This has been a super busy week but less so on the crafting side. Not a stitch knitted but some spinning and weaving.
Spinning
Days 8 and 13 of my WoW Advent have been spun this week. Not many days left now.
Weaving
Inkle loom
Weaving on my Inkle loom in the living room has always proved a challenge. I’d bought a little table before to rest it on, but it was too flimsy, unstable, wide and the wrong height. So I purchased a different table and it is absolutely perfect. It is narrow and the ideal size for my Inkle loom and the little cut in section which is supposed to be for your tablet, for watching something, is perfect for resting my shuttle in.
To make it even more secure I purchased a couple of clamps. (The table is also perfect for my Nano 2 electric spinning wheel.)
The only issue I have is that I made a stupid mistake during the weaving of the shoelaces, I put a piece of card through the warp “half way round” and then started the 2nd shoelace. When I was half way through my 2nd shoelace I realised that I’d not allowed for all the space on the warp that the cards take up…which is effectively waste yarn. So I was going to end up with a long shoelace and a very (too) short one!
So I tried unweaving it and my tension on my warps has gone to pot and it’s proving a nightmare. Now I’m thinking I will just cut the warp off and not use these as shoelaces but use it for something else. Next Saturday is our weaving interest call so I will maybe hold off doing anything more until I’ve been able to ask my fellow weavers for advice. Frustrating now I have the perfect set up for weaving in front of the TV.
Other News
My busy week has included trying to sort boarding for my husband’s parrot, for a holiday we are taking later in the year…seeing if we could move our holiday and all the logistics around that. We think we are sorted now so that’s a relief.
I am not a fan of the parrot…the noise, the dander/dust, the inconvenience of not being able to easily go away, the fact she will likely live forever! She is 26 in June, some captive orange winged Amazon’s have lived to 80…that means she would be with us until I’m 107!!!! Even if she lives to the average of 50, I’ll be 77! Quite sure she will outlive me. You know how they say “a dog is for life, not just for Christmas”? Well that’s a lie we all know, because they die too soon. It takes on a whole new meaning when it’s a parrot. Did I mention the noise? NEVER BUY A PARROT! That’s my earnest advice to all. 8 second example.
Anyhoo, Tuesday there was work, gardening and spin group. On Wednesday, after work, I went to see the new Mission Impossible movie which I really enjoyed. I’m volunteering next week at an event so there was a short zoom call in the evening to discuss that.
On Thursday I made sourdough granola, sourdough crumpets, jostaberry jam, fruit trifle and started a herb sourdough loaf. I even used some mould cleaner on the shower sealant and grout and did some weaving on my shoelaces. All in one day!!
Friday I met the lady who is going to look after our parrot and her 4 parrots 😮 !!!, her 4 alpacas 🦙 ❤️ and her dog 🐕 ❤️. I baked the sourdough and did lots of weaving, some unweaving, then some swearing!
I have started rewatching Northern Exposure which is currently on Prime. I own the box set of DVDs but watching on my iPad is easier when doing things. It’s probably my 4th or 5th time watching it and I still love it. It reminds me of when I was au pairing in America in 1991/92 watching it for the first time.
This is a Year of Projects post. Officially the Group is in its 14th year, but this is my 7th year participating. If you would like to find more about the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry, as you’d be very welcome to join us.
HighlandHeffalump 
You have been so busy!
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You were right – this is a busy week! Sounds very productive though 😊
I’m curious to know what goes into sourdough granola?
Completely agree on the parrot – a nursing home near where I used to live had a parrot inherited from one of the previous residents. It was very vocal every time you walked past the window its cage sat next to and had been there for years!
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Here’s the recipe, it makes a really crunchy and big chunks granola. https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2024/09/how-to-make-sourdough-granola-big-cluster-recipe/. That would be ideal if a nursing home would take her…or anyone to be honest 😂
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“Super busy week” sounds like an understatement. 🙂 Love the colors on your spun yarn!
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So much going on with you. Parrots are beautiful birds. Unfortunately, they do live forever and are noisy and require a lot of care.
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Excellent advice about bird pets. I enjoy bird watching but will definitely skip bird owning.
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I’m sorry about the weaving, hopefully someone can offer you some advice in your group. And I’m glad you managed to sort out the boarding – I can imagine actually living with the parrot could be trying!
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Liz, this post had me laughing. Your parrot is pretty, if annoying. Is that a consistent noise it makes throughout the day? I had no idea they could live so long!
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She is quiet at night, in the morning she will be chatty with hello Frankie, bye bye, clever girl. In the middle of the day she snoozes a lot. I get home from work between 3-4pm and will sit with her as I think she will have been lonely and around 4.30 she will kick off with her repertoire of noises ranging in volume and annoyance. This can go on for more than an hour, sometimes 2 hrs. Then when we sit with her after dinner in the evening she will start up again. It’s constantly pausing the TV and trying to watch things. We can’t really have her in another room, kitchens are dangerous as non stick pans give off a gas that is highly toxic to parrots and we aren’t about to replace all our frying pans and baking trays, she would be lonely in the sunroom and there’s no room anywhere else. We once kept her in my craftroom and she chewed the spine of books on the shelves, all the tops of the trim round the doors and wardrobe and the top shelf of the bookcase. I told my husband not to leave her out unsupervised but he ignored me. She’s not left out alone now.
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I hate it when I mess up and end up having to undo lots of tinking on a lace pattern because I didn’t put a life line in, or just getting started and have to frog it to start again, but I can’t even imagine the frustration on weaving!!!
Your spinning looks very good as usual. Are those next to the skin soft? I’ve never heard of those breeds before.
LOL, love your parrot’s jabbering haha. Does he like you? Some parrots are a one person bird! My son has an African grey and he put her up to my lips one day and said, give grandma a kiss, she bit me! (not hard enough to draw blood but it was warning I guess). I told Belle (the bird) no more kisses for you!!! I give her an almond every time I go to my son’s house, hoping she might like me one day, LOL. My favorite thing she says is when I’m leaving I tell her Bye, and she says, See you later. Or when she calls his dogs and they come running to see what my son wants, lol, she uses his voice hahahaha. At my age it would be unwise to have an animal that can live that long, I would worry about who would take care of it when I passed away.
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African Greys can live to 60 years old, the lady I visited had one and she said he’s very talkative but not in front of strangers. She says things like hello Frankie, bye bye, clever girl, she wolf whistles, but mostly she makes a series of different noises ranging in volume. Usually when you try to watch something on TV in the afternoon or early evening. She is a two person bird…my husband and MIL but she senses I don’t like her and will try to bite me. I’m conflicted I think she must be lonely and go sit with her then she makes my head heard with her noises. He bought it as a chick with an ex girlfriend 25 years ago. I said maybe it’s time for her to have custody 😂🤣. I would never buy a bird. I’m a fur fan…rabbits, cats, dogs, even hamsters anything you can stroke would be preferable.
The yarn names are characters from Christmas. If you click on the links of each number it will take you to their ravelry pages with the breakdown of breeds. Nakatomi is the building in Die Hard…it’s a blend of Gotland and bamboo. I personally hate spinning Gotland. It’s prickly feeling and I’m not sure if I will use it on anything. Definitely my least favourite of the advent bundles.
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well anything that lived more than 10 years I’d worry about at my age. My apt doesn’t allow dogs and I’m allergic to cats, so there’s that! 😛
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I’m so sorry the shoelaces have hit a wobble. But now you have the experience and the next pair will go much easier! And now you have a perfect setup for weaving with your inkle loom, which will help a lot :)Glad you have a parrot sitter in place. That is a little tougher to find than a dog-sitter, I’m sure! I like Northern Exposure as well – such a fun show.
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