Finish Line

Dew Drops - done
 

Color Affection - done

Catkin - 25%

Notes From the Field

Finished Color Affection Sunday. Still knitting DewDrops, it is due tomorrow before midnight and I am determined to finish. There is a good 8-10 hours of knitting until the end, though, so I have to get back to it.

I have knit & spun so much this month, I can hardly believe it. I will be very happy for August which is a break month for Harry Potter knitting club. All I "have" to knit is a sweater for Camp Loopy; it should be a breeze after knitting parts of 3 shawls, a washcloth, several blanket squares and spinning 5 skeins of wool this month.

Back to Regularly Scheduled Knitting

Now that the Tour is over for another year, it is time to make some serious progress on the knitting.  I have two shawls to finish in 10 days and I'm not very sanguine about the second one.  The first is on the last 2 inches (of 400 stitches per row), but it is just garter stitch and moves quickly. 

OK back to work.

Day 22: The Last Bloom

One more skein for the Tour! It was a great spinning day today; we had a surprise downpour here in Southern California & I took my spinning wheel onto the porch to enjoy it. Then I did the plying a few hours later to let the yarn rest and it went well. I really love the cheerful colors.

I also spent a few minutes trying to spin cotton on my Majacraft; it was a little tricky to get started but I was making solid yarn after a while.  It is not relaxing yet but will get easier.  I certainly have enough sliver to practice on.

In other news, knit a few rows on my Dewdrops shawl. 

Race Rewind: Day 10

The brown wensleydale / cotswold fiber I spun at the beginning of the tour.

Day 21: An Effort Was Made

Yesterday I did manage to sit down and spin one puff of fiber which took about 40 minutes. Not a shocking amount of progress, but still progress.  I have 4 puffs left to spin, need a day to ply, and there only 3 race days left. I had better get moving!

Day 19: Short & Sweet

I found a 2 oz puff of fiber to finish out the Tour spinning days (only 5 left!)

2/7 th of 2 oz spun while watching Treasure Island with Eddie Izzard. It is very good. Part two tomorrow. Now, bedtime.

Day 18: I ApPlied Myself

Two Navajo plied skeins of Rainbow Trout.

Le Tour

The Tour de Fleece started last week & I have been able to spin each day so far.  It is amazing that I can go from "no spinning, no time for it" to finding an hour a day and suddenly I am spinning for longer than that. The time just appears!

Day 1 6/29 - Ply the red / blue singles
Day 2 6/30 - Ply the red / blue singles (471 yd)(4 oz)
Day 3 7/1 - Spin brown Wensleydale / Cotswold cross 40 min
Day 4 7/2 - Spin brown W/C 80 min
Day 5 7/3 - Spin brown W/C 60 min
Day 6 7/4 - Spin brown W/C 60 min
Day 7 7/5 - Spin brown W/C 15 min (4 oz)
Day 7 7/5 - Spin Rainbow Trout merino / tencel 45 min
Day 8 7/6 - Spin Rainbow Trout merino / tencel 105 min

Storm Warning

My little shawl made it in under the wire yesterday for Camp Loopy. 

This was a super fiddly pattern, although clearly written. My downfall was taking this project (with beads, lace AND cables concurrently) to events that I was trying to watch, like baseball games. 

I LOVE it.

The Start of the Tour

... is hard when you don't plan.

Spent 2 hours & 3 minutes plying almost 4 oz of red merino / silk.  The bobbins did not come out evenly, so in the morning I will be unwinding bobbin 2 and then plying the balance.

But now, bedtime.

Rest Day

Lots of long days (staying up too late) and early mornings (trying to be at work on time) plus a walk up Mt Rubidoux this morning have taken their toll and I am taking it easy.  A nice nap, checking the Ravelry boards, staring at the cockatiels, this is all I have energy for.  I need to go to the store & laundromat but can't be bothered to put pants on.

Doing lots of thinking about what I should spin for the Tour de Fleece but have not made any decisions yet; just today I thought it would be fun to spin a lot of white wool to set aside for natural dyeing.

City Mouse

Today was a "spin in" day at David's house in Lake Balboa. It is almost a 2 hour drive but well worth it.  I got to see old friends, meet new folks, and make a bucketload of progress on my Color Affection shawl.

Pole Position

So, I got up at 2:30 am, paid the rent & the electric bill, played some WoW, walked the dog, made lunch, worked all day, checked email, played some WoW, walked the dog, now it is 11 pm and I am  still wide awake. Question 1, when did I become a semi responsible adult? Observation 2, this is not actually a good sign.

In other news, I bought red nail polish and I love it!

That's Wierd...

Here I am, just sitting, being happy.

It's  very disconcerting.

Camp Loopy

I cast on yesterday for my Camp Loopy project 1 - "Storm Warning" by Liz Corke.  It is going well, although I also discovered the show "Mad Men" yesterday and did rather more watching than knitting.  But there have been no major mistakes or need to rip back and start over.

The yarn is a blue faced leicester blend.  It is one of my favorite breeds but a bit scratchier than the merinos & mink I have been working with lately.  I still love it beyond all reason.

May: I Knit

Yarn Crawl 2013

Who knew there were so many yarn stores out here? I think the total Crawl was 32 shops. That is awesome! Of course, not the one by my house.

(more later, crabby tonight = sassy post, not fun)

Warm Neck Report

The cowl is complete!

Pattern is A Noble Cowl. I made it quite small, but it does the job in keeping my neck toasty warm on cool mornings.

Stitch & Pitch

I made it out to see the San Bernardino 66ers!