Just a couple photos tonight- a new band fresh off the inkle looom
And steady progress on Daphne’s Bea
And a little closer
It’s a lovely combination of fuzzy and silky. Light and lofty. And with this last batch spun and plied I think I have enough of the the right weight to finish the project.
And with that, I will sign off. Taking a little staycation this week, and hope to do some dyeing, as well as sweater maintenance/renovation. Hope to have more to share soon!
Have a good week, folks 🙂
Tomatoes, most peps, cukes and melons are in the ground. Drip/soaker irrigation is turned on. We have liftoff!!
The garden takes a lot of my time and energy this time of year. But elsewhere in in the yard, the bees have been busy pollinating, setting us up for a fruity feast later in the season- It makes me so happy to see all the tiny fruits forming on the trees-
Perhaps that’s why I turned to fruity colors in the wool stash to work on at Saturday’s Spindrifters mtg.
We met at the Wonderful Woolies sale this month, and I came away with a bump of beautiful Shetland roving (Priscilla) from Marietta Shetlands. 🙂
I’m making steady progress on Daphne’s Bea, but it’s funny how a whole garment comprised entirely of garter stitch can sometimes feel restful and meditative, and sometimes feel mind-numbing and tedious. It’s beauty is in it’s simplicity, and I think it it is going to be great to wear, but it still doesn’t look like much yet
I have tried it on, and the fit is good. Just keep knitting. Just keep knitting. And one of these days I’ll get to the exciting bit- picking up stitches for the shawl collar.
In the meantime, for a bit of color-play, I’ve re-warped the inkle loom. New band pattern:
(minus the last thread on the right)
and IRL:
So springy!
K. that’s all I’ve got for now. Take care, folks-
May is go-time! Seedlings are hardened off, the soil is warming up, and everything is fabulously green. At the start of the garden season, everything feels possible. So much potential in all these little baby plants.
I always have extra veggie starts (because it’s always better to have too many rather than too few, right?) and so this time of year I’m looking to trade with other gardeners in the area for things I haven’t grown myself. One such opportunity is the Alger Sunday Market garden swap, which happened earlier today.
I took my extra tomatoes, and came home with strawberries, mustard greens, walnut tree saplings, and bamboo (cut lengths, not plants)!
I decided to plant the strawberries and greens in the greenstalk vertical planter, and utilized some of the remaining romeldale fleece from last year’s Wonderful Woolies sale in that task-
I used a layer in the bottom of each tier, and also to fill the center area. Voila! Fertilizer and filler in one.
Also planted out cukes, melons (in hoophouse), delicata squash, shallots, zuchinni and cabbage (outside).
On the woolly side of things, I’m getting fleeces washed, and taking another stab at collecting lanolin from the washwater. Here’s a batch of Fiona drying outside-
And here is the lanolin that I’ve skimmed from the washwater of Fiona and Daphne fleeces so far
It’s currently a paste-like consistency. I’m thinking that once I’m done washing the wool and collecting the lanolin, I’ll alternately heat and cool it, and see if i can get the remaining water to separate out. But maybe let it sit open and evaporate some first.
So that’s what I’m up to. Will sign off Dottie and Fiona sharing a broccoli plant from the hoophouse
Have a good week, folks-
The quince has the prettiest buds of all our fruit trees (and those downy leaves!)
Also showing off right now- the earliest rhodies
And Big Apple
All this springy weather has me thinking I’d like to get a dye day planned sometime soon. Maybe in May. I’m thinking gaywool shades, and maybe, just maybe, an indigo vat?
Stand by for color therapy 🙂
Also, just going to leave this here, in case y’all missed it- Ryan Holliday’s lecture on Wisdom cancelled by the US Naval Academy (my alma mater) this week. Their loss is everyone’s gain, as he decided to record it anyway and share online.