A Sheepychic Hank for Maree

Here is a close up of a section of a hank of wool herein titled...(da-dada-daaaaaaaa) Maree's Hank.

This wool is 100% Merino plied with red thread loaded up with solid gold, emeralds, rubies and opals....so please Maree, maybe you should increase your contents insurance before I send it to you!..........(hmmmm.....well..you can pretend they're real!) Of course, it's only half finished because I need to run a dye over it and hopefully it will turn out beautifully for your scarf.

Of course, you don't HAVE to knit it...as Monkey-moo (our highly paid professional model) demonstrates. A Sheepychic hank makes a mighty fine wig. You too can have a head of flowing locks....and change your name to 'Inga' or 'Dixie'!! (or at least grab a hairbrush and sing ABBA songs in front of the mirror...c'mon, Maree, we know your secret!!) If a wig or a scarf is not your style, Maree, you could try a turban. Turbans are valued in many countries across the globe for their religious significance...but they are also very handy for carrying small purses, lipsticks and other necessities for an evening on the town. (no more pesky handbags...just pop your goodies in among the yarn and off you go!!) (left) Our super model...Pretty Peach-pip models the ultimate in easy knitting...the no stiches required Turban. Anyway.....keep posted on Stroothless Bloggings and witness the progress of Maree's hank. Hopefully Maree will keep us updated with what she is knitting and Maree's hank can become....(da-dada-daaaaaaaaaa) Maree's Scarf. If not, Maree, at least send us some photos of you out dancing with your Turban or posing with your long locks.... See you all soon...Ruth xxx

Recognising the symptoms of "havin' it baaaddd"...

How do you know when you're displaying the symptoms of some weird new addiction or compulsion....or as us yarn rednecks refer to...."havin it baaaadddd"? Truthfully myself?...well...I don't usually have an addictive nature (shhhhhhh....don't mention carbs) but I must admit my new found fondness for hand spinning yarn is taking strange new steps into uncharted "full on hobby and lovin' it" territory. It started relatively recently (last year sometime) when my good friend Tye was absolutely BEAMING showing me her new Ashford spinning wheel. I was having a good ol' giggle (as a member of the non-spinning population) thinking of it as a pursuit of the C.W.A fraternity (stuff for Grannies). It didn't take much promting for me to hop in and have a wee spin on Tye's wheel and I LOVED IT. It felt.......right. I felt as though I had done this before. I couldn't believe the peace and enjoyment it brought to me. I couldn't believe that my hands and some old wooden piece of machinery that doesn't even plug in can turn fuzzy bags of yucky fleece into beautiful, useful, practical works of.....well...art?!?!? A few months later Tye and I were keeping an eye out for another wheel and I was stoked when my cousin Darryl from Kyabram found one while holidaying and bought it on my behalf....another Ashford exactly the same!! (It was meant to be!!) Since then I have gradually been tackled by the before-mentioned symptoms of my weird new addiction. Symptoms like looking closely at all things woollen and trying to work out the S twist vs the Z twist...symptoms like this mornings email from an alpaca fleece dealer from ebay asking what colour I would like him to list....but my perusing new year Christmas decoration sales wondering if I could spin them with some Merino is taking the weirdo cake!!! So...Tye....a heartfelt, heartfelt thanks goes to you. Thankyou for having enough zing zing zing bah to sit there and teach yourself spinning then selflessly share with me all your hard earned learnings. Thankyou for welcoming me for a 'little spin' even though I have a noisy little entourage every where I go. I love the way you can do all the things that people say can't be done....hehe! Thankyou for the gift of spinning (teary now) that's gotten me through a very busy and stressful year. I know this is sounding totally dotty now to non-spinners but you've just gotta go with me on this one...the calming effect spinning offers is amazing. regards, Ruth. xx P.S. Oh...yeah....you CAN spin Christmas decorations with Merino. hahahahahahahhahahah(deranged laugh)

And here's to 2006!!

Well...there goes Christmas...and here starts 2006 and with it a whole new set of new year's resolutions.(groaaaannn) I guess we all automatically add the usuals...you know...lose weight, be the perfect parent, detox, knock off the chocolate...but this year I do have a resolution that I feel really strongly about (hence starting this blog page) One of my sadder Yule tide realizations (confessions) is that I've lost touch with a few of my oldest friends and only caught up with my very close pals a couple of times this year (I even got a few cards without the twins names on them....oops! (I said I've been..um...insular!!!!)) I'm hoping that by setting up this blog I will rethread some of those close ties that mean soooo much to me. (Using a blog is a dreadful sign of the times, I guess, however most of my spare time is in the wee small hours of night...not all that suitable for quick phone calls!! As for finding the time to write letters....hehe...that's just funny) Anyway...please leave a little comment when you visit...it'll make my day.