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Flicking will definitely help get some of the dirty gross stuff out. Lock by lock seems tedious, but it's faster than you think if you get into a rhythm, and saves you a lot of time in the long run with spinning. It's especially good with rare breeds, too. And yes, cormo will make amazing, soft, wonderful yarn. Cormo is superior to merino, in my mind, by far.
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Jul 19, 2015 19:17
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Huh, maybe I'll give that a try. First I'd have to pick up some non-detergent soap, though. Some Tour de Fleece results:  Top: the opposing-ply I've been working on for awhile. I had a Sweet Georgia sampler pack, so I split each sample into thirds width-wise, spun two clockwise and one counter-clockwise, then plied them all counter-clockwise. The two normal ones I tried to keep the same color progression, then I reversed for the opposing-ply. It didn't quite work out, but there's a nice progression on them anyway. The opposing ply kinks up a lot, but it stretches out easily enough so I think I'll still be able to knit with it pretty well. The green is just some leftovers from the big project, because I had bits left over at the end. It's just an ordinary 2-ply. The white is the Santa Cruz I was complaining about last time. It was a pain to process, but it really is amazingly elastic. I hope the conservation efforts are successful and we can get easier fleeces in the future - mixed with some mohair or silk it would make for some great socks.  What I've currently got on the wheel, a soft, thick yarn from Malibrigo Nube. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, the colours are gorgeous. On the other, the braid is compacted all to hell and it's annoying to spin. Sigh. Thinking about if I'm going to bother plying it or just keep it as singles. I combed some of the Black Welsh Mountain I washed the other day and I'm in love. It's not super soft, but it combed easily and is a perfect, true black. It's pretty flyaway, so we'll see how it spins. But right now I really like it.
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Jul 20, 2015 00:41
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That Nube is really pretty! I had a similar experience and it seems to be a common complaint. I wonder if Malabrigo could do something to change it. I've been tempted to buy it again because the colors are great, but I'm not good enough to have it not be chunky. I have been spinning a ton of singles, all with spindles. My thumb and forefinger are getting raw. Is there anything I could be putting on them to reduce friction that won't ruin the yarn? I suppose it will eventually become a callus. I have told myself I must spin all I have before buying more, but I want to dye more so I want to finish this! 
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Jul 24, 2015 02:35
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Still need to catch up on the entire thread but I just got an Ashford Kiwi 2! I've used a drop spindle but I find it too much with my hyper mobility and Fibromyalgia to spin for too long on it, (sore wrists!) My brother in law is a cool dude and taught me how to set up my wheel and talked me through spinning on a wheel but I absolutely love it already! My only problem so far is drafting consistently. Can anyone give a new spinner some tips?
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Jul 28, 2015 15:43
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I never did come back at the end of the Tour to report in. I busted rear end and spun harder than I ever have before. Napkin math put me at around 6,500 yards spun total ignoring plying yardage. I ended up with just over 2,000 yards chain plied of the Paper Roses for my sweater. I need to spin up roughly 2,300 more yards of complimentary colors. UGH. (This sweater better not suck!)  My wheel is out for a tune-up right now. On one hand I was ready for the break after spinning so much, so fast. On the other hand, I really miss my wheel. I'm pissed as hell that I spent so much sending it UPS and it's still not delivered a week later. Should have just sent it priority. SIGH. (I've never insured a thing for so much before but no way was I sending it in the mail with no insurance. That sucker wasn't cheap!) Edited to add: Oh, I grabbed some fur from the red golden retriever that lives across the street. Spun it up on one of the TdF challenge days. That was kind of tough but Otis yarn is kinda pretty. <3 
just da fucked around with this message at 07:37 on Aug 1, 2015 |
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Aug 1, 2015 07:34
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That dog yarn is fun! I used to be horrified at the thought of dog yarn; now I draft the drier lint before I throw it away. I'm thinking of at least making myself a little tiny mini skein from my dog after her next bath. That sweater is going to be amazing. I mean unless it's some crazy person sweater with holes for your boobs to stick out of or something. Gorgeous yarn.
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Aug 1, 2015 22:18
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HungryMedusa posted:I mean unless it's some crazy person sweater with holes for your boobs to stick out of or something. Gorgeous yarn. I don't even want to think about patterning that. With the pull and drape of a sweater, different boob positions and sizes, it would be a nightmare. From now on, when making up my own knitting patterns, I will think, "At least I'm not making a boob-through sweater."
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Aug 2, 2015 00:42
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Valdara posted:I don't even want to think about patterning that. With the pull and drape of a sweater, different boob positions and sizes, it would be a nightmare. From now on, when making up my own knitting patterns, I will think, "At least I'm not making a boob-through sweater." I agree in a knitting nerd sense but I also won't be surprised when I see it in Knitty some day. I finally spun singles from the roving I have, so to celebrate, I bought 3 lbs of fiber from RH Lindsay. Two pounds of merino and a pound of mixed domestic 23 micron. I'm starting to seriously consider a wheel....
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Aug 2, 2015 02:24
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HungryMedusa posted:That dog yarn is fun! I used to be horrified at the thought of dog yarn; now I draft the drier lint before I throw it away. I'm thinking of at least making myself a little tiny mini skein from my dog after her next bath. I'm a crazy dog lady so I wasn't ever really horrified by the idea. The victorian age hair ornaments weird me out more, to be honest. I just never really thought that dog yarn was really possible. As it is, I know now that I could never do it for pay because it's fiddly. I'll still ask around for some blown coat come fall because I'm betting some ear warmers out of the stuff would be amazing in a windy, cold winter. No open boob sweaters for me. I crochet and have been on the hunt for the perfect hoodie pattern. Years back, I spent a year modifying a pattern enough that it was nothing like the original since I hated the front and the hood and the cuffs, etc. I had to give it to my mom when I was done because I hated the garment so much by the time it was done just because of what a hassle it was. (Many years later, I'm mad at myself for this because I'd love to have it now!) This pattern seems to have the preferable hood shape, it's long on the hip and sleeve, and zips up the front instead of messing with button holes that could stretch out. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/paige-hoodie
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Aug 4, 2015 16:00
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I'm not sure WHY I thought this was a good idea... but hey, 8 ply sock yarn. On a drop spindle! Why not?  I still need to soak and stretch it.
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Aug 7, 2015 22:14
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petecas posted:I'm not sure WHY I thought this was a good idea... but hey, 8 ply sock yarn. On a drop spindle! Why not? Wow. That's amazing. I'm in awe. I've been pretty obsessed with spinning lately. I plied like a crazy person last week so I would have yarn to knit on a road trip. So far I am 12 hours of driving and a hat and a third of a scarf in. Also a heads up, Miss Babs is clearing out undyed fiber. I got a pound of BFL/silk for around 30 bucks shipped. I'm trying not to buy more right now. http://www.missbabs.com/collections/undyed-fibers
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Aug 10, 2015 04:28
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Nothing like doing some chain-plying and having your single break. And then break again on the very next chain. It's weird, because this doesn't really feel like fragile yarn and I sure didn't spin it that way. Just is, somehow. (also not sure it's suited for chain-plying, as it's not super bendy...but I wanted to do something other than 2-ply)
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Aug 17, 2015 05:48
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I like chain plying because I get a real feel for how strong the singles are (or aren't).
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Aug 18, 2015 10:55
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About a month ago, I bought a drop spindle kit off Etsy that came with two ounces of merino top--one undyed, one dyed teal. My first effort was...lumpy. Not terrible, but lumpy. Art yarn! So I bought some Roving from Knit Picks and tried again before I wrecked the teal. It came out a lot better when I figured out that pulling strips and then running those up was a better method for me than trying to draft from the wool bundle all at once. I spun up one of my wool roving (I drop spin around my desk, hence the keyboard in the background) and felt brave enough from that to spin my teal ounce. I don't know how to ply yet, so it's all single ply. The Knitpicks wool all spun up. It came out to about 160 yards total, somewhere between fingering and sport--I made a Niddy Noddy out of PVC. It'll get dyed after this weekend.  The Teal, laying on my leg.  The teal ran up. It had multiple colors, so I let it come through sort of natural.  36 yards of that. Not a lot, but I make doll clothes, so I might get some doll socks of it, Or a neat hat and scarf, knitting.
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Aug 29, 2015 07:37
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Nethilia posted:About a month ago, I bought a drop spindle kit off Etsy that came with two ounces of merino top--one undyed, one dyed teal. My first effort was...lumpy. Not terrible, but lumpy. Art yarn! So I bought some Roving from Knit Picks and tried again before I wrecked the teal. It came out a lot better when I figured out that pulling strips and then running those up was a better method for me than trying to draft from the wool bundle all at once. I spun up one of my wool roving (I drop spin around my desk, hence the keyboard in the background) and felt brave enough from that to spin my teal ounce. I don't know how to ply yet, so it's all single ply. That teal looks great. So does the KnitPicks - did you buy dye from them or are you going to do Kool Aid or something else? I am finding that I really really like dyeing.
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Aug 30, 2015 03:14
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HungryMedusa posted:That teal looks great. So does the KnitPicks - did you buy dye from them or are you going to do Kool Aid or something else? I am finding that I really really like dyeing. I bought some Dylon dye in Bahama Blue and plan to do the first hank all that. I'm hoping, once I have an idea of how colors work on spun yarn, to do squirt bottle dying.
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Aug 31, 2015 19:52
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Nethilia posted:I bought some Dylon dye in Bahama Blue and plan to do the first hank all that. I'm hoping, once I have an idea of how colors work on spun yarn, to do squirt bottle dying. The great thing about dyeing for me is if you gently caress up, you can just overdye it. I first tried dying my yarn all at once, loved it. I then dyed roving and spun that up. didn't think I liked it as much, but spinning it sure is fun. This is very addicting.
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Sep 4, 2015 22:51
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Hey thread! I lurk a lot but finally got some time to start spinning and weaving again so I figured I'd join you guys in here. My mom is a spinner/weaver and I'm following in the family footsteps. Until now I've always used drop spindles, then last night I was gifted with this beautiful thing. I haven't had much of a chance to use it yet but man it moves smooth. Just using some basic wool for learning now; I have bags of alpaca to try later on and some weird already-dyed shiny wool. Some sort of goat fluff?  Also, once we get the family workshop cleaned and organized, I'm going to deal with the lathe and make some bobbins and spindles. You can never have enough of either. But yay new toy! And a new excuse to get even more wool! E: first yarn, and a less slippy yoga mat for the wood floor.  And that stuff and yesterday's balled:  And I gave the yarn to my mom so she could crochet a winter beanie out of it. I really need to learn to crochet. 
Scathach fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Sep 13, 2015 |
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Sep 8, 2015 01:22
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Are any California goons planning to do Lambtown this year?
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Sep 15, 2015 17:14
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If anyone goes, look out for this guy: http://gansey.blogspot.com/2015/09/apart-at-lambtown.html?m=1 He will spend nine hours telling you how much better he is at spinning than you are, and how it's all queen Victoria's fault somehow.
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Sep 17, 2015 01:54
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Bob Shadycharacter posted:If anyone goes, look out for this guy: loving LOL. "They won't let me in (or I don't want to pay the fees) so i'ma sit in the parking lot and you can SEE how good I am". I'll take pictures
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Sep 17, 2015 02:33
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"Well, he sounds nice."  I got two more boxes unpacked and finally unearthed my drum carder (yay) and realized I don't really have an adequate flat surface to work with it on in that room (gah). Which means I'll probably have to lug it to the dining room whenever I want to make batts. At least it seemed a lot lighter than I remember it being before I packed it. I need a yurt to put in the back yard so I can move in with all my fiber and tools. Then I can go all  on my spinning.Scathach I'm so jealous of that wheel. It's beautiful.
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Sep 17, 2015 03:15
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I'm thinking of doing Spinzilla, so I'm trying to get ready by washing and combing some of the fleece I have lying around, clearing out the wheel and spindles, et cetera. I had forgotten I had some combed mohair just sitting around under a lot of dust. And that grey merino I have really really needs to be washed, it's been in the grease too long. Too bad I really can't wash more than about four ounces at a time.... But I should get this Rare Breed Sampler finally squared away if I dedicate myself to combing over the next few weeks, and once I free up my small spindle I've got an oz of pure cashmere to spin. And my friend sent me some yak! Gonna be great.
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Sep 17, 2015 06:17
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He Amykinz posted:loving LOL. "They won't let me in (or I don't want to pay the fees) so i'ma sit in the parking lot and you can SEE how good I am". "My knitting and spinning are so amazing they're a threat to the establishment!" He once said he could sue someone for libel and win just by handing the judge and jury a pair of his hand knit socks. Yeah he's insane. lol. Username on Ravelry is Agres is anyone is interested, there's years worth of insane forum posts there.
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Sep 17, 2015 13:00
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I did a quick look over a few posts and he has NO PICTURES whatsoever of his super amazing NASA spinning wheel or any of his super yarn. He's cracking me up big time. This dude is cracking me the gently caress up and I can't handle it, I know what I'm reading when I can't sleep tonight, seriously. He's so pissy in his replies to people.
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Sep 18, 2015 02:52
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 Finished spinning the Sapphire Heather roving this weekend. 237.5 yards, thereabouts. It's singles, which means I didn't ply it at all. Considering my first set of 3.5 oz/100g drew 160, that’s 77 more yards from the same amount! I'm getting better step by step.  I'm now working with undyed again. This might be fine enough for me to attempt to ply for the first time.
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Sep 29, 2015 02:43
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Amykinz posted:I did a quick look over a few posts and he has NO PICTURES whatsoever of his super amazing NASA spinning wheel or any of his super yarn. He's cracking me up big time. As mentioned, he has a pretty lengthy history on Ravelry. He's been banned from basically every spinning group there is for being a completely insufferable prick who knows better than anyone ever, with more than a few hints of sexism (unsurprisingly, the only person on this planet he will listen to is Alden Amos). I seem to remember he tried to school Abby Franquemont on spinning methods and fibers used in the Andes.
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Sep 29, 2015 07:02
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Gansey man's special magic accelerated wheel: It's just as wonderful as we've always dreamed, isn't it.
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Oct 1, 2015 06:48
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hamjobs posted:Gansey man's special magic accelerated wheel: I feel so bad for that poor wheel.  This might be my favorite pic of his:   Remember, he knits better than you and could prove it in a court of law if necessary.
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Oct 1, 2015 14:11
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Good lord, that looks like a poorly knit sweater that he felted the everloving poo poo out of.hamjobs posted:Gansey man's special magic accelerated wheel: Look at how far the orifice is from the treadle, how the balls is that comfortable to spin on!?
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Oct 1, 2015 19:08
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Bob Shadycharacter posted:I feel so bad for that poor wheel.  Hahahahahaha.... *gasp for breath* ahahahahahahahaha......
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Oct 1, 2015 19:20
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TastesLikeChicken posted:Scathach I'm so jealous of that wheel. It's beautiful. It's a really good first wheel, I love the thing. My mom showed me her direct drive wheel today so I'm planning on getting into the woodshop this week and starting on my own. I'd never seen one until now and I feel as if I shouldn't be without one.
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Oct 4, 2015 04:45
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Safari Disco Lion posted:Good lord, that looks like a poorly knit sweater that he felted the everloving poo poo out of. We're going to Lambtown tomorrow so I'll try to get pictures of his mythical abilities and bad posture
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Oct 4, 2015 05:12
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Amykinz posted:We're going to Lambtown tomorrow so I'll try to get pictures of his mythical abilities and bad posture I am genuinely and unironically interested in how the gently caress he spins with that thing without throwing his back out.
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Oct 5, 2015 10:31
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I didn't make it to Lambtown because I ran off and got married. I did manage to bring home a fresh Finnsheep fleece, though, so that's good. Did anyone get beautiful footage of Dr. GanSei, or did he no-show as expected?
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Oct 5, 2015 17:52
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We went on Sunday and it wasn't very busy at all (like half of the food and "extra stuff" vendors didn't even show up it looked like, it wasn't NEARLY as busy as past years I've gone) and Professor of Spinning History I'm Gonna Fuckin School You Gals wasn't there. I was pretty disappointed about that. Congrats on getting married, Hamjobs!
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Oct 6, 2015 01:07
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Holy crap. I know my LYS got turned down to vend for some reason (they're huge and amazing and have tons of fiber-y goodness, so IDK). The lack of vendors and food sounds totally disappointing. Maybe I'll just go to CAS&W next year? I dunno. Doctor Professor Scientist Mr. Manly GanSei, Esq., MSW, MDA, NBA, GHB, PCP never shows up to anything. He talks a big game, but never delivers. At least his internet shenanigans are entertaining. ETA: I'm a tool, gah. Thanks for the congratulations; we're pretty happy with it. Mostly because we kept forgetting to go do the official paperwork (we've lived together for years anyway).
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Oct 6, 2015 18:55
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 Top to bottom: 2 ply 250 yards, dyed with yellow food coloring (most recent/third done) 1-ply 160 yards, dyed with Dylon Bahama blue (first done) 1 ply, 237.5. yards, Sapphire Heather from Knitpicks. (second done) All these started as 3.5 oz Wool of the Andes Roving from Knitpicks. I'vey been doing this for two months, roughly.
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Oct 7, 2015 08:09
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Wow, that yellow is so bright!  You can really see how your spinning improved as you went along, too.
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Oct 7, 2015 19:13
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Sometimes I have to be reminded that you can't pile more and more yarn on a bobbin like you can on a spindle.
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Oct 9, 2015 21:52
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