the treadler dot blogspot dot com: 3/1/09

Mar 31, 2009

Thanks to Mags Kandis

When it comes to games of chance The Treadler is anything but a winner. There has never been an opportunity for me to holler, "BINGO!" or "Yahtzee!" And, while my Grandmother, who passed away over 15 years ago, is still sent generic letters from Ed McMahon I have yet to receive one word from Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes that I too, may already be one (a winner).

But, my luck has changed for behold what I received in the mail today all the way from Canada!

Aren't those buttons pretty! That yarn is a blend of soft baby alpaca and silk! And who sent me such treasures? Mags Kandis, a well-known knitting designer of beautiful patterns. (What a small world as I am a not-so-well-known knitting and textile addict!)

Now, guess how it was that I randomly won such fantastic gifties. Well, I was perusing beautiful patterns on the internet, I ran into Mags Kandis' blog where I saw that she was running a contest entitled, "WHAT GIVES YOU HOPE THAT IT WILL SOON BE SPRING?"

This is how you can be sure that if I won it truly was a random contest: I live in the northwoods of Wisconsin. What in the world could I possibly know about hopeful signs of Spring? Honestly, today I received the winning prize. This is the view out my window:

(By the way, this is not a black and white snap shot.)

We are under a snow storm warning until 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. The only signs of Spring I've seen have come in the delightful package I received today from Ms. Kandis. Thank you Mags! Looking forward to your new book!

Mar 19, 2009

I Blame the Weather

Happy First Day of Spring!

About 5 days ago we had such sultry weather up here in Northern Wisconsin I had to step out from behind my spinning wheel, set down my knitting needles, clear my lap of roving, dry my hands from wet felting, hang up my drop spindle and get out there! I even brought my camera.

I live very close to Lake Superior so I walked on over to Barker's Island where you can see the city of Duluth across this Great Lake. Ah Spring! Things are going to really get popping now-ish (in a few weeks/months).

The above picture is of a newer structure on Barker's Island. I was thinking, "What a great meeting site for those in the area who celebrate World Wide Knitting In Public Day!" (There are millions of us everywhere.) That date is June 13th so, most of the snow should be gone by then, eh? Might be nice to catch a cool breeze off of the lake when temps. push up into the high 60's F.

I didn't knit in public last WWKIP day. (I assure you I did knit though). I'd like to celebrate that day by meeting up with a group of those grafitti knitters I've read about. Maybe this is the first day of Spring talking but, I wouldn't mind taking a walk on the wild side. Graffiti Knitters meet in some public place and, together they knit all over a parking meter or a street corner.

I like to think that they communicate in secret code and that, if I were one of them I'd decifer messages that told me:

Grab your knitting needles.

We meet at the clock tower at midnight!

But, back to Happy Spring talk:
Sometimes I like to rationalize my terrible fiber addiction. I tell myself, "Self, you really are normal. You spend every free moment of your life playing with wool because wool is warm and snuggly and necessary in a cold environment." But, I know the climate is not to blame. I play with wool because I cannot stop and when I'm not playing with wool I'm thinking about what I'm going to do with wool once I'm able to play with it again.

So, I LOVE WINTER here. It beautifully supports my rationalizations. And, as all of this snow and ice continue to melt and freeze, melt and re-freeze well, I say I LOVE SPRING too! It is definitely still spinning, knitting, felting, dying, doll-making time!

There is a sense of foreboding with this first day of Spring though (We do not have air conditioning): That one big month of Summer is sure to pounce eventually. Hot, hot temps. are kryptonite to The Treadler (evil nemesis).