Show and Tell Time

I had some questions about our pet French Angora rabbit. So I thought I'd show some pictures.

This is Fluff Bag. Affectionately known as Fluff Bucket, Fluffer Doodle, Fluffer Duff, Dum Dum or the name my husband uses- TLC (no.... that's Tastes Like Chicken) and Rabbit. 'Fluff' doesn't trip out of my husband's mouth very easily. Believe it though, Fluff comes to everyone of his names or ...... absolutely none of them including the unprintable ones. It kind of depends upon what he feels like doing. Most of the time the Fluffer feels like the most independent and perverse creature I have had the dubious privilege of knowing. I think he is 'Killer Rabbit' from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Meek does not describe this little white rabbit. At any rate, considering that rabbits and mice are the 'food' at the bottom of the food chain I have gained a whole new respect for the poor maligned predators that must take on these beasts to feed their young and stay alive. If predators could choose to farm, I'm sure they would.

If you think in terms of wild cotton tail rabbits, then Fluff is big. He is between 8 to 10 pounds - with maybe a pound of it being angora wool. Lots of hair. Just his fluffy puffy look scares the cats.

He is definitely the pictured perfect Easter Bunny.










Eostre (Anglo-Saxon) or Ostara (Old High German) is the goddess after whom the springtime festival of Easter is named. The month of April was also named in her honour AS Eosturmonað, OHG Ostarmanoth.

In Teutonic Mythology, Grimm tells us that the Anglo-Saxon name Eostre is related to Old High German adverb ostar expressing movement toward the rising sun. "Ostara, Eostre seems therefore to have been a divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted to the resurrection-day of the Christian's God."

Other than a Fluff update, I have to apologize for lax blogging. I have only been doing small knitting projects, using up stash. My main activity has been spinning yarn form my winter knitting projects. So far, I've spun about 3000 yards of various yarns. I have spun most of the commercial colored roving I had stashed. Now I have started to process some of the white roving I have for dying. Some of the roving I'll dye as is and some I'll spin into yarn and dye the yarn itself. I will have pictures.

I was not going to start any serious knit projects until the end of the summer, however the 100% mohair I spun was so beautiful I couldn't resist to start knitting with it just to see how it would look as fabric. Fantastic!

Promise-- pictures coming.

Thought for the Day

When designing your own sweater pattern, know when to stop.

Time to play catch up- In the way of project status I'll start with the Iris sweater. I added the collar and am working on the sleeves. The sleeves I work from the armholes down. I create the sleeve caps by working 2/3 of the stitches picked up around the armhole minus the underarm stitches. Then I work short rows back and forth over the shoulder seam picking up one stitch from the 1/3 that is divided on each side of the underarm stitches. Once all the stitches have been picked up and I have reached the underarm stitches, then I can knit around the whole sleeve for the rest of the way down to the cuff. I set the sleeve and cap for each sleeve and when I get to the point of just blind knitting down the sleeve, I put both sleeves on circs and do them together. That way any shaping is done on both sleeves at the same time in the place. It's the only sure way I can get matching sleeves.

I'm at the point of joining both sleeves and since it is a total bore at that point, I have taken a little break and made some gloves and started a pair of socks. This is just to give me a little high that comes from immediate gratification.


The glove on the left is the back of the left glove and the right hand glove on the right is palm up. I did these gloves with sock yarn from my stash. I made them to be practical first and looks came second although the colors did match for each glove including the fingers. The back of the gloves were done in basket weave stitch which is not the best stitch for patterned yarn, but the basket weave creates little air pockets that make the gloves very warm for their weight. The palm also is customized in that I use a slip stitch pattern that used mainly for sock heels. It makes a strong yet padded palm. Also since I would knit then try them on, then knit and try them on, they fit like -well- a glove.

I am also trying to do a repair to my husbands socks I made for him. Knowing how hard he is on socks I tried to make these like steel. I put reinforcing thread in the heals and toes, but to no avail. The toes are fine -so far, but the heels are totally gone. Not the backs, but the bottoms have totally disappeared.


The top of the sock is in the left corner, the ragged bit is what is left of the bottom of the heal. I did do an Aladdin heal so that it is isolated from the rest of the sock. Notice that the heel is outlined in green. I should be able to cut out the heal, pick up the stitches from the green boarder and re-knit the heal. That's the theory. I've never done that before so it should be interesting. I've been searching for new re-enforcing thread. Something in titanium or Teflon as second choice.




Well, here's the heal cut out. The instep, sole, and gusset stitches all picked up. Now what I wonder? Stay tuned.