I took the past week off work, and enjoyed just having some unstructured time around the homestead to read, garden, and play with wool (not necessarily in that order).
No real agenda or specific goals. Just being outside, hangin’ with the critters, and reveling in the arrival of summer.
I did, however, get a few things done-
Wool washing- that’s the last of this year’s clip (left to right: Daphne, Fiona, Dottie). All washed and sweet-smelling!
Time behind the wheel- (the Spindle Cycle wheel- focus on Dottie wool with the new larger whorl)
Finishing up my experimental stranded vest-
The vest just came together yesterday. Put some binding along the shoulder seams and back neck for structure, and finished the reverse stockinette edgings. And it’s a good fit! Not bad for a project that started out as a cowl 🙂
A nice little side-benefit I discovered to doing a steek on the full length of an object is that by changing colors at the site that you plan to cut, you can avoid having millions of loose yarns to weave in at the end! Nice, eh? I’m pretty pleased with how that whole thing worked out. I might even make another one soon, this time on purpose, with steek stitches built in to the plan from the start.
And just today I got around to doing some dyeing. I had hopes of maybe doing an indigo vat this week, but hadn’t planned ahead, and didn’t have all the necessary materials. So i dove into the stash and found a few old packets of Gaywool dyes in various shades of green to play with
In the hoophouse, things are starting to come along- picked my first little cukes yesterday, seeing some baby ‘maters coming on, but it feels like we’re a little behind compared with the last couple years.
The borage and calendulas are going nuts, tho- so the bees are happy. And I expect that if the bees are happy, then I will be happy eventually. I just need to be patient. And so far, everything looks really healthy- not seeing any indications of that fungus that plagued me last summer, knock on wood.
And my favorite roses are blooming
St. Cecilia and Emma Hamilton are making a strong showing, but Jude the Obscure suffered a lot of die-back this winter. Hoping he’ll recover as the season progresses. Keep a good thought!
As always, SO impressed with your knitting skills and your spinning productivity!
thanks Michelle. i feel like I’ve been slipping a bit on the productivity lately. But I’ve got so much handspun stashed. it’s a really good thing that wool doesn’t go bad!