Healing honey

BBC News: Harnessing honey's healing power. Even up to the second world war, honey was being used for its antibacterial properties in treating wounds.  But with the advent of penicillin and other antibiotic drugs in the twentieth century, honey's medicinal qualities have taken a back seat.

St. Distaff's Day

According to the Book Of Days (scroll down), January 7th is St Distaff's Day.  There is no saint called Distaff, it was just the day people were expected to return to work, and work for the women included spinning.  Robert Herrick wrote this poem about it: St. Distaff&

Spindle and Sock

In keeping with National Spin More Month, I've been working on some baby camel fibre.  That lump is less than half of the original amount.  I got it and my Kundert spindle at Maryland Sheep and Wool last year.  Kundert spindles are turned as a complete unit, whorl

National Spin More Month (NaSpiMoMo)

Happy New Year! Margene has declared January 2008 to be National Spin More Month. There's a Ravelry group for NaSpiMoMo with over 50 members already.  I'm planning to join a monthly spinning group this month, so there should be regular spindle spinning going on throughout the

Spinning FO: Wild Thing Merino

Finally finished a spinning project: Superwash merino from Crown Mountain Farms 182 yds, 3 oz 2 ply, wheel spun, sock weight ish This has been sitting on a bobbin for months, and I was tired of it.  Plied it with way more twist than usual after reading Abby's

Signing off for 2007

Merry Christmas! I'll be back in the new year.

The Great Charter

BBC News: Charting out the  Magna Carta. The latest chapter in the history of the Magna Carta is the sale of one example of it,  sealed by King Edward I and dating from 1297, which has been sold at Sotheby's in New York  for £10.6m ($21.

On a cabling kick

(Record-breaking snow on Saturday 15th December in St Louis.  We're fine, it's melting  today.) All I want from a hat is that it keeps my hair dry and doesn't make me look like an  idiot.  Making a Shedir hat (from the Knitty Breast Cancer

Time shifts

My laptop is back!  It got done early, I'm really pleased.  The space bar doesn't squeak and the keyboard feels totally different and much nicer. BBC News: Venezuela and the politics of time. The move to put the clocks back half an hour adds Venezuela to

FO: Doomed to Comfort Socks

Finished the bellamoden socks on Thursday 6th.  It took 3 days for each sock, and they feel  wonderful on!  Put them on at home on Thursday after driving home in sleet and ice. Yarn: bellamoden sport weight in The Colour Purple Needles: 3.25mm circular Pattern: International Socks of Doom