Author: denisemor

Today Dottie was very sweet and friendly as I got her back end tidied up 🙂 Here she is looking all cute and springy

But I was unsuccessful in talking Daphne and Fiona into giving up their heavy coats. They didn’t want to be anywhere near the shed today.

I sat out in the pasture a while, trying to talk them into it, but finally gave up and headed back to the garden. As I turned toward the shed I saw that they had worn a little curvy path through the pasture that I thought was kind of cool.

Anyway, while I’m waiting for the Daphne wool harvest, I’ve been processing some of her fleece from my stash for my new project- the Bea cardigan. I had spun a couple of bobbins while away at the Spindrifters retreat, and so I’ve got about 300 yards of two-ply ready to go, and this week I generated another batch.

I’m kind of in love with how soft and squishy it is, but it turns out I can’t use it for this project, as I misjudged the weight, and it’s about 1/3rd heavier than the first batch. So it’s back to the carder for me!

Daphne has a really interesting fleece. Different colors, different textures, always with the sun-bleached tips. I have tried separating the colors and processing them separately, but I think that the most pleasing effect results from blending it all together. A lovely melange.

With many yards left to spin, I have gone ahead and cast on.

It feels like it is going to be a very satisfying knit.

Will sign off with a picture of the seedlings coming on strong int he hoophouse-

Take care, folks-

Spring projects continue apace.

More seeds sown: zuchinni, green beans, cukes, melons, winter squash!

Little tomatoes are looking pretty robust!

And I’m kind of excited about some precocious little sunflower sprouts that I found in the hoophouse. Going to let them develop just a bit then transplant to a more suitable location.

Yesterday I got a start shearing Dottie-

and washed the first bits of Fiona and Daphne fleeces.

In Inkle loom news- finished one band

and got a start on another-

Spent a bit of time shopping around for a new knitting project, and I think I’ve settled on Bea, by Emma Marinescu.

But will be planing on making some modifications to refine the fit. I’m thinking that my new Daphne 2 ply might fit the bill, but will have to do some swatching to make sure.

So that will be fun. It’s always exciting to start a new project. I like the sampling/swatching stage.

Just keep knitting. Just keep knitting.

This time of year we get a little bit of everything, weather wise. This past week has held both summer-like temps and crazy thunderstorms. It makes me very thankful that the last two days have been mild and suitable for garden work, because there’s always a ton to do!

Seedlings are on heat mats and under lights in the hoophouse. Tomatoes have popped, but peppers are still incubating.

Yesterday I planted out beet, carrot, and parsnip seeds and started cabbages in six pack trays.

Today I spent some time trying to tidy up the hoophouse- addressing the accumulation of scum (pollen?) on the exterior.

It’s a messy business, and you can see clearly in the photo exactly how far I can reach up the sides without a ladder. I think that if I take a stepstool out there I can probably get a couple more feet before it curves away too far. So that will be phase 2.

Around the garden- daffodils are looking pretty and perky

And out in the pasture, the sheepy girls are as well-

Haven’t had a chance to do any more shearing yet, but hopefully soon.

And- wonder of wonders- I finally have gotten my Esther Candelaria blouse off the needles!

But don’t get too excited yet 😉 – I think I might have screwed up the split cuff on the last sleeve. Hard to tell right now, but the placement of the opening might be off. If it’s too obvious or annoying when worn, I might have to do a little re-knitting.

Even if that is the case, though, I need to start planing a new project. The dark Daphne yarn is kind of calling to me. Will have to take a look at some patterns and see if I can find a suitable candidate.

In the meantime, I’ve got another band going on the inkle loom. A combination of embroidery floss and pearl cotton warp, and silk weft.

Also just started looking into card weaving, and happened upon this cool technique called speed warping. Video link here for future reference (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjpiYF4DAbE)

Alrighty- I’m off to browse patterns and contemplate my yarn stash.

Take care, folks.

Last week I was down in Seabeck, WA at a retreat organized by my local spinning guild.

It was a lot of fun- and not as long a trip as I expected. Maybe it helped that the journey was broken up by a ferry ride (Edmonds to Kingston). Oh- and we also stopped on the way down at the Artful Ewe in Port Gamble. That’s always a treat!

The conference center was really cute and homey. I thought I’d taken a picture of my room in the Inn Annex, but can’t find it, so here is one ganked from their website. Mine didn’t have a desk, so there was a little more floorspace.

And here are a few pictures I took of the property- the inn from the front

The meeting house where we spun and hung out

view from the meeting house-

Cute little building along the pathway to the meeting house

I brought Moto the e-spinner, and gave him and his battery pack a pretty good workout over the course of three days, spinning a variety of things, but mostly Daphne fleece that I had carded up into rolags.

I didn’t do any plying while there, but since I’ve been back, I’ve gotten caught up and mostly cleared my bobbins!

Little bit of everything going on in that pile! Daphne, Dottie, Esther, romeldale from last year’s Wonderful woolies sale, Spincycle superwash merino-

Everyone except Fiona- but I am excited that this year her fleece seems to have turned a corner. Less scritch, and more crimp. I just made a bit of a start with shearing this morning, and it looks really promising.

She’s still got her long outercoat, but even that seems a bit finer and softer than previous years.

While I was at it I cleaned up a bit around Daphne’s neck and chest, too. Her fleece is really interesting, and very atypical for an Icelandic sheep, I think. Tight curls over most of her body. A bit looser and fluffier around the neck.

That’s what’s going on in my little world.

Hopefully by this time next week we’ll have germination on tomato and pepper sprouts.