The week that was

Fabulous!

It all started on Sunday with a visit to my youngest son's home. He made me a wonderful roasted chicken dinner, introduced me to spicy chocolate (Lindt I think with chili peppers). Very interesting. Then, as Matty and I were looking at all sorts of houses on Google Maps Street View, Terri came home and gifted me with these -

Knitter's Magazines from the late 80's. The patterns in these magazines are so classic they are still very stylish. Lots of articles by my knitting heroes (Elizabeth Zimmermann, Nancy Bush, Meg Swansen and more). It seems lace knitting was popular in the 80s as there are many lace shawls, and clothing in each issue. I haven't had enough time to look at them all carefully, but there are several items I just have to make.

She also gave me a knitting course from the 60s, but I'm saving all that for another blog day. They really took their knitting seriously forty years ago.

Then, I went to the Estelle Spring Preview, and brought home some new to this shop yarn - King Cole Landscape (a dk acrylic/wool blend) and Homespun (a bulky acrylic wool blend) and a few other wonderful yarns.

On Friday, a friend brought me in a special treat.

It's a Paton's and Baldwins box from the 40s. This is how yarn was packaged then. Much nicer than the plastic bags of today. I can just imagine all these pretty plaid boxes holding my overstock in the back room. No yarn bags sliding to the floor or bunching up on the shelves. It would be heaven. Inside the box was some of the original yarn. Three skeins of Miss Canada, a fingering weight yarn. The yarn even has a pull tag with the dyelot on it so you can get the yarn from the centre of the ball without incurring any yarn barf. Even more heavenly!

During the week I tried to sit and spin a bit and I am getting better at it. And even more obsessed than I was last week. Last night, Johanna came and showed us several different kinds of fleeces, and gave us HOMEWORK!  So, this afternoon, I put it in my little washer/spin dryer (its original purpose was for felting, but I think it will be a fleece washer from now on).

I put the fleece out on the bench to take the photo, but didn't leave it there lest the Yarn Harlot's fleece stealing squirrel paid me a visit.

Yup, that's what's called vegetable matter. By the way, unwashed fleece stinks. Unwashed fleece soaking stinks even more. And the worst is when the water from the soaking is draining. Reminds me of "Eau de Sheep Manure". But look at the fluffy fleece all silvery and clean. And not stinking anymore. This I like. For now, it's resting on a towel in the lesson room to dry. Perhaps this time next week I 'll have carded it and spun a bit. Who knows?