tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42394233744835771942024-02-19T23:59:05.000+08:00Gender OutcastMental meanderings of a 40yo transman on gender, transition, knitting, cooking, and life in general.WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-21065116763920115442011-09-10T21:56:00.001+08:002011-09-10T21:58:19.052+08:00Psychological impact of surgery and other news<div style="text-align: justify;">I am out of hospital today, and have written about my surgery and hospital stay elsewhere so will leave that out of this post. Instead, here I want to focus on the psychological aspects of my surgery and the ramifications. </div><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;"> First clue that things were not going to be a "standard" surgery/hospital stay was the fact that I, the ABSOLUTELY NOT A MORNING PERSON UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES lol, got up at 4am and left home at 5:15am in the dark and cold to catch a bus and train to the hospital, and was smiling and polite to everyone all the way there. At the hospital, instead of my usual pre-surgical nerves (every other time I have had any sort of surgery I have been EXTREMELY nervous and stressed) I was laughing and joking with all the staff and they were all surprised at how laidback and relaxed I was :) I was a bit impatient for all the pre-op stuff to be done with because it seemed to take FOREVER lol, but I was laughing and joking with the theatre staff right up till I blacked out from the anaesthetic (literally, the last thing I remember was laughing with the surgeon about the anaesthetic starter - the anaesthetist said it would make me feel like I had had a gin and tonic, and the surgeon said "oh nice, can I have one of those while you're at it?" And I said "Oooh, PARTAY!" and we all laughed and then the next thing I remember is waking up in recovery) :D Even in recovery while still groggy I was apparently smiling, and then when I went back to my room and had a cup of tea I was still smiling! Even more so when I got up at 4pm to walk around the room (the nurse was stunned that I felt well enough to do this so early, usually they don't ask you to get up till the next day). The nurse was also surprised that I wasn't dizzy or lightheaded and didn't need her to lean on, and that I was cracking jokes right out of recovery!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All this and the fact that I have been really relaxed, happy, in no rush to go home till today (well I was offered the opportunity yesterday to go home but in the morning I just wasn't quite ready, but by last night I was all "let me OUT!" LOL and this morning I was watching the clock and it seemed to crawl till I got picked up at 10am) and have actually really enjoyed my time in hospital - even the hospital food wasn't bad, although I got a good deal there because being vegan, they make my food specially from scratch so I don't get quite the same premade stuff as everyone else - tells me that psychologically, this surgery has ONLY been the best thing that I could possibly have done - I thought going on T made me a lot happier and more relaxed, but this surgery has done that even more so (and tbh I'm a little surprised at that but in a good way). I have no doubts that my positive frame of mind and being relaxed has contributed a lot to me feeling so good post-op and to having no pain and being able to get up and move so soon after surgery, too. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the real kicker has been the letter that I got from the resident confirming that I have had my hysto for gender reassignment - I seriously cannot describe the feeling I got when I held that letter in my hot little paws, I was so excited I was literally shaking! I read it and something just *settled* over me like "wow, you finally did it, this is it, now you're on your way to being legally recognised as a man!" I wanted to get up and do a James Brown LOL because that feeling was SO damned good! With this letter I can now take a letter from my GP confirming that I have been hormonally reassigned for over 2 years and have been living in a male gender role for over 2 years, and get my gender changed under Medicare (but possibly not yet get a GRC because of the tricky wording and the latitude taken with interpreting the requirements by the Board, but I'll see on that one). I hadn't planned to apply for my GRC just yet, I was going to wait till I get my chest done - but now that I have the letter, I can get my chest done as a man under Medicare for free, and may possibly be able to legally be recognised for who I really am :D</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I can't describe what that does for a man, to feel so.....validated and affirmed and to know that I am so much closer to where I wanted to be, that place that only a year or so ago seemed so impossibly out of reach :D</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In other news (just briefly), while I was in hospital, we had an explosion of silkworm babies - we now have somewhere in the vicinity of 30+ of both zebra and white silkworms that have hatched over the last 2-3 days while I was away, and the bigger ones are doing well. I also received a huge fluffy parcel of fibre while I was away - I opened it and FOOF, it exploded into a big pile of bright fluffy colour that is the Whorled Domination! spindle club fibre for the first shipment! :D I'm excited, this is one of my favourite fibres and very soft, and the colours are just beautiful - it is a custom dyed colourway exclusively for spindle club, too!: D I'm not up to splitting it into appropriate sized portions just yet (it wore me out just re-braiding the 15 braids of this fibre after I undid them to have a bit of a play with it!) but I'll do that as I feel up to it - I'm still struggling with the whole "you have to slow down and NOT do things" concept lol because I have no pain and feel so good and forget that I have just had very major surgery, but I do get tired very fast so I guess that's my body's way of saying "hey! enough already, quit while you're ahead!" lol. Tomorrow after a good night's sleep I am hoping to start splitting the club fibre up and labelling it all so that it will be ready to box up with the spindles and send. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">But in general, everything is going SO well at the moment, recovery from surgery included :D</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-34319669295629336632011-09-10T21:48:00.001+08:002011-09-10T21:57:56.137+08:00Back home from hospital!<div style="text-align: justify;"> I came home from hospital this morning after FINALLY getting my hysterectomy done (YAY!), so thought I should probably write an update post about how it all went :)</div><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">I went into surgery at about 8:30am on Wednesday, the surgeon and anaesthetist were a bit taken aback at how happy and relaxed I was and how excited I was about getting the surgery done (they're used to working with women as it was a women's hospital and they do a lot of hysterectomies for cancer etc - more about the hospital later in my update). I was in surgery till 12:30, the surgeon said that she wanted to take her time and get it right - there wasn't anything that could have been particularly difficult, but my anatomy was a bit awkward as my uterus was retroverted and the ovaries were tucked in tightly behind it rather than being all nicely spread out and tilted forward for easier access LOL (typical me though, never done ANYTHING the easy way my whole life :P) But overall she was really pleased with how it went, I apparently only lost 50ml of blood through the whole surgery and it all went perfectly.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I woke up in recovery at about 2pm (I had discussed my opioid allergy at length with the anaesthetist before the surgery, he was of the opinion that I am actually only allergic to tramadol and formulated the anaesthetic cocktail accordingly, and kudos to him because whatever he picked, it was spot on, no nausea, no nasty side effects, nothing except that I was quite drowsy for a bit longer than usual after the surgery). I was back on the ward and having a cup of tea at 2:30, and up and walking around my room at 4pm (much to the nurses' surprise, I didn't even require a nurse to lean on and I insisted on getting up because my body was just screaming at me that I needed to get up and move around a bit after laying flat on my back for so many hours). And it felt SO good to be able to just walk around!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I haven't needed any pain relief except for when they gave me heparin shots to prevent blood clots (those stung like a bitch and caused me severe stomach pain and nausea - if the surgery pain was at most a 2, the heparin shots were way up at about a 6!) - and even those were manageable after 10mg oxycodone (strangely enough I'm allergic as hell to tramadol, but can handle oxycodone just fine). I have bruising on my stomach from the heparin needles, but almost none from the surgery (weird huh!) and feel like I have done a few too many push ups, but other than that I feel great, no pain and feel so good that I have trouble remembering I have to take things slowly and not overdo anything :P The surgical wounds are tiny - 4 tiny lines about 1cm long that will heal up looking like very fine scratches if anything at all, so I will have almost no scarring whatsoever.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have also found out that in theory it may be possible for me to apply to get my gender recognition certificate already - the requirements are basically that I have lived continuously in my correct gender for more than 2 years and been on T for more than 2 years, and have undergone some sort of surgical procedure for the purpose of gender reassignment (the key here is that the wording states that the surgical procedure has to alter the genitals, which mine does - but the board has also argued that a man with "breasts" is not a man because he retains a female secondary sex characteristic, so they are very broad in their application/interpretation of how the requirements are applied). I know people who have applied for a GRC after a chest reconstruction and not a hysto and have been refused on the grounds that they still retain female sex organs and therefore retain female sex characteristics that are not analogous with being male; since the wording states that the genitals have to be irreversibly altered and the main reason the board had an issue with my friend not having a hysto was the possibility of reproduction in future if he ever stopped T, I have a better chance of being approved (besides, it could conceivably be argued that "breasts" are not necessarily solely a female thing, two words, "moobs" and "gynecomastia" ;) )</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So I'm debating whether to apply now, or to wait until the High Court hands down its decision in my friend's case over the definitions as applied by the board, as that could have extensive ramifications (great ones if they decide the wording is as liberal as it looks, very bad ones if they decide to be narrow in their definitions). If I wait and the decision is negative, it will mean that my chances of getting legally recognised are even smaller than they already are - but if I apply now there's a good chance I could also be denied on the grounds that although I have had a hysterectomy as per the requirements, I haven't had chest surgery (even though the wording does not specifically require either surgery and definitely does not require chest surgery, just something that "alters the genitals" and changes the female secondary sex characteristics). Still thinking about what I am going to do, I may have to go to my doc and discuss the potential outcomes with her and see what she thinks, since she has a better handle on the medico-legal side than I do and she understands the attitude of her fellow doctors way better than me ;)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Either way, I now have in my hot little hands a surgeon's letter that states as follows (and I haven't stopped bouncing since I got it LOL, it's a Very Important Document on so many levels!):</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">"King Edward Memorial Hospital</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">9/9/11</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To whom it may concern,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Re: Daniel MacBride</div><div style="text-align: justify;">DOB: 22/09/1970</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is to certify that he has had a total laparoscopic hysterectomy and bilateral salpingectomy and oophorectomy on 7/9/11. This is for the purpose of gender reassignment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Regards,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Victor Tan</div><div style="text-align: justify;">O and G RMO to Dr B McElhinney - Endoscopic consultant"</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I also cannot speak highly enough of the hospital staff - even though KEMH is a women's hospital, they were highly professional and courteous and happy/smiling the WHOLE time, and consistently used correct pronouns. I didn't have to worry about whether I would have to deal with women on the ward, as I was given a private room so didn't see any other patients the whole time I was there :) I had quite a few discussions with student nurses about being a transman, as KEMH is a teaching hospital and they routinely have students on the staff (I also had a midwifery student come in and observe my surgery with my consent, as it was a little different from the "routine" hystos they do all the time both because I am trans and not doing it for "medical" reasons, and because of the physical issues that came with it that were uniquely mine and not related to being trans). I am really happy to report that every one of the students I spoke to at length was polite, curious to learn and very respectful - they asked a lot of very intelligent questions about the surgery itself and the whole road of being a transman in Western Australia so I was glad to be able to educate a few medical professionals-to-be. I hope they take what they learned from me with them and incorporate it into their future medical practice as nurses and theatre staff - I am optimistic that this will be the case, as the attitudes with which they approached me were very positive :) I can honestly say that this is the only time I have ever actually ENJOYED being in hospital for anything LOL - the staff were fantastic, the surgeon and anaesthetist did a brilliant job and I have had no pain, I couldn't ask for better :) Of course I made sure my experience was reflected in the feedback form I left for the hospital - I think they need to know that they are doing a hell of a lot absolutely right so that they keep doing it :)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So that's my update and rundown on how everything went, I'm feeling fantastic for 3 days post-op and have no pain - I am getting tired very easily, but I am getting around that by just doing a little bit at a time of things I can manage, sleeping as soon as I get tired and letting Dylan (my eldest son) handle all the tasks like walking to the shop, feeding the animals, cleaning, lifting etc. I'm not allowed to lift anything heavier than a kettle or bend or squat at all for several weeks, or walk for more than a few minutes - which for me is hard, I have never been able to just sit STILL and do nothing (but I have plenty of knitting and spinning lined up for while I am recovering so that even though I am sitting still, my hands have something to do - and of course there's always internet ;) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm going to write another post about the psychological ramifications of my surgery, too - but that's my surgery update done for now :) </div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-41078339127385045882011-08-22T04:19:00.000+08:002011-08-22T04:19:34.696+08:00Up to my ears in spindles and fibre!<div style="text-align: justify;">I haven't written anything for a while, because I have been very busy organising things. My surgery that was supposed to happen on August 17th was cancelled and rescheduled for September 7th (they called me when I was on the train to go to my preadmission appointment no less, would have been nice to get some notice!) so I have been madly trying to rearrange all the things that I had arranged for while I was in hospital, and all the stuff that I had to arrange around being out of commission for a while. Not overly happy, but not a lot I could do about it, so I'm just getting on with stuff ;)</div><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I have a TON of news to write, so lets see, I'll try and put it in order lol. Firstly, I mentioned in my last entry about the Whorled Domination! spindle club signups - these are still open till September 5th. I have just finalised the first shipment of club fibre - I can't say too much about it because I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I can say that it's a beautifully soft, unique blend that I absolutely LOVE, and it is being prepared and hand-dyed in a special club colourway by a very talented fellow indie fibre artist right here in Australia :) It's a very special fibre, and I have 1.5kg of it coming my way soon, to be divided into club packages for all my lucky Whorled Army spindle club members ;) First spindle club shipment is due to go out on October 5th, and when everyone has received their spindle and fibre, we will be having a SAL (spinalong) so that everyone who has never spun this type of fibre before can learn the best way to spin it, those who have spun it before can enjoy it, and we can all show off our finished spun yarns on the Whorled Domination! Ravelry discussion group :) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition to the spindle club, I have now opened <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/whorleddom">Whorled Domination! on etsy</a> - I currently have quite a few new spindles listed and will be looking to add more items once I recover from my surgery. I have started making the club spindles already too, and have released some new pocket and ultralight spindles that weigh as little as 5 grams (and have a tiny price to match). Check the pocket/ultralight spindles out on etsy, they fit nicely with my philosophy of providing good spinning tools at affordable prices. I will be putting up listings for the spindle club and my knitting patterns at some point soon too, and later in the year I hope to have some new spindle bags and boxes to put up (I'm working on the designs right now). Here's a pic of the ultralights and a couple of the new spindlebebehs that are up on etsy for sale right now:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDjCinUO0p3lcmSbaBdvqu7CZj0htY0Wv6Syh63LrzCxAl50yd7r_D1fHeWtWuA5tFXR8f-XoEO9hcAp-pqdL2K5sfo2XrSfltHpJwpGl4iYx__UvfF7XdFjVdwIWmZA3xnWKYH2eZX0/s1600/IMG_0256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDjCinUO0p3lcmSbaBdvqu7CZj0htY0Wv6Syh63LrzCxAl50yd7r_D1fHeWtWuA5tFXR8f-XoEO9hcAp-pqdL2K5sfo2XrSfltHpJwpGl4iYx__UvfF7XdFjVdwIWmZA3xnWKYH2eZX0/s320/IMG_0256.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLna6AcWgUABis-grULIzsBkaTAJZLZPlJ-wFniEeJ74JzszCRDDv4R0ZHW99cY_TxCnljEDjP8HNHa_3NCmLWby_YJSWgGZ4YWuFuHJeCnM5Otw4Y16w64nwcfEhIvRmRBMxlgbiy2zU/s1600/IMG_0265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLna6AcWgUABis-grULIzsBkaTAJZLZPlJ-wFniEeJ74JzszCRDDv4R0ZHW99cY_TxCnljEDjP8HNHa_3NCmLWby_YJSWgGZ4YWuFuHJeCnM5Otw4Y16w64nwcfEhIvRmRBMxlgbiy2zU/s320/IMG_0265.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOm78kK1sHDwsff8gutr6SNiCQgJT6EEyJkVMy2ZrsB0yDRTRBWRslais9X9dAb2wy_SLW1XPqcghHcZzMnMZ_9my7wd9pR3NZz9yvfWHDR7bOZvKk8ZTaulOvI0RGqTaneFaI2LmHghg/s1600/IMG_0273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOm78kK1sHDwsff8gutr6SNiCQgJT6EEyJkVMy2ZrsB0yDRTRBWRslais9X9dAb2wy_SLW1XPqcghHcZzMnMZ_9my7wd9pR3NZz9yvfWHDR7bOZvKk8ZTaulOvI0RGqTaneFaI2LmHghg/s320/IMG_0273.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSN2e0rxjck2hEWWgbjY2aJLxtbTj3J6IvoLhkLa7_AVOAuks4h4f5Ylo1yDG83BWTWPoRM4d-Hcyb71_lm8vzWWFADhNB2oH5aC9XyI1L_mG5vE7-dIuhv_GRFmLaNXJ4_YIaubplK4A/s1600/IMG_0275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSN2e0rxjck2hEWWgbjY2aJLxtbTj3J6IvoLhkLa7_AVOAuks4h4f5Ylo1yDG83BWTWPoRM4d-Hcyb71_lm8vzWWFADhNB2oH5aC9XyI1L_mG5vE7-dIuhv_GRFmLaNXJ4_YIaubplK4A/s320/IMG_0275.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gJJNOHmU7KCbVSnWkQtymLXmrl7bMeqTLwwqQq7I6Rb5NMOhzbo8aReFSRirb7GkKSSOx3YmYI-lgRG5TJBIIZISZMjv7X1_da8dcZ-zqPz_l5k1u-eD0hO2c8dnk54u-A4UOeFtpdo/s1600/IMG_0254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gJJNOHmU7KCbVSnWkQtymLXmrl7bMeqTLwwqQq7I6Rb5NMOhzbo8aReFSRirb7GkKSSOx3YmYI-lgRG5TJBIIZISZMjv7X1_da8dcZ-zqPz_l5k1u-eD0hO2c8dnk54u-A4UOeFtpdo/s320/IMG_0254.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So it's all go on the fibre front lol! I also having a lot of fun with another new venture - raising silkworms! I purchased 50 white silkworm and 50 zebra silkworm eggs from <a href="http://peacefulsilkworms.com.au/">Peaceful Silkworms</a> a couple of weeks ago, and they have just started hatching in the last 3 days. I currently have 40 zebra babies and 34 white ones, so not too many left to hatch now :) I plan on letting them make cocoons, hatch and breed so I can keep the fertile eggs to raise more silkworms, and I'm going to degum the cocoons and stretch them into silk hankies for spinning. If I get enough silk hankies over time, I may even consider selling some of them in my etsy shop (or they may even be a Whorled Army spindle club fibre at some point).So I have quite a few future plans for my fibre-related ventures! I have been posting updates and photos of the new silkworm babies on the WD Ravelry group and facebook, it's a whole lot of fun and quite educational to boot :) Here's a photo from yesterday of some of the babies on a mulberry leaf (yes I know it's a bit blurry, it's a webcam shot lol):</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9WmMIUDwsWGJheKKYjDookrvDhv3irFGLj3bCxF9QB3Cx2jxTkXvchNrJ1GlF3UKwUAJa61dkCACShcPclONcoin-2ElFlrzAcSpXGtsFvQPNDEIb8bcpklVc_8-P_C4DfMuWCcoY2c/s1600/Picture+899.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9WmMIUDwsWGJheKKYjDookrvDhv3irFGLj3bCxF9QB3Cx2jxTkXvchNrJ1GlF3UKwUAJa61dkCACShcPclONcoin-2ElFlrzAcSpXGtsFvQPNDEIb8bcpklVc_8-P_C4DfMuWCcoY2c/s1600/Picture+899.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have also recently got interested in two types of spindles I hadn't used before - Turkish and Russian. So I have had a bit of fun buying some new spindles and stuff - I purchased a medium and tiny Turkish spindle from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/threadsthrutime">Thomas Creations LLC</a>, a lovely Russian style spindle from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/thedragonflyworkshop">The Dragonfly Workshop</a>, 2 more Russian spindles and a lovely zebrawood spindle bowl from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/spindizzychick">SpinDizzyChick</a>, and a couple of mini spindle bowls from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/spinerosity">Spinerosity</a>. I also purchased some AMAZING silk hankies in a whole rainbow of 18 colours from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/zebisisdesigns">Zebisis Designs</a> - so I have a lot of spinning fun headed my way. I will post photos of all the spindles as they arrive - here's the Tiny Turkish spindle from Thomas Creations aka Threadsthrutime, which has Mora arms and a Cherry shaft - the entire shaft is 4 1/2 inches long and the arms are 2 1/2 inches. And yes, that is fibre being spun on it - it's a silk hankie that I am spinning cobweb weight (5c piece in the pic for scale) - the single is almost as fine as human hair!!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWhjvHV6t4f3c3NcrN95EXacTr8HLzJlocSWiZZ6dueh3NN0Coq7pceA32IPes4EUhyP42EZrQptjWp6N1UVgKl62qv09Ah0KzQqDJ5Pv1V4SKrhxehYjx0oY-C70hCbbZGmxbhmEcCg/s1600/Picture+894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWhjvHV6t4f3c3NcrN95EXacTr8HLzJlocSWiZZ6dueh3NN0Coq7pceA32IPes4EUhyP42EZrQptjWp6N1UVgKl62qv09Ah0KzQqDJ5Pv1V4SKrhxehYjx0oY-C70hCbbZGmxbhmEcCg/s1600/Picture+894.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I will post pictures of the Medium spindle in my next entry, as it's 4am here and I need to get some sleep! :P</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<br />
WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-50213937748278734352011-08-03T01:04:00.000+08:002011-08-03T01:04:39.299+08:00Been a busy couple of weeks....Now that the Tour de Fleece is finished and I have had a little time to catch my breath lol, I have some pretty big things going on!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Firstly, I have my pre-admission appointment next week and then on the 17th of August, I am FINALLY going into hospital for my hysto surgery (YAAAAY!) So I'm excited as all hell about that, so much so that I wish the 17th would just hurry up because I'm actually looking forward to being in hospital! How's that for screwy? :P<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Secondly, my personal life has taken a turn for the better (little bird, open hand, 'nuff said) ;) So I'm pretty happy about that (and it shows, my fibro pain and stuff has been more manageable because I am more relaxed and happier about things in general, and feel loved and supported).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And lastly, I have some BIG news about Whorled Domination! - two words, SPINDLE CLUB!!! :D That's right - if you're not on the Ravelry group, hop on over there and join the Whorled Domination! army, and check out the spindle club thread :) Put in your 10c worth (got to allow for inflation!) and register your interest - I will be posting final details of the club including pricing, dates, options and signups on Friday, so get in quick if you want to have a say in how the club works!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What I can tell you so far is that it will be a quarterly club, with an option to opt out (or in, if there are extra spaces due to opt-outs, but the number of available places will be limited) by a deadline a month before the shipping date (to allow time for me to confirm numbers and make sure I have enough of everything for all the members who are in the club for that particular quarter). Spindle club will be shipped out between the 5th and 7th of the shipping month (whichever is the first working day), so that hopefully everyone will have received their spindle club by the end of the month. There will also be 3 tiers of membership: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tier 1 will be the basic club which will include a spindle and a small sample of fibre every quarter for a year. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tier 2 will be the mid-level club, which will include a spindle and a larger amount of fibre (or more special blends and fibres than the basic club). Quantity of fibre will depend on what the fibre is, to keep the cost consistent.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tier 3 will be the deluxe membership - this will include a somewhat more expensive spindle and between 50-100g of fibre on average, although some shipments may be 25g of fibre if it is a particularly rare or luxury fibre. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Each Club will run for 1 year (4 quarterly shipments) - there is no requirement to stay in the club for an entire year if you do not wish to do so, or to give up membership after the year if you want to stay on :) However there is a deadline for opting in or out each month for the sake of me being able to keep up with everyone's shipments, and I will be limiting the number of places available to avoid overcommitting and make sure everyone gets their club on time. In the event that someone opts out for the upcoming club shipment, if there is someone waiting to join, they will be offered a place in the club. From time to time I may also offer extra places in the club if there are a lot of people wanting to join - otherwise it will be strictly limited placements due to the fact that there is only one of me and I only have two hands ;)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fibres included may be undyed, handpainted or dyed, and may be all sorts of different prep. Due to international customs restrictions I will not be including any unprocessed fleece in the club shipments for overseas members - I may do so from time to time for Australian club members unless a preference is indicated on the Club questionnaire to not receive raw fleece. All fibre will be locally and ethically sourced as much as possible, and I will do my best to ensure that club members get a wide variety of fibres to spin, and include one luxury fibre in each Club year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Club members will receive the questionnaire on signup/payment - you may change your preferences at any time for the next club shipment, provided you get the revised questionnaire to me by the deadline for opting in/out and payment :)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-611481411359949962011-07-23T01:19:00.001+08:002011-07-23T01:20:53.874+08:00Day 21: Challenge Day<div style="text-align: justify;">I'll get to the Tour de Fleece update in a minute - first I have some huge news - my younger brother and his wife are expecting a baby!! I have 2 nieces already thanks to my older brother, but my younger brother and his wife have been trying for quite some time to have a baby without success, so it's pretty awesome that I am going to be an uncle again :D I went and bought myself a set of KnitPro fine interchangeable Symfonie needles to celebrate, because I am likely to be knitting a lot for my new niece/nephew-to-be ;)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a>Now that I have that out of the way, today was Day 21, the Challenge Day of the Tour de Fleece. And Team Ixchelbunny's challenge, set by Charly, was wire core spinning (something I had never done before!) So after a quick look on youtube for instructions on basic corespinning (I couldn't find any videos specifically for wire core spinning, but the principle is the same and Charly did give team members some instructions, so I figured it out), I attached the fine wire that Charly had supplied in the Ixchel TdF Team pack to my leader and off I went. It took a while and was a bit tricky, but I ended up with this:<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0M8jJ7kQwM8iIcxm-hvr0L002bjiUhselK5OFDoGCvWlAaeFprMVqqUfU4N5zLRqWLAZs0qkNVixQ4SFTPdWdWeO68QQCDWk8jMvFqlk0MDl-l_XYMv2H95C10YxPpb0DwNE3koXdsw/s1600/Picture+845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0M8jJ7kQwM8iIcxm-hvr0L002bjiUhselK5OFDoGCvWlAaeFprMVqqUfU4N5zLRqWLAZs0qkNVixQ4SFTPdWdWeO68QQCDWk8jMvFqlk0MDl-l_XYMv2H95C10YxPpb0DwNE3koXdsw/s1600/Picture+845.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">22.5m/25yds of wire core spun yarn using a BFL/Bunny/silk (I *think*) braid which had no name tag on it (having had a look at Charly's flickr to see if I could find out what it was, I believe it may be "Misty Morning"). I quite enjoyed this challenge - I have no idea what I'll actually do with the finished yarn, but it was fun to make it! This small skein brings my total for the Tour so far up to 3065m/3405yds of completed yarn in 21 days (17 days of actual spinning, because there were a few days where I couldn't spin due to my hand, and the rest day that I actually took LOL). I'm stoked at the impressive yardage I have managed to produce in such a short time - here's a group shot of all the yarn I have spun so far (there are still 2 days to go) - excuse the dodgy webcam pic, but it's almost 1am here and the light in this room is not good for photos right now, never mind the very dark wood floor ;)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6sJGs9FdIEOVIZmvDIm5Zu-G5QGx7tkinvWTM9Ks9al8r73raDuL1rVxIUR83TIIRuLpaBCsKZinRr8tXszDLZJg-y_a2dOAsMlpSUAvDOSD0E3p-q248g-gQaVMjPgLTca8GlZdjxg/s1600/Picture+846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6sJGs9FdIEOVIZmvDIm5Zu-G5QGx7tkinvWTM9Ks9al8r73raDuL1rVxIUR83TIIRuLpaBCsKZinRr8tXszDLZJg-y_a2dOAsMlpSUAvDOSD0E3p-q248g-gQaVMjPgLTca8GlZdjxg/s1600/Picture+846.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's a lot of yarn to play with once the Tour is over, no? :D I may even use some of it to knit for my future niece/nephew, as the green yarn with the Cashmere Fling in it in particular is extremely soft and very suitable for bebehs (providing of course that I can persuade my inner magpie to let it go, I am rather fond of the sparkle!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is my effort for Day 21 - ok, so I didn't spin the top skein today, it's the unruly mass of wayward curls that I spun on Day 18 (laceweight singles), but I thought it deserved a beauty shot now that it has been washed and is behaving much better ;)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNb1vQsa8DxAWapJjLVktf_MljM81vqXLNq02x14R3EGpc1e_vMcUvEVj5fEX3OHTQ4xhBr4gzgfZX7SyEiyqjObNgC8dpWl9AI9yeAifzExqbP70rKp4_WoHRGFi-oIDTZYVIgWKoq8/s1600/tdf11day21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNb1vQsa8DxAWapJjLVktf_MljM81vqXLNq02x14R3EGpc1e_vMcUvEVj5fEX3OHTQ4xhBr4gzgfZX7SyEiyqjObNgC8dpWl9AI9yeAifzExqbP70rKp4_WoHRGFi-oIDTZYVIgWKoq8/s400/tdf11day21.jpg" width="325" /> </a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">2 more days of the Tour to go, and I have had an absolute blast this year - I managed to spin almost every day of the Tour and have got through quite a lot of my Ixchel fibre stash (there is still a heck of a lot left, but I have made room for more! :D) I'm looking forward to playing with my new Symfonie needles (the packaging and organisation made my OCD Virgo self SQUEEEE in pure delight), and sometime in the next week or so I will be getting another new set of needles - this time I have really indulged myself in some top quality knitting gear and splashed out on a full set of Blackthorn DPNs in a storage case. If you haven't seen Blackthorns, you really have to take a looksee - they are made of carbon fibre, the same material used in the Boeing 787 aircraft and the Blackbird Stealth Jet! They don't bend like normal DPNs - they actually flex and are warm to the touch. I am SO looking forward to receiving this set of needles because with my fibromyalgia, ordinary DPNs make my hands hurt terribly because they are cold (aluminium/steel needles) or they have no flexibility in them, so they put a lot of pressure on my hands and end up permanently bent when I use them, which makes them very awkward to knit with :( Bamboo or wooden needles are lighter and warmer to the touch, but still have the problem of being very "sticky" (they grab the yarn too much for my liking and make my knitting slower), and smaller sizes have a horrible tendency to break easily (they don't come any smaller than about 2.5mm for that reason). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The Blackthorns also have the added bonus of coming in sets of 5 needles rather than the usual 4 - the standard length is 6 inches but they are also available in 4", 5", 8" and custom lengths. They are quite expensive, but to my way of thinking they are top quality tools that will last a very long time (they don't break, either) and make knitting much more comfortable and pleasant, so they are well worth the price. The set that I have splashed out on has 8 different sized sets of 6 inch DPNs, ranging from 1.25mm (US0000) to 3.5mm (US4) in a sturdy leather case with pockets for each set and a slot for a needle gauge, and an extra pocket for future sizes of Blackthorn DPNs. I am SO excited about getting these needles, I can hardly wait!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I am also keen to use my new KnitPro Symfonie needle set - I went to my LYS today with the intention of actually buying a set of Addi Click interchangeables (because I am a fan of the Addi Turbo circular needles), but decided to have a look at all the different sets the store owner had in stock (KA Bamboo, Addi Click, Denise, KnitPro Symfonie full set and the Fine set I ended up purchasing). I'm glad I did that, because the Addi Click set looked nice, but I just don't think I'd ever use the largest sizes and there were only 3 cables (and the Addi cables are quite thick and tend to coil back up on themselves a lot, which is my only real beef with them - I own several Addi circulars and love the needles, just not the cables so much). The KA bamboo set was also very nice, but I am not a fan of bamboo needles (although I DID like the swivel joins....but I can't have everything lol). So I ended up with the Symfonie Fine set, because it has all of the sizes I use most often and I can purchase the larger tips if I really need them at a later date. Also, the aforementioned Blackthorne DPNs will cover most of what I use the really tiny sized needles for, and I have a couple of Addi Turbo circs in the smaller sizes for lace knitting if I feel so inclined, so I think I'm pretty well covered ;)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">In spindle news, I am currently playing with some design ideas for a new line of lightweight spindles for spinning laceweight and cobweb yarns - this can be done on my current spindles without any trouble, but I have been asked about dedicated laceweight spindles, so I am working on it ;) I'm also working on a couple of spinning accessories - I will be posting details of those on the Whorled Domination! facebook page and Ravelry group as they happen :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-90648491349793988272011-07-19T03:01:00.000+08:002011-07-19T03:01:08.464+08:00Day 17: Plying counts as "rest", right?<div style="text-align: justify;">So I finished the "Robin Hood" singles today for my 3ply yarn, and then they looked so good on the bobbins that I got impatient to see how the finished yarn was going to turn out! I spent all day plying, the 3ply yarn ended up being 276g, 657m/730yds of about sport weight (no WPI yet, will do that once it has been washed) yarn. And I ended up with leftover singles after running out of the "Pixie Party" (that fibre was more dense than the other two, so I ended up with less singles for the same weight, even though they were spun the same thickness as the others), which I plied into a second, 2ply yarn:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HlRmHHnyE3keKTC_LYyMOmO8QUDQcoodTx0oYqw18fvefFKvnbmMCvg5Div9bEt-A7oQaXwcdSWcUSAyPKkPp_RaZ0MRoe9ANNd-MBu-_jEhN-89mjdRvku6ic1llERt2uIKAkchO88/s1600/tdf11day17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HlRmHHnyE3keKTC_LYyMOmO8QUDQcoodTx0oYqw18fvefFKvnbmMCvg5Div9bEt-A7oQaXwcdSWcUSAyPKkPp_RaZ0MRoe9ANNd-MBu-_jEhN-89mjdRvku6ic1llERt2uIKAkchO88/s400/tdf11day17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I still have some of the Emerald City singles left, too - I will wind them into a centre-pull ball tomorrow to be plied from both ends of the ball into a mini-skein. I can foresee the sparkly green resulting yarn being used to knit a mini Christmas stocking or something similar to hang on this year's tree :) I have a possible project in mind for the larger skein, as there is quite substantial yardage to play with - but I may need to mull that one over a bit more to see what will show the yarn off to its best advantage. As you can see I had some fun naming this yarn - I like to give my yarns names that tip the hat to the names of the original colourways used in making them. Hence the 2 yarns above - "Robin Hood Visits the Emerald City for a Pixie Party" and when I ran out of the aforementioned Pixie Party singles, "Robin Goes Sightseeing in Emerald City" ;) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In other news, I have been informed by the lovely Charly that 18 Whorled Domination spindles were sold at Bendigo - AWESOME! :D The rest are currently making their way to Mapleton with Charly for the spin camp, so hopefully some more will find a new home while they're there :) I have also had reports that the sample "Bunny Love" mitten was quite popular - so I hope it sold lots of patterns for Charly ;)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-8574262041231631542011-07-17T01:14:00.000+08:002011-07-17T01:14:52.429+08:00Day 15 - I thought I wasn't going to spin any more laceweight for the Tour...<div style="text-align: justify;">...but that's exactly what I have ended up doing! Yesterday I finished a full bobbin of Ixchel Cashmere Fling in "Pixie Party" as laceweight singles:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbOpZpXUyZRb9FwKVIEZY2lTX7fGc2QpysXMNtxV0pWTToZBFbpxGfDBli-vrFg19tiMiOQBmaK_4AX6HjKpeMQhNU5F_I5ZN43HaBqZjPK7fT0cL_dZ75fZdwkaeEYlqi9nsFe9WvoVo/s1600/Picture+827.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbOpZpXUyZRb9FwKVIEZY2lTX7fGc2QpysXMNtxV0pWTToZBFbpxGfDBli-vrFg19tiMiOQBmaK_4AX6HjKpeMQhNU5F_I5ZN43HaBqZjPK7fT0cL_dZ75fZdwkaeEYlqi9nsFe9WvoVo/s1600/Picture+827.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And today I have spun 70g of my 100g braid of Ixchel GaGa Bunny in "Emerald City" as laceweight singles for the second ply of my green yarn:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mQKbRMZqrqA5NZTkjrPBCyt28MkmWM0o1gWbaLygPCYkCCjNBrLaBoLyLQIXDJaiuMD0QWl3E0ipNsCUeekCEG_C9uDdlgt63B0h7IkZ-vAZHCQppxgQ-duAio7RkkNGlnd3WJdym28/s1600/Picture+828.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mQKbRMZqrqA5NZTkjrPBCyt28MkmWM0o1gWbaLygPCYkCCjNBrLaBoLyLQIXDJaiuMD0QWl3E0ipNsCUeekCEG_C9uDdlgt63B0h7IkZ-vAZHCQppxgQ-duAio7RkkNGlnd3WJdym28/s1600/Picture+828.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tomorrow I will be finishing off the remaining 30g of Emerald City singles, and then starting ANOTHER bobbin of laceweight singles in this fibre, Ixchel BFL/Bunny in "Robin Hood":</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmaZeIBticFB4Aqr4BRiVouuUzkq7xj8GMrnvMEJXVCw_QkPgq2pNqJ7sx8dmyveGHsCpC740itcibCm7t0-IzTtVE1yuwGs425mMoxge7oM68z4a0RrkpzaxaJ8iSb430A24YCBJhoI/s1600/robinhoodbflbunny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmaZeIBticFB4Aqr4BRiVouuUzkq7xj8GMrnvMEJXVCw_QkPgq2pNqJ7sx8dmyveGHsCpC740itcibCm7t0-IzTtVE1yuwGs425mMoxge7oM68z4a0RrkpzaxaJ8iSb430A24YCBJhoI/s320/robinhoodbflbunny.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am really looking forward to seeing the finished yarn - when I braided the 3 fibres together to give me an idea of how it would look, I literally got goosebumps at how nice it was, so I think it will be pretty spectacular ;)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since my last post I have also on Day 13 spun the remaining 30g I had of "Cthulhu Bunny" very fine (MORE laceweight!) and plied it with the second bobbin of "Fire Star" GaGa Bunny to get this:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNELjjfVpci0AmMGQ_gRJQSPP_25iQf3UwDZJM1JxUiVgpbKENaE39EbX0PrZWc-020tDb1sWQ9xirs6HZg5wgcsiEDqIifIJc-6Z64iuyTMIYZXXzlUClMbbjKudrVjWjgFZUaqF1Vg/s1600/Picture+822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNELjjfVpci0AmMGQ_gRJQSPP_25iQf3UwDZJM1JxUiVgpbKENaE39EbX0PrZWc-020tDb1sWQ9xirs6HZg5wgcsiEDqIifIJc-6Z64iuyTMIYZXXzlUClMbbjKudrVjWjgFZUaqF1Vg/s1600/Picture+822.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"> 320m/355yds of light fingering weight yarn, 2ply construction, "Heart of Cthulhu". In between all the yarn I am spinning for the Tour de Fleece and all the fibre prep I am doing for same, I have been digging through my stash to find all the small fibre samples that I have put aside and not got around to spinning up. I have quite a number of these in various fibres and colours - I am going to pack a spindle and my fibre samples when I go into hospital for my surgery in August, as I will not be up to much while I'm there and hospitals usually bore me witless. I probably won't have a whole lot of visitors, and TV is pretty crap so I won't be watching a lot of it - I'd rather take a spindle and spin up some of my samples to see how they turn out (small quantities are also a better idea than a whole 100g braid, as I am not likely to be feeling up to spinning a lot of fibre at a time while I'm in hospital and am certainly not going to take a spinning wheel in with me LOL!) But a spindle should be just right - lightweight, doesn't require a whole lot of movement or concentration and I can pick it up or put it down easily without spoiling a project. I am considering taking a small portable knitting project like a sock or something too, in case I feel up to knitting (although since I'm likely to be on heavy duty pain relief, I'm not sure how likely that will be lol). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Whorled Domination! news, I currently have a batch of spindles being sold at Bendigo and soon to be at Mapleton, and am waiting on my next shipment of spindlemaking supplies to arrive so that after the Tour de Fleece finishes I can get back into spindle production for a couple of weeks full on before I have to go to hospital. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-76505770197263448912011-07-14T00:10:00.000+08:002011-07-14T00:10:58.883+08:00Day 12: More yarn!!<div style="text-align: justify;">The Tour de Fleece is now officially at the half way point, and today's spinning for me was quite productive! I managed three whole bobbins for Day 11, and today I have finished plying the first skein from those bobbins:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNlGJabhvbh6rVR1y3Eva-20jZ4x62uzZbS4zcPLmsv2MRsrCIHwfhoGrktvmkiQ7m56cIwHAIztNKekWVMYx_zg52DvjhnRN8Z1giZbH9cBNLH6f3JZKzOs8KqCtmyleOOEh2i9oPZE/s1600/Picture+819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNlGJabhvbh6rVR1y3Eva-20jZ4x62uzZbS4zcPLmsv2MRsrCIHwfhoGrktvmkiQ7m56cIwHAIztNKekWVMYx_zg52DvjhnRN8Z1giZbH9cBNLH6f3JZKzOs8KqCtmyleOOEh2i9oPZE/s1600/Picture+819.jpg" /> </a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">294m/327yds of sparkly squishaliciousness, that I have named "Cthulhu Sets the Stars - and his Tentacles - on Fire!". I spun the Cthulhu ply deliberately thick/thin, and the Fire Star deliberately finer and even, to create texture when they were plied. It's quite a departure from my usual OCD insistence on fine and even singles - but I really like it :) I have another skein to ply yet - I have spun the second set of bobbins both fine and even (aiming for maybe sock weight?) to ply tomorrow, and then I will be starting on the 3ply in the greens :D</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 more days till Bendigo starts - I'm excited! :D</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-14491785515566804392011-07-12T01:14:00.000+08:002011-07-12T01:14:12.171+08:00Day 10 - in which my day of rest turns out not so restful!<div style="text-align: justify;">So today was the first official rest day for the TdF - I didn't spin, but I was certainly not exactly resting! I had a doctor's appointment this morning, so while I was there I got her to check my sore hand out to make sure it was nothing major (it isn't, just overuse, but I have anti-inflammatory and painkilling medications for it for the next 5 days and a warning to take it easy, meh!) Hopefully with the next 2 spins I have chosen, the fibres are much softer than what I have been spinning so far, so my drafting hand will get a break.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Anyway so this afternoon I spent some time choosing the fibre for my next couple of yarns for the Tour - I had already decided I was going to spin the Fire Star GaGa Bunny (pic posted on Day 6) next, but today I thought, maybe I should ply it with another Ixchel fibre instead of just back on itself, much like the Southern Cross Fibre plying challenge that I have had so much fun with (in which the goal is to only use hand dyed/handpainted fibres and ply them in interesting combinations to make fabulous yarns).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I had a couple of possibilities in mind, so I pulled them out and put them side-by-side with the Fire Star. One braid stood out instantly, so that is the one I will be plying with it - Cthulhu Bunny:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrQrAh5h3qXEIdME5DSkGtpLXkKS3L8Fp8Ugmn69Ji0xsedXmZV24t6o2N2t3Fh90L4sJEoe581TH4Hn3_VkkB-kTBWwhriAH3a6a4uOI-gYb7fTcaRAGOBMwWKVmXm1cOtBsVPA3c-Q/s1600/cthulhubunny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrQrAh5h3qXEIdME5DSkGtpLXkKS3L8Fp8Ugmn69Ji0xsedXmZV24t6o2N2t3Fh90L4sJEoe581TH4Hn3_VkkB-kTBWwhriAH3a6a4uOI-gYb7fTcaRAGOBMwWKVmXm1cOtBsVPA3c-Q/s320/cthulhubunny.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Here's the 2 braids side-by-side: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvWzvhZskNhyphenhyphenYgw-W2OJ0FNAil8jM44WajvVE2GmyLd7kvRQi963ewkwuIbcuQObrhMsw7uwAkXsxG0gctvLeDXfE5oBTPOM5bYK18izPGi7CG4-Ott2sKicKxr7PZ7RQ1bFJ-nQ9pVU/s1600/tdfday11fibres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvWzvhZskNhyphenhyphenYgw-W2OJ0FNAil8jM44WajvVE2GmyLd7kvRQi963ewkwuIbcuQObrhMsw7uwAkXsxG0gctvLeDXfE5oBTPOM5bYK18izPGi7CG4-Ott2sKicKxr7PZ7RQ1bFJ-nQ9pVU/s320/tdfday11fibres.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And here they are loosely braided together to give me an idea of how they will turn out:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvs7i6REWdoHCmICr7EluTfXgvFxKckdSDfuGSKgoslY17NNzzgK121aspp0MDkAgbEMikOAKGF0L1eo9ST9nMHNnSDtX63vkzNHS0e6oOZHDZbaVJmE9Vw6fLCwgW7G321ehyeNe9QAA/s1600/Picture+815.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvs7i6REWdoHCmICr7EluTfXgvFxKckdSDfuGSKgoslY17NNzzgK121aspp0MDkAgbEMikOAKGF0L1eo9ST9nMHNnSDtX63vkzNHS0e6oOZHDZbaVJmE9Vw6fLCwgW7G321ehyeNe9QAA/s1600/Picture+815.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You can't see the glitz and sparkle in this webcam photo, but trust me, it is AMAZING. And while I was digging around in my stash, I spotted another combination of braids that will be absolutely breathtaking when spun together:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PyHUoGyrg4EctnZzfPzc3XqslA1iOn3_bPTrkl-LUHy6uQOCDGQxNR6LvpQlRVHenMyJgviFa2run_evKzOK8S2TObW_qFo87y-uJpyjjZpbRFKC3eZw_YTxSYBkUYyTCrQH0Q-oHbU/s1600/tdf11trio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PyHUoGyrg4EctnZzfPzc3XqslA1iOn3_bPTrkl-LUHy6uQOCDGQxNR6LvpQlRVHenMyJgviFa2run_evKzOK8S2TObW_qFo87y-uJpyjjZpbRFKC3eZw_YTxSYBkUYyTCrQH0Q-oHbU/s320/tdf11trio.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Clockwise from top left: Emerald City GaGa Bunny, Pixie Party Cashmere Fling, and Robin Hood BFL/angora. Here's what these 3 look like braided together - this yarn is so freaking stunning that I literally got chills and goosebumps when I did this:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzK9e3bgv6o5G2sLDLqcKuLILyMrFVLMGl3fzEegckgisLklICMP3d1edJmcTSXia8vPj436RQGY69UU2DqCUpM2jsvr9vhwP1B_iLr-y46hmWV-vQDJpSNJAAhavEX-Ng39ZN2o6DOg8/s1600/Picture+814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzK9e3bgv6o5G2sLDLqcKuLILyMrFVLMGl3fzEegckgisLklICMP3d1edJmcTSXia8vPj436RQGY69UU2DqCUpM2jsvr9vhwP1B_iLr-y46hmWV-vQDJpSNJAAhavEX-Ng39ZN2o6DOg8/s1600/Picture+814.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Again, you can't see the glitz and sparkle in the webcam pic (low light at night, too - you might be able to in the daytime), but OMFG. Seriously. I knew this combo was a winner when I laid the braids side by side, but when I braided them together like this, freakin WHOA. I can tell that the next phase of my TdF is going to be pretty damned exciting when I have these two babies to spin up!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Did I mention how freakin awesome life is right now? :D I have some of the most amazingly beautifully coloured and high quality spinning fibre in the world right here in my hot little paws ready to spin; I get to spend all my time doing something that I LOVE (if it isn't spinning, it's knitting, designing patterns or making spindles - either way, I love what I do SO freaking much!) AND sometimes make some money out of it! I am one seriously lucky guy - because on top of all that, everything else is finally going right in my life and I cannot even BEGIN to describe the high that gives me, just realising what I actually have and that everything is going exactly as it should :D I think there is really only one thing that could currently be different to make anything better than it is now - and I think that will just require some patience and compassion on my part to make it a reality (and yes, I do have absolute faith that it will be). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even with fibro and all the other stuff I have to deal with, seriously, could life GET any better? :D </div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-65714314045503935652011-07-11T01:35:00.000+08:002011-07-11T01:35:09.938+08:00TdF Day 9 - back at the wheel!<div style="text-align: justify;">After 2 days of forced rest due to injury/fibro pain (boooo!), today I am finally back at the wheel and spinning up a storm. I spun the second bobbin of Turtle Sky singles and plied them together, resulting in this:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgj4ezcO_xowdcya9JekasLVSyb7G1IR0aamnB2k86rWCTRX17P2FrwLkS5Ffv1SdOFrze1ZivgJkekX7sWu60AVxUqzESy4u1VQYBcfP3Ba3D91Mwt8CHf2OQB2-S3UDHmQkf0J8QqIY/s1600/tdf11day9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgj4ezcO_xowdcya9JekasLVSyb7G1IR0aamnB2k86rWCTRX17P2FrwLkS5Ffv1SdOFrze1ZivgJkekX7sWu60AVxUqzESy4u1VQYBcfP3Ba3D91Mwt8CHf2OQB2-S3UDHmQkf0J8QqIY/s320/tdf11day9.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">198m/220yds of 2ply construction, worsted weight (9WPI) yarn :) Tomorrow is the first official TdF rest day, so I will be spending it doing fibre prep for the next stage of the Tour and making spindles for a custom order.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have a lot of things going well right now - aside from being back in the Tour de Fleece, and the Bendigo Sheep & Wool show coming up in a few days (fingers crossed that my spindles will sell!), I have my upcoming surgery (August 17) to look forward to, and have started making some concrete plans for my chest surgery as well as some other things to happen over the next 12 months ;) So things are looking pretty awesome, and I'm smiling a lot lately (that may also be partly due to the fact that there is someone who is very special to me in the picture right now.....I don't want to say too much because it's still very early days yet, but lets just say I'm quietly hopeful, maybe even optimistic about things ;) )</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-89411788220950870252011-07-09T03:34:00.000+08:002011-07-09T03:34:05.671+08:00Day 7: no spinning, but not a day of rest...and a (long!) rant<div style="text-align: justify;">At the end of the first week of the Tour de Fleece, I am a little disappointed that I didn't get the second bobbin of my Turtle Sky Navajo Churro spun - I did get about half an hour of spinning in today but my hand was just so painful that I couldn't do any more, and decided that resting it was a better idea.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">However, just because I wasn't spinning didn't mean I had idle hands (something I can't stand) - I got some more of the Bunny Love Mk. II (Rainbow Edition) mitten done:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmi8vdno18VRir0f8EAX6Wwdix4Rea3v8payoIxgiuTfUCalZNClLhsYRCo4OQOtoA9j-n7EwIgKTNe5M6LT7E_cqLlHfwEeFmu1x3boTTFwRFpGnGrqea9U0wVSdkzudMtX4PeM_UWHQ/s1600/Picture+808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmi8vdno18VRir0f8EAX6Wwdix4Rea3v8payoIxgiuTfUCalZNClLhsYRCo4OQOtoA9j-n7EwIgKTNe5M6LT7E_cqLlHfwEeFmu1x3boTTFwRFpGnGrqea9U0wVSdkzudMtX4PeM_UWHQ/s1600/Picture+808.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpdKskcDeRdToBmhNy4pS5fN-woO2sBk3I3Pr7_gDx7I2sTjxFauoVwRAegvE2z3bXCcQrnajkyT9vfCGEAqJyrjwtCHKRU7YBdw341CXZHvgAGCL9MEnW3Q-pZ-7DBHAKOror7AmRZg/s1600/Picture+809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpdKskcDeRdToBmhNy4pS5fN-woO2sBk3I3Pr7_gDx7I2sTjxFauoVwRAegvE2z3bXCcQrnajkyT9vfCGEAqJyrjwtCHKRU7YBdw341CXZHvgAGCL9MEnW3Q-pZ-7DBHAKOror7AmRZg/s1600/Picture+809.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">This rather bright baby's plain-Jane mate will be visiting Bendigo with Charly on the Ixchel stand:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPbRSTsTUZphDJQOuHL-9BN7fgxdR1oMqYUDXdT4_-OLWLbNp8xKDXR5CU-_Yvo7CVjVIZ_J22Qpy3CrEXVe-qlM28QSEx1mepheyzmNvGDtgHPeaaLYcw2CEPnqLxD4clmk5d8yG9kg/s1600/Picture+761.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPbRSTsTUZphDJQOuHL-9BN7fgxdR1oMqYUDXdT4_-OLWLbNp8xKDXR5CU-_Yvo7CVjVIZ_J22Qpy3CrEXVe-qlM28QSEx1mepheyzmNvGDtgHPeaaLYcw2CEPnqLxD4clmk5d8yG9kg/s1600/Picture+761.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7Ek61FdGUbO44fPICZ236JpkPGn6KGoLQQLa1OVjKLoK-CT3ayH3HXZE6-3nLSWBTO85QJgTJFVwfwRKbRJD-S8IQexxA2KES3oNsIS6vK44LwG53EwYu_BsQV54V-UQL6S1wTNN3ec/s1600/Picture+762.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7Ek61FdGUbO44fPICZ236JpkPGn6KGoLQQLa1OVjKLoK-CT3ayH3HXZE6-3nLSWBTO85QJgTJFVwfwRKbRJD-S8IQexxA2KES3oNsIS6vK44LwG53EwYu_BsQV54V-UQL6S1wTNN3ec/s1600/Picture+762.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hopefully tomorrow I will be back in full spinning mode, because I'm on a roll and my spinning mojo is running hot! :) I want to at least finish the skein of Turtle Sky before the first official rest day on Monday - the rate I'm spinning at the moment it will probably take me till the end of the weekend to finish it, and I plan to spend Monday on fibre prep for the rest of the Tour (and maybe get some more of the Rainbow Edition mitten done). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaking of bunnies, I have been thinking about it for a while, and have decided that I need a couple of rabbits again :) I had a black dwarf lop rabbit for a while who was just the most awesome, attitudinous bunneh EVAR, his name was Shadow:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuEUGeoXMhF7DRKjwA7BfcK4ObUxp0Y0hFWImTSunnaccNRY54igpeYi5yiuR1BtxEQ_TJ5GjMTcEZwQfjy8Rd1HJ_uB3ba3uyEMBd83nHhjLNnzmbErapK0X-3kKzwrEkuap5z4K1_9I/s1600/tootsies%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuEUGeoXMhF7DRKjwA7BfcK4ObUxp0Y0hFWImTSunnaccNRY54igpeYi5yiuR1BtxEQ_TJ5GjMTcEZwQfjy8Rd1HJ_uB3ba3uyEMBd83nHhjLNnzmbErapK0X-3kKzwrEkuap5z4K1_9I/s320/tootsies%2521.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dontcha just LOVE those adorable footsies? :D I miss having a furry little bundle of attitude around, and have decided that I need a couple of bunnies (they are very social animals so do better with a companion) - this time however, I want to get bunnies with fluff that I can spin as an added bonus. I love how the Universe works with me when I am on the right track with something - within less than an hour of deciding that I needed bunnies, I had someone offer me not one, but two rabbit houses (one 2 storey one and one for outside time that can be moved around), so I'm taking that as a big fat "YES" on the bunny idea ;) And of course if I have bunnies (I'm thinking English Angora or maybe cashmere lop, as I have been told their fluff is also good for spinning), there will be plenty of excuses for gratuitous cute bunnehpix ;) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Guess I better get my butt into gear and get the backyard sorted out so that it's fit for bunnies and the dogs won't be able to eat them! At least I know the cats won't bother them, they're well used to rabbits because they grew up with Shadow; he even taught one of the cats how to do binkies, and they used to chase each other up and down the hallway - on the way up, it would be Neko chasing Shadow (and there would be much bouncing noise and scrambling claws on the solid wood floor), then Shadow would suddenly turn on his heels and bounce madly after Neko, who would hotfoot it back down the hall to the kitchen with the black ball of attitude in hot pursuit! :D And the victory dance Shadow would do after chasing Neko back out of the hallway was hilarious - binkies in circles like "oh yeah, oh yeah, who's the bunny boss?" LOL :) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So yeah, anyway, I want bunnies again. In other news this week, we have made some progress on trying to get Ethan (my 7yo) tested - his teachers and I have been saying for 2 years that he is high functioning autistic (and I would know, because two other members of his immediate family are also high functioning autistic, and I'm one of them) but the system here is ridiculously slow. Because he is over 5 years old, he is not considered a priority for assessment - here, the focus is on the under 5's because they have not yet entered the school system and the policy is one of early intervention to assist them to function as normally as possible in the school environment. But because Ethan is 7, it will take us 18 months to be given an appointment for the assessment to even START >.< Which means that in the meantime, his education suffers because he is spending so much time at home after being suspended for his behaviour (which all the staff including the principal who has to hand out the suspensions agree, is classic textbook autistic behaviour, but until we have a proper assessment and diagnosis, they cannot treat him as if he is autistic - the system says that they have to treat him as if he is just a problem kid with behaviour issues or bad parenting, neither of which, everyone agrees, is the case). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So Ethan has spent over 30 days this term at home due to suspensions, because he doesn't like change, and because he will fly off the handle at the smallest provocation from other kids (who KNOW he does it so they poke him to make it worse) and then without warning, will explode and trash the entire classroom or hurt other kids or punch the teacher, and generally cause a major scene requiring either the removal of the entire class from the classroom until he calms down enough to be removed (which often takes up to an hour, and means that the rest of the kids in the class lose an hour of class time because the staff are not allowed to actually physically manhandle Ethan or remove him from a classroom, they are only allowed to restrain him if he starts hurting people or damaging property). And it has now got to the point where the principal has said he has to only do half days at school - which means that I am stuck at home unable to do anything but supervise him for the rest of the day when he comes home after morning recess, until they decide to bring him back up to full days slowly. Don't even get me STARTED on how ineffective and stupid the school's policy is for kids like Ethan (or the whole damn SYSTEM for that matter in recognising and dealing with issues like autism)...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">*AHEM*. OK so I started saying that we had made some progress and then got sidetracked into my rant....but the Fremantle Behaviour Centre have been observing Ethan's behaviour in the classroom when he has actually been at school (ie, for a day or two in between suspensions at most), and they are going to put everything they have observed into a report to be sent to Southwell (the child development centre who told me they can't see him for 18 months because he's not a "priority") to try and hurry things along a bit, because they are very firmly of the opinion that he IS high functioning autistic (to which I say, "well DUH!" because I have only been trying to tell the school and the system that and get him assessed for nearly a year already).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I will also be contacting my local MP to explain the situation to them, because seriously, how the HELL is it helping Ethan to cope with school or get an education so he won't be miles behind his peers, when the goddamn school won't even let him ATTEND because they just plain aren't equipped to deal with his behaviour because they don't have a diagnosis on paper, and won't have one for at least another year or more? I am on disability, which means that I am not capable of keeping him at home all the time because of my illnesses, and yet I am still expected to do this and there is absolutely NO support for either Ethan or myself while he is stuck waiting for some so-called "child expert" to tell me the same thing that I have been trying to tell THEM for the last two years - that's just bloody ridiculous. I mean you would THINK that the fact that he has a sibling AND a parent who are diagnosed as high functioning autistic, and the fact that the principal of his school and several of the staff, all of whom are trained to recognise various forms of autism and several other disorders, have said they think he is autistic; and that the Behaviour Centre have also said that in their opinion he is autistic, would count for SOMETHING in getting the assessment to happen a bit sooner, no? Well apparently it doesn't, so excuse me if I'm one VERY pissed off parent whose kid is being penalised unfairly with suspensions that even the principal (who GIVES them) says he doesn't deserve and she feels bad about giving them - hell, even SHE said that suspensions are not going to help him, but that it's all the school can do because they can't deal with him and can't change their tactics until he has been officially diagnosed >.< And the fact that I, the high functioning autistic parent of not only Ethan but another high functioning autistic child who also lives with me, am supposed to just drop everything to keep Ethan at home when I have enough difficulty dealing with my own day to day stuff (not to mention the fact that I have other permanent disabilities that make taking care of a high-needs child like Ethan even more difficult), AND to do it without any support (because I can't GET any until he is officially diagnosed, which will not happen until he starts the assessment process that we have to wait 18 months to get an appointment for), is just beyond belief. I can't even get any financial support for having a special needs child until he gets the diagnosis because of course, I have to provide proof to Centrelink of his needs before they can grant a payment, so in the meantime for however long it takes for us to get an appointment and the assessment process to be completed, we are all just struggling.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And they wonder why I get so pissed at them on the phone when they tell me they can't do anything >.<</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-81758373963236127242011-07-08T02:46:00.000+08:002011-07-08T02:46:18.136+08:00TdF Day 6 and an injury!<div style="text-align: justify;">I have had another productive day of spinning, albeit hampered by injury....I finally finished plying the Parallel Universe Lincoln singles, and they turned out to be 350m/385yds of Navajo plied 18WPI yarn (which goes a long way toward explaining the injury!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The Parallel Universe yarn took me a grand total of 19hrs - 15hrs spinning the singles over 3 days, and 4hrs to ply them. The singles were 36WPI (for those of you who are non-spinners, that's wraps per inch - so basically I can wrap the thread 36 times around a 1 inch section of a ruler without crowding it up against itself too much). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The singles were not without their share of dramas - I wrote yesterday about the blowout and how I had to replace the leather at literally the last minute, with only 7 minutes of Day 5 left! But I finished them and then spent another 4 hours this morning N-plying. But the result of the combination of spinning a very coarse fibre for very long hours over several days and spinning it very fine, is that my fibromyalgia has decided to rebel - my left/leading hand (the one that controls the twist) is swollen, very stiff, and extremely painful :( But I have well and truly found my spinning mojo, so no way was I going to quit - I not only finished the neverending Parallel Universe, but I spun the first half of the Turtle Sky Navajo Churro (although I DID spin it fairly chunky and low-twist to give my hand a break, and I did take most of the day off and not spin anything till this evening once I finished the Parallel Universe). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tomorrow, injury permitting, I will be spinning the remaining half of the Turtle Sky and plying it, and prepping the next braid to spin as I don't think I will get much more than that done with my hand the way it is. But for now I present the results of my Day 6 spinning:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhINka2LCLYOrI0iWbgocB0zzsAAukbSII36rzKJfbqLVLt_r2_K_Qo9_1fvjHHY1Sc8xiIsIr1-ccQA1trCM_ryiYalrQ93wEmiQOLQ18Pikvlq1Nn-OE0N4HTaaPbS1hYCSlIIWhBs/s1600/tdf11day6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhINka2LCLYOrI0iWbgocB0zzsAAukbSII36rzKJfbqLVLt_r2_K_Qo9_1fvjHHY1Sc8xiIsIr1-ccQA1trCM_ryiYalrQ93wEmiQOLQ18Pikvlq1Nn-OE0N4HTaaPbS1hYCSlIIWhBs/s320/tdf11day6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Top row: on the left, the plied Parallel Universe yarn on the jumbo bobbin. On the right, the finished yarn.<br />
Bottom: on the left, Turtle Sky Navajo Churro braid. On the right, the first bobbin of singles.<br />
<br />
Once I finish the Turtle Sky, I will be prepping this pretty fibre for spinning - GaGa Bunny, "Fire Star":<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFcd1s5uCPcBuBKDOjkOT2JgoIxWSBvFFDY99j06jGF_xQauHkpbrWvh6n5tu3trMWijOKzDTwG2c7MBzbNzgz7UDWt4qGIJi3YIwDVu78Ar8YdCXTy1-Sqebf_Mbod_WBBtPRnhdq71Q/s1600/firestargaga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFcd1s5uCPcBuBKDOjkOT2JgoIxWSBvFFDY99j06jGF_xQauHkpbrWvh6n5tu3trMWijOKzDTwG2c7MBzbNzgz7UDWt4qGIJi3YIwDVu78Ar8YdCXTy1-Sqebf_Mbod_WBBtPRnhdq71Q/s320/firestargaga.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">In spite of the injury, I am so far very happy with my production over the Tour - in 6 days I have managed to spin 3 skeins of yarn totalling 711m/785yds between them, plus the bobbin of Turtle Sky. So if I take it easy for the next couple of days and don't spin anything too thin or any particularly coarse fibres, I should be ok (and there is a rest day coming up on Monday which will help) and should be able to catch up somewhere close to my personal goal of 1 skein for every spinning day of the Tour (which will total 21 skeins for 21 spinning days, since there are 2 rest days over the Tour).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have also decided that next year, Whorled Domination! will be fielding a team for the Tour de Fleece! And I have already started planning things like team challenges, prizes, incentives etc (nothing like having a whole year to plan ahead for it!) :D So watch out for us in 2012, we will be a spinning force to be reckoned with ;)</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-5493856689609980052011-07-07T00:46:00.000+08:002011-07-07T00:46:00.575+08:00Day 5: Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of the Universe....<div style="text-align: justify;">...the Parallel Universe, that is! Halle-freakin'-lujah, I have FINALLY finished the Lincoln singles for the Tour de Fleece - not without drama, with 10 minutes to go till midnight on Day 5 we had a blowout! The leather piece that connects the footman and the treadle of my wheel snapped - and BOY was I thanking the Gods at that point for my wisdom in having purchased a maintenance kit so I had a spare!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a>Anyway a quick change later and I was back up and running and finished the Parallel Universe (aka the Lincoln of Doom) with a mere 7 minutes to spare! But, IT IS FINISHED :D In addition to this I managed to grab about 5 minutes of spindle time while I was on the phone today. So I present my Day 5 spinning:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHTVC3MCrfwhbwefAHjo0xnq6msizaSip9FeHn_SgyDiEz0VTtMSSKEnQU9ncqPQCQ8XfNzVD3OeqnaKFGW7kylPG9v35IZEIss6f7oDma_VtzN7IDGluE4JmG3ZuXTO5xAkFCBC7rMo/s1600/tdf11day5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHTVC3MCrfwhbwefAHjo0xnq6msizaSip9FeHn_SgyDiEz0VTtMSSKEnQU9ncqPQCQ8XfNzVD3OeqnaKFGW7kylPG9v35IZEIss6f7oDma_VtzN7IDGluE4JmG3ZuXTO5xAkFCBC7rMo/s320/tdf11day5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the left, the marathon "Parallel Universe" Lincoln. On the right, "Heaven Sent" mulberry peace silk being spun on my Zebisis Designs 1/2oz opalite spindle (yes yes I know, it's not a Whorled Domination! spindlebebeh - but only because I haven't got around to making any super lightweight spindlebebehs yet, and I have spun silk almost as fine as this on my 30g WD spindle so wasn't in a hurry to do so). I believe the technical term for the thickness I am spinning the silk is "frog hair" - it's finer than sewing thread (I can literally almost not see it until it's on the spindle, I can really only see the singles when the light hits them and they shine).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So I am sitting with a nice glass of shiraz to celebrate a successful Day 5 of the Tour - tomorrow is likely to involve plying the monster bobbin of Lincoln (as it comes in at a skinny 36WPI so is really too fine for anything I'm likely to knit, so I have decided to N-ply it as I will still end up with lace to light fingering weight yarn even with that, and still a lot of yardage that will be more appropriate for the things I like to knit); I will also be starting the "Turtle Sky" Navajo Churro fibre tomorrow that has been prepped and is sitting neatly curled up ready to go in the basket :)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It has also been a successful day on a personal front, as someone I haven't spoken to in a while is now talking to me and we are friends again :)</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-67564549633059064972011-07-06T03:26:00.000+08:002011-07-06T03:26:48.330+08:00Day 4, the endless Parallel Universe, Food, and Whorled Domination!<div style="text-align: justify;">Day 4 of the Tour de Fleece has finished, and I didn't get as much spinning time as I would have liked today (had plenty of interruptions and stuff, but you get that!) I did however still manage 3 hours of spinning, and in that time I added another 20g of the Parallel Universe Lincoln to the bobbin, bringing the total on the bobbin to 55g (and 45g left to spin). This is what it looks like now:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXan4vVhRW_8KmgGmKgco2tj6WOYJA7DxJ-8kLx2mhP20B2VgYk-gIkMj5warcv12tWAOb8pI_WaMtSr07IkAcsOS3jimzwzx0m92KH21yV8fpV82g0BsCby6jxnn9fiZfI3MpK3ggrA0/s1600/Picture+799.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXan4vVhRW_8KmgGmKgco2tj6WOYJA7DxJ-8kLx2mhP20B2VgYk-gIkMj5warcv12tWAOb8pI_WaMtSr07IkAcsOS3jimzwzx0m92KH21yV8fpV82g0BsCby6jxnn9fiZfI3MpK3ggrA0/s1600/Picture+799.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have also managed another personal best today - yesterday's 6hr spinning time gave me 35g of completed singles. Today's spinning gave me 20g in 3 hours, so I'm getting faster :D Hopefully this means that if I manage a full day of spinning tomorrow, I might have a completed skein by the end of Day 5 of the Tour. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have been sitting in front of my heater knitting away on the Bunny Love Mk II (Rainbow Edition) for a couple of hours a night after finishing my spinning for the Tour - I am now about halfway up the mitten so am making progress at last. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And while I was knitting tonight, I remembered that I had found some beautiful fresh rhubarb when I went shopping - so tomorrow (well later today for me now lol), I am going to be making a huge rhubarb & apple crumble to have after the slow cooker soup I am making with vegetables, barley, split peas, beans, and pasta. Gotta love winter for comfort food - I invested in a great big 6 litre slow cooker last year (more than big enough for the 3 of us) and it was almost the only thing I used to cook all winter! My slow cooker, my huge lasagne dish that is almost too big for my oven, and my baking trays are the 3 things that get the most use for winter cooking - plenty of thick and hearty soups, stews & lasagne, and then there's all the home made cinnamon rolls, gingerbread and foccaccia that I love to bake (and it's heaven working in a warm kitchen when the weather is cold and wet!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In other news, today I launched the Ravelry group for <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/groups/whorled-domination">Whorled Domination!</a> :D You can join us and find out all the latest news about the spindles or new products, and find out which events the spindles will be at, or just hang out and chat about spinning, knitting or any sort of general discussions we may have :) My etsy shop will be closed for the duration of the Tour de Fleece and a short while after - I am aiming to reopen it at the beginning of August but will post updates here, on the facebook page and on the Ravelry group. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's about all there is to write about for now, I think - I will post another update when I finish the neverending Parallel Universe singles (and yes, there will be a final yardage count, WPI and photo). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-86641153114274900672011-07-05T00:13:00.001+08:002011-07-06T03:02:21.876+08:00Day 3 and a bunch of personal bests already!<div style="text-align: justify;">I just finished my spinning for Day 3 of the Tour de Fleece - I had hoped to finish another skein of yarn for today, but the fibre I was spinning had other ideas! It wanted to be spun very fine, and I have ended up after 6 hours of spinning time with this: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1376Q1WMoSfUZwB_2oZ5QlS5z-see6Px_2wkM-PoIHs-t6YK8If0gfnl31wtgZHGRZZSkTcbo3TxBgN8uzv5maDXQ1Ec8JYLTOQbZt8mjtLALAFw8c6Q7OLtpuIifB4KrXLU2aNp1oJs/s1600/Picture+788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1376Q1WMoSfUZwB_2oZ5QlS5z-see6Px_2wkM-PoIHs-t6YK8If0gfnl31wtgZHGRZZSkTcbo3TxBgN8uzv5maDXQ1Ec8JYLTOQbZt8mjtLALAFw8c6Q7OLtpuIifB4KrXLU2aNp1oJs/s1600/Picture+788.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
35g (I still have 65g left to spin) of "Parallel Universe" Lincoln. This bobbin makes 3 personal bests I have achieved in my spinning in the 3 days so far of the Tour - Day 1 personal best was spinning and plying an entire 100g skein in one day; Day 2 was to repeat Day 1's performance and manage to get the yardage of the second skein to within 5m of the first skein (which means my consistency is improving a lot); and today's personal best was managing to spin the finest singles I have ever spun on my wheel - these babies come in at an impressive 36WPI, which is firmly in cobweb territory (lace is 18+ WPI and cobweb is 25+).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is part of why I love the Tour de Fleece so much and participate every year, because my spinning always improves dramatically by the end of each Tour and I have so much opportunity to push myself to achieve personal bests and to try new techniques or fibre (already this year I have spun a fibre I have never spun before, the Lincoln, and I will be trying at least one new technique when the Team Challenge day comes up as Team Ixchelbunny are having a wire core spinning challenge that I am very much looking forward to!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tomorrow's TdF spinning will be more of the Parallel Universe Lincoln, some "Turtle Sky" Navajo Churro and this:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWA1SSejkWyZAvhPaAdMuxu_w3K6XfrHU4yRGp8DJqPY7_G_IOL7-JYgCyM4cAKZMizG9of4xtDbKQiSHDhsoK98C4mkYX69uFYF8x9_45dWgER2pmRGE3rWT2xQZd7XmSEvEgqmPlXfk/s1600/Picture+773.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWA1SSejkWyZAvhPaAdMuxu_w3K6XfrHU4yRGp8DJqPY7_G_IOL7-JYgCyM4cAKZMizG9of4xtDbKQiSHDhsoK98C4mkYX69uFYF8x9_45dWgER2pmRGE3rWT2xQZd7XmSEvEgqmPlXfk/s1600/Picture+773.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWI4aAYUPAXS8VKg80C7_5jtJ7twMamYowIIdnFKJL2CLf0IU3JYoCi4Z4elOsOhM9VgDtynQ_Zu0I-ATh_NmRQX-G4rMULLBzPz8wET5tRyD96DQ7I3IhSJ7Htg0GqPVexNiwIBPANKI/s1600/Picture+774.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWI4aAYUPAXS8VKg80C7_5jtJ7twMamYowIIdnFKJL2CLf0IU3JYoCi4Z4elOsOhM9VgDtynQ_Zu0I-ATh_NmRQX-G4rMULLBzPz8wET5tRyD96DQ7I3IhSJ7Htg0GqPVexNiwIBPANKI/s1600/Picture+774.jpg" /></a></div>"Heaven Sent" mulberry peace silk, being spun very fine on my Zebisis Designs lightweight opalite spindle that weighs just under 15g. I also have a mitten to knit and one to send off to Charly to display at Bendigo (the Bunny Love mitten, yay!) So I am currently in spinning/knitting heaven with all this productivity happening!<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I will be posting as close to daily as I can manage during the Tour de Fleece with progress updates for each day and the challenges of the Tour. July is going to be a BIG month for me with the Tour and Bendigo Sheep & Wool show coming up mid-month - I have just sent a huge box of 40 spindles to Charly, who has very kindly offered to make sure Whorled Domination! has a presence at Bendigo, and then after Bendigo the spindles will be making an appearance at the Mapleton spin camp in Queensland :) In addition to the Whorled Domination! spindles, Charly will also be selling the "Bunny Love" mitten pattern at Bendigo (and there will be a completed mitten there for everyone to have a look at the design and feel how lovely and soft Charly's yarns are).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I also have some more knitting patterns in the works, these have been put on the back burner for a while with the Tour de Fleece and Bendigo show, but come August I will have plenty of time to work on them while I am recovering from surgery ;) I will also have a big pile of new yarn as a product of the Tour de Fleece - just in time to start knitting Christmas presents (which I will also probably be doing a fair bit of during my recovery).<br />
<br />
So right now, life is pretty damn good - I'm busy doing things that I love, my surgery that I have been waiting 4 years for is finally happening very soon, and I think I'm the happiest in myself that I have been in a long time :)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-71123035121858094462011-07-04T00:47:00.001+08:002011-07-04T03:41:29.697+08:00Spinning up a storm, and birthday butterflies :)<div style="text-align: justify;">It's that time of year again, yes, the Tour de Fleece is ON! For those who have no idea what that is, it's a spinning marathon that runs for the duration of the Tour de France. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
I have participated in the last 3 Tour de Fleece, and this year I am spinning for several teams again: Team Ixchelbunny (and in honour of all Charly's lost bunnies, all the fibre I am spinning for this year's Tour is from Ixchel), Team Ryan Eejits (for my adopted Ravelry family), Team Ashford (my wheel is a single treadle early 80s vintage Ashford Traditional, her name is Tuireann and she is living up to it because we are ON FIRE this Tour!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My goals this year are to spin every day of the Tour (since I was unable to do this last year due to illness and injury), to spin as much of my Ixchel fibre stash as I can, and my new one is to aim to spin one skein per day consistently throughout the Tour (as I am a slow-ish spinner). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So far, for me Day 2 has just come to a close and I have managed to spin 2 100g skeins in 2 days, so I am very happy with that! Here's a few photos, starting with the fibre I will be spinning from for the duration of the Tour:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnI3EMda0hbLwls0WZT_MoVdhKL5Ff41eEumLKn5Me-OHc9mX2vqGGRvZwusU0obOmMQxktRFF8KOhlt-n4pN1n2gwvDjXx5Fg7J4U33o3Bf3Ama2DW7g7vEY8qoLK_LmRvUIwqwy22W4/s1600/tdf2011ixchel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnI3EMda0hbLwls0WZT_MoVdhKL5Ff41eEumLKn5Me-OHc9mX2vqGGRvZwusU0obOmMQxktRFF8KOhlt-n4pN1n2gwvDjXx5Fg7J4U33o3Bf3Ama2DW7g7vEY8qoLK_LmRvUIwqwy22W4/s320/tdf2011ixchel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And here is the fibre I spun for Day 1 and 2, and the resulting 2 skeins of yarn - skein 1 is 183m/203yds of 2ply construction, worsted weight yarn; skein 2 is 178m/198yds of the same. The fibre is Ixchel angorino in "Orsay":<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDm_Fipexx6wlIVbAyDZjAltyOlywvAwliQudazeyEx03FK8CaejjeTUGdRyKH_ixZSbZ7KzQZ0RkXE-TTedlwGLUX6FeiTjVctT0NLKqyf-KdjGnZRL_crMULSPwRGxNGuPkQvXVGo48/s1600/orsayangorino.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDm_Fipexx6wlIVbAyDZjAltyOlywvAwliQudazeyEx03FK8CaejjeTUGdRyKH_ixZSbZ7KzQZ0RkXE-TTedlwGLUX6FeiTjVctT0NLKqyf-KdjGnZRL_crMULSPwRGxNGuPkQvXVGo48/s320/orsayangorino.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQXywq_AuDcj1pd3OVenNOiH377Wbr2GkToP7Fa9v5Cf1a9lJOZANwJ50_2EliRX4yQs6jcirNs4OYmTI2ewyrP26CMXzS7216jrZlkfgxGM8UigVyITWwhHuIPeBD2j2m6r3PTH2m-k/s1600/Picture+779.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQXywq_AuDcj1pd3OVenNOiH377Wbr2GkToP7Fa9v5Cf1a9lJOZANwJ50_2EliRX4yQs6jcirNs4OYmTI2ewyrP26CMXzS7216jrZlkfgxGM8UigVyITWwhHuIPeBD2j2m6r3PTH2m-k/s1600/Picture+779.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlh_wIA8RrPGym1BLO8Nr2Snz9-nB8DR8UvZwqYJ1PssEpt6fA475-mQEHtpKxSePI_HyEnXga1haK71nwYR5IJu3ncLpKLqOpURzEN9FfT3o0g4XLkK1TJTGIAN7U6x-4jPP-Zp5xlDw/s1600/Picture+781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlh_wIA8RrPGym1BLO8Nr2Snz9-nB8DR8UvZwqYJ1PssEpt6fA475-mQEHtpKxSePI_HyEnXga1haK71nwYR5IJu3ncLpKLqOpURzEN9FfT3o0g4XLkK1TJTGIAN7U6x-4jPP-Zp5xlDw/s1600/Picture+781.jpg" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">And here is the fibre I have chosen to spin for Day 3 - "Parallel Universe" Lincoln:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKiPjE0URoMVrXAYYBXFM90S7zGfvf_kVSaf9XW7uh44BKnWpUjKDVPoHvm36GS8oY3SERHNy5dFExnRFyVWpL5nmCKb6swFEZdn4yYTXhaODZa61uEpmvjVelxZs6xAiuLONB2kKCaQ/s1600/paralleluniverselincoln.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKiPjE0URoMVrXAYYBXFM90S7zGfvf_kVSaf9XW7uh44BKnWpUjKDVPoHvm36GS8oY3SERHNy5dFExnRFyVWpL5nmCKb6swFEZdn4yYTXhaODZa61uEpmvjVelxZs6xAiuLONB2kKCaQ/s320/paralleluniverselincoln.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
I think this one will end up as lightly felted singles, but I will see what it wants to be when it gets on the wheel :) And last but not least, here's my Day 4 fibre (but if I finish the Lincoln fairly quickly, I will be making a start tomorrow on Day 3) - Ixchel Navajo Churro fibre in "Turtle Sky":<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj223EOequqEOUw22S3m_dTl0E_w9Eh88uWYSuoHIUf90KKL6uk5qL-M109poUFKAkJTFO6-o3_IEYoxXj3EjPeHc0qUS61h7YLafRehsLAn3kv5gwzUbgujED0ORxKiyiTK3FITvMuR0M/s1600/turtleskynavajochurro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj223EOequqEOUw22S3m_dTl0E_w9Eh88uWYSuoHIUf90KKL6uk5qL-M109poUFKAkJTFO6-o3_IEYoxXj3EjPeHc0qUS61h7YLafRehsLAn3kv5gwzUbgujED0ORxKiyiTK3FITvMuR0M/s320/turtleskynavajochurro.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Also, since it's after midnight here and July 4th, today is the birthday of someone who still means a great deal to me even though she is no longer part of my life (and indeed, without whose influence I would not have become the man I am) - happy birthday butterfly, and thank you :) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span id="goog_1596500344"></span><span id="goog_1596500345"></span></div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-55879937396479552112011-06-28T01:17:00.000+08:002011-06-28T01:17:08.600+08:00Gearing up for a busy July...<div style="text-align: justify;">I have been flat out with not only knitting samples of my Bunny Love mitten pattern, but also making spindles for the Bendigo Sheep & Wool show in July, and getting organised to participate in this year's Tour de Fleece again on Ravelry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">So here are a few dodgy webcam pictures of what I've been up to lately. First, the mitten samples:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOMOPVT0wlt6kD9m24xhznFOuRk5BZA9VflUsBhOgZY6fYHf53DdJ2XpuoM7fD5ABPME4ZCl54uLoNqk3mYSPKM-WEve3in5H7xltKxIxVGKo8M4LmMcvxYD_fuN0FGPSAK9rS9Qw_Ccg/s1600/Picture+761.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOMOPVT0wlt6kD9m24xhznFOuRk5BZA9VflUsBhOgZY6fYHf53DdJ2XpuoM7fD5ABPME4ZCl54uLoNqk3mYSPKM-WEve3in5H7xltKxIxVGKo8M4LmMcvxYD_fuN0FGPSAK9rS9Qw_Ccg/s1600/Picture+761.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihCrVIHgwIpUwadr2BWWTFppPrME3sqK-l2VzO_jmBj2FkMvF0_Fs-p4VdjCTvn3seh9V3XXQZF0_Eztb0laH8VZISB6LtOC8bJryobbxnT82nT4CmdGUhBL4-PoD583BbNgkeIb5tCg/s1600/Picture+762.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihCrVIHgwIpUwadr2BWWTFppPrME3sqK-l2VzO_jmBj2FkMvF0_Fs-p4VdjCTvn3seh9V3XXQZF0_Eztb0laH8VZISB6LtOC8bJryobbxnT82nT4CmdGUhBL4-PoD583BbNgkeIb5tCg/s1600/Picture+762.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqBm6yHWiPBmsZhCXrJQrcHQXINPKnKbv3L8Al5q9skffF-qd9iHoyX94Zw_uG34ZUTCJKaY9zXZ6Rc7gv4kY6mETDi0zjkUDaeVH90hfrBpuGesGBsLLfElFaaF9vIs-GGB5CKh63YNM/s1600/Picture+768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqBm6yHWiPBmsZhCXrJQrcHQXINPKnKbv3L8Al5q9skffF-qd9iHoyX94Zw_uG34ZUTCJKaY9zXZ6Rc7gv4kY6mETDi0zjkUDaeVH90hfrBpuGesGBsLLfElFaaF9vIs-GGB5CKh63YNM/s1600/Picture+768.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgzr05uQzol1uCdMNA0zUehHW19oGIKzRGozJhMToIdt9C81W1npGtTPv6bHGAxR-uvI22BmnIuwMQihLX4REPqCv2swe48zmk3zi9CJrLb3g9X45dyOZ66SyeelNB99RvhFuC-bSKA0/s1600/Picture+769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgzr05uQzol1uCdMNA0zUehHW19oGIKzRGozJhMToIdt9C81W1npGtTPv6bHGAxR-uvI22BmnIuwMQihLX4REPqCv2swe48zmk3zi9CJrLb3g9X45dyOZ66SyeelNB99RvhFuC-bSKA0/s1600/Picture+769.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The completed sample is knit in IxCHeL Fibres BFL/Angora blend 4ply yarn in "Rembrandt Revisited" and "Super Black Purl" colourways. The mitten-in-progress (Bunny Love Mk. II, the Rainbow Edition) is in the same yarn in the Rainbow colourway (duh) and again, Super Black Purl. This yarn is SO soft and such a pleasure to knit with, the mittens are super comfortable and warm :)</div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Secondly, the spindles - later this week, there will be a box containing approximately 40 spindles that will be winging its way to Charly at the IxCHeL fibre farm to be taken to Bendigo - so all those of you who are going, keep an eye out for them! Here they are waiting for hooks and balancing:</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzE2RQKddoex5gUOawaN8yPKCNMJ3a8n5R7iIItEutp2m3X-JnH7ntw5SZA4CCwLrTbDvFH7TZcgPwJFhzTOo-L8y0YNDlK1E6J29rr7VDnKlgh0zjmutWtBMWiPlFRWN1Wn7BnHEXv0Y/s1600/Picture+740.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzE2RQKddoex5gUOawaN8yPKCNMJ3a8n5R7iIItEutp2m3X-JnH7ntw5SZA4CCwLrTbDvFH7TZcgPwJFhzTOo-L8y0YNDlK1E6J29rr7VDnKlgh0zjmutWtBMWiPlFRWN1Wn7BnHEXv0Y/s1600/Picture+740.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-m1V0FzPYeEapc0QDENoK6thcdRRv-jcJJ_9eaxEZ3aP0eiATx93XEfDV6qKYYR1B51BVppmO3KQQcBb-9Pzm-F7YnQh53me8b7qSSQdXl1ErsHH5i5YRNtmIJD2WVTlQvcGyvbsZiA/s1600/Picture+741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-m1V0FzPYeEapc0QDENoK6thcdRRv-jcJJ_9eaxEZ3aP0eiATx93XEfDV6qKYYR1B51BVppmO3KQQcBb-9Pzm-F7YnQh53me8b7qSSQdXl1ErsHH5i5YRNtmIJD2WVTlQvcGyvbsZiA/s1600/Picture+741.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUdJSnYLNdIMRTIck2Ha7c5mquVqTQ6COhpw2mFSmRjmL3GXROqxPGfwmbykHC1QuVOpgn66fhOXKDaVbpXkvWsjsaPOHbzHK8YXJtgARk_hum0MelXxXfx9lz6XpWyk3YicvDac3ZZaw/s1600/Picture+742.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUdJSnYLNdIMRTIck2Ha7c5mquVqTQ6COhpw2mFSmRjmL3GXROqxPGfwmbykHC1QuVOpgn66fhOXKDaVbpXkvWsjsaPOHbzHK8YXJtgARk_hum0MelXxXfx9lz6XpWyk3YicvDac3ZZaw/s1600/Picture+742.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">In other knitting, I have been turning a skein of Charly's long-repeat rainbow yarn into a Diamond Delight shawl (I seem to be on a semi-solid and rainbow kick at the moment):</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5_FDqSb-X9_2BdsPJ3SRtVv7ldauXY2H8iGpyadgYI9OLXlu12DnKEK2xLVfZ3OQSENFqGtz0DeYsiGhjbt1_VdxOpcMepmEYatkAv0MZfWnI9j67qkMQ6WSVZkKjYylBayFmEMh6ek/s1600/Picture+738.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5_FDqSb-X9_2BdsPJ3SRtVv7ldauXY2H8iGpyadgYI9OLXlu12DnKEK2xLVfZ3OQSENFqGtz0DeYsiGhjbt1_VdxOpcMepmEYatkAv0MZfWnI9j67qkMQ6WSVZkKjYylBayFmEMh6ek/s1600/Picture+738.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">And to top off the current WIPs, here's the start of my miniature crochet panda (yes, that is a 5c coin next to the body for scale):</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUf8tbbkoZvIsisWyPjEUdvgroxDVQFivqBkNLTXTK-DrPshAzmaYHYG31WGINzViKWfXmS28eHFj2dNIVkgtN17oNH-vN2R0YKvVdwXo5aeNG0Zv9xI0ke75BVEfUPG3P3icxgsKkJ7Y/s1600/Picture+739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUf8tbbkoZvIsisWyPjEUdvgroxDVQFivqBkNLTXTK-DrPshAzmaYHYG31WGINzViKWfXmS28eHFj2dNIVkgtN17oNH-vN2R0YKvVdwXo5aeNG0Zv9xI0ke75BVEfUPG3P3icxgsKkJ7Y/s1600/Picture+739.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Completed body and head:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQulZKnUqWR8A1ovxmh5OyGkJzcUC0MuvlkeihKsZb-Gpt5phB5WU6q94Med8wVEY7doMxi0GvQg18XB1o7Gydkd0a_pq5WKCIWmXeQelrj9ZTAvrzez9hOirxcV4_TDD3i8dwPtycSZI/s1600/Picture+744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQulZKnUqWR8A1ovxmh5OyGkJzcUC0MuvlkeihKsZb-Gpt5phB5WU6q94Med8wVEY7doMxi0GvQg18XB1o7Gydkd0a_pq5WKCIWmXeQelrj9ZTAvrzez9hOirxcV4_TDD3i8dwPtycSZI/s1600/Picture+744.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">In addition to all of this crafting, I am still plugging away at the 1934 Vine Leaf bedspread squares (working on number 8 of 30), and have gathered all my bobbins together to empty in preparation for the Tour de Fleece which starts on Saturday July 2nd. This year (my 4th) I am again spinning for multiple teams - Team Ixchelbunny, Team Ryan Eejit, and Team Ashford :) So for most of July, the knitting and crochet will be put aside in favour of spinning - this year my main goals are to spin every day of the Tour (something I didn't manage last year due to injury/health issues) and to spin as much of my Ixchel fibre stash as possible. As I am spinning for Team Ixchelbunny, I will also be participating in the team Quest on the Challenge day - I am particularly looking forward to this as it will be something I haven't done before (corespinning).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So now I have to get cracking on emptying all those bobbins and finalise my choices of fibre for the Tour - I will be a very busy boy this week indeed! </div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-91421226552852399232011-06-22T02:12:00.001+08:002011-06-22T02:16:41.590+08:00So much to do, so little time!<div style="text-align: justify;">Oh my goodness, I have SO much on the boil right now! I'm still trying to finish the sample Bunny Love mittens and the other samples of the mittens I designed, as well as designing MORE knitting patterns. I'm also in the middle of making a large batch of about 40 spindles for the Bendigo Sheep & Wool Show in July (BIG love to Charly at <a href="http://ixchelbunny.blogspot.com/">ixCHeL Yarn & Fibre</a> who will be selling the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whorled-Domination/122017764518183">Whorled Domination!</a> spindles on my behalf - I'm SO excited to have a presence at Bendi, as it's the biggest yarn & fibre festival in Australia every year!)<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So yeah, life is pretty damn good right about now :D I have come to a very important realisation that I don't need anyone else to make me happy - I can be in a beautiful state of bliss and joy and love all on my own (which is where I have spent most of the last couple of weeks) :) I mean sure, being in a relationship would be nice because I'd get to share life with someone special - but it's not something I *need*. At this point I'd have to say that a relationship would be just icing on the cake for me, because life is so sweet - my creativity is in full flow, my designs are getting a lot of attention and sales and I'm starting to make money from my work, and my spindles are creating something of a storm for fellow fibreholics :D Can't ask for much more than that, I'm quite excited and happy that people are so keen on the things I can make ;)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have long held the belief that I can't contribute anything useful to a relationship unless I can love and appreciate myself first and know that I deserve everything good that comes to me - and the last few weeks have really driven that home. I have had a few conversations with friends who are lonely and feel unfulfilled without a partner, and I'm glad I am not in the space that says I need someone else in my life to tell me that I am worthwhile or validate me. I'd like to think there is someone out there who can walk with me and not need to cause drama or do anything but be herself - but if I never find her, it won't matter, because I am fulfilled and happy where I am right now :) I don't have a lot of material things, but I don't need them - I have never done ANYTHING in my life for the money, and am very happy to be able to make enough money to live on from doing something I enjoy as much as my fibre arts :D</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have so much right now - amazing friends who support me no matter what and love and accept me as I am; work that I love with a passion to put food on the table and make me smile; amazing kids who never cease to surprise me and make me laugh, and probably the biggest thing of all, HOPE. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yes, I am an eternal optimist - no matter how much shit I go through I seem to always bounce back and find the silver lining in everything (and I'm grateful for that, because it DOES make life a lot easier in the long run if I'm not stressing about everything or finding/creating drama where it doesn't need to be made). I have a lot of love to give the right person - but if I never found anyone to share that with, I can honestly say that my life as it is right now is full of everything I need and makes me happy :) I really am blessed - how many people can say that the work that puts food on their table is something that they love as much as I do? And I may not have hundreds of friends, but those I do have are incredible people who I love very much and know I can trust without question :) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So to all of my friends - thank you, you make my life so much richer xxx</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-59378513644237789682011-06-12T23:36:00.000+08:002011-06-12T23:36:56.495+08:00Awww.....This is the song my daughter walked down the aisle to last night....it's so perfect for them <3<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/o0aSigT0aUk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-68213659309347033412011-06-12T18:51:00.001+08:002011-06-12T20:07:43.287+08:00Wedding photos, part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Here are a couple more photos from my daughter's wedding, the first one is a "serious" wedding photo (one from just before the silly one of my previous post): </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5ZkaDjcbvB4XS9Z01X5IzS2xmFsmlDjWO3rdSkZdkcn7L_J7mc12dc-Kpn_lj4OzpY1SzTtjiP8J2AGVMNjHdkgmwSEo2-3FQUsZb9GhalF3anLOMSVWqOiu6AuUQODB7XgMcbNwvas/s1600/family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5ZkaDjcbvB4XS9Z01X5IzS2xmFsmlDjWO3rdSkZdkcn7L_J7mc12dc-Kpn_lj4OzpY1SzTtjiP8J2AGVMNjHdkgmwSEo2-3FQUsZb9GhalF3anLOMSVWqOiu6AuUQODB7XgMcbNwvas/s400/family.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">And this is my 7yo son Ethan with his big sister Rhiannon - just prior to this, Ethan was on the dance floor with no less than THREE beautiful women dancing with him and practically eating out of his hand! I wish I could figure out how to bottle whatever this kid has and sell it, because he's a serious chick magnet and I'd make a fortune! ;)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJZ0-LSdj3xQQ1VSEQ68-W_iO_Pl3Rcd55nCaXqlgTtLLI7Kk6bbDSD0-2lJPE2ykNNi_hNYZO-BCEHiGdZNVfzrydP9gO5dQwB4l1yCJNO3CEE4SOYkOH7LTzef0mbIl9OCm96lOTPs/s1600/ethanrhi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJZ0-LSdj3xQQ1VSEQ68-W_iO_Pl3Rcd55nCaXqlgTtLLI7Kk6bbDSD0-2lJPE2ykNNi_hNYZO-BCEHiGdZNVfzrydP9gO5dQwB4l1yCJNO3CEE4SOYkOH7LTzef0mbIl9OCm96lOTPs/s400/ethanrhi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div>Once I get the rest of the photos from Shivy, I will post a few more selected ones from the night :)WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-81507166393973064362011-06-12T15:06:00.000+08:002011-06-12T15:06:53.542+08:00Wedding pics, part 1I only have these 2 photos at the moment, but will post more when my daughter emails them to me after her honeymoon. The second photo is the first time I have had a picture with *almost* all the kids in it in about 12 years, although there was one daughter missing who didn't attend last night. It was at the end of a long photo session so we were all being silly :P<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNIGnWcMWAtG40yEHGUKmn2nROWsfj938zXNlXq8c2pDRZaNv-NQ1wseu4Dvkj6Kf-cls_IOUC8k0MhvVck_K7h5rRqJ7XaaThX_ocsBJKKXMXDOkDir3oWdkesYzg8gjmOMINYHo3BsQ/s1600/awwww.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNIGnWcMWAtG40yEHGUKmn2nROWsfj938zXNlXq8c2pDRZaNv-NQ1wseu4Dvkj6Kf-cls_IOUC8k0MhvVck_K7h5rRqJ7XaaThX_ocsBJKKXMXDOkDir3oWdkesYzg8gjmOMINYHo3BsQ/s400/awwww.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Don't they make a gorgeous couple? <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5do1JN3lug8GLfDBm0hp3BDuNAdqq9nk6g_FDfBe2pyLCQOYzu7mjBU4yNRDQoUqnowGKXGkwYsoFxi2ltXFTY_Wq4w1kxPocehU6_kr52j_qcd3goHCNV3Uab41Q7w6XfN8bQu_Vz8/s1600/LOL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5do1JN3lug8GLfDBm0hp3BDuNAdqq9nk6g_FDfBe2pyLCQOYzu7mjBU4yNRDQoUqnowGKXGkwYsoFxi2ltXFTY_Wq4w1kxPocehU6_kr52j_qcd3goHCNV3Uab41Q7w6XfN8bQu_Vz8/s400/LOL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
From the back, L-R: Me, Dylan, Romy & Rhiannon. Front L-R: Brad, Shiv & Ethan.WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-67697228267268137572011-06-12T01:21:00.001+08:002011-06-12T01:23:03.248+08:00Nothing like a wedding to bring out the best - and worst - in people. So tonight I went to what was supposed to be my eldest daughter's engagement party, but turned out to be her wedding. As usual, my parents stole all the credit and the limelight from me - I didn't even get a mention anywhere for the whole night, they just gave everyone the impression that they are her parents and the sole reason she turned out ok. So I'm a tad drunk while writing this (so yeah, excuse any spelling errors etc, because I'm not exactly in a fit state to spot them).<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Never mind that my ex and his new wife and most of their 8 kids were there (they weren't supposed to be, except that my second daughter had told her dad about the secret wedding and of course he wanted in). This should have been one of the greatest and most amazing nights ever - but instead it was so fucking painful for me it wasn't funny. It was MY eldest daughter, my firstborn child, who got married tonight, and yet I might as well have been totally invisible at the wedding - I was just another guest. My father gave my daughter away and gave the father of the bride speech, and my mother totally lapped up all the attention due to mother of the bride - there were 150 people attending, and only my family and my daughter's new husband knew who the hell I was. <br />
<br />
It should have been ME walking my baby down the aisle and making funny speeches about her childhood after the ceremony. I am so happy for her but at the same time I have never felt so much pain in my life. All of my family members who were there were in on it and treated me like a nobody - to the extent of refusing to acknowledge that I was even present at all. And I damn well SHOULD have belted my arrogant, misinformed shit of a brother in the mouth for his crap - he told me I should smile and have fun and that he wasn't going to say anything about what I have lost (meaning in short, it's all your fault so quit whining and suck it up). So yeah. Excuse me while I go and lose the plot completely now.<br />
<br />
For those who are interested, yes my daughter looked absolutely gorgeous (she has promised to send me photos, so I will post some when I get them). I just wish I could take so much more pride in this thing that should have been so much more mine - but all I can think of right now is how much I have missed because of my parents' shit, and how they rub it in at every possible opportunity. My father even rolled his eyes at me and walked away tonight because the ONE thing I did was to tell him congratulations, you have yet again managed to make me feel like a complete outsider at my own daughter's wedding. And all because I was trying to avoid causing a scene on my daughter's biggest day. <br />
<br />
I love you, kiddo. More than you will ever know.<br />
<br />
<br />
That is all.WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-13872715238409484102011-06-07T03:50:00.000+08:002011-06-07T03:50:46.086+08:00Sometimes I hate having a brain that never shuts up.....It is currently 3:45am and as usual I can't sleep because my goddamn wiring doesn't allow my brain to switch off, and night time is when it does most of the processing of things that have happened recently...so I'm going to write this to get it out of my system and allow me to hopefully get some sleep.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a> I really, REALLY do not like being lied to. <br />
<br />
Why is it that lately, I seem to have had a bunch of people who I trusted implicitly who have now decided to lie to me about various things? Knowing full well that I can tell very easily when their words and their energy don't match, they still choose to take the cowardly route and be dishonest with me. I mean yanno, if what you're doing requires being lied about to get away with it, you might want to examine your motives very closely and rethink them, because if it requires dishonesty, it's NOT the right way to go about it (or even the right thing to be doing in the first place) and all you'll get out of it is negative energy and consequences, just sayin'. And if you haven't got the guts to tell me straight out what the story is without having to bullshit me, then you're not really a friend to start with and it makes me wonder whether you're even worth my time, because dishonesty is not something I want to keep around me and nor are people who can't be honest about who they are. And if you can't be honest with me about something important, how am I going to ever be sure that you are capable of ever being honest with me at all?<br />
<br />
I don't know whether they think I'm stupid enough to believe their lies because I trusted them, or whether these people forget that I KNOW when they are lying (see above, I can tell quite easily when words and the energy behind them don't match), but I SERIOUSLY don't like dishonesty in any form, and I am singularly disappointed and unimpressed that these people who I trusted have seen fit to abuse that trust and try to lie to me. It's childish, dishonest and pretty damn gutless tbh, and I guess I'm sad that these people think that being dishonest is an acceptable way to treat someone who trusted them (and who they made a big deal about trusting, too, which makes it even worse). Guess I'm not as important to them as they claimed, and frankly, anyone who lies to me is given one chance and one chance only to redeem themselves and then they are shown the door, because I do NOT tolerate dishonesty in any form. I don't like lying and I don't disrespect anyone else by lying to them, and I am really disappointed that it has been done to me. Particularly because I have extended trust (something I don't do easily anyway) to the people who did it, and these people have also had their trust abused in the past so they should know way better than to do the same to others.<br />
<br />
I have encountered a major shift in my emotional self lately where I have moved into a state of almost constant love, compassion, joy, gratitude and faith - but this kind of shit really makes it difficult to rise above the muck the people who do it create, or to stay thankful when I have people I thought I could trust betraying me and lying to me. I'm beginning to think that maybe I really AM better off without them around me at all, which kinda makes me sad because there's one or two I'll miss that I did genuinely care about, but they obviously don't want me around as anything more than a dog to kick for their amusement. Seriously, I don't need that level of immaturity and dysfunctional crap around me when I have worked so hard for so many years to be on top of my stuff and own it - I don't need people who can't be honest about who they are and where they are at, what they want or what they're doing and who see fit to not only lie about it but to be really negative toward me because I don't operate on the same base level that they do and won't engage in reactive or childish shitfights or tolerate being lied to for no good reason, let alone apparently for their amusement. <br />
<br />
I have done more than enough parenting of my own kids, I don't need dysfunctional interactions with others who put me in the parent role by behaving in a painfully childish and immature manner and expecting me to not only tolerate it, but apparently to endorse it and allow them to run roughshod over me in the process (and quite often to belittle me for NOT engaging in the same type of behaviour - pffft, what am I, five years old? Seriously). And when someone has a go at me for doing something when they have done literally the EXACT same thing (but apparently it's ok for them to do it even though they had absolutely no basis for their actions, but when I had pretty concrete evidence for something I'm not allowed to draw conclusions from it and I get criticised for apparently lying about something because I drew the conclusions I did and I wasn't the only one who did it...yeah, pot, kettle, black, anyone?) <br />
<br />
Funny how you find out who your real friends are when the shit hits the fan, isn't it? Guess I had a few less friends/family than I thought I did, because the ones who made the biggest noise about being there for me are nowhere to be seen. *shrugs* Oh well, guess that's where I'll just have to make sure I am next time they come running to me for something. Seriously, at this point I think the only thing to do is to become a bona fide hermit, because I am so damn sick of being fucked over by people who don't have the guts to be honest with me or even TALK to me about something when they have issues with me rather than running and talking to everyone BUT me. I can do without that in my life - I need people who have the heart to back the mouth and don't just spout whatever they think I want to hear or whatever they want me to believe, and sadly, those kinds of people seem to be in very short supply around me at this point, as do people who have the guts to be completely honest with me or who can do things without having to control or manipulate others.<br />
<br />
Guess I really am a dinosaur, because I work on truth and trust and respect, and apparently that's so oldschool that it warrants being laughed at and abused by the dishonest and manipulative persons who obviously have no respect or honour. (Yes, I am that oldschool that I still believe in being honourable and having integrity - apparently I am a dying breed and nobody does that any more, because the vast majority of people I encounter have absolutely no concept of what constitutes appropriate behaviour/treatment of others, or they work on "do as I say, not as I do"). Apparently my definition of "commitment" is outdated, too - somewhere along the line it appears to have become acceptable to just suddenly decide that actually having to put any work into interactions with others is too much effort and it's ok to just ditch them and run, and not have to even bother explaining yourself or actually decide to stick with something for more than five minutes before it becomes too much effort because you are actually required to be present and actually put some work into building something with another person that you claim to care about.<br />
<br />
Pfffffffffffft. No wonder I dislike people as a whole so intensely. Seriously. Just because I am capable of unconditional Love and Compassion, does not mean I either will, or have to, extend it to those who continually abuse it. There comes a time when the smart thing to do is to remove those types of people from my life and walk away, and find people who are capable of reciprocating what they are given and don't hide behind or project their dysfunctional behaviours as an excuse for treating other people like shit. Thankfully I do have a couple of people who are capable of this in my life, so I DO know the difference.<br />
<br />
</rant><br />
<br />
We now return you to the regularly scheduled programming of Love, Compassion and Gratitude.WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-15139606426780593072011-06-05T21:52:00.000+08:002011-06-05T21:52:48.213+08:00Heartbreak, a shift, and finding Love and CompassionIt is no coincidence that in the last week or so I have found myself in a beautiful space of complete trust, joy, love, compassion, gratitude and faith - at the same time this has happened and I have literally had tears of joy and gone to sleep with prayers of thanks and woken the same way, I have had many dear friends who have suffered the most horrendous heartbreak :(<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>I have had one friend suffer all kinds of huge family and work-related dramas which have hurt her to the core; one who has lost a large number of her beloved angora rabbits in the space of a couple of days (and at this stage it looks like she will lose at least another two who are critical); and several other people close to me who have been suffering so much pain and confusion and betrayal.<br />
<br />
It is kind of a weird time for me - on the one hand I have found myself far more stable and happy than I have ever been in my entire life, and in a constant attitude of gratitude and love - but on the other, I hurt so deeply for my dear friends and loved ones who are in pain right now for so many different reasons. And while I hurt so deeply for these people who are dear to me, I am also in a much better space now to be able to be there for them (and in some cases without them knowing because we have had a falling-out or they are not talking to me at this point) and give them so much of my time and energy. I am also noticing that with every single person who is going through this pain, there is literally almost nothing practical that I can do to help them - every single one of their situations requires spiritual and emotional support more than anything else. <br />
<br />
So at this point in time I am spending literally almost 24/7 in constant prayer, ritual or meditation for my loved ones who are suffering - it's all I can do for these people who mean so much to me, and I wish there was more that I could contribute to help them, but at least I can do this much. I suppose in a small way it is both a lesson in, and an opportunity to exercise, unconditional love and compassion, and the more dear ones I am finding who are in pain the more I am opening to Love and Compassion and being able to let it flow through me to those who need it most.<br />
<br />
This shift into Love and Compassion has been happening with me in particular for the last week or so (probably before that, but the last week especially it has really kicked in) - I think that writing my post More Musings on Love was the turning point so to speak. Since I wrote that post I have felt this shift and the Love and Compassion it has brought, building and expanding exponentially. And with the discovery in the last 3 or 4 days of at least 5 people very dear to me who are in pain and needing as much love and compassion as they can get, I feel that it is about to explode into something huge. I really can't explain it any further than to say that I have a strong gut feeling that I am about to get far bigger with Love and Compassion than anything I could have ever imagined possible, or that I could have visualised myself being. I am coming into a WHOLE new state of being, and I am at the same time both excited for this, and sad because I know that there will be some people in my life who will be left behind because they are just not ready to follow it and make the shift themselves.<br />
<br />
All I can do then I suppose is to add these people to my list and send them as much Love and Compassion as I can, and hope that somehow they feel it and it helps them to make the shift into that higher consciousness of Love and Compassion for themselves. Otherwise I guess all I can hope is that if their road has to veer away from mine for a while, at some point in the future it will once again intersect with mine and maybe even run alongside it so we can walk together again. <br />
<br />
My beloved friends and loved ones, I am here and doing what I can. For those who choose to separate their paths from mine for now - I let you go with love and the prayer that our roads will meet again one day and we will walk together in Love. But know that even though I let you go, you are neither forgotten nor unloved - far from it. You are in my thoughts and prayers every single day, and I love you more than you could possibly know. Thank you for what you brought with you into my life, and for what you shared with me while you walked alongside me for a while. It has changed me and made me a better man, and I can't tell you how important your contribution to my life has been. I will miss you, and I hope that this won't be the last we will see of each other, and that I can give you at least some of what you have given me <3WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4239423374483577194.post-87926506281773344612011-06-03T13:08:00.000+08:002011-06-03T13:08:53.284+08:00I don't even know what to call this post....I am heartbroken as I write this - my good friend Charly from <a href="http://ixchelbunny.blogspot.com/">IxCHeL Yarn & Fibre</a> has had a devastating loss of many of her beautiful angora rabbits this week, all due to a suspected mutated strain of the calici virus (a manmade virus created to control the wild rabbit population, for which there is a vaccine available - and Charly's bunnies were all vaccinated - but even the literature that comes with the vaccine says that it may not work!)<br />
<br />
Charly and her husband Paul have spent the last 7 years carefully breeding and selecting their bunnies, and in the space of a couple of days all their hard work is just gone. I am close to tears even now, a couple of days later, as I think about how this has devastated Charly - this is not only her livelihood, but the bunnies are her babies, they are family to her.<br />
<br />
The Australian Government really needs to rethink their policy here - they allow scientists to create dangerous man-made viruses by manipulating biological material (myxomatosis and calici virus) in order to kill wild rabbits without warning, because if a wild rabbit is sick it is not allowed back into the warren to infect the other rabbits. So these viruses act quickly and with very few signs of infection - and it is currently government policy that domestic rabbit owners are not permitted to vaccinate their pets against myxomatosis (presumably for fear that a domestic rabbit will escape and infect the whole wild rabbit population with immunity to it - can we say, "whuuuuuut?") These viruses mutate very quickly, and the virus that killed Charly's rabbits is suspected to be a mutated strain of the calici virus (which the already rather ineffective vaccine does not protect the bunnies against).<br />
<br />
In honour of the beautiful bunnies that Charly has lost, I have created a very special pattern for some colourwork mittens using IxCHeL BFL/angora blend yarn. You can find it on Ravelry here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bunny-love-3">Bunny Love</a><br />
<br />
All proceeds from sales of this pattern will go directly to Charly and Paul to help them begin the long process of rebuilding all their hard work. In addition to this, for the month of June, 50% of the proceeds from all my other patterns will also go to Charly and Paul. Please, if you like my patterns, consider purchasing during June to help my wonderful fibre friend.<br />
<br />
In addition I would like to ask you to take a moment to email the <a href="mailto:joe.ludwig@maff.gov.au">Hon. Joe Ludwig</a>, current Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and ask him to stop allowing the manipulation of biological material to create these deadly viruses, and to allow vaccination against myxomatosis for domestic rabbits. So many pet rabbits are lost for no other reason than that the government considers biological warfare to be effective but doesn't think about the consequences (cane toads, anyone?) and then will not allow the owners to protect their pets. There are links to a couple of petitions on Charly's blog that I linked to above, please go read her blog with the full story of what happened and then click on the petitions to sign them! Thank you.WhorledDomination!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02419346310858191162noreply@blogger.com1