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My Own Way to Roll – spinning hacks and the 2022 TdF

Part of July and sometimes August of most years in this house is dedicated to the Tour de Fleece.  It’s a 23 day annual event where we spinners sort of mirror the Tour de France.  We spin the same days, take the same rest days and have challenge days.  It’s a great chance to dedicate some time to spinning and other related crafting.  This year, there was the regular race and the women’s race so we spun from July 1 to the 31st. It’s a great opportunity to try to clear a few UFOs.

I also thought I’d post a few of my new “spinning hacks” and my new favourite tool off the lathe in this post.

A cotton sweater about half knitted. Some white, green and purple rolags and some silver and red cotton sliver and punis share a photo with some hand cards and a book charkha.
A cotton sweater about half knitted. Some white, green and purple rolags and some silver and red cotton sliver and punis share a photo with some hand cards and a book charkha.

Here’s what I committed to working on for this year’s TdF.

From the top:

  • A cotton sweater with yarn I over-dyed last year.  The original colorway was “Desert” and I added a Jeans blue to get this much more comfortable for me colour.  It changes a lot in various lights.  This is outside and relatively true to colour here.  It was an unofficial goal but I’d had it on the needles for a year. It was time.
  • Some Merino/Tencel rolags in white/green/purple. I began calling this one “Grape Vines” somewhere along the way.  These are the only rolags I’ve ever bought – usually I make my own but this was a few years ago and a great experience in spinning other people’s preparations.
  • Then the last fibre is cotton. Continue reading My Own Way to Roll – spinning hacks and the 2022 TdF

2019 Year End Wrap up, part 2 – everything else

Well, I put this post off for a little longer than I should have – but I had what I think is were understandable reasons mixed with a little procrastination.

In mid-December of 2018, Stormi began spending almost all of her time in the bedroom which meant more time for me in the bedroom taking care of her.  That put some projects and some of my usual stress relievers on hold because I wouldn’t leave her alone for more than a few hours at a time . Continue reading 2019 Year End Wrap up, part 2 – everything else

Finish what you started – cars and sewing machines

It seems like summer always brings lots of household projects. This year, it’s a leaking woodstove flashing (fixed – and the painting of the ceiling to go with it – not fixed), window frames needing to be painted (again – pending) and then the vehicles landed on my radar. They haven’t seen a good detailing in well,.. ever in the case of the truck and the car probably hasn’t seen a comprehensive detailing since 2008.

Yeah, I’m not proud of that. When the August long weekend hit, we started cleaning and cleaning and… uh oh. Rust. We went from prepping and painting a few spots to some fairly major repair and painting.  This is what we (former) business analysts call “scope creep”.

Great.  Spraying base and clear.  I’ve done this before.  Last time (2007), it was a 1999 CBR 600.  I’ll post that “throwback” post one day soon.  Yeah, I haven’t sprayed automotive paint in 9 years – I did do some major bodywork on a truck since then but I rolled that paint instead of doing it with a paint gun.

Speaking of rusty things – I am as well and my body sure has a lot more to say about it this time around.

I also swore that time that I’d never spray clear again.  Awesome. 😉

Since I’m going to be shooting clear anyway, I thought I’d try to do the touch-ups, and wet sand the sags in the paint on the “Wee One” and give her a final coat of clear too. If it doesn’t work – well, she was going to be repainted anyway.

Continue reading Finish what you started – cars and sewing machines

Learning how to fly with a broken wing – Taking care of myself after the damage is done

A personal diary/ accountability type of post today folks.

Please note: there are a lot of links in this post but none are affiliate links. They are all informational and to support what I’m saying in the post

For years, I’ve dealt with food allergies and gaining or having difficulty losing weight. It never got out of hand but I could feel how the extra weight made sports harder and I was a lot more tired than I should be after relatively little exercise. And getting the energy up TO exercise? Yeah, that becomes a vicious circle. Add to this a couple of compressed disks in my back and it’s a recipe for a sedentary lifestyle.

Lately even lifting a vintage sewing machine has become cumbersome. Continue reading Learning how to fly with a broken wing – Taking care of myself after the damage is done

Throwback Thursday – Project F-250 Revamp

Here’s my version of “Throwback Thursday” 😉 This is a post I made back in 2009 when I was still in charge of BanditAlley, as a blog post there. Recording it here on AA for posterity.

Seeing that I can do this, you’d think I could polish up a sewing machine like nobody’s business, wouldn’t you? Not so. Though a lot of the process is the same, I just can’t seem to bring up the shine on a sewing machine the way this truck finally shone. It’s probably because I can’t use a power polisher on the machine like I can with a car or a bike.

The victim: A 2000 Ford F-250 Diesel. Previously dark green in color, but likely painted when it was recovered as a roll-over in the first year of its life. Continue reading Throwback Thursday – Project F-250 Revamp

Been a Long time – a new quilting studio!

For the last several weeks, I’ve been virtually absent from both any sewing projects and the Internet.  Other than answering urgent emails and the occasional post on the QB, I just haven’t been dedicating the time.

Why?  I decided to reorganize the basement.  Previously, it was a dumping ground for everything we didn’t want to look at anymore, but didn’t have time to get rid of.  There were 15 years of company and personal financials down there.  There were 16 parts sewing machines, 9 sewing cabinets, our old TV, actually, our last 2 tvs, and all manner of other things.  In addition to this, the webserver that serves archaicarcane.com to you lives down there, as does my very neglected wet darkroom.  All of it had to be put in order, and fast.

Why?  As some of you know, I created a space crisis in the house.

How?  I traded up.  No, not Ryan.  😉

I sold the Juki and frame and put that money toward a brand new …. Kangaroo! Continue reading Been a Long time – a new quilting studio!

Into the Labyrinth – quilt top is complete

This marks a real milestone for me.  A quilt I planned from the beginning.   One that needed to be a particular dimension, and had a destination from the outset.

Probably 9 months ago I said I wouldn’t make another quilt “as big” as the out of control lap quilt I did around Christmas last year.  Looking back, I think it’s because I didn’t love the quilt.  I don’t think I even liked it to be honest.  I found the piecing tedious and fiddly.  I found the repetition “offensive” to my eyes and mind.

I still don’t love it, but it is true when “they” say that quilting makes it a different quilt. I do enjoy the “homeyness” of the FMQ that I did on it, now that it’s washed.

My cousin, Jo said that we’d have to get me piecing, but I was happy just quilting on the frame.  I just kept thinking back to my “first quilt” and couldn’t get interested in that experience again.  Of course eventually it happened – I ran out of things to quilt.  Now what?  Continue reading Into the Labyrinth – quilt top is complete

Is there life out there?

I found this post yesterday while going through my drafts.  It’s about 4 months old, but I thought it still worth posting.  🙂  Today, the garden’s a disaster area – the rhubarb overtook everything, the zucchinis may have routed it finally, the tomatoes are enormous, the peppers are hot as h… well you know, and our Oregamint* is going like gangbusters.

*Oregamint.  What happens when you plant Oregano and mint too close together.  It seems that they might be cross breading, because some days I can’t tell which one I’ve picked.  Makes for some weird Mojitos and spaghetti both.  Works fine in salads though…

May 5, 2013

Yes!! Finally, yes.  Winter hopefully has taken its last kick at us, with the 4 – 6″ of snow we got on Monday (Ryan was driving in a whiteout while the radio stations were reporting “light flurries”), I’m officially so done with Winter, I may up and move if I see any more flurries in the next 6 months.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for tenacity, but I think it’s time for spring.

What better way to show that spring has arrived, and “life” is out there, than spotting these in the garden?

Continue reading Is there life out there?