tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66703682024-03-18T21:24:38.345-06:00Queen of SwordsQueen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.comBlogger279125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-63788970659640951852010-07-28T17:14:00.000-06:002010-07-28T17:14:22.484-06:00Tour de Fleece 2010: Final output Well, that was certainly a long and interesting ride.Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-29389808007922114862010-07-22T13:37:00.000-06:002010-07-22T13:37:58.123-06:00Tour de Fleece, Day 20 Whoops. That whole going on vacation, traveling to Calgary, and visiting people really took a chunk out of my ability to post. And spin. But here's what I've been doing! A) Finished up the purple stuff. ~60 metres, nice and thin and even. B) Knitted the Swiss yarn into a bowl to felt. Couldn't find an appropriate pattern for 55 metres, so faked it. Knit from the centre out, with M1Ls and Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-75002686599406712522010-07-15T21:33:00.000-06:002010-07-15T21:33:24.820-06:00Tour de Fleece, Day 13 Spinning thin takes a long time! Still working on the random fibre, working on a thin single. Yesterday's photo included for comparison.Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-17162025798476112652010-07-14T21:32:00.000-06:002010-07-14T21:32:38.565-06:00Tour de Fleece, Day 12 Yoga at lunch and massage before knitting equals not a lot of spinning today. But I'm trying for a thin single, and so far succeeding. I've also discovered that thin single equals slow progress. :) Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-15037694292513537892010-07-13T22:05:00.000-06:002010-07-13T22:05:34.266-06:00Tour de Fleece, Day 11 What a dreary day. Luckily, this yarn turned out better than I'd hoped! I might even knit something with it! Random fibre, pink and light blue, plied together (and didn't have much of the light blue left!). Finished plying at North Edmonton knit night. :) I have some more of the random fibre in my bag for tomorrow, but this success has inclined me to ply it with another colour rather than Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-41033241042595828332010-07-11T21:48:00.001-06:002010-07-11T21:51:23.791-06:00Tour de Fleece, Day 9: Team Talespinners Challenge Day Well, that was a long and busy day. Times that you can't see in the mosaic above:Start: 7:41 amWith breaks for talking to Mom, walking Priest, buying cookbooks at Chapters, and groceries, finished spinning one third of the bag by 5:00 pm. Given that I watched one full disc of Faery Tale Theatre, plus spun a little bit more, I'm estimating about 4.5 hours of spinning for this third of the Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-42833007492952612412010-07-10T20:37:00.000-06:002010-07-10T20:37:33.832-06:00Tour de Fleece, Day 8 Not a great amount of spinning today, but there wasn't a great amount of time either, and I did want to rest up a bit for tomorrow (Team Talespinners' challenge day!). I don't have spinning calluses yet, and my fingers are getting sore! Random fibre, pink is complete, blue to ply it with still in progress. I figured I might as well have some fun, since I can't think of anything else to do Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-22292431849854540672010-07-09T22:20:00.000-06:002010-07-09T22:20:20.628-06:00Tour de Fleece, Day 7 Left: Random fibre, pink, spindle made by my dad. The spindle is a little light, and the shaft is a little short, but I'll muddle through. Something to keep me occupied until Talespinners Challenge Day (Sunday!).Right: Fleece Artist BFL Sliver in Moss, Andean plied. Resting on the niddy noddy overnight.Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-25843000602446990632010-07-08T21:26:00.001-06:002010-07-08T21:29:57.175-06:00Tour de Fleece, Days 5 and 6Day 5, top: Swiss wool, chain plied. That was definitely interesting. It rested overnight as a ball, and I wound it onto the niddy noddy tonight to rest again. I'll set the twist tomorrow and count yardage.Day 6, bottom: Fleece Artist BFL Sliver in Moss. Great to spin, and making good progress. I should be able to ply it tomorrow. I can't decide if I'll chain ply again for a 3-ply, or Andean ply Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-9979742653907323512010-07-06T21:26:00.000-06:002010-07-06T21:27:31.719-06:00Tour de Fleece, Day Four Left: Fleece Artist BFL in Moss. Really nice to spin.Right: Swiss wool, unknown fibre. All spun and ready to chain ply. Tomorrow, once I research how. :)Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-59129550948263762792010-07-05T20:53:00.002-06:002010-07-05T21:01:25.274-06:00Tour de Fleece 2010: Day Three Top left, centre: Thistle, unknown fibre, plied today (badly), soaking now. 31.2 m. My dad made the niddy noddy.Bottom left, bottom centre: Swiss wool, unknown fibre, brought by my parents back from Switzerland last summer. Eight different colours, one handful of each. Spinning the single. Did the white (you can see it below the green) and the green today. Yellow and purple to go, then timeQueen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-34372666731201206642010-07-04T21:41:00.001-06:002010-07-04T21:42:37.400-06:00What I did today... Turned the thistle and weed alley behind the garage into a full garbage bag of plant matter and a now-rakeable area, mowed the back yard and broke the electrical outlets on the outside of the house, made a tired puppy, put together a work bench, and spun up a spindle for the first day of the Tour de Fleece. What should I do tomorrow?Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-26663679170887187912010-05-29T19:06:00.002-06:002010-05-29T20:03:46.111-06:00Almost June......naturally.Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-75511866927456508022009-10-01T13:33:00.002-06:002009-10-01T13:35:29.601-06:00Awww...Seriously adorable. <3 Pixar. Cloud - The best free videos are right hereQueen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-8062995122386067952009-09-04T11:10:00.003-06:002009-09-04T11:17:59.698-06:00A post of shortsBest things I've ever bought at Ikea, bar none:Go buy them if you can. Totally awesome.I'm an aunt! And I get to see my nephew this weekend!I have a new appreciation and awe for people who work two jobs, or go to school and work. You are amazing people. I don't know how you do it.I am feeling so comfortable with the needleless cable now that I'm coming to the end (hopefully) of Sheila's nursing Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-70466826782429801402009-08-18T13:00:00.003-06:002009-08-18T13:06:43.150-06:00One-Line Book Review #3New Moon by Stephenie Meyer: I dunno, seems like a no brainer to me: warm loving furry wolf guy v. cold guy who has to keep himself from killing her... Book was good until Edward came back into it.Will post about the new job later. So far it's good, except for remembering to use the option key on the Mac!Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-80388544365813152452009-08-11T12:11:00.002-06:002009-08-11T12:15:51.451-06:00One-Line Book Review #2The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough: Diverting, but too many errors in technique and far too many "WTF?", "You've got to be kidding...", and "Did you even read Pride and Prejudice?" moments to be truly enjoyable or worth recommending.Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-26586849693157491332009-08-06T09:51:00.005-06:002009-08-06T12:17:45.436-06:00As my life implodes...Sorry for the silence. My life literally imploded, which made finding time to post, let alone inclination to expound bloggerly upon the happenings, nigh impossible.As most of my few remaining readers know, almost immediately from returning from the US, I interviewed for and was offered a new position. It is still in Edmonton, still in the pseudo-public sector, but has less all-encompassing Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-78677075288239734362009-07-09T11:49:00.002-06:002009-07-09T11:53:13.685-06:00East Coast TripNH/MA/PA TripSome photos from my trip to the Eastern seaboard of the US last week. It was an awesome time, and I wish I was still there (though I hear it's raining again, so maybe not, though it's raining here too... :) ), and I miss everyone! Come see us soon!Mike's pictures will be up as soon as he sends me the list of what he wants uploaded.Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-49937952115755847942009-06-18T09:28:00.002-06:002009-06-18T12:15:42.221-06:00I'm alive... barelyHello! Do you remember me? My name is Vanessa, and you used to know me. I used to post here relatively frequently, and most of you have met me in real life too. I'm tall, with glasses and long curly hair. Am I ringing any bells?I am not without things to post about, but first work was sucking the creativity right out of me, and then I got sick (ugh for summer colds). Being in bed for five days, Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-14706774946428827912009-05-19T12:21:00.004-06:002009-05-19T13:37:39.916-06:00Now EndedDear Now-Ended Never-Ending Afghan,Let's not talk about it. We've had our ups and downs, come a long way since "Cast on 8 stitches," but now they're over, and we can both move on with our lives.I remember back in 2006. I restarted you from my painful beginner attempts of 2005, and we were both filled with hopes and dreams and promise. Intellectually, I knew where we were heading, with four Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-29375478321047081552009-05-09T17:40:00.002-06:002009-05-09T17:55:18.362-06:00SaturdayBreakfast: Yoghurt, muesli, frozen berries (mostly thawed)Lunch: Leftover pizzaDinner: Sushi, fake Moxie's Mayan SaladSnacks: noneLiquids: two pots black currant tea, iced tea, Booster JuiceTreats: noneExercise: Walk with PriestAhh... The first disc of Pride and Prejudice in the dvd player, my faithful dog snoozing on the couch, tea steeping, heating pad in easy reach, and 15/32 rows done on the Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-31492805561037593702009-05-07T17:45:00.001-06:002009-05-07T17:47:46.284-06:00As the Purl TurnsThings happen as I get crazy busy. My knitting has aspirations to stardom. Silly knitting.As the Purl Turns (WIPS 2009 05)Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-46628738180183926002009-04-16T09:07:00.003-06:002009-04-16T10:00:43.087-06:00If the sun would only come out for goodBreakfast: Berry smoothieLunch: Leftover stroganoff, appleDinner: Umm... Think it's going to be fake Moxie's Mayan Salad with shrimpSnacks: Turkey/Jarlsberg rollups, trail mixLiquids: We'll see; hopefully a litre herbal tea, 500ml iced tea, some waterTreats: ??Exercise: Walk with PriestLoneliness hit pretty hard yesterday. Strange, though, since I spent the evening surrounded by good people. WhenQueen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670368.post-27389258390705572592009-04-12T21:21:00.003-06:002009-04-12T21:26:29.947-06:00I did not choose the nameI swear. I did not do anything but build the look. The Hero Factory chose the name for me. I swear, really and truly... But I love it. :)Queen of Swordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13955744960051922025noreply@blogger.com0