10.24.2007

I'm too tired to think or work, so I'll write. (Now doesn't that make sense?)

Actually it does make sense for me. For all of you who like to put your feet up at the end of the day and spend some time with your favourite knitting project, you'll understand that that's how I feel about writing. This is fun and relaxing, to give myself a chance to play on the internet to find interesting things that can be passed along to you. One of the things that I found was the above picture of a "Biker Sheep" at http://www.funny.co.uk/stuff/art_175-3989-Biker-Sheep.html . Really, take a second to link to the full picture. It's just too much. I figure that anything in the world that gives us a little giggle is worth the few seconds of a cyberspace visit.

Furthermore, I was interested to find the following facts about wool that I had never heard before- and I thought that I heard them all:

Wool Facts

-One pound of wool can be spun into 20 miles of yarn.
-A perfectly preserved woolen sock was found buried in silt on the banks of a river in England. The sock is estimated to be 1,000 years old.

and this one which I did know:
-Wool being used for the first time is called "Virgin Wool".

but it reminded me of one of the most unexpectedly pleasant parts of being at the store is in meeting the partners of some of our customers who patiently come with their wives when they are shopping at WOOL-TYME Kingston. Usually we're talking about older gentlemen whose wives aren't able to get around as well anymore and so they will often set himself down at our table with the newspaper or a book and amuse themselves. But on occasion, with the wife happily checking out all the new yarns, I get a chance to chat with these guys and it's usually a delightful visit. One day one of them, who happened to be a retired Anglican minister, arrived and came right up to the counter with the air of a kid just busting to tell you something. What he was so proud of was the following joke:
Q: Where does virgin wool come from?
A: From the sheep who can run the fastest. (Think about it. It's pretty cute.)

And of course, because you can find absolutely everything on the internet, the following is a link to a whole list of careers in wool in Australia. http://www.woolinnovation.com.au/Student_information/Careers_with_wool/page__2162.aspxNow
Now excuse me...I certainly understand that a huge percentage of the world's wool production goes to be processed into thread for weaving fabric but could there not have been even the slightest of nods to the knitting industry??? Don't they knit in Australia?

By the way, for those of you who were wondering, this is a " jillaroo" from Australia. Looks like a fun job!