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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 🙂

For me there is a real tension between summer being a season to savor and a season for getting things done. I have let some things go this summer, but one good-weather dependent thing that I really wanted to finish up was some felting I’d prepped for a few months back.

And since summer is slipping away, this morning I dug out my felting gear and got down to it.

Yoga mat, couple yards of chiffon, one long bootlace, bubble wrap, 3-4′ length of 2″ PVC pipe, pot full of soapy hot water, and large cup for scooping that hot soapy water.

The layered wool had been standing by, rolled in chicken food bags to keep it nice and orderly. (yet another use for chicken food bags! I used to use paper grocery bags, but they would inevitably get wet with all that hot soapy water flying around.)

The steps: transferring the wool to the yoga mat already lined with chiffon

Folding the chiffon over the layered wool to keep it in place,

Thoroughly wetting the wool and patting out any air pockets

Placing bubble wrap (bubbles down) on the surface of the wool

Tightly rolling the whole thing up around the length of PVC and securing with bootlace

Then roll, roll, roll. It helps to have some pressure applied in the rolling process, so I’ve been using a “leaning on the roll with my forearms” technique, and just gliding back and forth on it with a rocking motion. 50 or so times each direction is usually enough to get the fibers starting to lock.

From there I work the felt manually, folding and rolling it against itself from a variety of directions, adding water to keep it quite warm and sudsy while it shrinks and thickens.

And finally I take the sheet inside to rinse in the deep sink- not just to get the soap out, but to shock it a little to further firm up the felt- hot /cold/hot/cold.

And after all that, and a little drying in the sun, you have the magic that is felt

Mmmmm. Felty goodness.

I have recently been distracted by the idea that I need a sloth (google Bellingham giant tree sloth), so that might be where this felt is headed.

Found a cute pattern, but I think that it will require the addition of long claws. Another pattern-as-starting point type of project 😉

Have a good week folks-