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Oh My!

The fabulous technicolor dream vest is coming along nicely.

I’ve decided to do a little something different with this vest from the original.
No saddle shoulders this time (those weren’t part of original plan anyway).
But I still want to get the depth on the neck opening, because I really like how the shawl collar worked out.

In order to hopefully create the same sort of fit, I’m working the fronts about 2 inches longer than the back, so that the fronts will wrap over the top of the shoulder and the seam will be at the top of the back.

First I worked some short rows on each side of the back to slope the shoulders off just a bit

Then the back stitches (plus half of the steek stitches for each armhole) all went on a holder for now.

Moved the front stitches (and the other half of the steek stitches) to a smaller length circular needle, and am now continuing to work in the round for about 2.5 inches (which is about the width of the saddles on the original vest)

So it looks a little weird right now.
With some luck, it will be vest-shaped once the steeks are cut 🙂

Also wanted to give a shout out to the chigs, who have come through our icky winter weather and started laying again

Today was our first 6-egg day in quite a while.
Here’s hoping that the thaw (and egg production) continues!

All our snow from last weekend is still here.
And more is coming down as I write.
I’ve come to terms with needing to go out into it to tend critters, shovel, etc etc, but I won’t give it the satisfaction of a photo on the blog.

Instead, I’m choosing to focus on more warm and tasty subjects.

Subject One:
Spinning of Chone fleece. One more bobbin’s worth accomplished this afternoon

which puts me only 3 ounces away from my objective

Subject Two:

Combed and spun Esther singles for the bottom ribbing and collar/buttonband of the multicolor vest

Subject Three:

Pie

Berries from this past summer. Added some almond flour to the crust and was really pleased with how that affected the texture. Really flaky and tender!

Posole

A new cold-weather favorite. So flavorful and satisfying. My version is a blend of a couple recipes I found online

All kinds of great flavors in there- garlic, onion, ginger, allspice, clove, oregano, cumin, red chiles- plus pork, hominy, tomatoes.

It would be more photogenic if I had the traditional garnishes (cilantro, radishes, avocado) on hand. But it’s plenty tasty the way it is.

So that’s how I’m dealing with our unfortunate cold spell.
The sheep don’t seem to mind so much, as they have nice heavy coats. The chickens are not pleased, but I’m keeping them full of scratch and sunflower seeds and they seem to be coming through it ok.
I’ve rigged a tarp on the northeast side of the shed that is keeping most of the swirling snow from blowing in and getting all over their bedding, so that’s an improvement.
But we’ll all be relieved when we get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The weather has turned on us, and its now snowing and blowing all over the place.
Ick.

But inside, by the glow of the pellet stove, the spinning of Chone’s last fleece continues

Two more bobbins, fresh from Sigrid the Norwegian slanty girl

And plied on Moto the e-spinner

Brings the yardage total to 916.

I’ve got about 6 ounces left to go, which is about 7 more hours of spinning time.

I’m really loving this yarn. I find it hard to photograph because of it’s dark color, but it feels amazing.
Light and lofty, with just a touch of lanolin left in.
Will need to find just the right pattern for it.

In other news, I’m making good progress on the multicolor vest, and working on writing up the vest pattern to share with folks.
I’m not planning on repeating my “afterthought saddle shoulders” on this one, so am trying to sort out what is the best way to work the shoulder and neckline shaping so that it sets up the shawl collar the same way the first one came out. Getting close to an answer, but won’t know for sure until I try it out on the current version.

About 15 inches in now, and into the violet part of the color spectrum!

I picked up some seriously tiny needles this weekend

Size 0, length 9″. (also got size 2 and 3)
The tips are only about an inch and a half long, so it’s a little different holding them, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.

I’m excited about the possibilities.
These might revolutionize the way I knit socks.
And mittens.
I really got them so that I could make some of the really neat stranded colorwork mitten patterns that I have saved on Ravelry, but never started because doing stranded knitting on double pointed needles is so fiddly.

In other knitting news, I’m still making good progress on vest #2-

Just got past the underarms, and am now shaping the armholes and the deep v-neck. Colorwise, I’m transitioning out of purple into violet. And I really like how the color scheme is working out so far.

That’s about it for now- thanks to everyone who came out to the expo on Saturday. It was a lot of fun talking wool and wheels with folks all day.

Just keep spinning,,, just keep spinning,,,,