece I bought at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in May. I've been leery about washing it because I was afraid I was going to destroy it. So I washed the one from Rhinebeck instead!

Hmm... It's rather LARGE!! That's a twin sheet under it. Ok it took me about 2 months to finish washing a 2.5 lb fleece sporadically. How long is it going to take to wash an almost 10lb fleece. Words fail...

Back to the fleece pens. Interesting... This fleece is just making wool tea, while the other fleece made left GROUNDS in the bottom of the sink.


Fleece drying on the racks. I can wash much larger bunches of this fleece since there isn't any CAKED on mud. FLUFFY!!

Lookie at all the different colors and variegations in the fleece! The tips are a little sunburnt though. Not sure if I'm going to cut them off of spin them up yet. Things to consider...

Tigger has claimed the remainder of the fleece.
MY FLEECE!! GET OFF!! You're going to FELT it you EVIL cat!

He's really concerned... Sigh...

Box of clean fleece, yeah... I'm not even halfway done yet... Wait until I start sorting! Tigger is showing his true colors! Demon kitty guarding the fleece. Can there be guardian cats? As well as guardian dogs?

Random A&S 1/20/08

I guess I wasn't kidding when I decided to call it random A&S, because BOY was it random!
I had five attendees. Nicole seated on the left and Julie on the right. I think that is Galefridus' hand to the right. Tigger has already claimed Nicole as HIS. He's considering acquiring Julie as another petting slave. We'll have to see...

Nicole is teaching Julie how to braid. At some point I got to be the hair dummy. It's EXACTLY what it sounds like! I'm sitting on the floor chatting with Heather (she would be the person Tigger thinks he can take). They summon me over and proceed to braid my hair. Twitch twitch twitch... Hey you can't just have me sitting here. Can't I have my knitting? Or my drop spindle? How about some paper at least???? Just so wrong. Don't you know it's torture to make me sit still? Twitch twitch twitch. On the bright side Julie can now braid and is working towards a French braid. Don't tell her it's completely different to braid ones own hair!

Galefridus folded paper. He is attempting Robert Lang's hummingbird model from the Design Secrets book. You are more ambitious than I! We established that his problems with previous attempts was the wrong kind of paper and it has to be MUCH LARGER!!!

Here is Heather... Those of Rob's feet. That's Tigger. Tigger thinks that he can take Heather. Tigger is an EVIL cat.

What else was there? Well there was my failed attempted at teaching Rob to use a spinning wheel. But I figured out AFTER everyone left that the silly drive band was WAY too loose and once I cut the knot and tightened the drive band she worked like a charm! I still have to name the spinning wheel. I LOVE my spinning wheel! Heather is working on a crochet project! Yay! the world must PLAY with string!!

That's me... That's Tigger deciding to be jealous and psychotic. MY PERSON!!! NO TALKING to my toy!!!! YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME???? MINE!!!! I think he may need to be festooned with crosses and anointed with Holy water. Psycho kitty. That's my Shetland fleece from Rhinebeck ALL washed and cleaned. That's my spinning wheel in the background with Ashland Bay Thistle merino on the bobbin.

So we had six people including me at this little gathering. And at last count four different crafts going on at the same time. WHEEE!!!!

Signing off... more fleece washing to following and hopefully a Birka report!

New Year's Eve Party