Category: spinning

  • box bag, berries and bobbins

    Man, I don’t know where my crafting focus has gone these days. Well, I guess I actually DO know, I’m just impatient to get back on track with all my various projects! I’ve been a little all over the place with all my various crafts (sewing, cooking, gardening, spinning, and you know, the knitting) that I haven’t been able to focus well on any particular one, really.

    I’ve got all sorts of fabric that’s come into the house…

    fabrics

    (knits on the left from Wazoodle, organic cotton and some cotton print on the right from Tonic Living.)

    I’ve been picking cherries from the sour cherry tree in my yard, although I haven’t done anything with them yet – I’m thinking pie:

    sour cherry

    A little bit of knitting, just plugging away on the pink Thermal. I’ve got a very new little cousin that I want to knit stuff for too, but I just haven’t managed to get started yet!

    little thermals

    I’m feeling very scattered and unfocused. I’ve decided that this summer I’m going to try to take it easy on myself, although I know I might have some projects coming up that will make that difficult! I’ll be working in the store a lot more over the summer, between megan taking time off to have her baby, and denny going away on a couple fun trips. But one thing seems to be helping me focus? The Tour de Fleece.

    tour de fleece, july 11

    When I started spinning today I was feeling a bit defeated by the enormous bag of fibre before me, with only one and a half bobbins spun – but I sat at the wheel for a few hours this afternoon, and have managed to up the count to three full bobbins and a bit of a fourth. I’ve got a couple movies recorded on the DVR, and I’m staying in all this weekend, so spinning here I come! I want to spin all the singles before I ply, but since I don’t have quite so many bobbins, I’ll need to wind them off on the ball winder as I go.

    One more thing that I think will help me focus a bit? My new project bag – a super cute box bag by rachel m.! We hung out today and she was lovely enough to gift me one. I think I might start a new pair of socks just to keep them in here.

    box bag, outside!

    One more summer plan – more blogging. I’m working on it, really I am!

  • when did it become july?

    Well, five days ago apparently. This year has just completely whooshed by (and I know it’s only half done, but still!).

    I’m hopping on the Tour de Fleece bandwagon and posting my intentions in the hopes of actually completing my goal!

    I’m going to spin this roving up.

    tour de fleece

    It’s a dark brown corriedale fleece that I bought at the Royal Winter Fair last November, and had processed by the (now-defunct) Lindenhof Wool Mill. It’s a big bag of roving, and I want to spin it all up! I think it might just be quick-and-dirty style, 2 or 3 ply (haven’t decided yet). I did start spinning singles today, but I only spun for about an hour.

    It’s a lot of roving. I’m going to have to spin right quick if I want to get it done!

    it's a big bag

    (Wheel in the background for scale.)

    I seem to think I can bend the time-space continuum, because I’ve also got a whole lotta knitting to do and sewing that I want to get to! It’s going to be a busy month.

  • in progress

    Knitting:

    one-armed Manos

    Just needs the other sleeve sewn in. And the ends. And buttons. And a good blocking.

    Spinning:

    merino/silk

    About 700 yards of fingering weight merino/silk. Off the wheel, technically! But it’s the first completed yarn I’ve made in months.

    Gardening:

    small veggie bed

    A mini bed in front of my back deck. I’m not doing the allotment garden this year (too big, too much work by myself, not sure if I’ll be around all summer) but I am trying to get my crops in among my parents’ plants! This area was pretty sad, a few raspberry offshoots (scraggly ones) and not much else. So I dug up the plants (very tough) and planted about four feet of shelling peas in double rows and four feet of “mammoth melting” snow peas against the deck. Then in front of them I planted green onions, coriander (cilantro) and chives. I need some kind of border stones or something…

    tomato seedlings

    Tomatoes, of course – I’m rather behind this year but I think I’m ok. Varieties: Purple Calabash, Eva Purple Ball, White Queen (they’re white!), Tigerella, Matt’s Wild Cherry.

    Reading:

    oh yeah

    Buffy Season 8, Volume 1. Oh yeah.