Okay - so I changed my mind...

I think they say it's a woman's prerogative. Probably a sexist historical catch phrase - but since I am a woman - and it conveniently fits - I'm playing it. (I could play the "It's Mother's Day" card - but that might be a minefield).

Old Guy on a bike - Vancouver Stanley Park

I was going to just stop blogging on here altogether, but after acouple months of exclusive blogging away on my crafty blog (yes I am still over there too) I realized this is where I've always talked about the other stuff.  The road trips, the Old Guy stuff. The what's in the garden and on the grill stuff? The adventures of Youngman I and II. Not to mention all the heady philosophical stuff like: Can shabby chic shams and pillowcases coexist with primitive steampunk dolls in the same guest room? The how crappy can my punctuation really get before I start getting blog complaints??

Don't get me wrong - I love my craft blog. It makes me feel like I'm being productive and documents my projects. "Whaddya mean I haven't been doing anything all day??? Did ya check my blog? I'm workin' my fingers to stumps!"

Anyways - so there you go folks. I am always sheepless at heart. And I'm baaaaaaaaa-ck!

I am mended...

Okay - so the cracked rib has healed. My three weeks of commuting via auto has come to spectacular halt (in which I realize that I hate driving the car back and forth to work and I don't know how anyone can do it - unless they absolutely have to). Granted the halt itself (I merely hung up my car keys) wasn't so spectacular as the eureka moment in which it occurred.

I was sitting (as usual) in peak flow traffic listening to the daily commute radio tweeters and road warriors announcing congestion hot spots, helicopter reports, what road is closed, open but down to one lane, has a new pot hole, a widening old pot hole, black ice, sheer ice, flying truck debris, and whoever lost their couch on Deerfoot Trail - please pick it up at the side of the road (and bring your hefty garbage bags because it's now in pieces).

Meanwhile in an effort to keep myself entertained I try listening to an audiobook (no luck). I read billboards for muscle supplements, free car washes. Bongs and plenty more! A store that sells "girdles that instantly take 10 inches off my waist" (I kid you not). An electronic sign blasts "only 14 months til "not this Christmas - but next Christmas sale -SALE SALE SALE!"

I wearily turn my jaundiced eye to my side view mirror and what do I see? This little wiener merrily riding along on his bicycle. And that was my eureka moment. I want to be there...

I had decided to resume driving for one primary reason. I was afraid of falling. Granted falling for me is nothing new. I fall / stumble all the time. I always have. I have been known to lose my balance while merely standing. I am the poster child for the word "clumsy." Having said that my latest "worst injury" was sustained while merely pushing my chair away from my desk. I prefer to say I was "bucked off" because it was so unexpected and dramatic.

Anyways - I am back to happily walking to work. I am enjoying the snow and cold, crisp, crunchy ice under my boots. It is nice to smugly resume my renouncing of all cold weather haters with a "the problem isn't the weather - it's people who don't dress  for the weather". Yes I can be a royal pain.

Having said that - today is a snow day at home for me. I've got some buns rising on the counter, and I've updated my quilting blog "stitchcat studio." Stitchcat is my sheepless alter ego - since I don't have a cat (and it seems most studios do) it seemed like a good compromise...

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall...

So - a few weeks back I fell off a chair at work ( and no I wasn't standing on a wheeled chair trying to dust cobwebs off the ceiling). I landed on a recycle bin ... and broke a rib. Turns out it is definitely a "no laughing / sneezing / coughing" matter. I am s l o w l y healing.

I am now afraid to go outside because of the snow and ice,

I am afraid to ride my bike.

I am afraid of falling...

I think I am getting old.

On VA-Ca-shun!

A little birdie told me so...

Out-of-office-reply: 

sheepless is currently out of the office. I will return...

So good morning! Yes I am on vacation  f i n a l l y!  I tend to wilt in the heat so my prefernece is to take a bit of time in the spring and fall (and winter) rather than during the dog days of summer.

I don't like to repeatedly post my apologies about not blogging (perhaps because that implies I think that someone out there is actually reading all this hooey). After awhile even apologies can become meaningless in their redundancy. So lets just move along folks!

In terms of my blog I've been spending a good deal of my recent efforts trying to simplify things. I went through a brief period of time when "free blog"  meant starting new blogs. One for photos, one for cycling, one for quilting (which is now more of a craft journey blog) and lastly my general all purpose day to day stuff blog. I also tried to transfer all my old stuff from my typepad blog - which has proved be be daunting. I was a bit anxious about just cutting the cord (pulling the plug?) on that one - as it was my "baby". My very first real blog. But time moves on...

So the first thing I did was clean up my personal space in blog land (no easy task) and I am down to 3 blogs :

• sheepless snaps (set up for photos only)
• sheepless in suburbia - (here)  in which I blog about the day to day minutia that resides in my head
• stitch cat studio - which is my "process blog" for pretty much whatever is my "craft du jour" (more about that later).

I'm currently doing a "room reno" for all my stuff (moving once again from the underbelly of the house (in which I have loads of space - but no natural lighting) to the main floor (a little room with heart and big bright beautiful window). Since I am no longer hauling spinning wheels and looms all over the place I think the little room will actually work this time.

So... Stitch Cat Studio?  What the heck is that? Well that's what you get when you announce you want a cat - and the response is "only by death or divorce"...

The Old Guy apparently is most definitively not a Cat Guy. When I was a kid we had a big old second hand Tom Cat named "Clean Dreams" (presumably christened during a hippie haze induced state by his previous owners). My mother (who was also a self professed non-cat person) went from dismay to devotion in all of about 60 seconds when  "Cleany" turned out to be a prolific mouser and solved a whole host of problems. So having said that - I believe that it isn't so much that one isn't "a cat person" as much as a haven't found the "right cat" person. After all - if I only had a "purse pooch" as my understanding of what a dog is all about  - I would have to say I am not a "doggie person." And I already know that I am. 

Historically I've also been known to be a "birdie person".  My first "pet" (not counting the turtle I begged for when I was 7) was a little turquoise & white budgie named Fannie. She was a lovely bird and she lived with me in "my first real apartment." I was celebrating my independence. It was a "no pets allowed" environment. I guess birds didn't count as a pet. First designated as my "back up pet" until I could get a "real one"- she quickly evolved into my beloved "Fannie Bird." She would start singing "pretty birdie" as soon as my key turned in the lock. I did let her fly around unrestrained. She liked the curtains best. She never made a mess - except once (down the back of a friend's alpaca sweater). We had a very happy relationship and I was heartbroken when she died.  I never had another companion until "the dogs took over came along". 

But back to Stitch Cat Studio. I was looking for a new name for my "process crafty blog" and as I was perusing the blog-o-sphere I realized that lots of studios and offices have cats. Big cats, old cats, little cats, long hairs, short hairs, tabby's you name it. Lounging on quilts, snuggling into balls of yarn - sunning themselves in the glory of your sewing basket. 

Of course they don't show them jumping from bookcase to bookcase like the banshee from meow hell or doing their business in your stash (which I have heard of)... ugh! It was at this point I realized that while yes I do want a cat - perhaps what I really need is a "virtual" cat. And so  Sheepless Quilts was revamped and is now Stitch Cat Studio.

After all it is only fitting - I am sheepless in suburbia because I have no sheep. Therfore I am stitch cat in my studio - because I have no cat!

Fibre Week 2012

So last weekend I was away ... as in " away from it all." I packed up all my cares and woes aka ten bags of much loved books and magazines which I've been desperately wanting to destash - threw my trusty 1960's folding bicycle  aka "the Cinzia Creamcycle" on top and headed towards Olds College to  wrap myself in 4 days of fibre-y goodness... Fibre Week!

This is my Fibre Week 2012 pictorial (with a smattering of narrative here and there) as sometimes a picture really is more than a thousand words... 

Meet Michelle - also known as spindleprincess on twitter. She's an Olds College Master Spinner graduate and instructor. When she isn't travelling, teaching, blogging or spinning - she organises all the submissions for workshops for the upcoming Fibre Week. She must be doing a marvelous job because Fibre Week has been growing by leaps and bounds recently with attendees coming from all over North America - and even further (more about that later).

This is Jen. She too is a Master Spinner graduate and instructor. She has been teaching the prelude to the Master Spinner program "Beginner Spinning". This is where future masters and enthusiastics are hatched. She feathers their nests with loads of ideas, skills, and fibre samples - then gently pushes them off the edge to watch them take flight... and most of them go directly to the merchant mall. Where they buy loads more fibre and bid on fleece (because no beginner spinner can have enough stash).

There were a wide variety of classes this year. Everything from japanese knitting, lace design, humble hook crochet,wool judging and felting to spinning & meditation. I think I must have been focused on felting this year - as most of my pictures are from these classes. (Above is the Pug Purse).

Lots of great hand felted purses came out the "Here's Looking at You" class by Tracey Kuffner.

"Illuminating Ideas In Felt" by Sharon Costello also resulted in many glowing faces (excuse the pun).

Below  is  Frazzlehead's magnificent "hair tamer" which she designed from her "coils & beehives" yarn which she spun last year. (Not sure who would want to tame a mane like that - it's spectacular!)

As many of your know - I have drifted a bit to the dark side (as in hand stitching and quilting) and lo and behold looked what showed up! This is a terrific quilt made by Kathy (below).

She related that she found a batch of tea towels she thought were perfect to make a scrappy quilt - so she just decided to  in her words "whip something up." And so she did.

This is a closeup of the quilt front and back. (Give it a double click so you can get more details of the towels).

I started this post with "Fibre Week has been growing by leaps and bounds recently with attendees coming from all over North America - and even further."  And here is a little story. This is Karen Workman (above). Prior to May 24th of this year - I really didn't know who Karen was. One day I opened my inbox and found an email with the subject header: "Volunteer." Now normally I might think this is something that has slipped through my SPAM filter - but it was right around the time when I was setting up the Fibre Week Volunteer roster for this year. (I am the FW volunteer coordinator).  Soooo - I held my breath - clicked the button - and prepared for the Trojan Virus of Doom to erupt or discover that a relative who I just spoke to is being held hostage in a foreign land and needs me to send him all my credit card information.  Well was I wrong! Enclosed was a lovely email from Karen offering to volunteer. She had never been to Fibre Week before - but just happened to be visiting Canada from her home in New Zealand.  Well what a stroke of good fortune. And as even more luck would have it - we were in need of a keynote speaker (due to unforseen circumstances). And Karen gladly stepped up. As it turns out Karen is already an established feltmaker in her own right. And she treated us to a wonderfully entertaining, insightful and enlightening presentation entitled  " How I sold my Landskin Wrap for $2000" 

Above is just one of Karen's magnificent felted pieces. It has reminded me why I saved all my felting books from the "Great 2012 sheepless books & Magazines Destash".

And last (but certainly not least) Fibre Week is an embracing environment where people share their knowledge and passions freely with others. The pave ways, decks, solariums, condos and dorms are  awash with positive energy. It is much more than just a conference - it truly is a retreat.

Many, many thanks to everyone who attends and supports Fibre Week. My special thanks to all the volunteers new and experienced who help each year - it couldn't be done without you!

My good morning view - handmade pottery yarn bowl by Heather Edwards - wrapped in a hand knit woolen embrace shawl by Deb - a perfect beginning and end to my everyday.

Weave, spin, knit, dye and sew - happy!

Getting ready for the tour de .... fabric?

Now historically this time of year can only mean one thing. It's time to start getting ready for TDF. As in Tour de France - which for me has traditionally meant the Tour de Fleece. This year however I have decided to add a twist.

Instead of picking up spindle and wool or treadling madly through my stash on my spinning wheel for the entire month of July - I am swapping out the "F" in the TDF to include Fabric - as in the Tour de Fabric. As many of you already know I have been working on a not so traditional Hexagon Quilt and have become quite enchanted with the process of handstitching (see sheepless quilts if you are looking for more details).

Having said that - if you're doing the traditional TDF (as in fleece) I hope you have a wonderful time. If you're going to challenge yourself with the Tour de Fabric (as I am ) let me know - I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Birthday to the Queen...

... in which we take a long weekend and eat cake!

Upstairs Downstairs 

So what am I up to? Well Old Guy is out of town for a high school reunion. It's a bonus weekend of sorts in that pizza brochures and burger menus are once again emerging from the nooks and crannies of drawers and Bordeaux cherry ice cream swimming in Nestle's Chocolate Quik Sauce can be freely eaten and in copious amounts. I'm on day 3 of a cottage cheese and Miss Vicki's potato chips binge extravaganza. This has all come at a most inopportune time as I am supposed to be training for a 10k race next weekend.

It was with great sadness that I finished watching my Upstairs-Downstairs DVD collection (Christmas present) - so much so that I actually watched all the Bonus features which included cast and crew interviews, plot development, musical score information etc etc... I just did not want it to end! Funny when I started Season 1- I thought "oh gawd this is dated..." but as the story unfolded and drew me in... it seemed the perfect period piece for my hexagon quilt hand sewing project.

I'm not sure this happens to other people but I always seem to find myself watching shows in which someone is knitting (ie Mrs Bridges in "Up & Down" - as us groupies call it). I watch her technique. I replay it backwards and forwards to see if it's the "real McCoy" or just fudging. By the end of Up & Down I saw that Ruby's quilt was a hexagon quilt - just like I was making! How special is that?

Well time for Saturday morning chores (really how can I call these chores?)

• pick up my starter heirloom tomatoes from my Tomato Guy
• meet 2 good friends for coffee and knitting talk
• pick up my BRAND NEW sewing machine!

Come home... and... hmmmm -  the world is my oyster. Cottage cheese and chips anyone?