My Forays into Fiber and other Geeky News

Don't know how it feels; to be thick as a brick

2011-12-25T13:39:00.004-05:00

My gods, it's been a full year since the last posting and
I have no idea why I still keep this active.
Let's just say that I need to toss out some at length writing
to remind me that I still occasionally write.

This year's tree... 2011

Earlier this evening, found an almost dead
cat on the road. Of course I had to stop
take her off the street.

Another victim of the road...
she rests near my outdoor altar.

That's not how the day should have gone.
but it's almost a wistful wheeze ending of the year,
less than a whimper, a petering-out.

It's been a roller coaster, a year long slog through
the dark side of my soul.

Now, at the ending, I rejoice that

Morgan LeChat
The Empress of the Known Universe,
Queen of the depths beyond ,
and Protector of the Outer-Realm

Herself when she was feasting on lizards
at her winter home in Florida (98-2000)

Is now up to her all time high weight
since she got sick over the summer.

Weighed 6 LBS 3 Oz 8/27/2011
Weighed 8 LBS 13 OZ 12/25/2011

I have successfully knit a toddler sweater
for my Grand-Niece

and another year has gone by....

I still am in love with my wife, Harriet
and I still have the same job I started the year with.

I still drive the same car..

That's life in the north country.. slow
enduring.

The silver cord lies on the ground...

2010-12-19T09:55:00.011-05:00

Greetings from the North-Country;

It's been far too long, and it's December already.

The garden has gone from this

To this....

While inside we have
decorated the tree..

A FO and a project that I have on the needles.

The hat is to be gifted, the socks are MINE ;-)
The hat is out of Bartlett hand spun
that I received as two huge balls of roving.

I spun it about a year or so ago and got 280 +/- yards
out of one of the balls.

It languished in "I dunno what to do with it.."
and it finally became a hat.

Let's take a look out the back, up the valley.

This was in November.

Now we have this sight of the other day.

You may see the fog that has settled along the water.

As the days grow shorter, remember it's not that
far from dancing the Maypole.....

"When you breathe your last line
Will you make your exit stage left/stage right?
Well, you might decide while there's still time.

You have an angel on your shoulder
But you wear the old god's horns.
And you dance around the maypole
While the vicar makes a toast
To the pagan celebration
And extends an invitation to us all
So he can save us when we fall."

Ian Anderson (c)

"we light the flame and the sun returns"
TMD 1994/Willow Lodge variant

Have a blessed holiday season

Knife in a back and more of the same....

2010-10-06T21:40:00.014-04:00

While out and about at the Southern Adirondacks Fiber Festival at Washington County Fairgrounds

I took a few pictures

Here are the Sisters, the could not bring their goats...

Hoot and a half and all smiles

Bad timing on the part of the vet and the rabies
vacine did take. They were hoping to sell a couple.

Watch out for evil puppets...

Yeah, it's a puppet.. unlike this one

Yes there are two there.....

My Favorite fiber vendor was there

I like the curve here

This year I actually got to feel the prize
winners

Wow!

For what it's worth, all the fleece sold on the first day.

This being the second year, the organizers did something different.
There were more vendors (behind link) this year.

In the first barn.....

Merrrrrinnnnnnoooooo

A last look up midway

Colorful spindles....

I have more pictures but not tonight....

Take all your overgrown infants away somewhere ......

2010-08-25T07:18:00.006-04:00

Wordless

The poster bearer cried...

2010-07-12T11:57:00.017-04:00

I get it, the Linux users all drank the Cool-Aid.

Crossover Pro, Wine will not install any version of

Corel Office aka WordPerfect Office.

For a smack down report of who wins the war

see this link Microsoft Word VS Corel WordPerfect

In short WordPerfect wins the feature war.

but on Linux here in openoffice

"This project is a place holder for Reveal Codes functionality.

It is currently not being worked on."

FAIL!!!!

Corel, I challenge you to open the codes.

Meanwhile, my main box that I sadly still run on
windows xp pro SP3. That I have put spybot on,
have a software and hardware firewall;
Use Firefox to surf the web, have all the bells and
whistles to keep the damn thing secure

picked up AV 2010 a nasty little morphing beast
that usually takes about an hour to clean out..
except my free AVG activated it...

Wiped my boot sector...

Trying recovery console....

Tried UBCD4WIN

Fail...

Last resort, salvage docs, settings and application data

Nuke from orbit aka re-image....

(not from my pc) image file of my own making.

Almost better... You see, I do this for a living
and would much rather out tending the garden

The paper holds their folded faces to the floor.

2010-06-18T09:16:00.014-04:00

I don't know what happened to the last two months, they just disappeared.

Let's get you all caught up. First things first. I HAVE NOTHING on the needles. The knitting mojo left just about the time I got my surgery date.

Let's fix this... like yesterday..
I will be down one arm for most of the summer.
So, goodbye Sirius Rising, Camping,
any heavy lifting and working in the garden.

Even Phaedre is down for the summer minus her wheel...

It's a sad time here..

Okay, the summer started off great with Clermont.

Oodles of fluffy goodness.

Then proceeded to Memorial Day and
Mass Sheep and Wool (Cummington)

Wait a minute, where's the crowd?

Somethings off....

But Dave of Merlintree was there with his
CPW wheels on parade.

All of them beautifully restored.

That's where Phaedre's Wheel is getting repaired.

I ran across the new Kromski there

Simple in execution, lovely in design.
I know it would spin well

But it does not fold. (vid)

One of the simplest things
that I wish I had purchased was this
spindle

Wow...

On the geeky side of the house.

Doc, my print/file/music server died
horribly. I went to boot it up after a circuit
breaker popped and he did not come back on line.

Main 40 gb hard drive may be toast.

Both of my older P3 form
factor boards had bad capacitors
so they would not boot past post.

$40.00 later and a run on the test bench...

Specs

P4M80-M4 $20.00
Socket 478 2.4 Ghz P-4 CPU used $20.00
1 GB Ram Free
2 each 80 GB IDE Drives Free
1 each 60 GB IDE Drive Free
Case & Power supply Free
CD/RW Free
Runs headless XP Pro SP3

I did a major overkill here.

See the dead mobos on the monitor?

Some more eye candy..

Say hi to Emma, H's new toy.

She spins like a dream.

Until next time.

The lunatics are in my hall...

2010-05-05T20:39:00.006-04:00

Remember America's Job Bank?
Something run by public entities?

America's Job Bank

I have not used the site since 2006..

Fast forward....

It's no longer run by public entities
In fact, AJB.ORG as we knew it shut down operations in
2007 due to cuts in the US Department of Labor of the
Bush era, the services were outsourced to something that
looked like a company in the US... Until I had
to troubleshoot at work today...

Behold.... americasjobexchange.com

I called and got someone with an Indian accent.

Okay, I get this, I too was outsourced in 2004 from BOFA
to EDS...

Now here comes the part that should anger every tax paying
American....

America's Job Exchange is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NaviSite,
headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts.

I love the stock photo for ALL of their data-centers

So I back track some more..
A coupla whois etc... and I hit gold...

OrgAbuseName:   NaviSite Abuse Team
OrgAbusePhone:  1-978-682-8300
OrgAbuseEmail:  abuse@navisite.com
1-978-682-3800 NaviSite Inc.
+1 508 552 3300, Fax: +1 508 552 3500

NaviSite India Private Limited.
Vipul Orchid Plaza
Golf Course Road,
Sector 54, Suncity,
Gurgaon 122 002
Haryana, India
Tel: +91 124 3077700
Customer Care Inquiries
Tel: 1-888-264-4662
Media Inquiries
Tel: 1-978-946-8660

Okay, I wonder if the US Department of Labor
or The New York State Department of Labor
knows that it's completely outsourced American jobs
to an Indian Corporation to search American Jobs
offered electronically via the On line Job search method?

Got to keep the loonies on the path.

2010-04-09T18:45:00.010-04:00

I survived April fools day and not having a car for a week.

Yeah, one of the axles decided to loose all the
roller bearings and start vibrating to beat the band.

It's dark, and greasy, but you can see the outer
race and the lack of roller bearings.

I went through/broke exactly 3 1/2" socket drivers
with handles (ratchets for the mechanical among the readers)
doing the job.

So when I don't have a car or am borrowing Harriet's
I tend to walk more. While I was out and about I met this fellow
hanging out on the HQ bldg of SUNY

To give you an idea of the scale of that building
here is a pic that was taken off the web.

Shot from about 350 yards away on the sidewalk,
this building is one of the few publicly
owned castles in the U.S.

There are two more wings to the right and left.

A view of it from the bridge.

Then we can see the post card

It's not changed
much.

In fact, right across the street is the blacksmith's shop

It's not everyday you see what you are missing
by looking up.

Or by walking right up to her.

Taken at St Pauls

Right across the street from
Red Lion Inn

Timothy Leary's dead. No, no, no, no, He's outside looking in.

2010-03-28T11:02:00.006-04:00

I have been on a Moody Blues kick lately so
bear with me.

Let's see what we have been up at the Fort's Ferry house.

First of all the bedroom is finally painted. Except for the inevitable
second coat of paint on the window frames, I can put away the
painting supplies.

A quick look at the latest sundown.

I can never tire of that view.

But as the sun went down on that day, I could also
celebrate the fact that our guests can close a door.

This was the project my Father-in-law
Lester and I had done together out on the deck
with a circular saw.

The interesting thing about working on such an
old house is that nothing is square, and nothing
is standard.

This door had to be cut to fit a doorway 29 inches and 3/8ths
so to have the required 1/8" clearance we had
to take a 30" 3/8ths wide door (told you nothing is square)
down to a 29" and 3/16ths. of an inch

Have you ever cut a 16th of an inch using a saw?
That is the width of a blade, also a fair thickness of a
pencil lead.

Behold, the doorway to possibility.

Also, we have a window to another world

This is one less thing to do and the list is
getting shorter. Yeah us.

Angel on my shoulder but wear the OLD GOD's horns!

2010-03-23T23:40:00.002-04:00

Just because

Thirty years of progress....

Need a hard drive?

Fairies wear boots and you gotta believe me

2010-03-13T09:38:00.007-05:00

I am debating upgrading dopey again

I am currently running Intrepid (8.10)
I don't particularly like the way Ibis
handles the R30 track-pad

There are great instructions here...
from Ubuntu Geek.

I will think about it a little further.

Let's take a closer look of the fiber that I am spinning this month.

I will have lots of Corrie to knit this summer.

BTW, Phaedre is going to the wheel hospital
via Dave's at Clermont and get her back at
Cummington or I can drive from here to there
in 4 hours 20 minutes one way, or I can wait a month
or he can ship.

Watch out, there's this "New Street"
that could be confused with "Old Street"
it's around the post office.....

Cya next week.....

I may make you feel but I can't make you think.

2010-03-07T08:54:00.005-05:00

Revisiting last years post of it's not rocket science.
I forgot to get an action shot of Phaedre in action.

She was being all sorts of balky yesterday on the
wood floor of the Athens Cultural Center
The uprights were bouncing all over the place
and it appears that her wheel has gotten
even more off center than usual. I think I need to
tear her down and straighten her wheel.

but she still works.

I was the only man that was spinning yesterday
it's odd, being literally the "odd" man out in a room
of 30 +/- Women 4 Men and just 2 of us men-folk
actually play with yarn and fiber.

Guys, pick up your pointy sticks!!! We are losing the
race and the skills.

Speaking of skills, on the radar for the last few years
has been this little gem from instructables.com

Low power media server. Parts?
I have two slightly dead laptops
one of which could turn into this...

or this

But, considering were I live and the age of the house
I am leaning toward the second of the two.

after all it's a Victorian era farmhouse

more info on the second project Steampunk workshop

Swimming in a fish bowl, Year after year

2010-03-04T07:15:00.009-05:00

I went to an event discussing blogging last
night, I can say it was excruciatingly long on
time and short of content as most blogs are...

Then there's mine.. I hope.

As you all know out there in the world
I have moved into a lovely old house
with a commanding view of the Mohawk

Harriet found herself at the Town Hall
yesterday with some time to kill
and happened onto the town historian
who gave us the story of our house.

and pictures

It was the "Fort" house as he knew it.

This one may be when they moved in.

This one is probably 10-15 years later.

It's the same woman, or at least
someone related.

She also hung her laundry on a line
under the porch roof.

It's practice that is evidenced in both
these old photos

just zoom on them.

I love a practical woman.

Through the magic of Google Street View
lets look at circa 2006

The first photo dates from around
1870, the second from around 1900
(Pneumatic tyres on the bicycle)

I can just say.. I love this house.

Speaking of pictures.

My shoulder is messed up
I should have not gone skiing
in fact, I should be in pain

About twelve o'clock or due north
from left to right, that tendon should be
all white. As evidenced here, it's not

Torn supra-spinatus.

Not the worse injury in my life
but close.

See you all on the flip side.

Haven't you heard it's a battle of words....

2010-02-23T20:48:00.008-05:00

As I sit here in front of my roaring fire
and there is a snow storm warning .
I want you all to take a quick look around the
house and let you all see what we have been up
to.

A quiet corner of the soon to be fiber studio
is Cara and Nick sitting on the guest couch/fold out futon.

On another side of the room, Phaedre my
wheel sits with brown corriedale that I am
spinning at 40 WPI.

I am having so much fun with this
fiber when I have time to spin.

Because the rest of the house has been eating
my life...

We had friends over to enjoy dinner
in the now finished dining room.

Or the quiet corner of the living room

My latest project

And as always

Knits on my laptop, Dopey, powered
by Ubuntu Hardy Heron.

And if there is no room upon the hill

2010-02-18T07:28:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was my actual birthday.
So I did what I always do..
I went skiing....

at this lovely resort way out
the back and beyond up Delaware County
Road 41 where the head waters of the
Delaware River come from.

Looking down one slope I had the courage
to go down....

Don't tell Harriet but this was a 60-70 degree slope
with a double black diamond rating
(with the 80 degree surprise thrown in
every now and again)

oh the buildings down the bottom are the lodge...
I took this slope by carving s turns from one side
to the other...

At my age (49) it's not how fast you go
but that you make it down in one piece
and that you never go faster than
your legs will let you..

See the reports of of crashes from
the Womens' downhill at the Olympics

Outside link LA TIMES

To prove that there is knitting content

The helmet liner in action

By the cold and religious we were taken in hand.

2010-02-07T09:13:00.005-05:00

I am in a rut,

My last two finished objects are repeats of
things that I had done before.

Example,

This time I fixed the ribbing and closed the face area
better.

and

Ribbed snow hat...

Oy..

I did not even put these two in my ravelry projects.

Today I don't even know what to do except that
the studio needs to cleaned up for guests
and the temp gizmo says 11 degrees out
and I have to stack the rest of the
cord of wood that came yesterday.

Shiess....

at least I have a choice of hats to wear...

for a lead role in a cage?

2010-01-10T09:36:00.005-05:00

Update on the Mystery wheel.

I saw another almost like it with a smaller wheel
when we went to Adirondack fiber festival
last year.

So I know there are more out there.
Even Dave is flummoxed on what
make it is.

So, any takers from the field?

Ideas?

Buhler?

Look at the sky, look at the river, isn't good?

2010-01-09T09:23:00.006-05:00

The longer I live here, the more I love this house.

This morning is glorious, albeit a little on the cool side
with the temp widget showing 13 degrees F or for those
who made the jump to metric -10.5 degrees celsius.
(centigrade)

Looking out of the skylight in the slowly coming together
craft room.

Yet another look out of the upper hallway window

I really don't get tired of the view.

Which reminds me, I did actually knit in December

FO Hat for Foster Child, Boy Aged 10
Ribbed Snow Hat.

It came together so fast, that I decided to
knit another for myself.

Simply because, I don't have hair now.

Yeah, It's gone.... 3 years in the growing.
Oh, the scarf?

Harriet knit that for me a buncha years ago
and it's still one of my favorites.

For what it's worth, the girls
won't get out of bed.

Did you exchange a walk on part in the war.....

2009-12-23T20:34:00.004-05:00

I was thinking
Last year at this time I was just done knitting this...

Helmet liner

It was not entirely a failure, but close ...

I need to lay in a whole buncha cascade 220
so I can knit for this situation

which looks a lot like here

Have a great yule....

Did they get you to trade your heros for ghosts?

2009-12-18T23:49:00.005-05:00

Philco PC from Dave Schultze on Vimeo.

I so want this just because

Flat screen it and do it via

steampunkworkshop.com

And they taught me how not to play the game.

2009-12-13T09:48:00.008-05:00

Hey now, it's been ages. Yes there's our house,
the view is one of the reasons I love living here.

The view up the valley from the bedroom
after the 6-8 inch snow fall that we got here in the
great north country.

I have been knitting up a storm and have a finished
object to show for it.

Luscious Lace Scarf by Knitting Pixie

Here it is being blocked out

Here it is close up.

I spun, plied and knit this yarn.
100% Merino, Dyed by Seekay

We also also are filling a wish list for another foster
kid this year... I have less than a week to finish a hat
and mittens. Harriet is doing the scarf this year.

Have you listened to what I said ?

2009-11-13T18:17:00.002-05:00

ECF (Eye Candy Friday)

The view from my bedroom window.

Looking west to the Mohawk River at sundown.
This does not suck.

Meanwhile back in the year One --- when you belonged to no-one ---

2009-10-22T00:16:00.003-04:00

Yes, the ancient addiction returns..
Before WOW there was
Barren Realms Elite!!!

Sometimes older is better...

Speaking of "Older"......

Can we say "Gopher"?
Knew you could....

An echo of a distant time, Comes willowing across the sand

2009-10-03T09:10:00.006-04:00

Oh, our run was extended until October 8th
come down to Cohoes to Beauknits
to see our stuff.....

Notso glare filled now with the October overcast....

I am still so jazzed that Barb thought we were worthy...

And the words they say, Which we wont understand

2009-09-29T07:51:00.004-04:00

One final note before the month is over (doubtful I'll get to post tomorrow)
Harriet and I were chosen to be "Fiber Artists of the Month" for the month of September..
at Beauknits in Cohoes

Yeah I know, I am a little late for the party.. but there were lots of things going on
including finishing my RED Irish Hiking Scarf.

But here are two window shots.

Sorry, taken when glare was at it's worst!

BTW, there is an offer to buy Harriet's green hand-spun that's on the right side of the pic..

Cool...

Far away, across the fields

2009-09-19T10:04:00.006-04:00

Oh a Two-fer, you say

Some projects I am working on.

Luscious Lace Scarf

Which started life like this

and now now looks like this...

A completely unintended color pattern
that's working it's way across the vertical
pattern....

I mean just look at it!!!

I am liking the result...

Oh I finally turned the heals of those damned socks

They became "those damned socks" sometime
in the second month of working on them...

Why did no-one tell me that zero size needles take
forever!!!!????

When at last the work is done....

2009-09-19T09:17:00.012-04:00

I have been a very bad blogger. I have dropped down to two posts
or less during the summer.
I have not been resting, I have been busy.. First up..
We ventured (my wife Harriet and I) out to Altamont Fair
and made a bee line to the sheep shed.

While we were there, I got to photograph some
ribbon winning crafts and a spinning competition.

Spinning with a spindle

I have to say, I STILL can't
spin with a spindle.. maybe I don't have the touch
for it..

But we can't leave the fairgrounds
until we meet up with friends
and get some FAIR FOOD...

Deadly to Harriet, FRIED DOUGH
oooh look at that sugary glutenous mass!!!

I also have to look up to the Heldebergs..

Did I forget to mention, the fair always falls on
the HOTTEST days of the year?

No matter... the next day we got to
hang out at my Sister In Law Susan's house...

The Twins were there...

The soon to be Harvard Grad Allison and I

The soon to be Vassar grad Matt...

We don't get to see those two often enough!

The Blogless Father In Law, Lester..
with Claire

It was a great weekend.

Stay tuned, next post for Knitting content.

But only if you'll ride the tide

2009-08-22T09:41:00.005-04:00

The second post of August. I had best show you all what's on the needles, yes?
Lets start with the newest project first. Around the beginning of June,
I finished a few things.

This for instance

I had to go hunting for a pattern so it lay dormant

The roving, merino of course,
was from Carolyn of SeeKay Crafts
I just loved spinning it.

So much later I found a pattern
and cast on

Now it looks like this......

Carolyn, thanks for your colorway of "Spring Green"
this is what it looks like knitted.

Another thing on the needles since June
is this pair of simple socks.

Which are cleverly stashed in a "Harley Flames"
box knitting bag by JessaLu Stitches.

Yes, real men, knit, spin and carry project bags.

And the red scarf is still coming along, I was
hoping to have the first one done by Sept 1st..

Not happening...

Btw, get out there and hike the trails these last
few weekends of summer, but with this
study, be prepared to go in circles

August, Die she must....

2009-08-10T07:48:00.000-04:00

I don't know what happened here, turn my back and
July is out the window. Summer is coming to an end
in the North-Country and I want to deny it. Even today,
Nature is giving it her best at a forecast high today of 91
degrees F (33 c)

Meanwhile, that cranky old laptop of mine has again given up
the ghost. The charging light would not come on even
with the power tip being wiggled.

You may have seen it before, here, acting as a background for
some of my knitting.

So out came the implements of
destruction.
Screwdriver, reading glasses,
soldering iron
solder and a flat surface.....

Through the magic of the internet, we will speed an
half an hour by. We are left with this....

You can barely see
the red circle around
the part I had to solder
to make the laptop
come back to life.

I had previously replaced the power socket so
I just hoped solder would fix the problem
......
It did.

Meanwhile, I cast on Luscious Lace Scarf by Knitting Pixie
I promise pics will follow, as soon I can get past the
idea of actually knitting two together through the
back of the stitch.

Computer Mechanic

Home, home again, I like to be here when I can.

2009-07-21T07:30:00.001-04:00

Yeah, I vacated. "Vacation" such a mis-understood word. For me it was a retreat. Off went the cell phone, out came the spinning.

I spent my time here

I have finished the Shetland!!!

Sorry for the slight blur, I inherited my wife's craptastic camera ;-)

I have a better pic below.

But before I went out to the wilds of western NY,
I spent some time poolside with my father in-law

Picking up a dropped stitch on that red scarf (Irish Hiking) I am making for the Red Scarf project.

Yeah, Live stitches
to the right .

Dropped stitch on the Purl before the cable.

However, as evidenced by this piccie
you would never know it happened.

But wait, that's not all.

Before the Shetland, there was the Icelandic that I have
given away to someone who actually likes the stuff.

I hated spinning this, it felt (no pun wanted) like spinning Brillo!!!
Right now, I am spinning pure black merino from spinner's hill

What a pleasure......

One more photo from the bonfire.

Where do I start?

2009-06-30T21:30:00.001-04:00

I made it to the HUDSON RIVER STITCH and Spin over the weekend, sufficed to say,
TU FIBER BLOG and ROWSRED (she who organized it) covered it better than I.

However I spun full tilt boogie on Phaedre

I still feel that I have got nowhere as the fiber I am spinning is
40 WPI!!!!! Not quite gossamer but getting damned close.

I did get a chance to drag my previous fiber out into the light
540 yards +/- ~ of Spring Green colorway by SEEKAY
Merino goodness..

I already have a pattern, she who spins is getting
another lovely scarf, lace of course.

Oh, one more thing.........

My workplace has something vaguely related to fiber.

As in the former business........

HUYCK FELT Co after a few mergers and sales (research paper here SAGE COLLEGE)

I've always sorta known I'd wind up in a fiber mill...
My first job was refinishing Wire Stitchers

and a stitch is a stitch......

Time for more projects.

2009-06-19T23:31:00.000-04:00

You all know about the next set of socks that
I cast on, right?

Knit Picks tweed essential
I love the feel of this yarn on my hands
I can't wait until they get on my feet.

and I am spinning this....

CORRECTION it's shetland,

This came from http://www.missbabs.com/

Finally I cast this on this afternoon...

It's a charity project for the RED SCARF project
Pattern is here

This is for aged out foster children who are in college
or vocational school to give them a red scarf for
Valentine's day and to show support that, yes
there is someone who cares......

Troy Night Life

2009-06-17T22:21:00.001-04:00

For what it's worth, there ain't much unless you drink.
Even then, most of those places are hardcore dives.

Yet, there is one place that can be counted on
time and time again.....

Yeah, I am a sucker for the "Upstate Soft cone" the $2.00
treat that kept us going and driving from one stand to another
when were utterly broke when we arrived here.
Yeah, Corner Ice Cream is still the best Followed closely
by Jumpin' Jacks

Snow Man sadly is not in the running.. but still places in the top 20

This place is located on 5th Ave in the 'Burg, open 'til 10:00

Yes, it's been too long or WTF it's JUNE???

2009-06-14T11:54:00.001-04:00

Okay, you got me, since I last posted, I finished this

Merino from SeeKay Colorway "Spring Green"

I loved working with her fiber.

Took you to work to see what my desk really looks

like.

and rode my bike to Lock 2 of the Erie canal

(There is NO lock 1!)

I also went to the Woolgathering at Thatcher Park

I am short of words this month because I have been

relatively silent and more contemplative as of late.

I have been spinning more and knitting less

I have become enamored with Corriedale roving

and seem to purchase it every chance I get.

Lyman's Sleighbell Farm 4oz $5.oo

A nice brown that I am going to blend

with another bit of the Cory Cross that is from

Tina to see what happens.

That's all for now, as I said, summer is close

and I become word-less.

Until next time.

Computermechanic.

Surfing the Interwebs Locally

2009-05-27T07:56:00.000-04:00

Just to let you know, I survived Cummington. I again could not get the Hitchhiker wheel to work for me. Dave of Merlin Tree , thanks for your patience.

I started surfing the net this morning with thoughts of Cummington and how Daniel took to weaving. So off I went to Eastside Weavers I got the info on the item that I was interested in, but on that page I saw that they had joined an alliance with Fulton St Gallery here in Troy, so off I went. On that page there was a link to a local Arts blog Get Visual so I landed there.

On that page there was a review of an exhibit at the TANG teaching museum in Saratoga

With me so far?

What does this have to do with fiber?

Trust me it's geeky.

Because on this page There is this item.....

That's Knitted!

That's all for today

Finally.....

2009-05-22T22:30:00.000-04:00

Those socks are done.

From the start as fiber that I got as a Christmas 2008 grab bag.

I spun the fiber into yarn from Dec 26th 2008 to Approximately March 22 2009.

I plied the yarn from March 22 ~ March 24th.

I cast on Approximately April 7th

I bound off tonight 5/22/2009

No wonder it felt as if I was knitting these
an eternity ... I had my hands on them for about
six months in one form or another.

Now I know why people in the OLD days
only had two or three pair of socks
at a time.

They took forever to make.

The Army Uses Linux

2009-05-12T08:17:00.000-04:00

Story here at the NY Times

Sunday sock update.

2009-04-19T19:10:00.000-04:00

Hi folks, while Harriet is playing with henna at Tina's
I was tasked with going to the bank, and then a
trip east to the super secret road side spring.

Well, it's an open secret, as I first heard of this
spring when I was living in Schenectady.

In fact one winter we saw it briefly, when Harriet and
I were out driving. It took us an additional 7 years
to find it again. We KNEW it was east of Troy
some where but could not find it until earlier
this spring (pardon the pun).

Since then, to save money on bottled water
we will refill our own bottles.

All I will say is that the spring is roadside on a
north-south road between NY 2 and US 20

There are your clues, go forth and find it.

Meanwhile, those socks are progressing.

Socks at work.

Socks outdoors

Get ready for your close-up

I am digging these socks.

Mystery Wheel

2009-04-13T07:17:00.001-04:00

Over the weekend, My wife Harriet and I hit an
estate sale because we saw
"LARGE ESTATE SALE (GLENMONT)"
in the local edition of Craigslist.

What really intrigued us was this snippet from the ad
"NEW SMALL SPINNING WHEEL"
To us, small means an Ashford not a great wheel

What we found was

Marked at $125.00

This made me
want to pass..

Except this was
day TWO of the
sale and everything
was......

HALF-PRICE...... This was worth $62.50 even if
it did not work just for parts...

I does not have a makers mark however

BTW it does spin...

See this image ..

I added that purple leader and I spun that last
night. Oh yeah it's a double drive that seems
to have leather bearings and a solid flyer / whorl
combo.

Detail here....

Maddening I say, he who is used
to the Ashford set up.

I think it's from the mid-sixties
as a kit-decorative wheel as
the mains are affixed to the platen
via square head 1/4" 20's nuts.

And the legs
have thread heads
for screwing into
the platen.

Lower right
in the detail shot

I happen to know for the most part,
square head nuts disappeared from the
consumer market circa 1967 for
the preference of hex head.

They are still available but
but not in general usage.

Okay, What I need from you,
is a possible ID on this wheel

More photos below

The orifice...

The mother of all adjuster / tensioner

Under side of the mother of all...

I have more pics if needed, but I need help in ID

Thanks

ComputerMechanic

Dobby is stuck on socks

2009-04-08T16:30:00.000-04:00

No URLs to get off track on, just a quick one before I go away.
For Tina I have a clearer pic of what I spun up

AND the project in the making....

I am so gonna like these, I like the feel of the yarn along
with the way it's knitting up quickly.

I am going south this weekend to do the Pesach thing
with Harriet's sister Susan and the whole family.

Happy whatever spring celebration seems appropriate.

ComputerMechanic

"Socks are Dobby's favorite, favorite clothes, sir!"

2009-04-06T14:49:00.000-04:00

Dobby has a new pair of them... Finally
I have been working on these since January.

Above is the first part of the toe up construction.
I used the "forward" wrap method which requires
you to make the cast on by knitting it...
It only makes sense when you do it. Trust me
it's brain bleeding..

The toes had an increase of a two stitches every row until I had 44 sts
a round.

Later on, when I had progressed beyond that point
I truly felt as if I had a real sock in the making.

Then I hit the heal.... and the "rip and repeat" learning curve.
It was NOT a fun time.. when you had to really learn
short row heal and screw it up time and again.

But last night, finally, after 3 months of these living in my knitting bag,
they are done.

I so am stoked that I actually did these.

BTW,

That FUGLY blue yarn mentioned here has gone
to stash camp in the basement along with
a few of the other "not stash" yarns.

On a geeky note, I got to play with a toy

ACER has a better one but this was TOO cute....
Down side of the Dell
512 MG Ram 16 GB Flash drive
Flat Chicklet keyboard
Approx $469.00 retail...

If you folks get the chance, buy the Acer, it's the better of the two.

Okay, I am drooling.

2009-03-27T15:55:00.000-04:00

Too bad it's only about $50,000.00 after Federal Rebate
because it's electric This announcement
err news story over at Information week gave me
pause. Simply put I have been following Tesla Motors
since it's IPO and fundraising state from way back when.

"The basic version of the Model S is expected
to go from zero to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds.
Tesla has a production goal of 20,000 units per
year and plans to offer three battery options.
The entry-level auto will have a battery
capable of a 160-mile range. The other options
will have a 230-mile range and a 300-mile range."

Faster Pussycat KILL! KILL!

Drool more over here

The only sad thing is that the heavy duty throaty
rumble of big block something is going away bit by bit.

More Stash enhancement

2009-03-25T18:38:00.000-04:00

I finished spinning some roving that Tina gave to me.

The source/sheep is unknown, but
seems to be tough enough to be sock yarn.

The colors are richer than above, and the
yarn is wet.

Would you folks believe that I have only been
spinning since last June?

Can't wait until I can figure out what I have
in yards....

Hmmm

Folks on ravelry can see the stash details here.

One last piccie in the infant stage before I
plied it.

Stash enhancement

2009-03-16T15:52:00.000-04:00

On March 8th this year, there was this fiber thing that my friend Tina put together
called "Stir Crazy Stitch and Spin" down in Hudson NY. It was held at the Hudson Opera House

What's this got to do with stash enhancement? You say....

Tina had door prizes I won this lovely purple bit of fiber from
Jessica
Also, seekay was there with this bit of Merino I could not pass up.

Yes, I believe that I can spin this
now.

Wadda ya think T?

Two Pictures No Text

2009-03-12T08:17:00.000-04:00

Apple shrunk my kid

2009-03-11T23:03:00.000-04:00

READ HERE It does not come with a headphone adapter?

Yeah that's the shuffle, the annoying kid brother of the IPOD line. They make it smaller so it's easier to break and easier to lose.

Even more, Special $30.00 head phones. I will give this one a pass.

I don't like the previous designs. So why Apple, Why?

Okay, it's geeky..

2009-03-04T13:44:00.000-05:00

I was given a late birthday gift over the weekend
by a non-knitter, my friend Flame.

Just what I want to do, knit in the dark. NOT

Okay, good idea, but obviously
she is overconfident in my knitting ability.
I don't think I can knit in the dark...
not yet.

Speaking of which, I am still trying to come up
with a pattern for that damned bulky STICKY
hand spun that I mentioned here .

I cast on 80 stitches on 10.5 circs
in hopes of a hat.

NO, bad gauge, bad gauge.

Looked like a hat for an ogre, Remind me again why I knit?

Out it came, all of it frogged back to much amusement of the cat.

I started this blog in hopes of getting input into my creative process and
maybe create a small circle of friends.

Meanwhile on the tech horizon, I am reminded of what I get to deal with most days
when I walk into work.

It's broken, they want it fixed now. Today it's email being down.
Also a pc that needed to be "rolled back" so it could boot.

Ah, this is why I knit. To work with my heart and hands, and maybe my wife Harriet will get something out of that hand spun sometime before summer.

Hats and other wierdness.

2009-02-25T08:03:00.000-05:00

I confess, I have been knitting less than six months and have only been spinning since July '08.

I go to a Friday knit night here ; http://www.beauknitsltd.com/ Beauknits

They have NOT seen my halting 20 stitch cast on practice project that I ripped out because it's "only knitting" They have only seen me do this :

Which I was crazy enough to do twice.

Pattern available here. Hat for a Boyfriend

I admit, the Plymouth Yarn Boku
was damned fiddly and kept splitting when I was knitting it.

and they saw me work on this;

Pattern here Helmet Liner

So it's weird being the only male to show up Friday's (until recently) and being taken for an experienced knitter.

If they only knew ;-)

If they only knew when I get trusted to look at screwed up knitting and see where the mistakes where. I was most honored when I was asked for a second opinion.

I love the fact that I was accepted into this circle; also I am NOT AFRAID to take on new projects.

It's blue and bulky.

2009-02-24T19:38:00.000-05:00

Now what to do with it? I have a few ideas but nothing that screams at me YOU MUST.

Let's backtrack a little, I was gifted this roving during the summer. I have the darkish red cousin to it still in the bag. It spun up slubby when I plied it. So it's really not uniform

I want to do something for me that is not going to look like ass.

Example ;

Yes I said it; Heresy you say... The Jayne hat will look like ASS on me.

Here is what I have to work with 250 +/- yards bulky.

I want a hat that's going to be for me and fit my head and style.

Suggestions?

Okay it's not rocket science

2009-02-23T23:25:00.000-05:00

It's spinning on an Ashford Traditional circa mid 1970's with the 3 ratio flyer mod along with a "springy" drive band mod.

Example of genre to my left.

It's far from rocket science as one could get.

I mean it's wood and leather and metal.

I am trying to spin fiber for socks that I will be knitting.

Example of fiber;

So add that to my skill set besides fixing bloody windows boxes.

I like this yarn and hope it does work out for soxes..

Stay tuned for 250 +/- yards of Blue Super Bulky tomorrow

Just what we needed, another fiber blog.

2009-02-23T16:34:00.000-05:00

I have a quick 25 minutes before I leave for the day.

Yes, another fiber blog but with a twist. There will be geeky news.

Odd references to TV shows and my occasional OMG I can't believe he's KNITTING that.. etc.

Also expect me to wax poetic about turning fleece into yarn.