NotSoThoreau

Thought I’d show how I’m tracking projects and stash these days. I am using the Notes app on my iPhone.

The screenshots make it look a bit disjointed, but I can save the note as a pdf or print it out. I saved a template for both knitting and spinning and I can copy that, whenever I create a new note. I am working on how I move from a fiber stash entry, to a spinning entry, then finally a knitting entry. It’s working but I am still tweaking the system. I like it so far. It’s easy to do and I can see what I have and what I’ve been working on.

We picked this up yesterday. It’s supposed to be from Norway. The woman selling it said it was given to her when she was 16. She is moving into an 800 square foot home and downsizing. Now, I don’t care how small a space I move to, I’m keeping storage items. This trunk is in nice shape and I plan to pick up the fiber that’s covering a lot of the office floor and put it in this trunk. If I fill it up, I’ll bring in another trunk. And I plan to get my treadle and the Fashionmate out where I can use them. The other machines are in a different room and are about to be moved again. I want access to my machines again.

Two days ago was Jake’s Gotcha Day. I believe we’ve had him for four years now. I don’t want to say he’s slowing down, but he is such a good boy. We both love him.

The parrots are happy in the new home. I’ll try and bring some pictures over so I can post them here.

Got the monthly email from Folkwear today. She says “Ravelry came out with clear rules about posting support of Trump and equating it with white supremacy. It got some press. I am glad they did this and I fully support them.”

I’ve been buying Folkwear patterns for some time, back to the original owners. I used two of their patterns for my wedding skirt and blouse. I am not surprised by this stance as they did a big BIPOC email, then started using black models for their patterns. Now, there is nothing wrong with black models. But perhaps they might want to take a look at the demographics of their customers. And this owner has not owned the business all that long. I think I’ve seen maybe four different owners, since they started.

At any rate, any business that wants to call people racists based on their political affiliation will not be getting any more of my business. And that “clear rules about posting” is more BS. They are banning and suspending people for anything they feel like. But everything is acceptable if you are anti-Trump. Ravelry has had new subscriptions locked down for three weeks now. Estimates are around 20,000 members lost. And we are all sure that 8.5 million members number is bogus. I believe R was hacked and several thousand new bogus accounts created. I don’t really care. But it seems strange that some business owner would risk their own business and the jobs of their employees to virtue signal for someone else’s website and business. I’ve seen good companies go down for a lot less.

UPDATED:

Right now, there are a lot of folks at Ravelry, trying to download patterns they purchased. And many seem to be saying, “What was I thinking?” So here’s a little story to go with that. This is Inglenook Fiber’s Violet Teacup.

I like their fiber and have spun several different blends. This one is merino, silk and sari silk. Let me say, up front, this is nice fiber and there’s nothing at all wrong with it!

I hadn’t been participating much at the Jenkins forum. They decided to have a Mad Hatter Spin Along. It sounded like fun. I saw this fiber and thought it would fit the theme, so I ordered it. I also ordered some of their Obsidian colorway. When I ordered this, I didn’t ask some critical questions. Is this a fiber I like to spin? What are my plans for the yarn? Is a Jenkins spindle the best choice here? I started spinning with the group and quickly ran into trouble. I did not like spinning this at all. In fact, I started randomly picking up other fibers and spinning those instead. I tried a few different Jenkins turks, but couldn’t find a good match. I even tried peeling off some of the silk but it didn’t help. It was not fun. I resigned myself to the fact that I was not going to complete this one. Then I tried some of my Hatchtown high whorls. I still didn’t like spinning it. I just sat it aside and figured I’d deal with it some day.

I got the notion today to try spinning it on my Bosworth butternut skinny midi. I really like this spindle and think I can spin almost anything on it. While this will never be my favorite fiber, I can actually spin it. And I’m spinning finer than I was on the other spindles. So yeah me! I may actually finish the two ounces of this. I still have no idea what I’ll do with the yarn.

No one twisted my arm to buy the fiber or participate. I know that I don’t like merino and that clumps of silk in a blend can cause problems drafting. But I also know that I wouldn’t have even thought about this fiber, if I hadn’t been on that forum. I was focused on what the group was doing and was interested in, not on what I like to do. And that has happened to folks that bought patterns. They may have heard about something on a forum or seen it in a pattern search. They probably didn’t take the time to ask those important questions. They just bought another pattern. Now, because downloading the purchased patterns is so time consuming, they are having to decide if they spent their money on something they want to make. Some are deciding that they have enough patterns to last for a long time. Escape from Ravelry seems to be encouraging people to use the patterns, fiber and yarns that they have and most importantly, to use their own creativity for a change. I think you are going to see some truly wonderful things created during this time. But you won’t see them on Ravelry. We’re already gone.

UPDATE: I was thinking about this and the SAL was actually in the Spinning Circle group, not the Jenkins group. So not as restrictive as to equipment, as long as it was done on a spindle. I finished spinning the fiber yesterday. Am plying it today.

Picture of the spindle I’m plying with and my plying stick:

And here’s the plying stick in action, so that you can see how easy it is to control the twist at the end:

It’s at https://slippedstitches.com

I am keeping this forum politics free. I want us to focus on the things we have in common and give us one small area where we don’t have to have politics intrude. This will be a small forum and I hope we’ll have some interesting discussions.

The parrots are being loaded up, and will be leaving for their new home in Utah. I’m not sure if he’s also taking the cockatoo, which has a home with his brother in Florida. We are letting the two brothers sort it out.

Lots of interesting discussions about Ravelry on the Walkaway group at Facebook. There seems to be some agreement that Ravelry lends itself to mindless pattern searches and working on designs that we might not do otherwise. Folks that have left have discovered that they have more patterns than they will ever use. And I do believe we will see a return to creativity. Ravelry doesn’t really lend itself to more complicate projects that take time. It’s too easy to get swept up in some KAL. I deleted my account last week. I’m actually getting a lot of spinning done. And I really love all my new Bosworth spindles! I started what will be a spindle spun sweater. I’d already been working on one of the yarns but I don’t really have enough for the whole sweater. So I’ll do a circular yoke sweater, my own design. It’s already fun!

The new site is just about ready for traffic. I’m having some more testing done tonight. This will be a small (I hope) politics free crafting site. My opinion is that we’d be better served to have a by invite only mailing list for political discussions. I’ll see how it goes.

We had a nice Fourth. The dogs took it pretty well. We always have the Austin Airs going, which put out some noise. Didn’t really do anything special to celebrate. I’ve finished the projects I was working on. Just need to block the baby sweater and sew on buttons. The socks are done too. I’m leaving it at that for now. I still have a teddy bear to knit.

I am having a lot of fun with the spinning project. I’ve been doing some small projects just to get a feel for the new spindles. I posted them on the Spindlitis blog, but will post here as well:

Bosworth Butternut Maxi with walnut shaft, Midi with walnut shaft and Skinny Midi with walnut shaftSide view

Two Skinny Cherry Maxis, cedar shaft and one Skinny Cherry Midi, Birch shaft

Side view

I wanted to have two spindles close enough to use on the same project and two that could be used for plying on the same project. The Butternut Maxi is 40 grams and heavier than the cherry maxis. And the skinny cherry midi is lighter than the other midis. It’s working out well so far. I haven’t started my sweater spin yet. I am still at the sampling stage.

We had a load of shingles dropped off on the 3rd for the re-roofing project. I don’t know yet when that will actually take place. It is so nice to have time off from work this week. I need to schedule more time. I usually do it in August and the weather turns too hot to do anything.

As you know, I was banned for 10 days over a week ago. I have not been able to post anything at Ravelry. This morning, I received an email from them, banning me for 30 days! What this means is that I am being banned for posts on the internet and on my own websites. I feel certain I can go on Discus and be told this is perfectly acceptable.

But this is not acceptable. My posts on the internet are not under their control and violate nothing (unless they are unhappy that I’ve called them liars over their new policy. I think this pretty much proves that.) I have other things to do right now, so I’m going wait and see if they decide to perma-ban me, based on my online posts at my own site and others.

The internet is full of dead links. Make Ravelry one of them.

I’m not ready to go yet, but this site is: https://ourunraveled.com

I’ve been asked a few times, so will respond here. I haven’t deleted my Ravelry account yet. I have removed all my projects, stash pictures, etc. Here’s why I haven’t deleted my account yet:  I have been mentoring a new spinner on one of the forums. She’s making great progress! I don’t think she lives in the US and I do not have any way to reach her, other than through Ravelry. It’s probably silly of me, but I wanted to give her one last word of encouragement before I delete the account. I did read one of the new forums Ravelry allows, which exists for people to say how much  they like the new policy. It convinced me that I really don’t want to be on the same website with those folks. And the forums that I did follow seem to be trying to pretend none of this happened. I guess that’s all they can do.

In case you think that this is just a decision on the part of Ravelry, Reddit shut down The_Donald subreddit. I knew nothing about this site or the group until the run up to the election. They were responsible for a lot of the funny pro-Trump memes you saw. It was just a lot of young guys having fun. The timing of it seems to add to the illusion this is a coordinated event. It will be interesting to see if there are other, unrelated sites that decide it’s time to suppress pro-Trump support.

More on the new project after the weekend. I think I’m making progress but won’t know for sure until I get everything set up.

There was a link to an article, on another blog I read. I was struck by how spot on this is:

“The day cannot be far off, one imagines, when people will viscerally understand the danger to themselves of saying certain things on social media and will censor themselves automatically. If this continues long enough, certain things will not only become unsayable but unthinkable, for habit eventually is transformed into character. This is the whole point of political correctness: It aims at the most radical of dictatorships, that which requires the enforcement of no police because everyone is incapable of breaking the rules.”

The article is at https://www.takimag.com/article/the-bland-leading-the-bland/.

I read an article about Cuba that mentioned this same thing. People internalize these rules and restrictions, to the point where it does become unthinkable.

Update: I want to post this link as I think it’s important info: http://www.bookwormroom.com/2019/06/24/this-is-not-the-first-time-ravelry-has-banned-conservatives/

I’ve received a 10 day suspension on Ravelry. My offense is calling BS on slandering people as “white supremists”. And it is in fact bullshit. Casey and company are liars. I suspect that they cribbed their little manifesto, with an eye towards California’s laws on the Internet. They claim this is not about purging conservatives. That is exactly what they are doing. And they are doing it in support of the Democratic party. They claim that they don’t want conservatives goaded into posting political items, which would result in a ban. That is not only what they want, it is exactly what they are working for. These people are not the gatekeepers of the craft community. And we cannot allow them to politicize our craft and profit from our participation.

If you are a vendor, I want you to know I am heartsick over this. You have your little business that you’ve put heart and soul into building. You know full well that the Internet mobs love nothing more than to shut your business down, should you get out of line. You would be wise to keep your head down, stay neutral and look for other places to advertise. We still buy patterns, yarns and other items and we want to support your business. I have some ideas on reaching the larger vendors, which I will share here in the next week.

If you are on Ravelry, it is time to leave. I know that you would like for this to blow over and continue enjoying the conversations over there. The site you knew is gone. They have temporarily shut down new members. I can assure you, from what I’ve seen on Twitter, that the site will be hit with a crop of social justice warriors, ready to support them. They don’t know how to knit and they don’t care anything about our crafts. It’s political and the site will become even more political over the next few weeks. If you continue to support Ravelry, you support libeling people over their political point of view. And do not think for a minute that the folks that run Ravelry give a damn about people of color or the LGBT community. They care about you only as long as you support their politics. Stray from the party line and you will be purged too.

Craft is the thing that we do when our lives are falling apart. It is what helps us hold it together when the money runs out, when a loved one is in the hospital, when our marriage fails or our children are in a mess. Craft is the thing we do when we celebrate. It is the baby sweater or the wedding shawl we make by hand. It is a way that we show people that we care about them. It is too important to allow people to politicize it. We should link arms and support each other and insist that all voices be heard. We should not be demonizing or purging people from our ranks. It is wrong and you know it.

I’ll be adding more to the site as I work on this. Feel free to contact me if you want to share your thoughts. I moderate comments, so don’t think that you will be able to slander me on my own site.

The internet is full of dead links. Make Ravelry one of them.

https://www.ravelry.com/content/no-trump

I am tired of businesses thinking they get a free pass to slander me. And I am extremely tired of tech companies censoring speech. I can’t tell you how angry this makes me. I have always felt that the knitting and spinning community could come together and share their knowledge, regardless of their political point of view. It seems that is no longer true. I got along without Ravelry for years and I can get along without them again. I would still like to support designers and businesses that are interested in my business. But I would suggest that they find other venues to advertise from.

I think this is working again. I just wanted to talk about the new Ply magazine. The focus is supported spindles, which means all spindles. It’s just wonderful. I think there must be three or four articles on Jenkins spindles. There was a time when I subscribed to SpinOff two years at a time. I’d devour each new issue. They changed the format, so they didn’t feature the readers’ projects. They featured “experts” instead. And I lost interest. I subscribed this year, because they gave me a cheap price, but I’ve yet to see anything interesting. I’ve been buying up back issues of Ply too. To me, a good spinning magazine should make you pick up a spindle and start spinning. I’m having problems getting myself to stop. I’ve started taking a spindle outside with me, when I take the dogs out back. And I”m determined to finish off the East Friesian wool as I’d like to knit a sweater with it.

I have a new pulmonologist at OSHU. I like him and I probably spent close to an hour talking to him. My lungs are worse and we have to get rid of all the birds, including my chickens. We think we’ve found a relative of Lon’s that can take them in. We are working on shipping the cockatoo out first. It’s going to be hard for Lon as he really loves Dewey, the blue and gold. But bird fancier’s can cause enough damage that your lungs don’t function and that’s deadly. I’m on a high dose of prednisone and have felt great. It’s so nice to have good oxygen levels. I was really struggling when I was trying to stay off prednisone. He said it’s likely I’ll have to take it the rest of my life.

No real progress on the house. I’m going to try and start working on packing this weekend. I picked up a new chair:

I had been thinking about getting a wingback chair, for knitting. I just was taken by this chair. I could tell it still had the horsehair padding. The seat is worn but it’s still very solid. It is a heavy chair and handmade, from the looks of the carvings. When I went get it, I was set to try and dicker for a lower price. It was in the second story bedroom. To get it down, the woman had to lower it down a step, while I caught it from the bottom. There were about twelve steps. I decided I was just going to pay full price, as I couldn’t have done it on my own. I really like the chair. I’m trying not to buy a bunch of stuff, but of course, I keep buying stuff. I have too many things packed up that I could use and it’s taking way too long to finish up the house.

The grandson will be a year old next month. I have a baby sweater to knit and also planned to do a teddy bear. I haven’t been knitting a lot, as I have a pair of socks with commercial yarn going and the Perfect Process scarf, which is handspun. I want to knit handspun socks, but am waiting until I finish something else. I think I am going to enjoy my handspun sock project. And I have my first Bosworth spindle arriving this week! I love the new wheel and I have plans to use it for some big projects. But it is so nice to be using my spindles again. My shoulder muscles would cramp, because my oxygen levels were too low. Now that I’m back to normal, I can just keep going.

It looks like I will be going to Black Sheep and I can probably spend some time there. Last time I went, I just wasn’t up to walking around and couldn’t get Lon to do much either. I don’t know yet if he wants to go with me. He hasn’t been walking that well. I have one of those roller seats and am trying to get him to use it. I am going to start taking a few days off as I really could use the rest.

I am trying to come up with a way to keep track of my spinning projects. I’d like to start doing sample cards. I’ve picked up a few odds and ends to try out. I’d like to be more consistent with my spinning. It’s so easy to lose track of your project when you don’t finish it quickly.

So far, it won’t let me post something new from the computer. Will be working on it. I’ve lost two posts so far.

Testing again.

Finally blocked the new handspun hap:

It may be a little small. I practically live in the Bartlett yarns hap. I just love the feel of that yarn and will likely make myself a second shawl. I just started spinning the roving I originally bought for the Hapalong, a shetland/mohair blend:

It’s nice stuff, almost drafts itself. I have also been working on a few spindle projects, taking a small break from knitting. Will likely jump back in on the Hap for Harriet project. I’m trying to sort out what project I’d like to start next. For now, I’m just trying to spin up some roughly DK weight yarn, since most of the haps use that weight. I have roving coming in for a try at a double marled yarn. I will be getting some new whorls for my Pipy, which should give the wheel more range. It’s fun to work through some of this fiber on the Pipy.

I am proud of my unruly Springer boys. We can’t teach Jake to shut up and Gary barks at everything across the street. I let them out back after a grocery shop and heard a chicken squawk. Walked to the side and saw both boys chasing my little red hen. I yelled “NO” at them and they backed off. Got her over by the chicken yard and was finally able to pick her up and put her inside the yard. The bottom dropped out of one of the nesting boxes on the side and she jumped out. I think I have it temporarily fixed. They like to sleep up there at night.

Still haven’t hemmed those skirts. I always put it off, but once I finally tackle it, it’s not that bad. I want to finish the Wards machine. We will be dropping it off in a couple of weeks. Need to make sure everything is still working okay (and see if I can get the other cams working correctly.) I’m going to print out the manual and service manual to take with me.

The surgery was successful on Lon’s eye. I don’t have any pictures as he looks like someone punched him in the eye. He said that he’s decided he doesn’t want any plastic surgery. Casey Institute is a great place. All of the staff were wonderful. And Dr. Steele called up a few hours after we got home, to make sure everything was okay. I didn’t really feel like I had any time off, since there were people in and out of the house three of the four days.

I am still working on the second shawl for Julie. The post office lost the first one. I was going to replicate it, but then decided that might be a mistake. They could still find the original. So I used a different yarn, in close to the same colors, same pattern. I ran out of two of the colors, so am waiting for more yarn this week. Meanwhile, I am working on a shawl for a co-worker. I really want to retire and I’d like to do something nice for her, when that happens. It’s been awhile since I used lace weight yarn! And I’m also still spinning up some Shetland roving. I haven’t blocked my handspun hap, but will post a picture of it, unblocked.

I managed to pay the property taxes on the house this week. That’s always a big deal for us. Still need to pay the taxes for the river place. And we are still waiting to hear if we are going to be selling that place. It’s so frustrating. The people that have been helping us are finding jobs. It’s getting harder to get anything done. If we had cash, we could pay to finish this place up.

Haven’t done any sewing but I really need to get at it this weekend. I have two skirts done that need to be hemmed and have the fastenings attached. And I really need new skirts. I may have to set aside my knitting for a day.

I have been a very busy knitter lately. I updated my politics free Spindlitis blog. This blog is not going to be politics free. Very troubled by the nonsense in the knitting community lately. I am a knitter and spinner and I like to discuss those activities with anyone that is interested. I reject the busy bodies of the internet, who feel they have the right to attack anyone when they are outraged for someone else.

Abby asked for a sewing machine, so that she can patch Quinn’s work pants. I didn’t take her seriously at first and gave away two perfectly good machines that would have done the trick. So I had to buy a machine for her. I considered giving her my Singer Fashionmate, but I am convinced no one will ever love the perfect stitches on that machine like I do. So, I found a Wards Signature.

The zigzag didn’t work, when I first started messing with it. I finally figured out how to use the settings for the built in cams and I oiled the hell out of it. It really needed the oil. It still needs a bit of work, but it’s not too bad for a $15 machine. It’s heavy and the only plastic parts seem to be the cams. It has a built in, four step buttonhole selector too. I picked up the service manual and found the owner’s manual so she will get both of those. I really need to do some sewing myself. I have two skirts that just need to be hemmed and I really need some new skirts.

I picked up another ThinkPad to use for my work machine. Just maxed out the RAM in it too. I like these old ThinkPads. They are easy to work on and solid. I put Linux Mint on this and it’s been working just fine. I did have to pick up a trackball. I like to use the track point on these computers. This one has a tendency to make the pointer swing back and forth. It was slowing me down too much. I just have to adjust to reaching for the trackball.

The hummingbirds have really appreciated having the feeder. I’ve never seen as many hummingbirds here, as I have this winter. When we sell the place, I plan to leave a feeder and instructions for the new owners. The birds do fine most of the year, but appreciate the extra food in the winter.

Wish I had more actual news to report. Work on the house is at a standstill. We are waiting to see if we’ve got a buyer for the river place. If we do, we can kick things in high gear and finish this house. Lon goes in to have the growth under his eye removed, towards the end of the month. I’m taking a couple of days off for it. The growth isn’t cancerous but he picks at it. He’ll have this done at OSHU and we both like his doctor. I’m trying to pack up the rest of the stuff in the office. I have been buying fleece and books. I’m tired of not being able to find things I need. And all the drawers in my desk have jammed,so I’ll try to deal with that this weekend.

Lolo is not fond of me spinning, but seems to be getting better at dealing with it.

And this is the latest picture of Abe. We’re at eight months now.

We had a nice Christmas. I finished all of my Christmas knitting on time and the gifts seemed to be well received. Work progresses on the house. We are going to sand and refinish the floors, so I am emptying out my office. I’ve started a new spinning project, using my Pipy. I keep forgetting that it’s been fixed, so it’s nice to use it again.

Picture of Abraham:

Hansel is almost done:

Abraham in the baby sweater and hat that I knit for him:

And Gary looking well behaved

We’ve survived it but it won’t go down in the books as one of my favorites. Lon put on water weight gain a couple of weeks ago. It was bad enough that shirts he regularly wears didn’t fit. I could not get him into the Emergency Room. We went to Vancouver Clinic, who would not let us see a doctor since he didn’t go to his primary care doctor there. (He did see two specialists at the clinic, but that doesn’t count.) His vitals were okay, so he made an appointment at another clinic. You have to understand that you don’t see a doctor at any of these. You see a physician’s assistant. The one at the new clinic was good. She requested blood work to check his kidneys and helped him get into see his cardiologist on Wednesday. The fun started when I dropped him off out front and the truck wouldn’t start. I called AAA while he was in the clinic. They were able to jump it and get it going. I waited outside with the truck running till he finished. They told him he has congestive heart failure. The good news is that all his other organs look fine. They put him on heavy duty diuretics to get the water gain off, which they estimate at over 30 pounds. It was interesting that they were concerned about the state of his lower legs. I asked them about this when we were there two years ago. All I got was a shrug. This time, they took pictures. Anyway the diuretics are helping and I think he is starting to feel better. He is staying close to the house until he finishes with the pills.

We were too burned out to shop on Wednesday, so I went to the store on Thursday. The longer I was there, the worse I felt. I didn’t get much and I definitely did not want to get a turkey. I still don’t feel like cooking. We both took naps last night. I spent the day working on a Christmas knitting project. (And I found a mistake in it this morning. I’m going to leave it as is.) We’ll go back to the new clinic on Tuesday and see how things are going.