Blocked

Finally! The sweater pieces and the shawls are blocked. I also washed the Romney skeins since the spinning and plying are finished. I have just under 100 yards of a worsted weight 3 ply yarn. Not sure yet about the use, but something will come to me. I was surprised to be able to get the shawls dried (mostly) outside yesterday. I thought we'd have rain all day. I got 2 loads of laundry hung on the line, too, but had to finish them in the drier - too much humidity in the air. 15 minutes is better than 45 minutes of drier time, so it's still a help.

There was a discussion going on Ravelry recently regarding superwash wool and whether it felts. (Apparently sometimes it does). The mention of driers brought out the fact that a lot of European households don't have driers, and those people were surprised to hear that most American homes do, and a lot of Americans couldn't imagine life without a clothes drier. That went on to a discussion about Home Owner Associations and how a lot of HOAs don't allow clothes lines (and a lot of other things). Health issues were mentioned (one person said that her kids allergies were much worse when she dried linens on the line) and energy conservation as well as the difficulties (or near impossibility, in some cases) of using a clothes line. For instance, if you live where there is 4 feet of snow on the ground or the humidity would keep clothes from drying totally at all. Very interesting.

I hope to get at least one seam per evening sewed on my sweater. Wearability is in sight!

Pogona is finished. Very interesting construction and I am pretty sure I'll knit another of West's designs. I'm not sure whether I'll keep this one or gift it.

Cladonia is finished and I love it. I might gift this one, too, but I am not sure I can part with it. OTOH, I can knit another .....

It's time to start planning vacation knitting. I can't decide whether I want to take a few smaller projects along or start a sweater. If I decide to start the sweater, I have to settle on which one, swatch, block, measure, etc. so that I'm prepared with the appropriate supplies before leaving. If I choose several smaller projects, I have to gather those and all of the necessary needles and markers, etc. too, so planning is important. There used to be a knitting shop in Montauk, which gave me a safety net, but it's closed now so it would be a considerable drive to get to another one if I forgot something important. Planning is the key. I always have my knitting and spinning projects packed before my clothes. One must have priorities. ; )

There's been a lot of rain here just recently, which we can use but the Midwest needs desperately. I can't even imagine what they are going through. July here was difficult enough. They had it harder and are still dealing with the drought and high temps.

I judged knitting at the Montgomery County Fair on Saturday. This was my third year doing it, and in general, I enjoy it. I like to give feedback to the knitters so they know their strengths and weaknesses, especially since I really appreciate those comments when I enter a competition. It can sometimes be hard to work with another person who has different criteria that you do, but it also widens your outlook on things. We were judging for over 6 hours, though, and that was a long day (without lunch). It was tough near the end when the really big decisions had to be made. I think we made the right one, though, on the Grand Champion.

Speaking of competition, I am going to try to get myself and my projects to gather this week and see about entering some in the state fair. Usually we are on vacation at the end of the fair, so I have no way to get my projects back, which prevents me from entering. This year we'll still be here on the day the projects have to be picked up. I have a few things that I feel are appropriate to enter, though I suspect none will win ribbons. It's hard to win ribbons at the state fair. I'll get the input on them and be happy.

Cucumbers. We are producing cukes like crazy! Fortunately I have been able to give them away. I am not a kitchen person, so the idea of pickling or something does not interest me at all. I might freeze a few tomatoes, though, for additions to sauce. The tomatoes are finally doing better and we are able to pick and eat some of them. We ate the 3 ears of corn that were produced in the garden. It was very tasty and tender. It's a shame no more seeds sprouted, despite re-seeding. I am ready to give up the garden and turn it back into grass, but Bob wants to try again next year. I don't think we've gotten enough out of it to justify our work and $$$. We'll see. He really does the hard work, so if he just wants me to plant seeds and plants and then harvest, I'll go for that. We'll try bush beans instead of pole beans next year. Our green beans have been very stringy and tough, no matter if I pick them early or not. The tomatoes are yummy this year, though - an improvement over last year.

Sizzlin' summertime

I am not going to complain about the heat because I do have central AC. Thank goodness.

I've been busy at work, putting in a few more, irregular hours than usual. That has impacted things on the home front, also. Some days I get home after 8 PM and just don't have the energy to accomplish anything else, even spinning and/or knitting. Work is good, it's more interesting being busy, but does get in the way of other things. ; )

I didn't get to finish spinning my Romney fiber, but I have another 3 spindles full to ply when I can sit in front of the wheel. I can't wait to see what the total yardage is so I can plan a fall project.

I chose to spin on my new akha spindle with cotton for my TdF challenge. I watched a couple of videos on spinning cotton, and a few on using an akha, then got to work. I need practise. Really. However, I did produce a cotton singles and am working on more, to try to ply. There really isn't a lot of info available on spinning using that type of spindle, but I think I did OK for a beginner. I found it to be an enjoyable way to spin.

I finished two knitting projects in the last couple of days - Pogona was bound off last night and Cladonia was bound off the day before! Neither one has been blocked yet, but the knitting is done!

No completed and blocked pictures yet, but at least you can see the colors and a good part of the lace edging of Cladonia.







I still have half of the fronts of my sweater to knit, and that is now highest on my priority list. However, (you knew there would be a however, didn't you?) I need a small, portable project for walking, so I started a sock. Eldest son loves music, and Knitty.com had a pattern called Riff that I thought would be just right for him. I have less than an inch of toe knitted but am not in a rush. This is truly a travel project for me.

Once I finish the sweater I plan to go back to the Curved Shawl with Diamond Edging from Victorian Lace Today and work on it until it is complete. I will get that shawl off the needles and onto my shoulders this summer. When I need simpler knitting (and sometimes I do have that need) I will work on Rob's afghan and try to get that done this summer also.

I signed up for the Seasons of Lace KAL this summer. The shawl that was voted on is Jared Flood's Rock Island. I was not being very realistic about my available knitting time at that time. I like it, but am hesitant to start another shawl until the current one is complete. OTOH, this one should be faster and provide a nice break from the other, due to the garter section. Hmmm .... what to do ......

We went to Bass Pro Shops last night so that DH could choose his new fishing rod and reel that he wanted for his birthday gift from my mother, me and eldest son. He took several hours - this from a man who (usually) has a list, finds what he needs and is out of the store in a flash. I asked him if it was sorta like MDSW for me and he laughed and agreed. He made his choices and I think he's very happy. Tonight we find eye glass frames for him and then I get to spend some time knitting.

I've fallen in love ....

with a new pattern. It's a Sivia Harding pattern, and that doesn't surprise me. I love a lot of her patterns. This one is a glove pattern and that does surprise me.  It's summer. It's hot out. The last thing I need right now is a pair of wool gloves, but there you go. Illogical knitting urges. I plan to get the pattern, check the stash for appropriate yarn, then go buy some beads and have it ready to go for a vacation knit. We'll see whether I stick to that timetable or not. ; )

I took a few photos of my resurrected lace project - the Curved shawl with Diamond edging. This first photo is just relaxed on the deck to show the amount of shawl I have knitted (which is much larger than it was about 3 weeks ago).

 This is a stretched out lace photo attempt to show the lace pattern, which is really quite pretty. I was not feeling well enough to get out pins and a board to take proper photos with.

 I also took a few photos of my Pogona shawl. I pick up this shawl when I want something light and easy to knit on.  I've knitted 9 inches (length) in the center (pictured below), and have to go to 14 inches for the next step.

There are increase stockinette sections alternating with reverse stockinette sections, and you add the increase sections at different time points. The shawl is supposed to sit nicely on the neck and shoulders. I'll let you know. Meanwhile, it's an enjoyable knit.




I am trying to finish off the last few inches of the Calendula sock for Sharon but not having a lot of luck. I keep going back to the cardigan I am knitting for myself. I have about 3 more inches to knit even, then I start arm scye shaping on the back of the sweater. The sleeves are already knit. : ))

Spinning efforts center around spinning this wonderful Icelandic fiber.

I had been aiming for lace weight but it will really be more of a fingering or sock weight yarn than lace, but that's OK. I love it. (There is my little sample skein in the bottom of the picture, just below the spindle)
I have the lighter grey, pictured in this photograph, and a dark, charcoal grey in a lesser amount that I will spin to use as a contrasting edging. I think. I don't know final yardage, and I haven't chosen a pattern yet, so it's possible it will be striped, but I think edging. ; )


Sunday was Father's Day. Bob and I thought of our dads often through the day. They are both gone now but still very much with us in our hearts. On Saturday we went with younger son and his partner Chris and Chris's dad out on his dad's boat. We had a nice time socializing and swimming to cool off. On Sunday Bob and I went out on our boat. I was sick, (actually, I felt like crap) so this was truly a sign of love on my part. Bob wanted to go so much, I didn't have the heart to tell him that I just wanted to go to bed. So we went, and had as nice a time as possible. He caught a few little perch and we found a new fishing spot to try next time.

Eldest son got a new-to-him used car yesterday. The guy was a real a**hole - misleading us (and not correcting the mis-information at several time points when it would have been very appropriate) about the inspection status, which is a big deal in Maryland. You cannot register a car until it has passed a very thorough inspection, which usually means some expensive repairs. I wanted to ditch the while thing but I was out-voted. The car is a Nissan Altima, 2000, and in outwardly pretty good condition. We'll see what the mechanics say at time of inspection.

The Seasons of Lace Summer 2011 voting should be completed today. I'll be heading over there a little later to see which shawl was voted in for the KAL this summer. I have already resurrected one of my WIPs (see above) but will knit the KAL shawl, too. Seeing the nominations also brought to my attention some shawl patterns that I had not noticed before, and I will be knitting Jared Flood's Juneberry for sure, with or without a KAL, in some yummy brown alpaca I've been hoarding for several years. I bought it the first year that Stitches was in Baltimore, so that's been hanging out in my stash for a while. I have two 500 yards skeins of it, so there's the potential for more alpaca goodies ......  in the fall. No alpaca knitting in the summer for me.

I plan to take part in this year's Tour de Fleece. I have not yet settled on all of my goals. For the Spinners Study group, I will take on challenge # 1 " To spin and present your findings on the fiber of a breed of sheep (or species) you have never before worked with. Any breed, whether it has been studied in the group previously or not. It just needs to be new to you! (This could include processing and spinning a type of fleece you have never before processed as well.) "
I have some Romney from Melanie that I washed last week. I can prep and spin that since I have never knowingly spun Romney before. For the Spindlers group, we set our own goals, other than to spin on a spindle. I may just keep up with spindle spinning the Icelandic for that group challenge, maybe a minimum amount per day. That will help with my divided spinning attention and allow me to make progress on a WIP. ; )
I was considering spinning some cotton that I  have at home on the two new akha spindles I just bought as my difficult challenge on the special challenge day. Maybe .... We'll see how my energy and frustration level is at that time.
If I get my wheel back (on loan) in time, I may try to finish up spinning the Corriedale pencil roving I had started a few months ago. I need to spin part of one more bobbin, probably another whole one, then ply it. I have N plied one bobbin already. That will be a secondary goal, though, and I may well not get there. That's OK. The spinning doesn't end with the TdF.

Happy First day of Summer 2011.