Earthquake, Hurricane, Tornado...

...what's next, pestilence?

Ahead of Schedule
I thought we had until 2012 before the end of the World.

Actually, I always thought that was an odd expression, "end of the world." It will more likely be the end of humanity, or perhaps end of the World as we know it. It's likely that long after we've made ourselves extinct, the World will go on for a good long time.

Humans are more like acne to the Earth, and it won't be long till the global version of Proativ takes us all out.

All in all, I've hardly been personally affected by the latest geological events on the East Coast. I was in Edmonton for the earthquake, and it didn't shake anything loose in my house while I was gone (although Thaddeus did notice it at work). Hurricane Irene had us without internet for a few hours and required us to reset clocks a couple of times when power went out for 5 seconds.
It also caused me to reschedule travel this week.

Other than a few minor inconveniences, the QueerJoe state of affairs is just fine.

Current Knitting/Spinning
I was hoping to be able to display lots of knitting and spinning on the blog today, but nothing is quite in a state where I can proudly display it.

I am just shy of finishing the fourth side-panel of the Heirloom baby blanket using Ted's handspun.

I've got about 10 more rows on the final side-panel and then I work the center panel. It's looking very nice, but like most lace, it isn't overly photogenic. Looks like I left an interesting rag or something on the chair and photographed it.

I am also just a bit shy of finishing the first bobbin of the Optim Merino from Australia.

I've done a lot of spinning the past few days, and I kept looking down, expecting to be at the end of the first bump, and I always seem to have more left to go than should be possible. It's also amazing to me that I'll be able to fit half a pound of singles on one bobbin. I mean, look at the comparison of processed fiber to the size of the bobbin.

And it's not like the fiber isn't pretty dense. Kind of amazing.

Readers' Comments/Questions
Someone asked what yarn/color I used in my Transatlantic Shawl (by Stephen West).

I honestly forget what purple yarn I used...I should look it up...I'm sure I documented it in Ravelry...oops...never added that project. It doesn't matter much anyway, the blue yarn was handspun and hand-dyed at last year's West Coast Men's Knitting Retreat when we go to dip our yarn in an indidgo bath, so it's not like it could be easily replicated...sorry.