No Pictures for Me a/k/a Bye Bye Camera

I was taking pictures of some of my spinning, fiber, and yarn to add to my Ravelry queue when the camera made a weird click-click-click noise.  The screen told me to turn the power off and then on again.  The same noise happened.  I managed to download the pictures I had taken from the memory card to my computer.  The problem appears to be that the shutter is partially closed so the camera won't take any pictures.

I guess I'll be investigating new cameras this weekend.  When I think about it, my old one lasted for almost 10 years, so we definitely got our money's worth out of it.

There's been quite a bit of spinning happening.  As of Tuesday, I have 7.5 of the 10 ounces of Shetland spun, with 2.5 ounces left to go.  I decided to take a break and spin something else.  I chose some of my CJ Kopec stash.  The fiber is 4 ounces of teal and purple, called "Celestial Secrets".  I decided to spin this a bit thicker, with the resulting 2 ply giving me 214 yards. 

Wednesday evening found me at a friend's spin in.  The plying was done there.  Since there was still time before we went home, I started some Merino/Bamboo from Whorling Tides.  This wants to be super fine. I love how the purple/blue blend looks.

My sweater has come back into the knitting rotation for a bit.  I did three rows last night on the neck and think it might be time to do the trim.  It needs to be transferred to a longer needle so I can try it on.  Cross your fingers I can finish it this coming week.  There's also some shawls, mittens, and socks I plan to knit on as well.  

Snuggle Progress...Spinning Some Shetland Fiber

Snuggle number 10 was finished yesterday.  I plan to try to make a couple more, medium or large sized, in the coming week.  That will finish the KAL for me.  I'll make more during the year since it's an on-going project. 

Last week I had time to start spinning the moorit colored Shetland I had bought back in December.  There's 10 ounces total of this color.  I decided to divide it into 2.5 ounce bumps, spin each bump on a separate bobbin, and then ply numbers 1 and 3 together, then numbers 2 and 4 together.  This will spread any shading differences throughout the fiber as well as any spinning inconsistencies I might have.  It's being spun in a modified long draw mostly, which makes the spinning much faster. The yarn will be quite puffy and squishy with all the air trapped in it as well with this method.  The finished yarn should be a light fingering when plied.

I finished the first bobbin today at Happy Hands.  Bobbin number 2 is well on it's way to being done as well.  It was spun on during the 2 hour episode of Downton Abbey tonight.  I really love this show and am looking forward to next week's airing. 

I'm not planning to go to bed yet, so I think I'll watch an new episode of one of my favorite podcasts and spin a bit more.  The bobbin might even be finished tonight.

More Snuggles and Spinning Progress

It feel good to be able to use a crochet hook without hand pain.  After breaking the wrist and developing tendinitis in the hand a few years ago, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to ever enjoy this fiber craft again.  So far, six Snuggles have flown off my hook.  Here's a pic of these six. :

Number 7 is almost finished.  Numbers 8, 9, and 10 are in line to be done as well.    Here's a couple pics of the yarns for those four.: 

I've been spending all my time working on these or spinning so my sweater and sock knitting hasn't been touched.

Speaking of spinning, I finished plying the eight ounces of Rambouillet in "Gothic Roses".  The total yardage is 1250.  It's a personal best for me. :)

Now, I've started spinning the pretty moorit colored Shetland I got last December from Groton Family Farm in CT.  There's 10 ounces of this stuff, and it spins like butter.

Currents #2

I've been seeing a repeat of this meme on a few friends' blogs so I'm doing it again.

LISTENING - to Pat in the kitchen talking to the cat

EATING - Quakes Rice Snacks 'Vanilla Creme Brulee' flavor

DRINKING -  Caffeine Free Diet Coke

WEARING - nightgown.  I'm ready for bed

READING - a library book I just picked up today

WEATHER -  dark and chilly.  It's almost 2 a.m.

KNITTING  -  nothing today.  I'm crocheting Snuggles for animals

WANTING - to finish plying some singles so I can start a new fiber

NEEDING - to do laundry tomorrow and pick up the house a bit

ENJOYING- the warm days we have been having lately

LOOKING FORWARD - to my fiber and yarn groups next week.

WONDERING - what to fix for lunch tomorrow for Pat.

A Few Finished Projects, Spinning With Pals

The weather has been pretty darn nice lately.  Old Man Winter has taken pity on us and kept most of the cold and snow away from our area.  Saturday found me driving to RI Handspun for the monthly spin in.  I spent half my time there knitting on my Thin Ice Shawl.  I only had 2 rows until bind off, which I did when I got home.  Here's a couple pictures of it blocking on my kitchen island. If you look closely, you can see Pooh, on the right side in the second picture.  His eyes are glowing from the flash.  lol

I've also been busy crocheting some Snuggle blankets for the Snuggles Project.  Sadie, of the Yarnivore Podcast, is hosting a two month knit, crochet, sew - a-long for January and February to help the animals.  So far I've finished two and started the third one tonight.  I'm hoping to get a few more done for February.  Here's a picture of one of them.

February will also see the beginning of a mitten KAL which I've signed up for.  It's two colors but it might just be the cuff in one color and the mitten in an another.  Or, it could be stranded work.  I'm sort of hoping for the latter, since I really want to do some of that type of knitting this year.

I'm still spinning my Gothic Roses fiber on my Minstrel.  I think I need to re-vamp my stash down method to incorporate the 4 ounces per month minimum rule again for this year.  I'm having trouble getting the 8 ounces spun this time. 

Pooh is adapting quite well to not having Hanna around. He is starting to want more cuddles from me since she isn't here for nap time. 

That's it for today.  I'm going back to my hook and try to get most of Snuggle number 3 done tonight.

A Meme ~ Currents

I saw this on my friend Donna's blog and decided to play along. 


listening - my dog Pooh "calling" for my other dog Hanna who went to Rainbow Bridge today

eating - yogurt and a banana earlier.  nothing right now

drinking - coffee with sugar free hot chocolate this morning.  Diet Coke now

wearing - black sweatpants and my Alaska t-shirt and fuzzy leopard slippers

reading - a historical romance novel

weather - sunny and in the 50's

knitting - Thin Ice Shawl.  Snuggles for the animals. I've become a semi-monogamous knitter right now.

wanting - my yarn and fiber I dyed a couple days ago to finish drying.  It's almost there.

needing - to track my food for today

enjoying - "Downton Abbey" on PBS

looking forward to - my knitting guild retreat in March

wondering - what I should take for the spin in at Sue's on Saturday

Progress Can Be Very Slow Sometimes...Working Down Stashes

There hasn't been much progress in my spinning or knitting lately.  The sweater has been put aside so I can work on my Thin Ice Shawl.  I'm on row 212 of 270.  They do get longer as you go, but I'm enjoying the knit.  I started the second skein around row 200 and I should have more than enough to finish it since I wound the skeins to approximately 420 yards each.  The pattern calls for 800 yards.

I finished spinning the first 4 ounce braid of the Rambouillet fiber and am ready to start the second one.  It's going to be a simple 2-ply when finished.

There was a tentative plan to go to the weaving studio this coming Thursday or Friday, but I don't think it will happen.  Pat may need my car on Thursday, and there's a snow storm coming in for Friday.  So, the looms sit and wait a bit longer. :(

I devised a plan for tracking/controlling my stashes this year.  For every ounce of fiber that comes into the house, I must spin 3 ounces up.  For every skein of yarn that comes into the house, I must use 2 skeins of yarn.  The use can be knit, crochet, or weave.

I went to my knitting guild last Thursday evening and had a good time.  I taught the Tunisian Twisted Edging while a friend taught  the Magic Loop method.  Friday found me driving down to Eneri Knits for the monthly Knit & Tell she does there.  I instituted my stash rule mentioned above. I'm counting the 2 skeins of the shawl yarn as being used so I could buy 1 skein.  I came home with a beautiful peachy pink skein of 100% Cashmere and a pattern to knit with it. This will be my next project after I finish Thin Ice, some Snuggles for the animals, Dragonfly Wings Shawl, and cast on a pair of socks for travel purposes. 

I've been watching some movies I picked up from the library.  The latest was the three seasons of "Ballykissangel".  I really loved the entire series and wish there was more to watch.  It was set in Ireland and there were several gorgeous sweaters, vests, and other knit items.

Well, it's time to pick up my shawl and try to get another 2 rows in tonight.

Goals & Intentions for 2012...Spin/Knit Update

Firstly, Happy New Year to one and all.  I hope it's going to be a good year for everyone.

Over the last few years I've not done resolutions.  I do intentions or goals.  Here's my list geared toward 2012:

1. Continue on my "get healthier" path.  The weight is slowly coming down and I'm avoiding the back surgery so far.

2. Work on a walking regime.  Pat needs to set up my treadmill so I can use it in the basement.

3. Spin/Knit down at least one bin of each in my stash.

4. Finish knitting my old UFO/WIP sweater from 2009, which I'm making with my handspun. 

5. Finish spinning the yarn for my second handspun sweater and knit it.

6. Use my handspun either in knitting, crochet, felting, or weaving instead of just looking at it.

7. Use my spindles instead of letting them decorate the shelf in the hutch of my desk.

8. Use both my looms which includes investing the time in proper lessons.

Knitting:  As I said last time, I finished my Multnomah Shawl.  Here's a picture of it blocking on my bed:

Here's a picture of the above mentioned sweater in progress.  I jokingly call this my never ending sweater.  It was finished in 2009 except for the button band and was too small and short.  After ripping out the yoke, it sat in time out for about a year.  Time was spent adding about 3 inches to the body, gussets in the arm section and to the sleeves.  Currently, I'm re-knitting the yoke.  The button band is being deleted in favor of a simple trim and frog clips instead. I only have the last decrease section of the yoke (about 20 rows) and the edging left to do.

Last week I won a copy of "Thin Ice" from Diane of the Knitabulls Podcast.  I decided to dye the yarn for this as well as a couple other projects.  New Year's Day found me in my dye room downstairs.  Here's a picture of four skeins of yarn.  The natural one is for another shawl called "My Wish".  I previously dyed a gray variegated to alternate with the natural.  The pink/lilac is for a pair of socks.  The two skeins of blue/silver/white skeins are for Thin Ice.  It looks sort of greenish blue but it's really a very light blue.  The yarn took a long time to dry so casting on of the blue shawl is happening tonight.

 Spinning:  The Cornflower blue fiber is finished and I started a braid of pink/magenta/purple/greenish gray Rambouillet fiber I had dyed last year.  There's 8 ounces of it so it should make a nice size project.

Christmas, Knitting, and Spinning

It was the usual quiet, low key Christmas here at my house.  The reindeer decorated the front yard again and the big tree was in the window.  This year found white and red velvet ribbons with green and red shatterproof ornaments decorating my tree. The topper was just one each of the two ribbons made into a couple of bows.  No kitty attacks or sitting in the tree events happened, so I think the "kids" are ready for me to use my regular ornaments next year.  They are all glass, crystal, or ceramic. 

The meal was simple:  Baked Ziti, Roast Pork, mashed potatoes, veggies, garlic bread sticks, apple pie and coffee. 

Santa, (a/k/a Pat) gave me some nice gifts too.  He had told me to order a set of the Deluxe Blocking Wires from Inspinknity a few weeks ago.  I'm planning to try them out today or tomorrow to block my latest knit shawl.  He also gave me money for my weaving lessons, and toward my knit guild's retreat in 2012.  I gave him a new computer desk.  :)

Knitting:  Multnomah is finished.  I ran out of my handspun, but had just enough of a yarn I had dyed to finish the shawl.  I did do extra repeats to finish up all the yarn and make the shawl a bit bigger.  No pics yet.  It's the blocking project I mentioned above.  The picture below is the handspun I used.

Now, I'm back to the yoke of my never ending sweater a/k/a Sort of a "Ditto".  I currently have no socks on the needles.  This will be remedied Sunday when I cast on for the new Through The Loops Mystery Sock KAL.

 Spinning:  I'm into the last two ounces of eight of "Cornflower" which is a Fibers4Ewe blend I purchased at the Fiber Festival of New England in November.  I've been having pain issues with my feet so haven't spun for long spurts this month.  This is resulting in less ounces getting finished. 

I'm including a picture of the Baby Surprise Sweater set I made for my newest little cousin.  I decided to send it before he couldn't fit it. The hat and booties are super stretchy too.I made it in the 6 month size so he should be o.k. for a while.  He's just 3 months old now.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, peaceful holiday today.  Mine was quiet as usual.  I don't know why, but, I don't feel like eating after I do all the food prep and cooking.  My dear husband, Pat, helped with it all today so it much easier.  Plus, I made less items and smaller quantities of some things.  There still was plenty of left overs from 3 people and an 11.5 pound turkey.

In my knitting progress, I've managed to finish my second  Breaking Hearts sock, and am currently working on my languishing, woefully deserted Ditto sweater. I've made so many modifications to this pattern, it's very loosely based on the original pattern now.

In my spinning progress, I've finished the FatCatKnits Dead of Night fiber. 

A couple weeks ago found me at Eneri Knits Friday knit group.  I came home with 2 braids of Frabjous Fibers in Chromatophia Red.  This fiber is so far from my usual color choices but it spoke to me.  I plan to spin it using the fractal method.

I've managed to spin about 3 of 4 ounces of some lovely Polwarth fiber from Cloudlover.  It's for the Knit Girllls SAL/KAL.  Originally, I wanted a fingering weight single, but, the yarn told me otherwise.  It chose to be a lace weight single which means I will be Navajo plying it to maintain the colors.  Here's a picture of the fiber.  I had already pulled a piece off before I remembered to take the picture.  It's called "Haunted Vineyard" and the colors are perfect for that name.

I'm going to spin a bit when I finish writing this. I hope to ply it this weekend. Knitting starts December 1.

Busy, Busy, Busy; Visiting the Fiber Festival of New England

It's been a busy month of knitting, spinning, and other stuff.  My needles have been clicking away.  My "Mystic Midsummer Wreath Shawl" was finished at the beginning of October.  Here it is blocking.

One of the podcasts I enjoy watching is Knitabulls.  Diane had a KAL for the "Dancing Batty Shawl" for October.

I've also been knitting on a pair of "Breaking Hearts" socks.  The first sock is finished and the second is ready for it's heel flap. 

My Minstrel wheel has been busy with the CJ Kopec "Lily Pond" fiber.  I finished all 8 ounces the other night as a Navajo ply.  I didn't figure out the yardage yet.  Last night found me starting some FatCatKnits in a lovely Mohair/Wool/Nylon in the "Dead of Night" color.  

Last Saturday and Sunday was spent with some of my favorite fiber pals at the Second Annual Fiber Festival of New England.  I missed the first one last year due to medical issues so I was really looking forward to this one.  There was a stop at WEBS and their bead store on the way. 

We chose to make it into a girl's weekend and stayed at the Sheraton in Springfield, MA Saturday night. 

Here's a picture of all my fiber goodies except for the two fleece I brought to Fibers4Ewe booth for processing. 

Tuesday found me dropping off 24 pounds of mostly washed fleece/fiber at Fibers4Ewe for processing.  I was going to wait and bring half of it up when my other two fleece were ready for pick up, but decided to just get it up there now instead.

Whirring Bobbins, Flying Needles, Fiber Prizes

It's been a few weeks since I posted.  My wheels have been busy, as have my needles. I finished the August and September Stash Buster fibers as well as a couple others.  My latest one was from Fibernymph Dye Works on Etsy.  The BFL/Silk blend spun and plied like butter. It arrived at my house on the last Thursday of September and just begged to be spun immediately.  Usually I try to put the new stuff away and work with some of the older stash stuff first.  Not this time.  Since that Saturday was the monthly spin in at my friend Sue's shop, that's the fiber I took with me.  The entire braid was spun and plied by late Saturday night.  I just couldn't wait to see how the yarn came out.  I forgot to take a picture of the braid before starting it, but here is a picture of the last part and the yarn before it's bath. 

 

The Mystic Midsummer Wreath Shawl has had some issues.  It was definitely knitter error, not pattern.  I did a decrease stitch wrong over and over through sixty rows of lace. I used an extra stitch every time.  This made me short several stitches for the last section.  Obviously, this resulted in a major tinking event.  Of course, I hadn't bothered to put a lifeline in which would have made ripping back sooooo much easier.  The shawl has survived, and all sixty plus rows are now back in place.  I'm two rows away from starting the last part before the edging.  My goal is to finish it before October 13th so I can bring it to my knitting guild meeting.

In August, I took a break after casting on the above mentioned shawl to participate in a sock mystery KAL, hosted by Jen Hansen who is "Knitting Like Crazy" on Ravelry.  I want to thank podcaster Sarah of "Rainlover Knits" for introducing me Jen's patterns. The sock pattern was a fun knit.  I hadn't planned to enter for the contest part of it since I'm a slow poke knitter.  You only had to have one sock done by the end date of September 2.  Since I had finished the first sock, I took a picture, and posted it.  I have finished the second sock since. They are knit from some Merino/Silk yarn I dyed last year.

 

To my surprise I won one of the prizes!  And what a terrific prize it is ~ a project bag, pattern and skein of Socks That Rock yarn!  The yarn is a Rare Gems skein and I don't know the colorway, but I love it.

Now, October is here with it's own KALs.  I want to knit a shawl called "Dancing Batty", a pair of Halloween socks in a skein of my DkKnits yarn "Salem Spirits" and weave a scarf to match the socks with the second skein of that yarn.  I don't know if I'll get the last item done. This is a picture of the socks and scarf yarn. 

Are We Craft People or Gardeners An Unknown Threat?

Recently, I've read a couple articles that singles out crafters, especially knitters, makers of cupcakes, people who sew, and gardeners.  The first one was regarding "strong women" and tried to say if you are a crafter or love baking or creating items, you are not strong.  I don't know about you, but I know some pretty strong people who do these things.  I'm not just talking physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.

Tonight's article was regarding a teacher who has a garden, worm bins, and keeps bees in Memphis, TN.  He is teaching a handful of his students about these things.  Here's the link to the article.  There's a link to pictures of his property within the article. This man is being fined and ordered to dismantle his garden, and other items because a few neighbors complained, and consider him a "public nuisance". 

 When I was a kid, we always has a big garden.  The neighbors all had them as well.  My grandmother and mom canned a lot.  Sadly, I didn't have an interest then and never learned.  We also had lots of fruit trees and a huge grapevine.  The grapes were made into wine when my grandfather was alive.  Dad wasn't into making it.  I hate to think I would be "breaking the law" if I still had the garden, trees, and vines.

What is wrong with this world when creating and growing things you love and enjoy doing is punishable by law and open to ridicule?  We live in a sad society where plastic wrap, commercially made items takes precedence over natural, fresh home grown or items created by hand.  By attempting to force people to give up these things, we are losing so much.

As for me, I'll continue to knit, crochet, spin, weave, make stained glass, cook, and even grow some veggies in pots in my yard for as long as I can.  Shame on the people who don't like it.

A New Fiber Tool & Project Progress

My dear husband is right.  Craigslist can be a dangerous, addictive site.  He has been perusing the site often and found several items, of interest to him, which he thinks were good deals.  I, too, enjoy checking the site out.  Arts and Crafts is my favorite category, of course. 

Last month, I saw a spinning wheel, but hesitated to contact the seller.  I lost out on the opportunity of buying it.  Pat told me not to hesitate next time if I see something I liked. 

This past Sunday found me glancing at the listings for looms and wheels.  There was one ad in particular that caught my eye.  We contacted the seller and the item was still available.  So, we hopped in the car, and drove to Milton, MA.

I'm now the happy owner of a Toika Leena table loom with stand.  It's 4 harness, has string heddles, is intact, and just needed to be cleaned up.  Since the harnesses were not properly attached, I need to do a bit of research to set it up correctly. 


My Mystic Midsummer Wreath Shawl has seen a bit of love in between my Mystery Sock by Jen Hansen.  I had to re-start the sock after I tried on the leg portion.  It would have been too tight to fit over my heel/instep.  Now, I'm knitting the larger size and it fits well after trying this one on.

The August Project Stash Buster fiber is spinning along.  I've got about 2 ounces left to spin and can then start the plying.  This coming Saturday is the monthly spin in at RI Handspun, and I plan to work on that while there.  If I have time, I want to spin some of my natural colored fiber before starting the September fiber.

With a tropical storm or hurricane arriving in my area on Sunday, I need to finish clearing the yard and batten down the hatches, so I will say good bye for now.  If you are in the line of the storm, please stay safe. If you are told to evacuate, please do so.  It's not worth losing a life to stay in your home if it's too dangerous.  Hugs and prayers for everyone's safekeeping.

A Busy Fiber Filled Month

I finally took pictures of the rest of my knitting and spinning items which were part of The Knit Girllls 5K Stash Dash 2011.  Besides the Evenstar Shawl, the re-constructed Dragon Scale Shawl, and Flutter-By Socks, I knit a sweater for my soon to arrive little cousin.  I'll talk more about that after I send it to his mommy and he's born.  I will say it came out cute.  I did send a picture of the yarn and buttons to my cousin to make sure she liked them, so I can post that here.   I was concerned about the little bit of pink, but she was fine with it since the yarn is mostly gold, orange, and a bit of purple.  The lion buttons match perfectly. Everyone I asked said the yarn is fine for a boy.

The rest of my Stash Dash was spinning.  The previously mentioned "Carnival Glass", "Honey Cinnamon", "Lavander Vanilla" Alpaca, and DyakCraft a/k/a Grafton Fibers "May 2009" club batt all counted toward the yardage.Also spun up were 8 ounces each of Crown Mountain Corridale in "Ishkur" and "Mea Culpa" and "Jezebelle" from CJKopec.  My total yardage was 6287.5 !! 

All the spinning also counted toward my Spin Your Stash Equinox total.  My goal was to spin 5 pounds from Spring to Autumn Equinox.  I'm currently at 81.5 ounces and have 8 ounces in process on my Sonata which will be added soon. Four ounces of that counts for my August Project Stash Buster.  I need to get busy and get that spun since I only have 15 days left in the month.

Here's a mosaic of my Stash Dash items.  I've included a picture of the current August fiber as well since it was started during SD, even though I didn't count the yardage in the total.  I've got about a half bobbin full. 

My current knitting is another shawl.  I finally cast on and started my Mystic Midsummer Wreath Shawl by Anna Dalvi.  There is a skein of yarn waiting woefully on my desk with it's needles.  It's for a pair of socks from a Mystery Sock KAL.  Clue 3 will be out soon and I haven't even started yet.  I keep saying I'm starting but just haven't found the time.  Bad, bad, bad on my part.  Here's a picture of the yarn I'm using for the MMW Shawl.  It's the same yarn and color the designer used.  I just fell in love with it and decided to do the same one:

More Blocked Items

After Evenstar was finished, I decided to take advantage of my mats being  set up on the deck and blocked a couple more items.

My Dragon Scale Shawl was finished two years ago ~ sort of.  I had a major mishap with twenty rows of lace.  Those rows had to be frogged and re-knit twice to correct the problem.  I hated the shawl at that point, so I just did the six rows of garter stitch edging, bound off, and tossed it in a bag in my bedroom.  A couple months ago, I decided it wasn't fair to leave it like that.  I took it out, pulled out the edging, added two more repeats and re-knit the edging.  I'm much happier with it now and love it again. 

I had also used the same yarn to make a pair of socks to sort of match the dragon theme.  Shur'Tugal was a fun pattern to knit.  Here they are blocking.

Last Sunday was a beautiful day so we decided to take a ride.  We took the Lincoln.

Blocking My Evenstar Shawl

I'm doing a little happy dance over here.  I took advantage of a lovely warm day and blocked my finished Evenstar Shawl.  It was a bit of a challenge since I didn't have quite enough space on the eight 2 x 2 foot squares.  I need one more, but it worked out in the end.  I just blocked the two last spots after the rest was done.

Here's a picture of it while it was still pinned out on the deck.  The breeze was flipping the end mats up, so I had to weight them down a bit. 

Tonight is my knitting guild meeting and I'm planning to bring it for show and tell.  :)

Fair Fun, Tour de Fleece Spinning, Downpours!

Friday was a rainy day with random thunderstorms in the morning and afternoon.  I was a little worried since I was doing a spinning/fiber demo with Happy Hands at the annual North Stonington Fair in CT during the afternoon and evening.  My wishing for the weather to clear seemed to be working as I packed the car and headed out.  Sadly, I guess I didn't wish hard enough.  We had downpours off and on the whole time we were in the Sheep Barn.  One of the worst cloudbursts/downpours was when it was time to pack up and go home.  I said a quick good night, grabbed my wheel I had covered with a big black trash bag, and made a mad dash when there was a lull in the storm. It started to downpour and I was still soaked by the time I got the wheel in the back seat.  Driving home was a bit of a challenge, but the rain tapered off about half way home. 

Saturday was a beautiful, warm day and we had lots of people coming through the barn. I even got to be a judge with Sandi for the Lead Line competition. 

Here's a picture of the bobbin after Saturday's spinning.  It was empty on Friday when I got there.  I still have about half the braid to do.  If I had spun this my regular thickness, I probably would have finished the braid.  I also got a little spindling in but don't have a picture of that yet.  The skein of yarn is the first 4 ounce braid which was finished Thursday evening at home.  It's 424 yards of Navajo ply. I'm quite happy with my Tour de Fleece progress so far.

Evenstar has 3 repeats left and the grafting of the two edges and then will be finished. I can't wait to soak and block this. My next project is to try to finish the "sweater that never ends" a/k/a my version of Ditto. The poor sweater has been two years in the making. Although, if you read my blog, you already know it was actually almost finished and semi-frogged due to sizing issues.

Happy July 4th..... On Your Mark, Get Set, Spin!!

Tour de Fleece 2011 started this past Saturday, July 2.  It runs until Sunday, July 24th.  I'm participating but have a limited goal.  I joined 4 teams.  No trying to spin as much of a whole fleece as I can in 22 days this year.  Since I'm part of Corgi Hill Farm's team, I have to spin her fiber.  I had a hard time picking one from the stash, but the final choice was "Carnival Glass".  There's 8 ounces in my stash.  I'm not sure if I'll finish it all because it's coming out so fine.  The colors just pop out at you and the shine is gorgeous.  It's a Merino/Bamboo/Silk blend and spins like thinly poured melted butter.  ♥

Here's a picture of the 2 braids and three days of spinning.  I still have 1.45 ounces of braid one to spin. There was  little Wensleydale batt bite included with these and I plan to spin that on one of my spindles.  I need serious spindle practice time so I can improve that ability.

Both these fiber projects will be coming to North Stonington Fair in Connecticut with me this week. Happy Hands Fiber Arts is doing the fiber arts demo in the sheep barn on Thursday and Friday evening from 4:30 until 9p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m. If you are in the area stop by and say hi.

Evenstar is almost off the needles.  I have 50 of the 56 edging repeats done as of last night.  Oooo!  the anticipation of having that finished!  I can't wait to block it with my interlocking boards.  The plan is to lay it out on the deck on a sunny day and have it dry super fast.

Today was busy with doctor appointments for me.  The eye doctor one went well.  Although, I need glasses for reading and doing the fine stuff like knitting lace.  :(  Hey, as I told some online friends, at least it's not bifocals or even trifocals.  :)

The other appointment was meh.  I got my diabetes meds tweaked and found out I've been taking my iron supplement too early in the day.  It conflicts with my thyroid med.  This explains why my butt has been dragging lately.  I've had no energy and just want to sleep a lot.  Now I've adjusted the schedule, I'm hoping for an energy burst to happen in a couple days.

That's if for me for now.  Enjoy the rest of the week if you are on vacation.  Stay cool in the heat.