Lots to report for mid May!

New Born Yarn

I've been spending time in the garden, getting some food crops in for summer, and some out on the bike getting read for a BackRoads tour in September... and it feels like I'm not doing anything in the studio! But I assessed the last few weeks and here's the list:

I finished plying the fiber I'd bought years ago at the KAFF in Oregon... It's 8 ounces of slightly underplied two ply. I plied 4 ounces of varigated singles with 4 ounces of a brown sheep wool labeled "Tasmanian Comeback".

Border of double huck scarf

The double huck samples and project are done. I really liked the class; I learned a lot about how to think about and manipulate structure. It was pretty fussy and I made a number of treadling mistakes and I'm not pleased with the end result. But it's also thick enough to be unwearable in this climate so I'm okay with not wearing it. Will I do it again? I think it would make a wonderful and luxe bath towel (in cotton) but it was so fussy I'm pretty much not interested in weaving it again. This felt like a successful project even though I feel the result was not entirely successful.

Goat, ready for a project

That goat fiber I was spinning? I finally finished plying it all and it's in the finished yarn closet. It's a pile of yummy inconsistently spun worsted-weight+ yarn... Not sure what I'll do with it. The original thought was a carpet but after I started I wished I'd taken more time to remove the VM and to spin it a bit more consistantly.

I finished weaving the Atwater Bronson Lace sample in 20/2 cotton; I sampled at 3 different setts (36, 32.5, and 30). I thought I'd like the denser sett but honestly like the two lighter ones better. I'm still debating 32.5 vs. 30 and am now waffling on color but should be starting that in the next week or so.

DH helped me upgrade my sewing machine and I now have Bernina Pinpoint Placement. I'm working with a snap hoop and I had a lot of issues with the first project... So the pattern is off by a quarter inch or so in a couple of spots. I think it'll still make an okay pillow for somewhere... but it was leftover batting scraps and unbleached muslin for a practice piece so I don't feel that attached. I'll put together a post on all that I am learning.

I also made some decisions about the table-in-progress and did cut some glass for it last week.

Finally, the Shiny sweater is on the homestretch; I only have half a sleeve to go, plus 2 seams and the sleeve hems. I'm pretty excited about this!

I'll spend some time thinking about what's next... but what's clear is:

• Finish Shiny
• Work on the table
• Make 2 runners, one for the France Trip
• Finalize decisions and set up the Bronson lace for weaving
• Test the Seamwork Hansie pattern

Pub Quilt finished and on the bed! And Cape Gooseberries!

 I’ve  been waiting for the DH to take some glamor shots of the finished Pub Quilt, but with everything else going on I suspect that’s not going to happen soon.  So I took a couple of plain photos...

Heres's my side

I did want to note that I did straight grain binding but now I've done it I prefer bias; also, I did 2.25" binding and I think I prefer 2". 

I’m very pleased with myself. I’m still trying to figure out when I started it; it was between  28 and 30 years ago. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been playing since then.

And here's his side

Specifically, these are the other projects:

• I’ve been spinning paper, with a goal to knit something from it. Below is a knitted sample, using silk singles as a  binder. The yarn is between light fingering and lace weight from 1/4” strips of sewing pattern tissue paper.  1/2" strips make a thinker yarn. I'm using some roughly spun silk I got from someone's destash as the binder on the yarn for the knitting project... (In case I forget, I'm adding twist to the silk with a 4 count out and a 4 count in, and plied it with an 8 count out and 2 count in. 

• 

  Knitted paper yarn!!!

  I’ve been spinning a blue stashed batt with a woolen draw, to get ready for the next project. The singles are ready to be plied.
• I carded the green fiber from 2020 CNCH some random silk bits, and some zwartbles together, and will spin it into a 2 ply woolen yarn. There's a competition for the yarns, which is why I'm practicing with the batt.
• I spun some cotton but need to work more on this.
• I’ve been weaving some of the samples from Janet Dawson’s class but am not ready to share. There are some fun and some overly fussy samples.
• I cataloged my sewing fabric and patterns with an eye towards engaging a sewing tutor; I put together a list of goals.
• I took a class in ruler quilting at PIQF, made a super ugly runner which needs to be bound.
• I have a mosaic class in Andemento coming up in which we won't be doing any mosaic, but really just drawing pieces and grout line.
• I enrolled in a Lino block carving class and got to order art supplies!!!! Hurray for art supplies! Sadly it’s nearly impossible to get red ink right now.
• And yesterday I dyed the yarns for the next run of ikat scarves. It was an utter disappointment; I'll detail that later!

Now I need to think about how to structure my life so I can get all this shit done.

New Pool Toy

Meanwhile, construction continues on the laundry room that will morph into a dye studio, and I'm taking piano lessons. We had a huge rain storm in which my favorite oak fell into the pool, and we had several new leaks. Good thing we have contractors working on drywall right now anyways.

And last but not least, the cape gooseberry crop came in just in time for me to candy these adorable tiny fruits for DH's birthday. We had these for the first time at a rural hotel in England, as part of a dessert tray, the year we got married. So I guess 27 years later is the magic year to get things done. 

LOTS of cool things going on...

It's been a while since I posted last and a lot is going on but with very little to show for it.

First and foremost is that darned quilt. Yes, I am obsessed with it to the point where I'm not really working on much of anything else, which is a shame. The good news is that I am nearly done with it and will have it on the bed by the end of October, hopefully sooner for DH's birthday. I've been spending afternoons on the deck in the shade quilting on it with the cats, who are much better at staying off it outside than inside...

Boulder Chautauqua, view of the Flatirons.

The other big news is I travelled to Boulder for SOAR (a small retreat devoted to spinning). It was at the Colorado Chautauqua, so I got to learn about that movement, which was super interesting. More importantly, I got to go somewhere new and interesting and take classes with some of Spinning's luminaries! I learned to spin paper and to make tweed yarns with Judith MacKenzie, practiced long draw with Maggie Casey, and got attention on my bad-boyfriend charkha from Kate Larson; then, a two day class in spinning silk for cardweaving from John Mularkey!!! I have Plans to practice what I learned... just as soon as the quilt it done...  so expect some more posts on projects from that event in the next couple of months.

On the project side,

• I signed up for and warped the loom for Janet Dawson's class, Overshot Departures. I've woven one overshot motif to check the threading and nothing more yet.

SQUEE!!! They're so cute!

• I finished two cute little hand towels for the powder room; DH asked "am I supposed to use them or just look at them?" I told him either was fine but that they require ironing to look their best, 'nuff said. Two more towels are draped over the loom waiting hemming.
• Fiber is here for the rug, rug is designed. 
• I promised my study group I'd show them how to wrap for ikat... so I put the last set of random ikat scarves on the warping board and demo'ed. Then realized that I needed to have the warping board free for a guild demo and so I tied the rest of it in a hurry! I have the dye but haven't dyed it yet.
• I finished spinning the dark blue singles that I've been working on for the last year or so; some is plied.
• Construction started on the laundry room/dye studio, which is not something I'm personally working on but it's an exciting prospect.

Does it feel like there's a lot of projects that are languishing? There are! It's that darned quilt! Every time I think of another project, I am pulled back to it. Am I obsessed because I need a new quilt on the bed? Excited to have a new quilt? Or just tired of thinking about it? Maybe the trail of cotton lint that will follow it until it's bound haunts me? I feels so close yet so far away... Meanwhile, I'm carefully dancing around an overuse wrist injury, and thinking about spinning cotton on my newly tuned little bad-boyfriend book charkha.

The Little Bad-Boyfriend Book Charkha spinning cotton.

Life is looking livelier!

Probably the most exciting news is that I just completed the two week waiting period after the 2nd Pfizer vaccine! Now I feel more comfortable being out and about, so will start catching up on doctors appointments, hair cuts, etc; we've booked dinner at a restaurant1 I got some seriously swollen lymph glands (yay! my body is making antibodies!) but things are starting to calm down and getting back to normal.

In no particular order, here's the rest of what's going on.

I finished and delivered the bootlaces to my beloved brother. I think he liked them. Here's some technical notes on the aglets: 

• Sew 1/2 inch or so into a tube with sewing thread
• With doubled 10/2 and a big honking knot, pull needle up towards tip of lace; whip stitch the end 3-4 times, take yarn down through the middle then back up again.
• Trim fuzz from tip, then thread needle through the shrink tubing; use the needle for tension, stroke the tubing onto the band until you're just past the whipstitching. Trim off the whipstitching.

Ready for basting

I've also finished the Pub quilt top (and basted it)!!! This is big news, having been in process for the last 27 or so years. 

I completed the knitting on the little summer jacket; it needs some finishing work, which has been languishing while I got the quilt top ready. I don't think this will ever be an attractive garment so I'm going to let it be what it is. Meanwhile, I dragged the knitted skirt out of hiding and have decided to re-start it as TV knitting.

I made some dal makhani from this recipe. DH think the clove is bit heavy in it; I think the clove and the cardamom amplify each other. It mellowed out after a couple of days and is now in the freezer. 

Puttering in the Studio

What's his name is quarantined for a few days after attending live business meetings... So I've PLENTY of time to putter around the studio. Here's what I've been working on.

• I am still knitting away on the Double Your Pleasure cowl. Someday when it's done I'll have a photo to share.

• 

  Wanna be towels
  

  The towels are on the Gilmore loom... I'm debating how much they're going to shrink up off the loom so I can figure out how long to weave them; There really isn't any excuse not to sample. I am thinking of weaving the first one 36" then pulling it off and finishing it just to see what happens. This one has a single color weft but the other two I'll play with multiple weft colors.  I'm also designing a 2nd run of towels to go on to the Baby Mac using some variegated 8/2 cotton I hand dyed a few years ago.

• 

  1/2 of a quilted tote bag

  I recently purchased a premium Craftsy subscription, with access to tons of classes for all kinds of crafts, gardening, cooking etc. I'm so tempted to play with frosting cakes! Instead, I'm working on a few new techniques/projects. I watched The Scrappy Market Tote with Christina Cameli for "intuitive" piecing techniques, and quilting with some new free motion techniques from The Secrets of Free-Motion Quilting  (also with Christina Cameli).  Sadly I forgot to push the purchase button on some strapping for the handles so will not finish the bag until next week.  I used my new piecing foot, the Bernina Quilt Stitch Regulator, and the ruler work foot with my new rulers. The QSR is surprisingly easy to use, the ruler work is surprising hard and needs more practice.

  

  What was I thinking?
  

• Next up, The Machine Embroidered Quilt with Eileen Roche, if I can figure out where Craftsy hid the embroidery files...

I've also been spending some time cleaning and rearranging the studio and found a box of fabric. It looks carefully curated, as if I were going to start a new project with it's contents. I have no idea what I was planning.

There's nothing new on the food front. Honestly it's not very interesting to cook for one. I did make a lovely brocolli salad with a honey mustard dressing, and some green chili stew, leaving some on the porch for the DH as if he was a feral cat or something. Yesterday, election day,  I was tempted to make an almond cake per Alice Waters but remembered that comfort food only comforts me while I'm eating it (so not very long) but exercise seems to put my brain at ease for much longer. I did stress nibble my way through the kitchen but also got out for a late afternoon walk which was quite soothing.