kitty companiona

kitty companiona

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Gifts

This year winter is the gift that keeps on giving.  And giving.  And giving...


Or maybe it's the booby prize.  Whatever.  
After receiving three snowstorms in the last ten days,  I'll be glad to see it gone.  As I know most everyone will.

I want to thank all of you for your kind comments about making it through this very long and trying season and the resulting depression.  I did see my doctor.  She did prescribe an anti-depressant.  After taking it for a week and feeling like I was in a head fog, I decided it was not going to work for me.

You all have written such positive messages, some in the comments and some by private email.  I appreciate your help!  I am feeling better just knowing that there are people out there who share the same affliction.
I titled this post "Gifts' because your support is indeed a gift.

And a very sweet gift came in the mail too!  Very unexpectedly!
Briony from the Crafty-Cats-Corner blog sent me this lovely notebook for which she made the lace and bead embroidered cover.  Isn't it wonderful?  I was so thrilled to get such a nice surprise in the mail.  And the whole way from across the ocean in England.


Thank you, Briony!
Be sure to visit her blog and check on the fun things her kitties are up to.  And also enjoy her beautiful artwork.  http://crafty-cats-corner.blogspot.com/

In my last post I showed a picture of my spinning wheel that I was hoping to use in the near future.  I did not notice a problem until I tried to spin.  The pedal went right to the floor and the wheel did not go around.  Whaaaaat???
A small technical problem right here:



The nylon connector between the pedal and the drive arm snapped, probably from being old and dried up.
So I called the Mannings spinning and weaving supply store.  They had another one in stock, so Zip and I made the 45-minute drive to East Berlin on one of the coldest and windiest days to get it.
I didn't have time to put it on right away so...
Well, where did I put it???  It was in a little plastic bag in my purse.  I got it out to look at it.
After that, who knows???

I didn't want to make another trip to Mannings so decided on a makeshift solution.  The piece has to be stiff with just a little bit of flexibility so I decided to use heavy leather.  Couldn't find anything thick enough so glued three strips together to make it about 1/4 inch thick.  Then shaved off the square edges so it would fit in the round hole.


So far, so good!


I spun a test sample of yarn to see if I could match the weight and twist of the yarn I used in the Fairisle vest.  The original Fairisle yarns are the two pieces on the left.  My samples are the
two on the right.  The yarns are shown twice the actual size.
I think I've got it!





A friend of mine will be giving me some dog hair from his Border Collies to spin and make into a scarf for him.  I'm looking forward to that interesting project.

So hopefully some new projects will do wonders for my mood.  Spring is on it's way regardless of the fact that the snow is still falling outside.
Blue skies and green grass will be the ultimate gift.

One last happy picture before I close.


Don't you just love those eyes???
Penny, you are so darn cute!

Thanks for stopping by!

5 comments:

  1. I'm a firm believer that hobbies and creative thinking are the best cure-alls out there! Looking forward to seeing your sweater progress! :-) We've got over a foot of snow outside now and more is falling as I type... yes... the ultimate gift will be sunshine and green grass... so I sit here and eat Cadbury Mini Eggs and dream of Easter! lol! Beautiful gift from your friend Briony!

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  2. We have snow and more snow here too...not the best thing for those of us struggling with depression...Border Collie fur scarf sounds interesting indeed...hugs

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  3. Hi Pat, I'm glad to hear from you. You are very creative to have come up with a solution for your spinning wheel. I was thinking that perhaps you'll fine the piece when you least expect it. Your yarn looks perfect. Is there anything you can't do?

    I'm so glad that Spring is getting closer. It's been a rough winter for everyone. I hate taking madication especially if they have side effects. Your blogger friend from England is very thoughtful for sending you a nice homemade gift.

    I checked out her blog. Very interesting... That tree from South Africa is unbeleavable and such a mysterey as to who carved it.
    I checked several of her post and she had bought some small picture and one had an embroidered scane by Linda Kerr. When I saw it I had to go and check my two little embroidered landscape frames that my daughter Nicole bought me quite a while back and sure enough they were by Linda Kerr. My Daughter lives in Glasgow and bvought them from the artist. What a small world.

    One of the landscape has a sheep in a patch of Heather in bloom beside a fence with mountains in the background and the other is a landscape of an Highland cow and similar landscape. They are very small but so pretty. They are embroidered by machine.

    We are waiting for yet another major snow storm.

    Big hugs from your old New Brunswick, Canadian neighbour.
    JB

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  4. I love the notebook cover she made for you. It's a real work of art, and just right for someone as creative as you! Will check out her site, thanks for sharing that! Get fix you made for your wheel, you do seem to be able to come up with so many ideas. Thankfully spring will be coming soon, after the hump of January passes I always feel I'm on the downside of winter. We have several inches of ice up our driveway, and the truck won't pull it. Had to use a walking stick and hike up it tonight. Oh, the joys.....,,,! love the kitty photos, I can't decide which oof your cats has the most interesting poses, just all of them make me smile!

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  5. Smart solution for your spinning wheel. If you felt the meds were not working for you, it was smart to stop. The ads for new drugs now are scary if you listen to all the possible side effects. February is more then half over and that just leaves March which generally has some half and half weather. Hang in there Pat. Soon Spring will be here and I hope you feel better

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