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The Romas are coming, The Romas are coming!

It took a bit longer than usual- perhaps because of the cooler summer, or because these guys are kind of enormous.

The variety is “Gladiator”, and a couple of them that I’ve weighed have come in at nearly a pound! Nice and meaty, tho- so, I guess worth waiting for (?)

The Man has been getting them processed so we’ll have summer tomato flavor tucked away in the pantry for soups, stews and sauces during the cold months.

And I’m back at the drum carder- this time making blended roving

No particular end product in mind right now. Just some color therapy.

Countdown to cross-country travel has begun (annual trip to FL)- which means I need to get some sort of knitting project in the works. Preferably some thing substantial, but not terribly complicated.

Guess that will be the goal for this week. Getting a project plan together.

The needles, that is.

JUiST no 2 is designed with a rolled neckline, but since I’d hemmed the bottom edge and the cuffs, the rolled edge on the neck just wasn’t sitting right with me. So this afternoon it went back on the needles to get a different finish.

Picked up stitches and knit 3 rows, one turning row, then another 3 rows and whip stitched it down on the reverse. A quick try-on confirmed that the revision was a success! So now it’s blocking. And maybe it is truly done.

I’ve been steadily spinning up a worsted weight Esther yarn in hopes of starting a sweater soon, but no firm plans yet. I’m torn between doing another JUiST and another Smokeshow. The spinning has been really enjoyable, working up the singles on the SpindleCycle, then chain plying on Moto.

Now that I’ve pretty comfortable with the flip wind-on technique, I find the spindle spinning to be a lot of fun. And fast!

Out in the garden, I finally harvested this year’s one and only Petite Gris de Renne melon

It was SO tasty. Worth waiting for, but a shame that it was a solo act. I think next year I’ll go back to trellising them. Perhaps they didn’t get enough attention from pollinators sprawling on the ground?

Another major development in the “single fruits” category is this beautiful little quince

For those of you keeping score at home, this is the first fruit that this tree has ever produced. I can’t find a record of when we planted it, but our original quince tree died in 2012, and we replanted shortly after that, so It’s been a good long time coming.

Have a good week everyone-

Meet Meatball, my felty little sloth friend!

Upon sewing his last seam, we went outside to let him do a little hanging around.

He’s such a funny little dude 🙂 So pleased with how he turned out.

I also wrapped up a big spinning project this weekend- last 23 ounces of Daisy singles.

And I’ll close with a picture of a beautifully ripe Cherokee Purple tomato. The kind of garden veg that makes all the seeding and potting and pruning and weeding worthwhile.

The sweet and fleeting flavors of summer.

Have a good week everyone-

This week I moved Dottie into a more sustainable long term living situation, giving her the hay and chicken side of the shed and a small yard of her own-

In sweater news, I’m pleased to report that, as of earlier today, JUiST is off the needles!

Still have ends to attend to, and contemplating adding a little embroidery detail in red up top, but it is functionally complete- and a success as far as trying out the contiguous shoulder construction goes.

I also feel like maybe the neckline could use some finishing. I did a turned hem on the bottom and sleeves,

But that would might be too bulky for the neckline. Perhaps the answer will present itself after I’ve worn it for a while.

And, I have made a start on my sloth! All his felty bits and pieces are cut out and ready to assemble.

So that’s the week in wool. I’ll sign off with a couple pictures of of our fabulous volunteer sunflower, that finally opened a couple of days ago-

It towers above the (very overgrown) garden

and makes everything sunnier 🙂