Woolybuns

Computer Problems

I love computers but I hate 'em! When they work, they are terrific. When they don't, well, insert shriek of frustration here. Can you guess what's going on at my house today? We have a wireless network set up here. A couple days ago, we had some wild weather. During the actual thunderstorm, everything technological was fine. With the computer guys in my household, our technology is generally well protected. But at some point, something happened. Not sure what, just that it involved a loud noise in the family room where my computer is, disruption of power to parts of the house but not all, and my older son's computer not behaving as it should have if we'd lost power. He decided we must have had a serious power surge, which the puters should be protected against. But as of yesterday at some point, we lost our ability to use the internet. My computer and internet connection worked just fine in the morning, then I got tied up with orthodontist appts and AÇ installation and a tripped breaker that the ÅÇ guys caused by not asking me about the use of an outlet my rabbit fans run on. They "played with the GFI", they said as they were leaving. Yikes! The fans were still huddled together under tarps to protect them from possible rain - were they in fact running under there??? Ran out to check and thankfully, no, at least not at that moment. I'm sure they were at some point because the breaker wouldn't have tripped otherwise. In any case, I don't know if the earlier event is the culprit, the tripped breaker (which has been an issue with the hot weather, running a window AC, and my rabbit fans), or if it's a combo of events that has just finally worn out some parts. Whatever the answer, computer guru number 1 is at work and can't do anything about the network. Çomputer guru number 2 says he thinks our router has an issue, so before he went to work, he connected his computer to the internet without the wireless network, so I can use his computer. But his computer doesn't work like mine does (way advanced and uses a browser I'm not at all familiar with) and I'm only barely functioning on this thing. So, if you are expecting to hear from me, I might not be able to read or respond. Can you guess how happy I am???

Latoyia Figueroa

I don't know Latoyia Figueroa but I have just read about her on CNN and on someone else's blog,The All Spin Zone.   Latoyia is missing, has been for 9 days now (and why is this just now getting national attention?), she's pregnant and has a 7 year old daughter.   What I've read about this young woman makes me fear for her.  While I am too far from where Latoyia lives (Philadelphia) to be in a position to spot her or hear anything helpful, I urge other bloggers to spread the facts of this missing person case.  Timely searching by trained professionals is a missing person's best hope, but spreading the facts of the case can only help.   And with world wide access to blogs, information from a distance can sometimes get into the hands of someone who might have some piece of the puzzle leading to finding Latoyia. 

I also know how frantic and desperate and scared out of my mind I would be if my daughter or son were missing.  So I do this too for Latoyia's family.  In raising my own children, I've had only minor brushes with the nightmare of a missing child.  I'm grateful that's all I've experienced, but it's enough to make my heart go out to Latoyia's family.   In the midst of this awfulness, they at least deserve to know that people everywhere value their loved one and recognize their pain.  I wish I could do more.

Ouch!

Yeah, add me to the list of injured.  I have a fragile back, spent the last 2 years working with a fabulous chiropractor on resuscitating my back.   I've made some pretty good progress - went from nearly disabled and developing more than one autoimmune disease,  to functional and comfortable and normal blood tests, but I got complacent about the need for fully fit.  I should have heeded Margene's wonderful post about getting back in shape.  (Sorry, I can't sit still long enough to search for that particular blog entry).  But I didn't and I got my come uppance: a minor jolt to my back a month ago knocked things out of whack again.  New x-rays and the chiropractor saying kind of mournfully "that right there is some significant degeneration."   So I went back to adjustments three days a week instead of one every two weeks.  By the time I drove to NC, I was feeling fairly good and getting adjustments once a week.  Driving long distance always makes my joints stiffen, so when I got back, I tried to loosen them up again with walking and gardening.  Healthy, huh?  Not this time.   I did get a bunch of garden weeded, composted and mulched but that last wheelbarrow full of mulch done me in.  Shovel, lift and twist: Yikes!  That vertebra the chiropractor pointed out must be really ugly looking now, cause it's sure feeling ugly.  I can't stay in one stationary position for longer than about 15 minutes.  Walking is about the only activity I can maintain for longer but that brings it's own issues.   So, I'm limited on the computer and I have to reserve most of my efforts for taking care of the rabbits in this latest assault of heat.  So anyone who isn't hearing from me, please accept my appologies.  I'm not ignoring you!

Not So!!

UPDATE:  The website linked below no longer lists the rabbit I bred and includes a note that the true breeding on the doe sired by my buck is pure German .  I thank the breeder for that.

Check this out and don't believe it!  Neither one of those does are Giant angoras, they are both purebred German angoras.  The sire of Greenberry's Avalanche is a buck I bred.  No way he is a Giant angora and boy, do I get pissed when I see that kind of lie!  Both Greenberry House and Spinning Bunny breed German angoras and the crosses and hybrids.  The pedigrees on all of the bunnies behind those two does are pure German.  I have of course sent off a note of protest and expect at least the reference to my rabbitry as breeding Giants to be removed from that website.  So perhaps by the time most of you read this, the info regarding Dandy, the rabbit I bred, will at least be either corrected or removed. 

Why does this bother me?  Giant angoras are accepted for registration by ARBA.  German angoras are not (ARBA ruled that their judges could not distinguish between German and English angoras so rather than train their judges better, they decided the rabbit had to be changed to make it more obviously different and it had to have a different name - I also suspect there were some personality conflicts involved but not having been part of all that, I can't say for sure).  Giant angoras were developed from the German angora, but as the Giant was being developed, the use of certain non German angora, short hair breeds introduced traits that were not desirable, like poor mothering, and certainly seriously reduced the fiber production (angora is a recessive trait, so breeding to short hair breeds will produce first generation short hair rabbits and it takes a lot of careful and responsible breeding to bring the coat qualities up).  ARBA is a show organization and does not concern itself much with fiber production.  One ARBA breeder of nice Satin angoras and other angora breeds, CCR Fuzzy, does incorporate fiber considerations in her angora rabbit breeding and I commend her for that.  But in general, ARBA does not.  Along the way, breeders of Giant angoras kept coming back to German angoras to improve their rabbits.  Quite often in the show ring, the "Giant" angora on the show table is in fact a purebred German and it is also often the German being misrepresented as a Giant that wins in the show.  That fact is clearly showing that the German angora is the better animal.  (That is of course a general statement and of course there are individual variations so sometimes you get pure German angoras that are not good quality just as there can be some nice Giants out there too, though given all the breeding back to Germans, I have to wonder if a truthful pedigree will reveal those nice "Giants" to be in fact mostly or all German). 

When I first started looking for a German angora, I was continually told "oh, you must mean a Giant."  No.  I had seen some beautiful German angoras and that's what I wanted.  But there was much misinformation out there about the German and it proved difficult to find my preferred breed.  I of course went back to the first breeder whose rabbits I had so admired, only to find she had just moved to distant lands out of my reach. So my first angora rabbit was a German hybrid, Windsor Woolies Sweater, a beautiful, sweet, gentle black chinchilla angora I loved dearly.  It took at least another year before I finally found The Spinning Bunny and got my first gorgeous German angora.  All that misinformation and deliberate misleading of the background of the Giant angora made it quite difficult for me to find a pure German.  So over the years, I have quite vigorously defended the breed German against the false claims of those who want to show but don't like the quality of the Giant angora. 

And of course, I also have to wonder, if a breeder is willing to deliberately misrepresent (lie!) about the breed, what else is the breeder willing to mislead customers about?  Is that the kind of breeder you would want to deal with??? 

The Tattoo Buzz

Lots of chatter going on publically and privately about the tattooing we played around with in NC last weekend.  That's a good thing!  The clamp type tattooer is not fun.  Not fun for the rabbits, not fun for the rabbit raisers.  We rabbit raisers know we need to ID the cute little look alikes but we spend the first many weeks of their lives cuddling and nourishing them and encouraging their trust.  Dragging them out to stab their ears just strikes at your very soul, as one bunny breeder commented to me.  That tattoo pen seems much more gentle.  The little darlings volunteered for demo duty this past weekend didn't really seem to notice anything other than the crowd of people.  There were no bunny screams!! So I ordered my own tattooer.  Once I have it and practice with it, I will decide fully about whether I can publically endorse it.  I expect I can, but I need it in my hand, I need to see that my rabbits really aren't hurt by it.  These sweet little creatures deserve the best I can give them.  And once I feel comfortable with the tattooer, then perhaps it will be time for another bunny gathering, in my part of the country.   That's something good for the rabbits and the rabbit raisers!

The Trip

My first travel day was devoted to "littering" along the way.  I had 6 bunnies to deliver, so kind of bunny hopped my way through PA, MD and VA on the way to NC.  Not only do all these folks share a distinct fondness for rabbits, but for chatting, as well.  One bunny went to a new to me friend, Daniela.  How do you find someone you've never met?  In this case, it was obvious by her car!   We hooked up in a large parking lot at a shopping area.  So we're chatting away, even showing the bunnies to a little girl and her mom who happened to be parked near us.   Then a car kind of stops short and backs up.  Out hops a woman who just has to see the bunnies, leaving her new to her boyfriend kind of wondering "oh, oh - what am I getting myself into???"   What a good sport he was! 

Needless to say, my anticipated arrival  at my first overnight was "a bit" later than 6 pm.  But hostess Susan was very kind and cooked me a nice dinner!  Thanks, Susan!

On the second travel day, I headed down through western Virginia, with the last half hour traveled over a short stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway, possibly the most scenic highway in the United States.  Certainly, it's one of the top!  I cannot drive there without stopping for at least a few photos.  Perched on top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the parkway is intended for a slow meandering feast of its visual delicacies.  The lazy blue haze for which the area is named comes from all that glorious vegetation.  While the size of the mountains in this area can't compete with the Rockies or others, the Blue Ridge offers such gently scenic beauty that comparisons are futile.   This mountain area is much more of a bucolic bosom, welcoming visitors into its heart with vistas filled with scenery, farms and those ageless split rail fences.   A peaceful respite from whatever hangs heavy on your shoulders.  How lucky am I to have a good friend, Leslie, with the wisdom to live in the midst of such glory so I have to drive through it to visit her?   Feel free to visit her, via her own blog which often features these lovely mountains.  And her buns. 

Days three and four of this trip were dedicated to the original purpose: a bunny gathering.  Elaina at Avillion Farm hosted this gathering to share information, thoughts, techniques and just good fun.   We had a bit of pajama party along the way, then more folks dropped in for the "working" end of this mini vacation.  We watched shearing and tatooing demos, talked a good bit on basic color genetics of angora rabbits, and played with fibers, some of it on the hoof.  Elaina not only has bunnies, but also shetland and jacob sheep, and angora goats.  To help with insect control, Elaina has some chickens as well as a stunningly handsome and deafeningly, hauntingly loud peacock, and his more sedate mate. 

Elaina showed how to use a grooming stand for bunny shearing, after which the bunny just said "to heck with this, it's too hot to worry about anything."  For technique comparison, I showed folks how I shear a bunny in my lap, a technique I picked up by watching someone else, so I'm happy to share this approach.   Then we were all delighted to watch as Elaina tatooed a couple of her bunnies with an electric tatoo pen.  Many of us rabbit raisers have wrestled with a clamp tatooer, which has the big drawback of sometimes resulting in the bunny screaming.   Needless to say, those of us who adore our rabbits find that to be a most objectionable chore.  But now, after watching Elaina, I'm ready to move on to the kinder electric tatoo pen, and I'm sure my rabbits will be ever so grateful.   Why tatoo?  Put a bunch of same color, same sex, same breed rabbits in unmarked cages, then try to figure out which one is which.  LOL  The tatoos are a permanent ID.

All too soon, we each had to head back to our respective homes.  For me, that meant once again a brief communing with the Blue Ridge Mountains.

And as if all that weren't enough, there was also this:

Tripping

Tomorrow, I leave for a bunny trip.  First stop: Harrisburg, Pa for lunch, chat and bunny delivery with a friend and her friends.  Will the drive there take longer than the chatting at lunch?  Hahahaha... yeah, right. Next stop: about an hour away to deliver a bunny to someone new who raises Shetland sheepdogs.  I've never shared life with a Sheltie but they sure are cute!  I'm sure I'll be ooohing and ahhhing over them!  Then a quick zip over to another bunny breeder/friend's house for the night.  Then bright and early Friday, I hit the road again for the 5 to 6 hours to my next stop, yet another bunny breeder friend where we'll gab until we realize it's getting late and we still have about 3 to 4 hours drive to the final destination: yet another bunny breeder's house.  There, a bunch of bunny folk will gather for the weekend to talk... yeah, you guessed it: bunnies.   Some of the topics: shearing with scissors, shearing with electric shears, using an electric tatooer, color genetics in angora rabbits, the problems with men and whatever else we come up with.  I'm sure chocolate will be on the agenda, too.   I'll try to get some good photos to share.

Tonight is Stitch n Bitch and I will be working on the beginner's triangle shawl some more, not having made much progress since last week.  But here it is in its beginner's glory.  Twice.  Once so  you can see there is lace there and once for close to the right color.  Can't have both in one picture, now can we??   Of course, another poor unsuspecting sap knitter expressed interest in spinning, so I promised I'd bring a wheel tonight, too, so I may get absolutely no knitting done.   A small price to pay when there is someone to corrupt teach.

And freshly off the spinning wheel is some Orange Mango Tango - well, freshly as in Sunday at spinnig guild.   I love this stuff!  It's a blend of rambouillet and angora, both of them dyed a color called salmon.  Angora takes the dye less willingly and evenly than wool does, so there is some variation in tone throughout, with even some hints of yellow peeking through.  I think it's a worsted weight, though I haven't washed the yarn yet so don't know it's true nature.  But I'm thinking it is indeed screaming to be an oooh so soooofffffft sweater.  At guild, a couple of us paired it with some other colors and it would make a fair isle sweater just zing, I think, especially paired with a royal blue and white.  But I also think it would make a nice sweater all on its own.  Not sure I have enough for that, though, but maybe.  Or I could just spin it all and then sell it since this color really doesn't click well with my skin tones. 

These little guys are one of the surprise litters, the mismarks.   Left to right are a black that could be self chinchilla doe, albino buck, chinchilla buck, and wild gray agouti buck.  The black has a couple white toes, the chin has a streak of white down his forehead, and the wild gray has a nice splotch of white on his nose and a bit of white on his forehead.   Definitely not for breeding because of those random white spots, but they should make terrific woolers.  They are for sale.  I'll be traveling again soon, both to MD and to Maine, so can arrange delivery/meet up along those routes. Email me for more info. 

What the ...

Ok, so why is Typepad so cranky this morning with the #!%&*#! font???   Or is it my computer?  I don't know but I cannot get that last post to settle down to one readable font.  I'm walking away from it for a while, wreak some havoc on the bully weeds, then maybe tackle the font issue again.  So no Bliss for me for a bit.

Too Yummy

Ahhh, good to know that dangling lace "carrots" is all it takes to get offers of goodies.  Thank you all for the offers!  Alas, I need not that many hot fudge sundaes (I need not even one but as is so often mentioned by fiber folk, what's need got to do with anything??).  So, in the interest of not adding to my hips, I'll tell you the lace pattern which prompted sales of sundaes to soar.  But first, I must confess to something especially yummy about this frenzy for the pattern: it's available free all over the place.   I'm sure many of you will recognize the pattern and shout out the name. 

The pattern:

CO 30 stitches.
Knit 6 rows of your choice of border (seed stitch works quite well)
Row 1:   K6 border, K18, K6 border
Row 2:  K6 border, purl 18, K6 border
Row 3:   K6 border, (K2tog) 3 times, (YO, k1) 6 times, (k2tog) 3 times,  K6 border
Row 4:  K6 border, purl 18, K6 border
Repeat rows 1 through 4 until scarf is desired length.
Knit 6 rows of your choice of border .
BO all stitches.

Another fun thing about this pattern: to make a wider scarf or to turn it into either a stole or shawl or even an afghan, just CO as many repeats of 18 stitches for the width desired and repeat the section (K2tog) 3 times, (YO, k1) 6 times, (k2tog) 3 times as needed.  Gauge?  Who cares?  Use whatever needle size suits your fancy.  If you want it extra filmy and lacy, use a thin yarn and big needles.  If you want a close knit fabric, use sport or worsted weight yarn and needles sized for that weight yarn.  Want a fast knnit afghan?  Use bulky yarn and big needles.

I've done this scarf in both a single repeat of the 18 stitch section and as a 2 repeat.  Both times, I used my silk and angora yarn.  In the skinny scarf version, I only used 3 border stitches of garter stitch: a mistake with such a soft yarn.  It curls and ain't much to do about that.   So for the second version, I used a 6 stitch seed border instead and that stopped the curl quite nicely.  I lovelovelove this scarf!  I'm thinking of entering it in a couple fairs this year, and then I either have to knit another one for someone else, or just giver her this one and knit a new one for me. The young lady is a freind/co-worker of one of my sons and is in need of the soft hug of a touch of luxury.

Another bit of lacy type stuff is now blooming in my garden.  Astilbe is a delightful shade to part shade perennial, easy to grown and delightful to gaze upon.  It ocmes in a variety of bloom colors, each set against a fern like leaf.  So far, I have a white astilbe and a purple astilbe.  More will come!  But first, there is the 100 foot long by 6 or so foot wide garden in the back yard screaming for help.  I have bearded iris which need transplanting back there to make room for the wisteria to finally spread its roots and vines and blooms beside the garage.  But weeds have invaded that back yard garden because this still sits in the driveway where it does no good.   So I have to weedweedweed and weed some more today.  Then haul my ass the mulch out to the garden.   I'll be earning my hot fudge sundae today!

Unless of course, I let a sweet bit of distraction come between me and the work.  Last night when I got home from a full day away, I found a package too big for the mailbox sheltering from the rain in a plastic bag wedge as close to the garage as possible.  Fortunately, between the plastic bag and the overhang of the garage roof, the box and it's contents did not get wet.  The package came from Cathy . The contents: a lovely bit of Bliss merino in 3 natural colors and one sweetly dyed soft pink.   Hmmmm, sweatin' with the weeds or spinning Bliss? 

 

(((London)))

My heart and hugs go out to Britain and others so directly affected by  the devastating bomb blasts this morning in London.     The famous stiff upper lip appears to be in place but we all know this was a horrific attack and I know I am just one of millions of Americans and people of good intention everywhere sending our wishes and hopes to those so hurt.