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Summer seems to bring out my urge to sew. This time it happened as a result of a quick visit to a cool little shop in North Ballard- Wool Friends

Really neat neighborhood studio with lovely fabrics, woolly wool on cones, spinning fiber, looms, etc ,and sewing patterns! I picked up this SewHouse Seven pattern for the Remy raglan top

It’s got a few variations- plain or keyhole split front, short, 3/4 or long gathered sleeve. I decided to make a split front 3/4 version to start and found some suitable fabric in my stash. Here it is hanging out in the appletree!

Seems like it has a lot of potential as a wardrobe basic that will work well with my growing collection of sweater vests 🙂 It’s a nice pattern- works up pretty quickly and has french seams, so nice finished edges throughout.

With that complete, I’m turning my focus back to the “God is a Woman” project. Spinning outside today to take advantage of the beautiful weather-

Also washing up the last of Dottie’s ’26 fleece today- so it’s a Dottie day all around!

Doesn’t get much better than playing with fleece out in the sunshine.

Oh- meant to mention that I finally got to see The Sheep Detectives! Was super cute-and loved the range of breeds represented in the sheep characters. Makes me want to revisit the book that it’s based upon- Three Bags full by Leonie Swann

88 degrees here today. A little warm for me, but perfect for my new project- solarizing a new garden plot

I got the plastic down this morning, and the blazing sun already has the turf braising in it’s own juices.

The plan for this plot is to seed it with rye this fall. Yep- first foray into growing grain! Been thinking about it for a bit, and glad to finally have the wheels in motion. 🙂

I’m also excited to have hit upon my next sweater project- God Is a Woman by Katja Dyrberg (photo from pattern). Love the saddle shoulders, the overall cables, the mock turtleneck.

And thinking that it will look lovely in Dottie wool!

I’ve gone ahead and started spinning some more, but I think it turned out a bit too fine, so while this is pretty, it’s probably not going to work for the sweater. Good thing I’ve got lots of Dottie wool in the stash to work with!

That’s all the news from the homestead this week. Will close with a pictures of where things are at in the garden

poppies amongst the tomatoes-

cabbages coming along nicely

and a bit of early season harvest

Have a good week folks-

is off the loom!

Got it assembled this morning, and proceeded to the wash and fluff stage

Still have to trim the fringe and snip some loose ends

Looks like it’s got Tiny Gus approval

And he is the blankie master, so I’m calling it good 🙂

Spent a few days on Whidbey with friends this week. Right on the water very near the Clinton ferry dock.

Was a really unique and characterful property- originally located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, it was barged to it’s current location in the 1950s to make way for I5 construction.

The daylight basement has been recently renovated to look just like the auto deck of a WA state ferry-

plus a captain’s stateroom

It was kind of amazing. More photos available at the Airbnb listing

Some spinning was accomplished- here is the resulting yarn relaxing in a hammock

Also did a bit of exploring the coastline in a kayak!

I had such fun paddling and taking in the beautiful scene- herons, kingfishers, killdeer, gulls, and also seals that came up pretty close to say hi.

Got back on friday, and am now back in farm mode, catching up with garden and critters. Things are really coming along in the hoophouse-

It already feels a bit like a jungle in there already, with poppies, borage and nasturtiums filling any gaps between veg, but they are so colorful and seem to bring in a lot of pollinators, so I just try and make sure that noone is getting shaded or squeezed.

Out in the garden beds the cabbages and broccoli seem to be really happy under their floating row cover-

but they are rapidly filling the space. Will have to see how long I can keep them covered before they start busting out!

and on the other side of the yard, peonies are popping

and sheep are just hangin’ loose, enjoying the spring sunshine

The beach was fun, but I’m happy to be back at the homestead. Been doing some more lanolin reclamation and making progress on my weaving-will plan to have updates on both next time.

Take care folks, and have a good week-