Random Act of Kindness

For those who've known me for a while know that I really wanted a spinning wheel but really just couldn't afford one.

For those of you who follow me on twitter/Facebook know that I've been extremely excited about something for the last few days and now world I can share with you....

No friends your eyes are not deceiving you that is a spinning wheel. In my living room. Sit down let
me tell you an amazing story.

On Sunday my friend Sarah came up from South Dakota (she was here for a wedding on Sat) We went to the MIA (Minneapolis Institute of Art) a free museum in south Minneapolis. While we were there I had my spindle out and was walking around while spindling business as usual. At MIA they have these great little things called "art carts" which are maned by volunteers and have art that you can touch and play with and talk about with the the people.

While I was walking and spindling one of the volunteers stopped me and asked what I was doing. I said that i was spinning yarn on a drop spindle. They said  they had a native american drop spindle but didn't really know anything about it. I looked at it was able to explain a little bit about it.

One of the Women Beverly who is absolutely wonderful mentioned that she used to spin on a wheel but but never on a spindle.

I mentioned that I really would love a wheel

she asked if I was interested.

I said yes, but with my budget being what it is there is no way I could afford a wheel even one on the lower end of the pricing spectrum.

And Beverly's response was that her wheel had been sitting in her basement for years now without being used. and when she got home she would take it out and look at it and if everything seemed to be in order I could have it.

I could have it, as in she would give it to me.

I gave her a hug. and now this morning my roommate and I drove across town to her house and picked it up.

I am completely blown away by her generosity and that she would give a person that she just met something as valuable as a wheel. and just completely floating on air I OWN A SPINNING WHEEL And it is wonderful and beautiful

It is a 1973 Clemes and Clemes Traditional Wheel it has been wonderfully maintained. Beverly ordered it directly from Clemes and Clemes in 1973 and had it shipped to her. And back then they didn't sell these wheels as kits oh no they shipped them in giant barrels This is it next to my roommates car to give you a size comparison

I think I need to replace the drive band but otherwise it is in excellent condition. Now i just need to learn how to spin on it!

And not only is Beverly a wonderful kind person but she is also a great artist. I'm positive i will be knitting something for her soon.

I am nothing if not consistent

So I'm participating in the Tour de Fleece right now (more on that later) But yesterday when I went to get some icecream with my friend I brought my spinning along and we had the following conversation in the car:

Me: It's spinning up a lot lighter than the roving is. I kind of like it.
Her: Yeah, that is kind of strange. But it's good that you like it.
Me: But I think I already own yarn this color though.
Her: well there are only so many shades of rainbow a person can own
Me: This is true

guys... I really like rainbows....

my roving yoinked from the original etsy posting I bought it from.

I've come to the conclusion...

That I am not white.


I know, duh Annie look in the mirror. Clearly, you are not white. But I've grown up with the notion that I am a "White washed" Asian Kid. Based on the people I grew up with and the experiences I've had. And while it's easy to group my identity into that of the a person who is not a person of color. I think that by doing this I am denying not only my person of color experience but the experiences of other of persons of color like me. Just because it's not the standard narrative of a person of color and maybe there isn't a "standard narrative" It is a narrative and a legitimate one at that.


Not only all of this, but I've sort of come to the conclusion that many of the experiences that I take for granted are simply not those of a "white persons" a lot of the habits I have, I learned from my mother or other situations that arose from being a person of color. And recognizing that i the first step of reconciling identities.

(Sorry for not posting for so long)

Name of Blog Here.

So today I thought I'd shed some light on the name of my blog. The title is actually younger than my blog by about 6 months. I changed it while I was in Singapore. While studying abroad last year, I got to travel some during winterbreak, and the one place I went was Singapore. While walking around outside we passed this museum that I never actually got to go into, but I hope someday i will. It was called the Asian Civilisation museum and they had a gallery set up titled : Neither East nor West Asians in Monochrome. And the pictures of these banners (they were every 10 or so feet around the building) all had old pictures of Asian people mostly in western wear. I suppose the gallery was about colonialism, unfortunately I didn't think the company I was with would have indulged me to go into the museum.

But I used to to titled my blog, because it is often how I feel about myself. I am Neither East nor West with my the way I act, the food I eat, even the way I think of the world. I of course occasionally feel much more West and some days even much more East. But I am both and neither. I especially like it because of my major we often think of the world in dichotomies. But I think it is possible to be Neither East nor West.

Post card swap

On ravelry's my other hobby swap we recently did a postcard exchange. I recieved 7 of them, they're very lovely. I'm putting them on my corkboard.

Flash My Stash

So yesterday I did it. I took my stash out and I photographed it. It was about as big as I thought it was going to be. Maybe a little bigger. I didn't count my roving or any WIP but I did throw all my knitting scraps into it. Here is the picture

 It is mostly sock yarn. I maybe should have spread it out a little better.

Stash...

So occasionally I look at all my yarn and feel guilty for the amount I have. And then I got on ravelry and see other peoples stashes that look something like this:

And then I don't feel so bad.

of course I've never taken a picture of my entire stash... hm, maybe I should do that.

My Kitchen smelled like wet wool and artifical grape

Some of you may know that I've been spinning yarn. I'm new to it, so unlike knitting which I would argue that I'm very proficient at everything I make spinning wise is new and exciting and fabulous.
And for some odd reason I feel a need to dye the stuff I spin, even though usually it's already dyed. I'm attracted to pretty colors. So recently I spun (and plied!) this
Into This
It's about 3oz of Merino spun from roving top in camel from indigo crane fiber . One of my swap buddies recently sent me a how to dye yarn with kooaid tutorial, which is a cheap way to get a fiber fix. I'm all for that. I soaked the yarn to set the twist.
This picture is more accurate to the color, the other one had too much light. I put it in a tupperware container with some vinegar and two packets of grape kool-aid.
Microwaved it on and off for two minutes at a time for about 20 minutes. And the end result was this
I forgot to take a picture of the balls, this is just the leftover. And then I knit it up with size nine needles, loosely following a pattern and got this!



My lovely roommate is modeling the hat for me, because unfortunately I knit it too small to fit my rather large head. Sad day. She is also planning on stealing it from be because she likes it. And well, it doesn't really fit me. So I guess I have to let her.

Yart blogging done. Chinese homework start!

BTW: For those who don't know Yarn + art = Yart!

Yart blogging

I'm inspired. I am going to try and take more pictures and talk more about my knitting. That includes blogging about it here. All my Yarting (Yarn +art) should be shown off, after all it is apart of my cultural production is it not?

Cultural Production

So I've been thinking lately as to what this term "Cultural Production" actually means. As a person I assume I produce it everyday. It's very odd to think of it as something that you produce sort of whether you mean to or not as opposed to something that is deliberate. Like writing a book, that would be a purposeful deliberate cultural production, instead though everything that we do could be some sort of cultural production. Meaning the blog that I kept on High school.... That shit is going to be there forever, ew.

I suppose I don't have fully formed opinions about this yet. I'll get back to you on it.