Sunday 28 October 2012

A slight delay

There will be a short delay on the weekendly blogging, this weekend is Tiree Tech Wave 4 (TTW4) where yours truly is surrounded by 20 academics from Cardiff, Lancaster and other areas. 

There's also a guest appearance by Fiona, Alan's wife, who's doing felt making and some weaving on her new Japanese loom.

So, yes, update around Tuesday, once I get photos sorted and brain recovered.

Saturday 20 October 2012

And breathe

It's been one heck of a week for yours truly.  I've flown over 200 miles, sat on buses, in waiting rooms and walked a fair bit too.

Monday was get everything together, have I got paperwork? Toiletries? ARGH!  It was also the day I started putting mouse traps in the loft.  I don't mind mice in the loft too much, they can't get to the kitchen or our food, but these ones seem to have little lead shoes so they just have to go.

Tuesday saw evictee number 1.  A rather plump little specimen that was most peturbed by having not only been caught but then stuck in a fabric bag and dumped out in the open away from its lovely warm loft.

Tuesday was also a day for flying.  I flew over to Glasgow for some tests.  That is about the only real problem of living on Tiree; if you need any medical tests you have to go to Glasgow.  It's not that bad really, you can get a bit of shopping done at Breahead or go into the city centre.  I'll take the camera next month, I want to show you just what it's like going on the tiny Twin Otter plane (Max 21 passengers, pilot and co-pilot).

Anyhoo, Wednesday I woke up in my Travelodge bedroom, had a breakfast (won't bother again, it's a bit...meh.) and trotted to the airport.  Now, you'd think a hotel near an airport would be pedestrian friendly, you'd be wrong.  To walk between the two you have to cross a turnoff from a roundabout and a sliplane onto the motorway.  Fortunately there is a bridge under the motorway so you don't have to try and cross that too!  It's almost as bad as the stupidly placed pedestrian entrance at Todmorden Health Centre.  Some of us like to walk and save the money.

Back to wednesday.  I got home, unpacked, collapsed on my chair, apologised to the dog for, in her words, " 'bandoning her forEVER " and was happily recovering when a car pulled up to the house, Jo comes in the living room, "I forgot I had an email".  Eileen had come to collect me for SWRI crafting and had emailed Jo to tell him as much.  My knitting was grabbed and I zoomed out the door.  It was a lovely afternoon, meant to be 2 hours, somehow stretched to 2.5 hours.  Eileen is teaching Hardanger and after sitting there for a good hour thinking "I do not need another craft, I do not need another craft" well, I decided that I'd just learn this one too, so I now have a bit of fabric with Kloster blocks neatly (at least, I hope!) done, ready for the next step (cutting the fabric, eep!).

Thursday I spent a few hours out and doing then rested at home.

Friday saw another small rodent.

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It was kind enough to pose in the trap before I stuck said trap in the bag and we went for a trot to the beach.  Some higher power was at work that day though.  Mouse got away, pegged across the beach as fast as it could bound, but a different mouse died that day.  You see, we had taken the dog for the walk too, why not? Lovely day, dogs like walks, go for it.  On the way back Madam suddenly shows a great interest in some grass on the verge, she starts rooting in the thick grass and seems to corner something, there's a little 'clomp' as made by a gummy doggy mouth closing on something and Madam's head come up with a long thin tail and one rear foot sticking out.  One less mouse on Tiree.  She seemed to approve of the snack, especially as it required no chewing before swallowing.  It also seems to have been digested, Madam and her iron stomach.

Friday afternoon was Community Crafters, a happy two hours spent chatting, making some cards, knitting mini stockings and generally interacting.  I realised I had promised to bring some crafting cotton down for Mary and Margaret to knit into washcloths/dishcloths and forgotten again.  So Friday evening I skeined some balls I had and spent a happy hour with the dyes:


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I wasn't sure on what colours I had planned so I made a cup up of each and played.
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Dyeing plant fibres is a slightly different technique to animal.  Instead of steaming the fibres to set the dye, you leave it cold for 16+ hours.  I'm not sure why, probably something to do with cell walls or proteins or something.  So I wrapped them all (dye won't absorb and set if the fabric dries), grabbed one of the scrap towels and took advantage of the back toilet as floor space for dyeing.

The skeins are now washed and hanging to dry, you'll have to wait until next week for photos of them completed.  I hope M&M like the idea of knitting colourful cloths, if not I can always make use of the yarn.

That's about it really.  I will do a proper post on visiting Glasgow, but I want photos so it will have to wait for my next visit.

Until next time, be of good cheer.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Quiet week

It's been quiet this week, mainly personal things have happened, I'll spare you those.

The bike was up and running again by Thursday.  The new sprocket arrived and I managed to just talk in an angry tone at the gear system rather than swear at it.  Turns out the gear cassette that I had enthusiastically taken apart thinking it was necessary to remove the sprocket could have stayed put.

It also turns out that while the small gear that locks the cassette in place *looks* symmetrical, it is most definitely not.  Said gear locks onto the axle in two positions, it took me ten attempts to get the right orientation.  *sigh*

Anyway, getting the new sprocket on was relatively easy, the circlip was cause for strong tones, thank goodness one neighbour was away and the other at work, or I may have been visited by men in white coats for all the talking to myself I did.  So, sprocket in place, gears finally reassembled, wheel on twice (once was due to me forgetting the brake disc).  A few test cycles around the drive allowed me to retension the gear cable and woohoo, it lives!  I sprayed the whole gear and chain assembly liberally with lube before test riding.

Jo has since cycled to school and back and to church and back successfully.  There's been some iffiness, but nothing that wasn't there before.  Maybe a job for Will of Tiree Fitness or our bike enthusiastic neighbour one day.

Oh, remember that broken sprocket?
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Turns out it was doubly broken.  Look at the photo, see that top bump that points into the centre hole?  Now look to the left of it, see that could-be-a-crack dark dent?  Yep, it's actually a crack.  Joseph, or possibly myself, BROKE the sprocket!  oops.

I've been yarny again this week.  I managed to find a decently priced sock black on Etsy and dyed it two nights ago:
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The yarn at the top and bottom is waste yarn, you pull that off, then knit from one end of the rectangle to the other, hopefully this will make banded socks.  We shall see.

I finished the celtic spiral ones this morning.
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They fit!  If anything, they're actually a bit big in places, but washing may take that out.


I've also started knitting stuff for a craft stall Fiona and Jane are having at the November sale on the island.  I hope to help, but I may be off on the mainland.  These are mini socks:
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Three little stockings and an elf sock, that reminds me, need to make a hanging loop for the elf sock.

I'm also crafting something for a Minecraft themed swap, but photos of that won't be up until mid-November in case my swap partner is stalking me ;)

The weather is looking promising today, I have laundry on and it's only 8:45 in the morning.

I hope the weather is good with all.  Until next week, TTFN.



Monday 1 October 2012

October already?

Have we really been here for eight whole months?

The last two weeks have been a bit, off.  I've been fighting a whopping infection and tired from it, so please excuse the lack of posts.

Last week saw me sock knitting, pretty much as usual right now.  I'd heard about the "fleegle heel" a no-fuss heel with no picking up stitches and no holes at the join from the gusset, in other words: knitter's dream!  Of course, I had to try it and had this gorgeous yarn to try it with.  8 days of on-again, off-again knitting and we have:

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Warm, comfy socks!
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The yarn striped beautifully and cooperated very nicely for the heels.
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With those finished I wanted new socks, but this time I decided to try fair-isle colouring, last time I did that I made these:
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Gorgeous socks, but...I did the top pattern bands too tight and within two washes they're now ever so slightly felted and won't go over my big feet.  So, with trepidation and lots of trying on as I went, I tried some celtic spirals;

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It worked!  The top does require a little pull to get over my foot, but not so much I'm worried it won't fit after washing.  I do hope the yarn "fluffs" a bit though, otherwise these are going to be summer socks.


I tell a lie, this weekend has been interesting, the bike broke!

Jo went to a colleague's leaving do on Friday evening and came home with the cool box that he'd taken shopping in his hands.  It struck me as strange, but I assumed he'd parked the bike and was carrying the box from the garage.  Oh no, the bike had broken down, he'd been very kindly given a lift.

NB: It wasn't Friday, Jo informs me it was in fact Saturday, sorry.

I was informed that evening that they (work colleague whose house he had fortunately broken down near, colleague's partner and himself) had had a fiddle and found that, while the chain was attached, the back wheel refused to engage.

Sunday he brought it home and Sunday evening we had a fiddle ourselves.  Jo had contacted the people he bought the bike from and they had emailed him instructions on servicing the gear drum and removing the back wheel.  I did read some of it, then, well...I do so much better tinkering.

Jo held my torch for me and picked the back end up when I wanted to remove the wheel.  Took the wheel off, found the chain gear was loose, seemed to relock gear, put wheel back on three times - I kept mis-aligning bits - everything seemed fine, wheel engaged, until Jo tried to pedal.  *clunk* no go.

So I agreed I would take it apart again today and see if it was just a case of grit stopping things slotting properly into place.  Poor bike...

First it gets brick chocks put at both front wheels so it can't roll...
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Then it gets more bricks (with cushioning to protect the paintwork!) stuck under the main beam, then I very unceremoniously removed it's back wheel.
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Just to give you an idea of the complexity of this, the manufacturers recommend that, should you get a flat on the back tyre, it's best to try and repair the tyre in situ.  This bowl of bits (yes, I know where they all go!) shows why:

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Next was the dismantling of the gear hub itself, Shimano do a very good job of making a logical assembly, i.e. you can work out how it comes apart.  So, off comes bit after bit, carefully laid in order so I can put them back in the right order.

There may have been the odd rude word as I hit the next obstacle, but eventually I got the chain cog off.  I cleaned it and that's when I noticed, my rag was catching.  Surely such good quality kit as Shimano (this gear kit alone costs around £200 without a wheel) wouldn't leave burrs?  No, but the cog half jumping out of it's slot and trying to do the job would.


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See those nice, round, bumps in the centre of the gear?  Lovely, smooth, rounded, perfectly formed?


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Yeah, not so much!  Two had been shaved to half thickness, the third had been shaved and was trying to shatter off.

I suspect it's when either, or both of us, has tried to pedal that little bit too hard and the weakest point is here.  This cog is held on with a circlip (a cut circle of spring-steel that acts like a washer but opens instead of needing to slide on), the cog pushed, the circlip jumped, the cog jumped.  Who knows when it happened, because this damage took time to build.

On the very positive side, because I found the fault we don't have to send the whole rear wheel back to Lancashire to be repaired.  I contacted the people we bought the bike from and he's sending me a new cog and circlip.  Good service!

Until then, the poor bike is up on bricks and looking very sorry for itself and I need to purchase some grease/gunk suitable for greasing bike gears ready for the replacement.  If you don't grease/oil your gears on Tiree, they rust!

Until next time, be of good cheer.