Cotton on the Minstrel

I have been wanting to try this experiment for some time, but a couple of wool projects kept the Minstrel occupied. My old spinning wheel (a Louët S10) is a "slow" wheel, i.e., the ratio between the whorls is on the low side (1:5.5-1:7.5). Since cotton requires a lot of twist, it really needs to be spun with a higher ratio and very light tension. The Minstrel allows for four ratios, and from what I'd read, 1:12 was the general recommendation. That meant changing from the standard whorl to the high-speed whorl, and I wasn't sure I could effect that with a cotton drive belt using double-drive. I really didn't want to have to change drive belts (that's a major operation!), but a quick test between skeins of wool showed that it wasn't necessary. After finishing up the "Charm" project (a blue slubby wool), I decided to give cotton a try. My first attempt (above) is a little irregular, but not so much as will matter once it's plied. I found that with punis (mini rolags), using a very short forward draw works better for me than long draw. The advantage to being able to spin cotton on a "standard" spinning wheel (as opposed to a charkha/tahklis) is that I can load the bobbin with a significantly greater length of finished thread...enough, in fact, that I'll be able to use it for weaving.

Confetti Yarn

I began spinning this "confetti" yarn from an 8-ounce bag on May 26. I was so taken with the end result that I eventually ordered a total of 28 ounces, more than enough to make myself a sweater. The photo really doesn't do it justice. The base wool is a pale warm grey, sprinkled with thousands of variously coloured viscose nepps. The last two skeins finished drying yesterday, and I've already knitted a test swatch (between 9 and 10 o'clock in the photo) to determine gauge. On size 6 needles, the yarn is perfect to use with my favourite raglan pattern, fitting the stated gauge exactly. This isn't the only spinning I've done since that date. I've also turned out a skein of magenta wool for the Fair, a skein of "lilac haze" wool and several other smaller projects. I've really just been spinning my wheels for the last month and a half.

A Zuke!

To put this into perspective, I have to admit that my success rate for growing anything edible (at least in the line of what one normally considers "garden vegetables") has been appallingly bad. I have failed Radishes repeatedly. I got an F in Zucchini. I scored a fat zero in Green Beans. I was lousy at Lettuce, poor at Peas, crappy at Cucumbers and Corn, tragic at Tomatoes with a couple of exceptional years. Therefore, this zuke is worth celebrating. It's one of two developing on a plant which is still quite young. Not only that, I've been enjoying kale as microgreens as I thin it out, and have discovered that it's not as nasty as I remembered. I don't want to sour my luck, but I think I may actually have some gardening success this year.

Tragopogon Dubius, Salsify

Yellow Salsify (Tragopogon dubius) is also known as Oyster Plant (for the taste of its edible root) or Goat's-beard. The latter annoys me because it is also applied to a native shrub, Aruncus dioicus, totally unrelated beyond being vegetative. Salsify is an introduced (but not invasive) species and I first saw it growing in the disturbed soils of southwestern Washington prairies where it quickly found a special niche in my heart. The yellow flowers are only open early in the day, giving way to 3-4 inch diameter seed heads resembling enormous dandelion clocks. While walking on the Yelm Prairie Line Trail yesterday, I saw several fully open, but I had left my camera in the car. By the time I was able to return to the site with it, the flowers had already begun to close.

Mushrooms A La LEGO

Last week, a mysterious package arrived on my doorstep. The return address gave me a clue, and I hoped to find a gift card inside, but when I opened the box, there was nothing to indicate who the benefactor might have been. I had a couple of ideas, one of which dominated the list of possibilities, but I wasn't 100% certain, and I didn't want to thank the wrong person based on an assumption. After posting an inquiry on Facebook, the person came forward in a private message and asked to remain anonymous. Respecting that, I promised to post a photo when I had finished building the kit.

Now, y'see, I love LEGOs. I haven't built many kits...two before this, to be precise (Doctor Who and a cute little ranger cabin)...but I have been impressed by the quality of LEGO products. I've never been missing a piece. In fact, there have always been a couple of "spare" pieces which I had to assure myself weren't remaining because I'd missed a step in the assembly. In this case, there was no question with respect to one spare part: I got two ladybugs instead of one! The instructions placed one on the stump. I put the other one on one of the Amanitas, red on red camouflage. This was certainly the most complex kit I've built (806 pieces), divided into seven bags which I carefully rationed out over the week. I only had to backtrack twice, and both of those were minor errors and easy to fix. LEGO provides the clearest instructions I have ever seen in a product. So, let me say "thank you" again to the Junuary Faerie who brightened my day/week with this delightful exercise in patience!

Gotcha Day

Two years ago today, I brought home a little "teacup cat" whose feet and ears seemed disproportionately large for his body. I knew from those indicators that he was going to be a big boy when he grew up, but I never expected him to weigh more than 12 pounds, and certainly not 17.4! By anybody's standards, that's a lot of cat. And it's impressive when at high speed, it tackles you around the knees from behind. Very much still a kitten with regards to his behaviour, he loves to play (especially with me), and he's full of mischief and curiosity, opening cupboards to look for food, following me everywhere I go and supervising whatever I'm doing. As important as his birthday, Merry's "Gotcha Day" is cause for celebration.

Silene Latifolia

Among my finds yesterday were a geocache in bad need of TLC (which I provided), a trail I had never been on before, and Silene latifolia (White Campion), an introduced species which nonetheless occupies a soft place in my heart. Why? I don't really know, except that it was one of the first plants I learned to identify. As for the trail, I only went up it far enough to find the geocache because I was actually on my way home, cold and tired following a caching CITO event, and because from that point on, the track began climbing Osborne Mountain on a sharp incline I didn't feel up to tackling. It was on my way back that I found the Silene, its slender, long leaves telling me "latifolia." I like it when the Latin is informative. All in all, I'd say it was a nicely productive day, and the Osborne Mountain trail and I will have to have another discussion in the future.