09.28.11
Posted in hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 8:19 pm by Administrator
Judith McKenzie’s Popular Wheel Mechanics Class was excellent. I wish I had taken it years ago when I first got my wheel. I learned so much about spinning wheels, spinning fibers, how to prepare them, and even that I’m ambidextrous, ha! Now that was a shocker. I always thought that I was a through and through right hander, but when I was trying to spin using the hands Judith was using I noticed I was doing it flip side. Fortunately, Judith came to each of us, one by one watching our spinning and giving us tips. I voiced my troubles of not being able to hold the fleece in the hand she did, and by asking me a couple questions and watching which foot I put forward first, she advised me that I was a left-hander and that’s why I was drafting with my left hand! Ack! She said that usually people do fine work with their dominant hand, so right -handers would draft with their right hand. She also asked me which hand I use to thread a needle, and sure enough, I use my left. Now that is a weird thing to learn about myself. Now the reason I say I’m ambidextrous is because I write with my right hand, I hand stitch with my right hand, and I ply yarn with my right hand. Very weird, but honestly this is the first time I’ve ever noticed this about me. Oh, but enough about me, let me share a couple pictures of some of the different spinning wheels at the class. The lady sitting right next to me had a cute little Wendy and didn’t mind me taking a pic of it.
One of the fun things about taking these classes is seeing all the different wheels. Here’s one shot showing some of the variety of wheels in the class.
And a few more with Judith standing to the left.
There were quite a few more types of wheels, but I didn’t want to miss out on Judith’s instructions, so I didn’t bother to take a pic of everyone else’s. I did, however, take some pictures of Judith demonstrating how adjusting the scotch tension determines the gauge of yarn that will be spun.
She made it look soooo easy! I had no idea that so many gauges of yarn could be spun on our wheels! 
Here’s a pic of the different sizes Judith was able to make just by adjusting the scotch tension. Amazing!
These are all two ply. She showed us how to ply 3 and more, explained the differences–i.e. the 2 ply is good for weaving, while 3 or more ply is better for knitting. See this class even helps me with choosing yarn for my knitting projects. She also showed us how to make a few specialty yarns like boucles, and cabled plys.
Here’s a pic of Judith showing us one way to hand-comb fleece and prepare it for spinning.
Now I know there must be a name for the resultant strip of fleece Judith is pulling through here, but I don’t know what it’s called. Roving, maybe? All the roving I’ve seen is much thicker, but it is in a continuous strip like this, too. Actually, this was a first for me to see this procedure. Yeah, I must have missed out on a lot of demos. I have hand carders, but it’s a bit different from this one mounted on the table.
She’s holding a small wooden disk with a hole in the center and pulling the combed fleece through the center. As you can see, it’s coming through in 0ne long continuous strip. Once she finished pulling all the fleece off the comb, she just wound it up and spun directly from it.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that not only were there different types of wheels at the class, there were also a bunch of different Lazy Kates. Here’s one that someone made, which I thought was clever.
Every time I throw out toilet paper spools, I always think they must be useful for something else. Well, here you go! Ha!
As part of the class, Judith provided a variety of spinning fiber. Now that was a treat! Here’s a pic of the yarn I spun with the fibers provided in class. This is in the process of winding off onto my niddy noddy.
And guess what else I learned? I’m supposed to wash the yarn after it’s been spun to help relax the fibers. It seems like people do this in different ways, but from my current understanding, it’s supposed to be done with hot water, then cold, then hot, then cold, then hot, then cold. . . After squeezing out all the water, hang dry. This procedure is supposed to relax the fibers, and the resultant yarn should fluff out about a third in diameter. Ah, now I feel more confident about making my own yarn and knitting it up into a garment. I was always concerned that the yarn I spun would come out in a wongo tongo sweater or something. Something just didn’t seem right, but now knowing about plying and washing afterward, it makes much more sense. And the yarn does look and feel better! Here’s more of my test yarns, which was still not properly prepared, but getting closer!
Since these are only 2 ply, I’ll probably just use them in little projects like more pouches or something. I’m currently working on making 3 ply with some wool and silk blend that I purchased “years” ago! I dug it out of the closet, and thankfully, it’s still in good shape. But I must say that learning more about yarns is making me want to pull out my loom and try to figure that one out. I still need to make more room for it, tho, and that’s partly what’s holding me back from getting the loom out. That might be next, tho! I saw some of Judith’s weaving, and boy do I like woven things! I’ll have to share some of the weaving stuff I saw in the Philippines on my latest trip there. That’ll have to be another post, tho. So basically, that was the gist of the class. It lasted from 8:30AM to 5PM. It’s amazing how fast time flies when you’re having fun! Judith did offer a colors class, but I wasn’t able to join that one. But it’s probably better that I learn how to spin better before getting into the colors thing. I hope Judith comes out again next year, tho. I’ll be sure to join the colors class then.
Marlakins
Permalink
09.26.11
Posted in Uncategorized, hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 2:42 pm by Administrator
This is going to be the first part of a couple posts or more on my spinning experiences. I actually learned how to spin years ago on a drop spindle and blogged about it a while ago. Here’s a link to that old post. But you know how life has a way of getting in the way of hobbies. . . I took a break for a while then a while later I broke down and bought a spinning wheel. I blogged about that, too, when I first got my wheel. I was so excited. Here’s the link to that post. I had every intention of learning how to use it, but life got in the way again. Then I thought I was going to get back into spinning a little over a year ago, but just as I was starting to get back into it, Dad passed away. I didn’t touch my spinning wheel again until about 2 weeks ago. What happened? Well, after all the year activities and getting accustomed to life with mom without dad, I got back from the Philippines and found that my spinning guild was offering classes taught by Judith McKenzie McCuin!!! Okay, okay. I’m not the most knowledgeable about spinners and the spinning greats, but from the announcement, I knew that this was a class I shouldn’t let pass me by. So I promptly signed up for the class and got the list of things to bring to class on the 23rd September at 8:30AM sharp!
Fortunately, I had everything on the list. The only thing I needed to do aside from get my butt to class on time was make sure that my wheel was in good working order. I pulled it out and dusted it off. It still had yarn on a couple bobbins, so I decided that I should get that yarn off, and at the same time practice some spinning to make sure I could do it still before the class came. I decided to spin enough to make a 2 ply yarn. And am I glad I did that! First of all, I never really knew how to work my wheel properly. So fiddling around with it forced me to learn how to change bobbins and start a fresh bobbin. I also pulled out the Lazy Kate that came with the wheel when I bought it and figured out how it was supposed to be assembled. When, I felt I had spun enough to make a two ply, I tested out my Lazy Kate for the first time. So far so good! I was actually learning something! Here’s the yarn that I got off of the wheel from that exercise. 
While I was able to get these two hanks from the yarn I had sitting on the bobbins, I still had a little bit more, so wanted to spin more singles to get the rest of the yarn off. I dug in my closet and found that I still had some yarn that I was spinning on my drop spindle. I don’t even know how many years it was sitting in there. But I decided why not ply it with the other white I had left on the bobbin? Eh, so I did, and this is what came out. . . ha! 
Ah, yeah, you see why I wanted (needed) to take a proper spinning class? But being the pack rat that I am, I still didn’t want to waste this material, so I decided to try to knit it up and see if it would knit okay. I made a test little piece, then decided that I could make little pouches out of it. I was going to a gathering with some of my mom’s senior citizen friends and I had picked up little trinkets that I planned to give to the ladies. I thought putting them in little pouches would be nice. Here’s what they looked like in progress. 
And here’s a picture of the completed pouches. I sewed little pieces of fabric for the portion with the drawstrings. 
I pretty much taught myself how to spin after only a few minutes in the store where I first bought my drop spindle. So, I never felt very confident that I knew what I was doing. I still wanted to learn, so when I saw the Popular Wheel Mechanics class taught by Judith McKenzie McCuin offered, I knew that was the class I needed. And boy oh boy am I glad I took that class! Judith is a wealth of information, and a lovely, lovely lady to boot! What a knowledgeable woman, and a gentle soul! I liked her very much, but I’ll talk more about that later. Suffice it to say that I learned a LOT in her class (both what I should be doing, and what I’ve been doing wrong, wah) and am now raring to spin! If anyone is interested in spinning, check out anything by Judith McKenzie, you won’t be disappointed. Marlakins
Permalink
09.24.11
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Treatment Decisions, gardening at 12:56 am by Administrator
Recently Brian signed us up for a couple Chumash Healing classes. The classes were held at the Theodore Payne Foundation for two Saturdays, each class being three hours long. The teachers of the classes were Cecilia Garcia, a bonafide Chumash Indian Healer, and James D. Adams, Jr., Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Southern California. The classes were very good! The herbs discussed were primarily California native plants, although a few were plants from other areas that were later introduced to California but made their way into Chumash herbal treatments. We were introduced to the various herbs used by the Chumash Indians as explained by Cecilia, and then the pharmacology side of the plants were explained to us by James. For anyone interested in herbs, I recommend this Chumash Herb class.
Although each class was three hours long, the time went by really fast. Not only were we told about how each plant was/is used, but there was a lot of hands-on experience as well. They brought it freshly harvested plants which they passed around to each of us and we all made a sash filled with mixed herbs to wear. We were taught about using the mixed herbs in pillows and as bedding to enhance health, including mental health. Here’s a picture of an animal skin (IIRC, it’s rabbit) filled with mixed herbs.
These herb-filled skins are used like pillows during sleep. It’s believed to enhance mood and mental well-being.
Foot soaks and steam treatments were also discussed for various ailments like colds, lung problems, mood problems, etc. Here’s a pic of a couple gourds filled withhot water and herbs. We were encouraged to try them out. They smelled really nice.
Those were the teacher’s feet by the gourds, heh. Below is a close up of one of the herb mixtures. The water was very warm, and smelled really nice. It felt good, and I could see how it could help with relaxation.
Most of the herbs they passed around for us to look at, smell, and feel were fresh out of the ground, while a few were dried and in small baskets like this one. This herb is used for females (regulate cycles, IIRC) and is called “California everlasting.” I think it’s also used for lung issues and colds.
Amongst the fresh herbs were Elderberries. Apparently there are bluish ones and white ones. I knew of the bluish ones, but didn’t know about the whitish ones. They can be dried and used like currants. We tried them and they were actually tasty. Here’s a pic of the white variety.
Acorns were another California native plant used by the Chumash. James made up a sort of acorn jello or gruel for us to try.
Eh, I can’t say it tasted too good, heheheh, but it was considered a very important food source and helped sick people feel stronger. I think it’s kind of the equivalent to Chinese congee.
Here’s a pic of some acorns. They’re supposed to be ripe when they’ve fallen off the tree naturally.
Amongst the plants being passed around were also items like turtle shells. The small turtle shells were supposed to help with pain. Just rub them along the painful areas. I have to admit that those little turtle shells did feel good in the hands. I didn’t have any painful parts to test it out on, but I did rub the shells a bit because it really did feel nice. I neglected to take a pic of those, tho. . . But I did take a pic of this little hawk that Cecilia happened to see fall out of the sky on her way to the class. Apparently, an owl attacked it in mid air, and it fell where Cecilia was able to see it and pick it up.
I didn’t know this, but it’s illegal for people to own these birds, except for the American Indians. So Cecilia went ahead and took this bird since as a Chumash Indian she had the right to keep it. It was actually quite beautiful and peaceful lying on her bed of herbs. The feathers were very soft, too.
With all the stories, slides, hands-on items, etc. the time flew by and we headed out to do a short herb trek. Here’s a pic of the pathway.
Along the trail we were allowed and encouraged to pick fresh herbs for our use. That’s why Brian is carrying a big woven bag.
Along the trail was a lot of California buckwheat. We’ve eaten plenty of buckwheat in our household and I realized that day that I didn’t even know what the plant looked like. Well, this is what it looks like. . .
It was a really nice day to pick herbs. I’d like to go back out there again another time and spend more time exploring and picking, heh. I’m particularly encouraged to try to make my own fresh sashays. The ones Cecilia had us make smell really nice. Here’s a pic of Brian and me on the trail with our red sashays that we made with mixed herbs rolled up inside.
Our class ended with the completion of the herb trail. We learned a lot of nice and useful things in that class. For anyone interested in more information regarding California medicinal plants, Cecilia and James have a book available called Healing with Medicinal Plants of the West; cultural and scientific basis for their use. Thanks Cecilia and James for all your hard work and sharing it with us!
Marlakins
Permalink
09.22.11
Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, History at 11:18 am by Administrator
While I don’t agree with everything Ron Paul believes in, he definitely makes much more sense to me than any other politician I’ve heard thus far. His recent video regarding MAD vs MAR is one of the reasons I respect Ron Paul. It’s another example to me about how much more honest and informed this man is. Paul’s video message also aligns with some of the issues Mohammed Elbaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), wrote about in his book, The Age of Deception. I don’t mean to imply that ALL of the U.S. is disrespectful and antagonistic toward foreign countries and their peoples, but rather the U.S. does harbor a faction (if I may call is that) that promotes and advances antagonistic behavior around the world. Unfortunately, this faction includes some very influential people who have control and thus use of our military.
Click here to listen to Paul’s message Mutually Assured Destruction vs Mutually Assured Respect.
Thank you, Ron Paul, for your intellectual honesty, clarity, kindness, and bravery. We need more great minds and people like you!
Marlakins
Permalink
09.17.11
Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, History at 7:41 pm by Administrator
Aaron’s American history teacher recommended visiting the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum for his class. Since I love museums and anything having to do with history, I tagged along (much like the time I tagged along with Andrew when he went to the Wende Museum for his history class). It was a small museum, but very informative! Actually both museums were small, but both very interesting!
Unfortunately, when we went to the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum, we only had about an hour to spend there. It definitely takes a lot more time than that to soak it all that they have. So, basically I didn’t soak up all I wanted to soak up. So, I’ll blog just a short run down of what we saw. First of all the museum is now housed in what used to be a court house. They have preserved a couple court rooms, which is still used today for movie shoots. This particular court room was used in the recent movie, The Lincoln Lawyer.
Gee, this reminds me that I was able to watch a few movies while in the Philippines, but haven’t gotten around to giving my movie critique. Hmmm. Will I remember what happened in the movies? Ha!
Anyway, moving right along, here are a few of the items on display.
Right next to the “For Sale” sign were these. . .
I felt like we kinda rushed through this room and didn’t get to read all the explanations of what each item was. And one of these days I’ll have to look up what the deal is with African Americans and watermelon. I mean I love watermelon and can’t get enough when they’re in season. There’s one waiting for me in my fridge right now. . .
There were a good number of photos of African American actors, musicians, and athletes. Here’s one of Sammy Davis, Jr. in his younger days.
It’s hard sometimes to get the shot right when the items are behind glass. However, just the fact that they allow photos is good enough for me. There are a lot of places that don’t allow photos, so I really appreciate this. Aaron’s reflection is visible in the glass on that shot.
I should mention that many of the items in this museum was taken from the collection of Mayme A. Clayton. Her original intent was to show children that African Americans have done great things. Hence all the pictures and books of and from African Americans. And of course with our tumultuous history of racism, this museum has a section devoted to parts of the civil rights movement, in particular the “Freedom Ride.”
I have to admit that this is where I was taken aback. I went to school here in Los Angeles, and we were taught about Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and such, however I do not recall ever being taught about these freedom riders. Only recently a few months ago this year did one of my friends mention to me that she saw a documentary on cable regarding the freedom riders. If anyone is like me and is just learning about this, here’s a little explanation of what the freedom riders were about.
There was a replica of a burnt out bus reminiscent of one of the freedom ride buses that was burned in Alabama. It’s mind boggling to me how people can be so mean to each other.
There were pictures along the walls of the various encounters of the freedom riders as well as a running video of interviews and historical footage and pictures of the bus that didn’t make it through Alabama. Apparently they were met with a mad crowd who tried to kill them and/or scare them to death. The mod surrounded the bus, taunted the passengers, and subsequently burned it while they were still inside. The occupants were only able to get out of the bus because the mob thought the bus was going to blow up and ran away. It was a really disturbing video to watch. There are several videos on Youtube such as this one that helps describe the risks and dangers involved with participating in those freedom rides.
Here’s another replica in the museum of one of the diners used for the “sit-ins.”
There was more literature to read within the counter cases, but we had to go, so hopefully I can go back again and take a more thorough look through this museum. The museum library is also available upon request. While I know there are a lot of good things about America to celebrate, I think it’s important that we never forget the bad things in our history as well. I think if we don’t lose sight of our past, both the good and the bad, we can move forward as a more humble nation better equipped to deal with the rest of the world with all it’s cultural complexities. As the Bible says, “pride comes before a fall.” We Americans should be careful about being too proud to be American. Let’s not lose sight of our past, so that we understand who we are today and how we got here.
It’s important that we not only preserve our history, but learn it, so that things like this don’t happen again.
Marlakins
Permalink
09.16.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:36 am by Administrator
“A time comes when silence is betrayal.”
~Martin Luther King
Permalink
09.15.11
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments at 1:39 pm by Administrator
Last year I managed to severely deplete my vitamin stores, and as a result likely severely depleted my minerals as well. At first I didn’t know what was happening to me. I knew something terribly wrong was happening, but I didn’t know what. By November 2010 I decided to try biotin supplements, and within 2 days I definitely noticed change. Knowing that biotin was in the B family, and other B’s were also important with the kinds of symptoms I was experiencing, I quickly added a B complex and multi-mineral supplements. I found drastic improvements, but still by August 2011, I was not 100 percent, although “significantly” improved. So it made me wonder if there was anything else I was missing because I was still not 100 percent better. Or at least there was still significant room for improvement.
So about two weeks ago, I decided to add vitamin A. Early on I was reluctant to add it because of the dangers I’ve read about vitamin A overdose and such. But once I did add vit A in, all of a sudden, I started to experience more significant improvement. I’ve been very happy so far with the results, and have been waiting until I get to the spot where I want to be before blogging about it. But just today I ran into an article on vitamin B. The article is entitled, “Daily Vitamin B Pill Can Stave Off Alzheimer’s Disease”. I found the article very interesting and worth sharing. While I think my memory is still pretty good, I will say that when I was having trouble last year I found I didn’t have the mental energy to write about anything I had to think about too much. I felt I didn’t had the mental energy so I had even slowed down reading my books around the end of last year. Since adding my supplements, I’m back to reading and other hobbies. One of the great things I’ve noticed is that my sleep has greatly improved. I feel that I’m actually starting to get the kind of sleep that I used to have when I was a teenager. You know that really deep and satisfying sleep. It’s been a while since I’ve had that. My sleep did improve before (I had horrible sleep problems while recovering with AA), but so far this has been the best. I still have other things to work on like my digestion, but for that I’ve been using raw sauerkraut. So far that has been working the best for me. I’ve tried probiotics in the past that I didn’t seem to notice anything, but that’s another story. At least for now the sauerkraut seems to be the most noticeable at this time.
Hope everybody is enjoying good health at this time!
Marlakins
Permalink
09.11.11
Posted in History, Hmmm Moments, cross stitching at 11:29 pm by Administrator
Today was the ten year anniversary of the bombing of the Trade Center. Like a lot of other people, I spent a good deal of the day watching 9/11 related videos. There’s quite a bit out there on YouTube. And since I tend to have a bit of ADD, I had to do some crafting while watching. Not sure why, but I noticed I can pay better attention to things when my hands are doing something like crafting. Strange, but anyway, here’s what I was working on today.
The patterns are by The Praire Schooler called Starry Night stitched on 18 count aida.
The whole 9/11 incident is very sad to revisit. Not only has it been tragic for all victims of the Trade Towers and flight passengers, but also for the countless civilian victims in Iraq and Afghanistan who had no connection to any of those hijackers. I know the bombing of the trade center was terrible, but striking back and killing other civilians doesn’t make it right. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Imagine how little control a person like myself has on our government, but yet our government conducts many acts that I would not approve of. I think of how easily civilians like myself could be targets of those who despise the actions of our government even though I have little sway in our government’s decisions. And I think of all those “rules of engagement” that always seem to be violated whenever countries go to war. It’s the civilians who suffer.
The other lure to watching 9/11 videos is all the “conspiracy” theories out there. The latest one that I found interesting has been put forward by Judy Wood. She has written a book called, Where Did the Towers Go? She claims that she doesn’t have a “theory” of what happened, but only examines the “evidence.” One example video with Judy Wood is at this link. She definitely puts forward a lot of food for thought regarding what happened to the Twin Towers on 9/11.
Marlakins
Permalink
09.09.11
Posted in quotes at 12:01 am by Administrator
“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones. ”
~Nelson Mandela
Permalink
09.07.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:58 pm by Administrator
Despite the heat and my current stack of books still waiting to be read, I couldn’t help but run down to Borders to see what they had left. While in the Philippines I got emails that Borders was going out of business and they were having sales. I lamented that I would miss out on the sales because I was still in the Philippines. However, since arriving back in Los Angeles, I found that their sales were still going on. I think there’s only a few more days left, so go check them out if you can. I decided to go check it out and, while I didn’t find any of the books I have on my list to read, I still found quite a few books that looked pretty good. So this is what I picked up:
Age of Deception Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times by Mohamed Elbaradei
To End All Wars by Adam hochschild (same author of King Leopold’s Ghost, which I thought was an excellent book)
Cultures of War by John W. Dower
Fallout, The True Story of the CIA’s Secret War on Nuclear Trafficking by Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz, authors of the Nuclear Jihadist
Miracles on the Water, The Heroic Survivors of a World War II U-Boat Attack by Tom Nagorski
War Beneath the Waves, A True Story of Courage and Leadership Aboard a World War II Submarine by Don Keith
The Nuclear Express, A Political History of the Bomb and Its Proliferation by Thomas C. Reed and Danny B. Stillman
Yellow Dirt, an American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed by Judy Pasternak
Dinner With Mugabe, the untold story of a freedom fighter who became a tyrant by Heidi Holland
The American Way of War by Eugene Jarecki
Third World America, How Our Politicians are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream by Arianna Huffington
Prisoners of America’s Wars, from the Early Republic to Guantanamo by Stephanie Carvin
Spin Control, Techniques for Spinning the Yarn You Want by Amy King
Magnificent Mittens & Socks, the beauty of warm hands and feet by Anna Zilboorg
I’m so happy to have more reading material! I know, I know, my library has a lot of books I can read still, too! It’s just a weakness of mine to have access to books. Even though I was already starting to read a book–Vietnam, the Definitive Oral History Told from All Sides by Christian G. Appy, I couldn’t help but start in on one of my new books–The Age of Deception by Mohamed Elbaradei. So far I’m finding it very well written and also very informative. That made me curious about the quality of the other books I purchased, so I looked up the reviews on Amazon of all the books I purchased. I’m happy to say that most of them had pretty good reviews. A couple had some questionable reviews, but it looks like it was because of political biases especially the reviews for Cultures of War by John W. Dower. And then the other book that had some bad reviews mingled in was War Beneath the Waves by Don Keith. Apparently, Keith has lots of errors regarding submarine or nautical stuff. Otherwise, the story is good, so it seems. At any rate, I look forward to reading all these books.
I’m one of those creatures of habit, and I hate to see changes like Borders going out of business. . . However, I’m tempted to run down to another Borders to take advantage of their big sale, but I feel guilty that I’ve already purchased enough books. Eh, my boys also bought books, so we’ve got a whole new load here. But Borders is having a great sale which should be over in a few days, so for anyone interested, it might be still worth taking a peek. If so, HURRY! as the shelves were getting mighty thin. . .
Marlakins
Permalink
« Previous entries Next Page » Next Page »
