The Bicycle Felting Machine

I've been on a 'use it up' kick for some time now. I am far too often sucked into 'retail therapy' and I've been trying in the last few years to stem the tide. I revist my stash regularly to remind myself of the beautifl fabric, fibre, yarn and notions I already posess. The other effort here is to free up space for more new to me fibre, fabric and notions. I've got a plan to go to the Olds Alberta fibre fest next year. I decided i couldn't go this year because I still have an entire fleece untouched from last time. Well, lets be honest, a fleece and a half a kid mohair fleece.

Now, on the upside I turned some decade old handspun Manx Loughtan yan into a lovely warm cardigan. I've created a sheet of fabric using a friends knitting machine that used hardly any yarn. There's the rub, I've made very little headway into the fibre stash. Hence, the bicycle felting machine. So far results are mixed. That has to do with the learning curve I'm sure. Also, the fibre I'm attempting to felt is a lucious Romney with lovely open locks, not the best for felting. I think with work it will result in a lofty soft felt. Chris' idea was to use it as a quilting bat. Extrapolating that I may try to cut it into pieces and quilt it to a cotton backing for a fibre stylin' jacket.

Stay tuned for photos.

Dragon Hunters

It's a cartoon from someone who has done a LOT of hallucinigens. The coolest part is that teh top heavy male hearo figure is obsessed with kntting. You see his mom taught him just before she was sizzled by the world gobbler dragon. Furthermore, he is highly invested in the idea of a farm, with sheep for the wool. The hero Lian Chu is voiced by Forest Whittaker. The dog,Hector, has to be my favourite character. Somehow he 'spits' fire, although not from his mouth...If you like works of teh imagination, check it out from your local video store.

June the Unbroken Promise

June is my favourite month. All the promises of summer remain as yet unfulfilled and unbroken. The days get longer, not shorter. There are still new things popping up in the garden, not dying off. All thats good and great about summer is still anticipated, not over. It is a time of starting, not ending. And yet, you are still in summer, it is all around you happening. I just love that. Once we pass the equinox I start getting just a little sad because I know that for the next 6 months the days are only going to get shorter until that ultimate dark, drear day in December when it turns around again.

Sliding downhill into Winter we are now.

Tandem

My beautiful bike friday was actually my second choice. My first choice was a tandem for me and my sweetie. Unfortunately, when we found some tandem's to try out we discovered that our riding styles were incompatible. I'd be pumping from the back yelling; "faster faster!" and Chris would be putting on the brakes. I still dream about having a tandem, but must work on Chris first so that we can both enjoy it, or the tandem won't get on the road. Sigh. If you are interested in tandem's check out Co-motion Cycles, they had our favourite tandem that we test rode.

Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival

What a great weekend. The tickets had to be bought in December they are so popular. For good reason. We forgot the camera, so no photos will ever show up. The best part was that we took a crash dance lesson and had a great time at the dance on Saturday night. Of all the bands Spring Creek was my fav. The 'killing song' of Caleb Mayer raises goose bumps. They also have an amazing website. http://www.springcreekbluegrassband.com/ Bluegrass. Who knew?

Lost Dogs

On our walk today we acquired another dog. A lovely black lab husky cross was running accross the road and was interested enough in our dogs that I was able to get him on a lead. He walked with us for the whole millenium trail and is waiting in my backyard for his people to call. He is such a sweet dog, nice to the cats, puppies and people he met on our walk. He is even nuetered. I really hope his people call.... Strange that he has a collar but no dog licence or id tag. Sigh.

June buggin

The garden is amazing! I was rather upset to discover that around 7 of my 12 asiatic lily bulbs were eaten by rodents over the winter. The past winter was so cold that the cats hardly went outside at all. Hence, rodentia ate my plants!

On a positive note I fashioned a 'water feature' out of an old garbage can, a piece of galvenized chain and a length of copper pipe. All left overs from our lives here in Whitehorse. the garbage can was made redundant by the city's institution of a new curbside program that includes municpal compost bins and garbage bins that can only be picked up by a special lift on the garbage truck. The galvanized chain was one of Chris' aquisitions, which he asserts had a use at the time. The copper pipe was left over from the plumbing of our bathroom 5 years ago. I nabbed a piece of papyrus from the pond at work, which if the cats stop eating might reach a decent size. We did have to buy a pump.

Photos, as always, when I can.