January 31, 2010
Yesterday I taught “Painting Roving for Predictable Yarns” at the Ottawa Valley Weaver’s and Spinner’s Resource Centre. It’s a 1 day workshop in handpainting rovings that will spin into something other than mud or clown vomit. My goal is to teach how to plan and execute a multicoloured roving that will spin into a beautiful yarn that can then be made into a beautiful finished object. Yes plan, I know many artists think that’s a nasty word, but I’m not really an artist, I’m an artisan, meaning I have solid technical skills in my craft that allow me to create things that are both beautiful and functional. Later this week I’ll post about why I think that planning is important, but for now, let me show the fun we had yesterday.
Things always start out neat and tidy…
 
After I got through all the information about the washfast acid dyes, equipment, etc and talked about the factors that influence how the finished yarns and objects will look the students started planning their rovings. Each student had 4 60g skeins of roving to dye, it was up to them whether they made all different or some the same. I had neglected to mention that planning for painting requires arithmetic… Once we got that over with it was time to have fun with colours:
 Measuring out the Dye Solutions  Putting the Dyes on the Fibre  Smooshing to Distribute the Dye 
 Painted and Ready for Heat  Microwaving to Set the Dye NB: this is an elderly “free to a good home” microwave I was lucky enough to find for the guild to use for dyeing. It’s labelled “not for food”. We have another one for lunches.
By the time everyone was finished painting and heat setting it was time to go home. The rovings need to cool before rinsing so most of the students took theirs home to rinse and dry. Hopefully they will bring them to the Guild meeting tomorrow night so I can take some pictures of the finished product. We (that would include the intrepid instructor) learned quite a lot about colour mixing. Not all the colours came out quite as planned. There may be a little bit of overdyeing on some to get closer to what we were expecting. Many of the colours looked very, very different before and after heating. We also learned that it is important to pay careful attention when mixing the painting solutions. One student wondered why her lavender looked so very red. It turned out we had forgotten to add the blue!! Amazingly, it was an easy fix to add the right amount of blue to a little bit of water, then spread and smoosh it into the stripe that was supposed to be lavender.
It was a long day, but we all had fun. I can’t wait to see what yarns result… Stay tuned for follow up.
January 26, 2010
Yesterday was Robbie Burns’ birthday. Unless you are either Scots, a Scots wannabe, or me, this is not likely important to you. For the Scots (and Scots wannabes) Robbie Burns is important because he is their national poet. His poetry is important mostly because he wrote in the Scots dialect of the time, making some of his poetry a bit tough going for the modern Canadian English speaker and because he often wrote about very ordinary things, like Haggis. Auld Lang Syne is probably his most familiar poem. Grinch is very fond of Robbie Burns and was quite pleased that his first child chose Robbie Burns Day for her birthday. For my part, I like that Grinch never forgets my birthday, tied as it is to something to remind him.
To celebrate, people like to gather for a “Burns Supper” complete with Haggis, Scotch and the reading of the poem “To a Haggis”. This we did at Heidi and Steve’s on Saturday night. Steve has been threatening to put me on “THE LIST” of people Heidi is not to associate with, something about being an expensive influence (under my guidance, she’s bought a spinning wheel and a loom in less than a month). In an effort to keep myself off THE LIST, I offered to provide Himself, complete with kilt, to properly “Address the Haggis”.
 Heidi has a better picture here. Himself actually practiced beforehand, as it’s not really easy to read. His reading passed muster and will keep me off THE LIST for a little longer.
The Haggis itself was a wonderful thing. For those of you who think you don’t like Haggis – have you ever actually seen it, let alone tried it? Haggis is really just a kind of sausage, cooked by poaching it whole and then served by opening the casing and scooping out the insides. The filling is actually light and almost fluffy – a mixture of ground meat (traditionally lamb, but often beef), finely minced organ meats, oatmeal and spices.
Steve got the one we ate at the Glebe Meat Market, but next year (if all goes according to plan) it will come from the Manotick Village Butchery, courtesy of Himself and the Butcher (who we just hired), and made from Steve and Heidi’s own lamb. Steve served many other lovely things for dinner and shared a very, very nice single malt I hadn’t had before (Edradour). I was a very well behaved guest who did not pocket, nor even ask to open, the tiny bottle of one of my favourite single malts (Tomintoul 27 year old, not available in Ontario). Steve and Heidi’s other friends made for lovely company and we enjoyed ourselves very much, rather late into the evening, prompting a phone call from Thing Tall: “Where are you? Do you KNOW what TIME it is? It’s 1:15!” He sounded rather like Grinch, or Nana, or FIL or MIL for that matter. We found it hysterically funny.
Having had a lovely Burns’ Night, I spent my birthday at home yesterday with a somewhat miserable Rags. She had a sudden, violent, allergic reaction to we have no idea what which caused her to start running about the house like a mad fool at 4:40 in the AM, scratching so hard that she was pulling out wool by the handful. I took her to the vet as soon as he was in, she’s on prednisone and antihistamines which are working well, but I wish I knew what caused it. Nana made it a bit better by making meat pie and my favourite cake for supper. My Mum is very good to me.
January 17, 2010
As much as I appreciate Canada Post’s patronage of Himself, I’m none too thrilled that they raised postal rates the day the stamp came out. Having an Etsy store means shipping to customers, and that means fathoming Canada Post’s shipping rates. The on-line rate calculator was most helpful as I tried different shapes – the rates are based on both volume and weight, so if you can reduce the volume you can reduce the shipping price. In the process I discovered that if you can make the item flat enough to fit in a large envelope such that it is less than 2cm thick you reduce the price considerably – like about 75%!
Roving compresses quite a bit without coming to harm, so I tried putting it in a ziplock bag and squeezing all the air out. This made it quite flat and thin…but only for a little while. At this point, I learned something new – zipper bags breathe. This would be why things don’t keep in the freezer as well as I think they should and why, by the time I got to the post office the envelope no longer qualified as an “oversize letter”. Back to the drawing board.
Thinking about it, I remembered seeing vacuum sealers at Costco. Nana and I had considered buying one a while ago for improving storage in the freezer. I stopped considering and went and bought one. Thus, I present, flat packing for roving:
 Roving to be shipped  Rovings in the Vacuum Bag  Flat as a Pancake Well, at least flat enough to ship as an oversize letter once inserted into a large envelope. The recipient reported that the roving arrived none the worse for its squashing. I’m pleased because it allowed me to reduce the shipping rate a little bit. The vacuum bag material costs more than zipper bags, but it’s worth it, both in reduced shipping cost and protection of the contents. As an added bonus, food should keep better in the freezer now.
BTW if you are buying the vacuum sealer and/or vacuum bag rolls, the best price is definitely at Costco.
January 16, 2010
Sister Tina got Himself and Rags a little present for Christmas, to whit, a warning sign to post when he is working at home:
“Beware of Attack Poodle”
Rags takes her job as guard dog very seriously, as demonstrated by the following photo:
She really is the best dog.
January 11, 2010
Canada Post released the new series of definitive stamps for 2010 today. Normally, this would not be breaking news, however, the theme of the new series is “Mills”. Himself is a very accomplished photographer and one of his favourite subjects is Watson’s Mill here in Manotick. He often does event photography for them and has given them many pictures for their on-line gallery. In the Fall of 2008 he got a call from Canada Post, they had seen one of his pictures on the Watson’s Mill site, could they buy it to use as a stamp? To say he was tickled is an understatement, we couldn’t get his motorcycle helmet on him for weeks. There will be 70 million!! of the Watson’s Mill stamp printed, watch for one on a letter in your mailbox soon. Himself took the above picture of the mock-up of the stamp when Canada Post announced the new series at the Mill in September.
Here is the original photograph:
We’re quite proud of Himself today. Even though his wallet was a tad lighter when he left the Manotick Post Office this morning – he’s planning on doing some interesting matting and framing with the original photograph and the first day covers.
January 10, 2010
I may have mentionned, on occasion, that I have awesome friends. My friend Gabriel made me a New Year’s gift this year – mamaliga, which is Romanian for polenta which is Italian for cornmeal mush. Gabriel serves it with butter and Bulgarian (sheep’s milk) Feta cheese. While it is lovely fresh, I like it just as much in subsequent days when I cut it in cubes;
fry it olive oil;
and eat it with more cheese:
Bon Appetite.
Mamaliga: Mix 1 part cornmeal (preferably coarse) with 2 parts cold water and some salt in a pot. Gabriel likes a cast iron pot that is wider than it is tall, but all I had was a tallish non-stick pot, both seem to work. Put the pot on medium high heat and stir just until it starts to bubble. Turn down the heat so that it simmers. Stir often as it thickens. It will start to spout steam out, highly entertaining (why yes, I am easily amused), just keep stirring every minute or so so it doesn’t stick until it has simmered about 40min – it should be nearly solid depending on the coarseness of the cornmeal. Gabriel usually dumps it on a wooden board to serve it, but my cornmeal was a bit fine, which made a softer mamaliga, so we left it in the pot this time.
January 8, 2010
Thing Small went to Toronto over New Year’s to visit with my sister, Tina (of the comments), and my friend Christina (who will likely soon join in the comments). As she is still too young to take the train unaccompanied she had to be fetched. Usually this is a fairly boring prospect – several hours of driving the 416 and the 401. However, this time, Jan and Christine (of the comments) agreed to come along for the ride. They were bribed with the prospect of meeting Tina and Thing Small in Picton, a small town in Prince Edward County with many fine attractions to commend it to friends like mine. Specifically, Waupoos Winery, The County Cider Company and Rose Haven Farm Store. Thus it was that we set off on the Saturday morning, brand new GPS in hand (the mount was in Himself’s car) on an “expotition”.
I had googled for directions, but as we passed Kingston, I thought there must be a better way to get to the winery and cidery so we asked our friendly GPS. The GPS speaks in a calm, matter of fact, British accent which proved to be a “good thing”. As we were following her directions it occurred to me that she was sending us via the Glenora Ferry and I began to wonder if it ran in the winter. I also began to wonder how Jan was going to feel about the Ferry. She’s none too fond of water and finds bridges a little nerve wracking. I wisely kept my ponderings to myself until Jan saw the sign that said “Road Ends in 400m”. She seemed to find this somewhat alarming. And then the GPS piped up “Board Ferry in 350m”. “Ferry, what ferry!?!” burst out of the back seat. Luck was on my side this time, the ferry was waiting for us and the nice ferryman waved us on board before Jan had time to think about it. A very nice dump truck pulled in behind us, effectively preventing escape. Jan began to make dents in the backseat, Christine offered to hold her hand. I, sensitive and caring friend that I am, began to take pictures.
 
Jan seemed rather surprised, pleasantly though, that we survived the 3 minute crossing. Christine and I found the GPS’s depiction of the crossing quite hysterically funny as it showed the car floating across the water, Jan found it more discomfiting than funny until we were back on dry land.
The GPS, having got us this far, then rather let us down. It sent us to the cidery from above rather than below, which would have put us on a “seasonal road, passenger cars not recommended”. Even with Blizzak’s I didn’t think my little Golf would appreciate the attempt. With a little “deja vu” navigating and some help from the GPS which kept “recalculating” as I ignored her instructions, we made it to Waupoos just as they opened. I got some lovely wines 2 of which Himself, Nana and I enjoyed when I got home – 2006 Geisenheim (just off-dry white) and 2008 Pearl Noir (a blended red). Regrettably, the Cidery was closed. Onward then, to Picton and Rose Haven Farm Store – yarn, fibre and books, just the way we like it. Linda has several brands not available in Ottawa stores, so we spent a good hour browsing about. My stash, however is already out of control, so I wasn’t really in a buying mood. In the end, I bought some local shetland wool sock yarn for Heidi and a Knitter’s magazine with an intarsia technique I hadn’t seen before. We then met Thing Small, Tina and Christina for lunch and then browsed a small gift/decor store that we’d all noticed. I got a wall hanging that says “courage is not the absence of fear or despair but the strength to conquer them”. I have a feeling I’m going to need to remember that this year.
We then headed home, tired but pleased with our “expotition”. Both Jan and Christine asked “can we do it again, huh, huh, please?” There are more fibre places and many more wineries, two cheese factories, and lots of other neat places to recommend the County. We’ll go back in the Spring or Summer, I think.
January 3, 2010
Just like jumping in the River in May (or even August now that I am old and wimpy) working up the courage to really do this was the worst part. In the last while my dear friends, both old and new, have conspired to “enable” me to get on with it – if by “enable” you mean “got together to provide a hearty shove over the cliff”. The Hilltop Fibre Worker was always just a small thing I did as I felt like it. Now, it will have a place in my schedule. Rats, that means I’ll have to stop <insert housekeeping chore of choice here>.
I spent some time dyeing fibre this past week, and quite a bit of time setting up the etsy shop. Go take a peek , and tell me what you think. Now I will also have to learn to do some bookkeeping – have to do that for Himself’s new project anyway. I’ll also need to come up with new ways to keep records of the colourways so I can refer to them later.
You could have knocked me over with a feather when I sold the first thing I listed in under 3 hours.
Thanks again for the encouragement, you know who you are and you are awesome.
P.S. If anyone complains of earworm caused by that title, know that I will know you to be, in Thing Tall’s words, “really old” (just like me).
January 1, 2010
Last year started out fairly ordinary. It ended up anything but. And, maybe for the first time, I’m quite okay with that. I have awesome friends and really great family. I mean, how many people have friends who will celebrate your birthday by helping you dig out and reorganize your fibrespace? I did bribe them with cake and risotto, but I’m not sure it was necessary. My friends have listened to me laugh, cry, rant, cajole, and even occasionally scold and they still return my calls.
Last year Himself worked in a fairly ordinary high tech job. This year, he will quit that job, open and new business and go back to school all at the same time. This is remarkably scary, but I have faith in him. He has the determination, skill and energy to make it happen and I am proud of him for going for it. I am going to learn to do bookkeeping. This gives me the willies, but I can do it (it may require much support from the above mentionned friends and the odd dram of single malt…). We will live on just my income for a while, but I know we can do it if we work together.
Last year, my fibrework was solely for my own amusement. I taught because I enjoy it a lot (also, every workshop earns me a trip to the Shawarma for garlic potatoes). I sold the odd bit of fibre and other supplies. I ended the year about even, with my fibre work paying for itself, but not more. This year, my fibrework will try to add to our family’s income. Friends have had a lot to do with that and continue to bless me with encouragement, advice and practical support.
Last year, my children grew in many ways. Thing Tall became Thing Tall, growing at least 6 inches, but he’s grown in other ways, too. He has stepped up to the challenge of High School with enthusiasm and effort and I am proud of him. Others seem to be noticing it too, I am thankful for their support. Thing Small moved from her small elementary school to Middle School. She has made new friends and risen to new challenges and I’m proud of her.
My FIL’s favourite saying is “what goes around, comes around”. I shall make sure that what I put out into the world is what I want back from it. And so, I shall start this year as I mean to go on, grateful for my many blessings and willing to share them.
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