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I ought to have ignored the posts telling me how wrong I was re the alpaca. Of course the posters themselves did nothing wrong, they can't see anything wrong at all in what they wrote or their choice of words
I think it somewhat unrealistic to tell someone that their experience is wrong / mistaken and at the same time expect that they will just roll over and say 'of course, madam, I was wrong'. It really doesn't occur to them at all that their words did of course imply that either was deluded or lying. But they choose not see that.
I made the mistake, one I have avoided for ages, of getting into a discussion about it. I will remember not to in future cos it makes me look stupid and feel bad.
IF I choose to offer up any information in future to a request for it, I shall have to remember to ignore those that will knock it down, or remember to do it privately.
I really must remember on bad pain days to keep out of email discussions..........
If you think you have something of value to say have the courage to do so without being anonymous. Only a coward does that.
Before you condemn someone, look to yourself.
In response to an query on a knitting list, I replied that Alpaca does not shrink in the wash nor in tumble dryer. That is my experience of a 25 year plus knitwear designing / knitting career. Of different brands of Alpaca.
As a result of this, I am told I don't know yarn(your alpaca can't be pure) or that I am lying, though not so bluntly. Why would I lie? I have been patronized and insulted by the back door.
I wonder if this is because some people can't get their head around a man knowing what he is doing in this field? Over the years, I have noticed that female knitters / designers are fawned over. Males get knocked. (Kaffe and Brandon excepted.) How really rather pathetic. I have no wish to be fawned over but I have no wish to be patronized, told I don't know my craft or have it implied that I am a liar.
edit: in answer to questions...the only alpaca I have had that shrinks easily is a wool alpaca mix. None of the pure 100% alpaca has shrunk upon machine washing and tumble drying.
edit number 2: okay so now i am told that this guy's alpaca shrunk when he washed in the machine. He wondered why. it wasn't 100% alpaca, his was 80/20 with wool. Duh! Others are still banging on and on about this. Insisting that they are right and alpaca felts. I didn't at any point say Alpaca did not felt. I said if you machine wash it on a wool cycle and tumble dry it on hot it will not shrink. I was sent a link that showed you how to felt alpaca as proof that it felted. I'd f***ing felt too if you did that to me!
It seems to me these people are being deliberately obtuse. Or they really are thick which I sincerely doubt. They don't seem to realise that 1. this only refers to 100% alpaca fibre and 2. only to normal sweater washing in the machine, not deliberate felting techniques.
It is five weeks today since I had a fag. 5 whole weeks after 33 years of smoking. No aids, no chews, no patches. Just no fags. Cold turkey. (Now where did that saying come from?)
I can hardly beleive it. I want to explain how I got here but i won't until I am sure I am here, if you know what I mean.
For the first time, I allowed this pain to get to me yesterday. Not one part of me doesn't hurt. All my joints, my groin, my hands, my legs, my hips, my chest. A constant nagging aching sometimes burning pain.
It isn't severe. When it is severe and I can hardly walk I can cope. I take pills, I rest a lot and I know it will pass.
However, this pain does not pass. It hasn't in years. It is there always. Pills don't releive it. It slows me down. It annoys me. Mostly I can and do distract myself-hence all the knitting and dog grooming!
Last night, though, I allowed my thinking to wander way past my usual limit. I started to think about the future. That scared me. I do not think ahead. I learned very quickly when I realised this deisease was here to stay and so was the pain, that I would have to really keep my thinking to within short spans. Why? Because the idea that I might have another 40 years of 24/7 pain is not a happy idea. It is quite horrifying. So I don't think about it.
I remain grateful for the life I have. I do everything I can and want to do, no matter how I am feeling. Dog shows, knitting, grooming -I do what I want to do and do not let my body dictate to me. Okay, I am not totally stupid and do make concessions-like the wheelchair and my sticks. Well, without my sticks I'd fall over anyway!
I still think this pain is so much easier to deal with than the emotional torment I lived with all those years.
I take co-codomol and diclofenac or ibrprofen and codiene on its' own. I only take these when I really really need to and for dog shows. I also have tramadol but to be frank have never taken them as I am scared to do so. They are a more heavy duty pain killer.
I don't really know where I was going with this post. Perhaps I was hoping for some insight to come. Maybe just having a moan will help.
Three weeks old today. I rushed to get my camera when I saw them sleeping like this and prayed they would not move until I got the picture. They moved within seconds of me getting the shot.
John is just about to arrive home from Prague where he was sent to without warning on Friday.We were driving to Prague last May but at the last minute I decided we would go to Munich instead.
Anyway, John has now seen Prague.
It is a beautiful city but it is out of the question for me to visit.
No disabled facilities.
Metro inaccesible. Streets steep and cobbled with small cobbles so would make even walking with my sticks and plenty of pain killers dangerous. On top of that, loads and loads and loads of people!
I am disappointed as I really would have liked to see this city.
I am thinking of Tallin in Estonia now......
There is a story doing the rounds now about Japanese people sold sheep they think are Poodles. Supposedly, they don't know their dog is a sheep until they take it to be clipped or to the vet.
Funny, yes?
It might be if it wasn't so blatently racist!
Just who is the idiot here? I would suggest it is those that read this story and think it is true. Those that a think a highly successful, inventive and technoligcal people are so thick they do not know the difference between a sheep and a dog.
Oh, but i forgot, these people talk funny, look funny and have a funny coloured skin therefore they must be retarted. Most of all they are not us so...it must be true, musn't it?
A man was sentenced to prison today(only 2.5yrs) for abusing boys in the church choir back in the 80's.
The Church of England, for whom he worked, knew he had been abusing boys and they 'hid' him, supposedly away from children, and did not report him to the police.
He was only reported when one of the boys he abused went a residential course to find this man worked there-with children!
Mind you, the parents of the one boy who reproted it to the Church in first place also hold blame for not having gone to the police.
The C of E and RC Church are both very well known enablers of child abusers.
Disgusting. no excuse for it at all. A Spokesman for the C of E , a priest, said on the news that 'we did what was considered right for the time'. This was in 1990 not 1890!!! He really ought to be ashamed of himself and how dare he call himself a man of God when he can lie to us and to himself like that?
I wrote to Simply Knitting because they leave a vital piece of information out of their patterns-the yarn fibre content. The response I got just shows a lack of understanding of our craft, imo.
Hi Colin
Thank you for your email. Currently we do not list the fibre content on every pattern as this can be impractical in terms of space, especially when lots of different yarns are used. However, this is something we will certainly look at in the future.
Best wishes
Debora
I have just been trawling thru some knitting blogs. I came across one which made me want to slap the person silly!
Why o why o why would anyone spend their precious time knitting a garment to then just cobble it together?
Finishing and sewing are a vital part of knitting. If you don't like it, then don't bloody knit! ( Or only knit stuff that doesn't need sewing.)
This garment I saw was striped. Not teeny tiny stripes but HUGE ones, in fact the whole thing only had three large stripes.
One picture showed the side seam. The seam was dreadful. Not str8 and the stripes did not match up.
I have seen this in magazines too. It really lets us knitters down and no wonder hand knitting has such a 'homemade' down class reputation.
If you are going to knit, then take your time to sew it up and finish it properly. If you don't know how to, LEARN.
If you can't be bothered, then find another hobby where you can be lazy and not think much of it.
It seems to me this might well reflect what is going on inside the person.
It does not take talent to sew up a garment properly. It just takes time and a desire to complete the job well. You do not have to be a trained tailor to do it!
Edit: 2.46pm
Comment left: 'I think "all" of the statements you make says MUCH about you and only you.'
by a person who didn't leave any identifier-ie no blog or email addy. In other words an anonymous sniper.
Yes, 'sharon' it does say much about me.
It says I believe that if a job is worth doing it is worth doing well.
It says I believe that learning and effort are well rewarded.
It says I have no time for deliberate incompetence or carelessness.
It says I care about our craft.
It says I think our craft is WORTH the effort.
It also says I have the courage to write what I think without hiding my identity.
It says that I believe in people and that knitting can be completed well by anyone who wishes to learn and put in the effort.
It says I believe that people DO have what it takes.
I says I believe that people have the ability.
Okay, so i was out this evening and I was listening intently to a very sad tale form this man who was in a really bad space. He had tried to kill himself last night. I was moved by his story as were the others present.
Then he said, by way of explanation as to why he was still with us:
'I was sitting on the edge of the bridge and these two policemen came and pulled me off.....'
I know, I know but it took a lot on my part to not laugh.
(And if you haven't seen the film, you won't get the title of this post.)
John's X-Ray came back normal. So it seems he just has asthma. That's bad enough but it could have been worse.
I called this morning and they told me. They treat John and I as a couple and will give either of us information about the other. It is me who makes sure we have our drugs, makes the appointments and even tells the Dr what is wrong with John as he tends to leave the important things -like he can't breathe- out.
I had deep reservations about signing on with this practice as all the doctors are Christian. It is a Christian practice. However, it seems they truly are Christian and are not the rabid bigoted fundy kind.
Elizabeth, my doctor and Stuart, John's doctor, are both excellent. They treat us like people and intelligent people at that. They explain everything. If we are both at home and one of has an appointment, we both go and are welcomed. No telling us we can't go in together.
This last few years is the first time John has ever been to a doctor. However, for me, I have been loads of times throughout my life. Elizabeth is the first one I have had who has taken me seriously. She treats me with respect and doesn't make the assumption that all previous doctors have - that because I have had mental health problems in the past, all my complaints stem from that. It was Elizabeth who took my chest complaint seriously and I was diagnosed with angina whilst my previous Doctor told me it was panic attacks. It was Elizabeth who noticed I had neurological problems and also realised I had Osteo Arthritis. It was Stuart who realised I had fibromyalgia. Both sent me to see the relevant specialists, heart surgeon, neurologist and rheumatologist.
It is a relief to have such a doctor. I no longer worry about my health. I know Elizabeth will take me seriously and deal with it. Oh and it was she who first realised that lack of light is what was causing my depressions because she studied my health records and noticed that all my hospitalizations and depression periods were in winter!
I had to telephone a call centre early this morning to cancel an insurance call out to fix my fridge.
Well for some unknown reason my fridge was working again last night so no point the engineer coming.
So this is how the phone call went:
I dialled the number. Pressed the right numbers and waited. And waited.
A woman answers. She asks for my details. I give them.
'Pardon? ' she says.
I repeat what i said.
'Could you speak up, sir?' she says
I repeat loudly.
'I got that. ' she says. 'It must be a bad line.'
At that moment, I realised her voice sounded distant too. I looked for my remote for the tv to switch it off. As I was looking I saw my phone lying on the couch about 18 inches away from me.
I found the tv remote in my left hand against my ear.....
On Thursday evening, my BB connection went from 2mbs to 16kbps!!!
I called BT (British Telecom). I am connected to Technical Support, somewhere in India. I spent a good deal of time repeating myself. I spent a good deal of time asking for them to speak slowly and repeat what they had said.
The person on the end of the phone wanted to 'take over' my pc to 'fix' my PC! Now at 16kbps this wasn't possible, I said. I said it again. And again. And again.
The following morning I got put thru to a UK man who told me that my house telephone wiring must be old and had disintegrated and therefore my BB connection was bad. Strange that I could talk on my phone....
Anyway, he said he would send me a new router.
Later the same day, the tech support called me...from India. After a few minutes of 'pardon?' (I am so very very sorry for you. Thank you for choosing BT Broadband.(from the TS person). Now I didn't choose them. There is no one else where i live. If I could could have chosen I would not have chosen BT. I detest them.
I digress, so this person tells me that they will send someone to my exchange and see what the problem is. Weird I thought.
Later I get a call telling me there is no problem with the exchange. Would I take my PC and plug it into the socket in the kitchen? (Bear in mind this is what I deciphered after many minutes).
No I said, I cannot do that.
We can't help you if you don't, was the reply.
I informed them that it was physically impossible for me to do this.
I am very sorry to hear that, sir. Now will you plug your PC into the socket downstairs?
NO I F*****g can't!!!
Alright, I didn't say that but...
Oh I am very very very very very sorry sir, thank you for choosing BT BB. Now take your PC and plug it in downstairs.
By this time I want to shove my PC up his ****.
No, I cannot physically do that. I am disabled.
Oh, sir, I am very sorry to hear that. Thank you for choosing BT BB. Please plug your PC into the socket downstairs in the kitchen, sir. The extension in your upstairs doesn't work.
Huh?
I give up.
Now we are into Saturday. I am out for the day to Hereford and Stratford Upon Avon(Yes where that playwright lived a long time ago).
I get a phone call on my mobile.
Hello?
I am very very sorry sir, thank you for calling BT BB.
I didn't call BT BB.
Oh I am very very sorry for you sir, thank you for choosing BT BB. We have the engineer and he says your line is no problem sir. I am very very sorry sir.
Do remember that the above is only what I translate after 5 hours of listening....
I get home and there are 3 messages on my answering service from....yes...you guessed it...BT tech support in India. And no, I can in no way decipher what was said.
Sunday-after the same nonsense, I go and buy a 20m long extension socket and plug my modem into that. No deal.
On Monday, tech support from India call me several times more.
I tell them that my new router has not arrived yet. That no I still have a very very very slow connection. Nothing is fixed.
I am very very sorry to hear that, sir. Thank you for calling BT BB.
My new router arrives at about 4.30pm. With dread in my heart, I decide to install it. Before I do so, I see what my modem is doing and lo and behold it is back to normal!
So nothing was done my end at all. Nothing was wrong with my PC. Nothing was wrong with my extension, I wasted money on the 20m long cord. Yet I am happy to be back online. I install the new router and.....it is fine!
This morning I get a call from tech support in India.
Good morning, sir, and how are you today sir.
About ready to commit a henious crime is how I feel but i say:
I am fine thank you. My problem is fixed. My connection is back to normal.
'I am very very very very sorry for you, sir. Thank you for choosing BT Total Broadband .'
And then......I called Amazon. I have just tried to place a LARGE order.
'I have just made a large order but your system is telling me I don't have an account.'
A voice from deepest South America says to me in very heavy Latin accent.....
'You don't have an account with Amazon. Would you like one?' (I am paraphrasing cos it would take just too long)
'I DO have an account with you. I rent DVD's from you and buy stuff. In fact I have 2 dvd's here that belong to you. I have an account. I pay money to you every month'.
'No sir, you do not have an account with us'.
'I just told you, I DO have account with you.'
'What is your name and email?'
30 minutes later, after repeating and spelling and repeating again,'You do not have an account with us sir. The computer says no'.
No I did not call him account. I just curled up into a ball and sucked my thumb...
No, actually this person hung up on me!
I then got an email telling me my order will be delivered tomorrow.....
I think it shows a gross lack of respect to both the employees and the customers that companies are doing this. The employees must get fruistrated because they are doing their best. The customers are trapped because there is no one else to deal with and if you do say you cannot understand to anyone, you run the risk of being labelled a racist. I did call today to speak to customer services to lodge a complaint about my 4 day runaround. I got put thru to...yes you guessed right.
This is Regia Cotton Java Color (yes USA spelling). Colourway I used is 1176. 400m per 100gm
It is 41% wool, 34% cotton and 25% nylon. It weighs 46gms.
I used 80sts. I knit 18 rows in 1x1 rib using 2mm needles and then 70 rows using 2.25mm. I did the heel and then knit 70 rows. I started to decrease on row 71 and then on row 74 until row 96. Knit one more row and cast off. 97 rows in total after heel. I got approx 36s x 48r per 10cm.
I used one long circular needle using Magic Loop method.
If you look below you can see why I prefer the Sherman Heel, with my minor adjustments.
The puppies are 15 days old today. Fat slugs doing very well.
