obsessive knitting at its finest

can you name this fibre?

Background to the picture above:
On Canada Day (July 1), yarn harlot listed what it is to be a Canadian Knitter. #10 mentioned The Bay (Canadian department store and the oldest trading company in the world)(BTW there is a rumor that you can STILL pay for purchases at The Bay with pelts. I would love to get my hands on a muskrat pelt and go to the makeup counter to buy something. can you imagine?) (where was I?)

Oh, yeah, yarn harlot also talked about Canadian Tire (hardware, home goods and... tire store) and how cool it would be if they sold yarn, cause then we would have something to buy with all of the fairly useless Canadian Tire Money. (you get Canadian Tire Money with every purchase. You can use it in their stores when you buy stuff, but who ever remembers to bring it along?) (Not me, that's for sure)

Anyway, this week has been a very VERY tight money week and I've been trying to decide if I should just try to find someplace cheaper to live. The thought of having to pack up and move (not to mention all the cost involved) has been leaving me feeling really, well, not so good. I don't think I'll move, but I did think a lot about all the CRAP that has taken up residence in my closet. Not clothes, just all the stuff that I don't use but can't bear to get rid of. you know.

So I decided to clean out (part) of the closet last night. In doing so, I came across a Canadian Tire bag that I remembered getting last summer. In it was this:


What? Is that a bag of jute twine? Why, yes, yes it is. Also, there is some Canadian Tire money in there still from last year,

which shows you how much I value the Canadian Tire money...

Anyway, I bought this twine last summer, thinking I could knit or crochet a bag out of the thinner stuff. In the Canadian Tire bag is an almost completed crocheted bag out of the thinner twine and there was a big mass of this thick twine. (the pic at the top of the post is a close up of the thick twine).

What did I do with this, since my goal for the evening was to clean out the closet? Did I put it to the side and continue cleaning?

(if you said "yes, yes you did put it to the side and keep cleaning", then you really don't know me at all.)

I wound the thick twine (on the ball winder) (yes, I'm a geek)

are you REALLY that surprised that I took a picture of it? really?

and started to knit a mat for the doorway. That was the plan when I bought it last summer, but it never got very far. I was trying to crochet with it, thinking that it would be easier, but last night I decided to try to knit it and it's going well. I can't work on it for very long, it sheds and is making me sneeze, but still. (you can see what I've knit on it in the picture of the bag of twine above)

Also, as an added bonus (is that a redundant phrase, or what?) I found this:

(foot added for scale)

I started this sometime in the fall, using up all of the crappy acrylic bits that I had clogging up my yarn stash. It's crocheted in the round with a 10mm hook and 3 strands of worsted weight acrylic. I just chose 3 random colors and went round, changing when I ran out of a color or when I felt like it.

On a more serious note, If anyone from London ends up coming by here, I hope that you and everyone you love is okay. I was saddened and horrified to see that your city had been targetted this morning. My prayers have been for you and your city today.

On a less serious note, Yee Haw. The Calgary Stampede starts tomorrow. "Sneak-A-Peak" or half price admission night is tonight. My friend called to see if I wanted to go, but I couldn't afford it. How sad is that? I haven't taken part in any stampeding (the term for anything to do with Stampede: the free pancake breakfasts that spring up EVERYWHERE, actually going to the Stampede Grounds, Stampede barbeques, Stampede parties... etc) for about 8 years, and I don't know if this year will be any different. I'll try to take pictures though, there is always enough ridiculous "cowboy" wear elsewhere in the city to satisfy any cynical Western Canadian. (we really really really don't dress like that throughout the year. Really.)