Some Finished Objects

After Chris was kind enough to gift with with some basketry supplies, I let them languish in my closet for several months.  Finally, I remembered to pack them with me when I went home.  My neighbor, Peg, is an excellent basket weaver and together we made up a pattern and I wove this lovely little basket in one morning.

You see, it needed a purpose, and I needed a basket for my handknit socks, so we were both quite happy to reach an agreement.  I think the socks look cozy too.

I enjoyed a pleasant evening with my friend Shelly watching PS I Love You this weekend and by the time the movie ended I had a lovely little washcloth to add to my collection. I will admit to loving the simplicity of finishing a washcloth.

After the Storms

I’m tired of the storms, but I do love the sunsets.

My Own Little Fiber Fest

Look! A package from the Loopy Ewe. Some Merino in Goblin Seas from the Dyeing Arts, some BFL in Cherry Blossoms from Gale’s Fiberarts, a skein of Beyond Basic Knits in Sonoma, and three skeins of Malabrigo lace in Pagoda.

A modest haul for my own mini-fiber festival.  The one good thing is that I can’t buy a fleece at my mini fiber fest.

Frustration Does the Strangest Things

Back in April I attended the National Dutch Rabbit Show which happened to be on the same weekend as the Fiber Event in Greencastle. I really wanted to attend both, but I just couldn’t figure out a way to make that happen. Since my first love is the rabbits, and my judging jobs help pay their bills, I did the proper thing and went to Nationals. I had a great time, hooked up with some longtime friends, and generally enjoyed myself to the fullest.

All that time I was consoling myself with the knowledge that I could attend the Hoosier Hills Fiberarts Festival, which while generally smaller than the Fiber Event (sorry, the link is down), and inevitably warmer, would still yield some fiber, friends, and fun.

Then gas jumped in price, a LOT, my brother’s graduation party was moved to the same weekend, and I realized that I have a lot of yarn. Well, yes, I mean, I knew that I had a lot of yarn, but sometimes it takes a while for the realization to hit home. I made the decision last weekend not to go.

Now I keep seeing people post about it and how excited they are to go and I’m jealous. What I mean to say is: I’m jealous that they can afford to go and don’t have a family obligation preventing them from attending. It’s not that I can really afford more fiber right now, or even need it, I did just put in a purchase at the Loopy Ewe, after all. However, I really want to go, and I want to buy it in person because you can fondle the fiber and see your friends, and enjoy a day away from the monotony that is your life.

The thing is: I can’t justify a four hour roundtrip (southeast) Friday when I am already making a four hour roundtrip (northeast) the next day. So no fiber festival for me. Which makes me want to prowl Etsy and Spunky Eclectic and the Spinning Loft for fun fiber to buy, even though I know I need to save money.

So instead, each time I get the urge to splurge (hee, that amuses me to no end, the rhyming) I am working out my frustration by picking up the Honeybee Stole and working on it. It’s a heady combination after all: Malabrigo lace in Tortuga, Zero stitchmarkers, and my favorite Julip bag. Considering that I had four repeats finished on Monday and I now have ten plus repeats finished, I think this frustration is rather productive.

Some Gratuitous Fiber

After I cleaned off the wheels I was struck with an intense desire to spin more. First I managed to spin up a 3 oz. bump of 50/50 merino and tencel. I think it measured in at 230 yards of two-ply. It’s shiny and lovely, and definitely destined for a scarf.

Then I was still itching for some spinning, so I dug around in my stash and settled on a 4 oz. bump of Merino from Sock Pron, the owner of one of my favorite little etsy shops Zero Markers, in the colorway Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. I ended up with about 170 yards of two-ply that is destined for seriously squishy house socks.

I have some beautiful merino on the wheel now. It’s a gorgeous tonal blue colorway that I am trying to spin with socks in mind. We’ll see how well it turns out.

Both of My Wheels

. . . are now empty.

The single green skein is the end of a bump of alpaca, romney, and mohair that I bought in March of this year.

The heathered purple, blue, and green skeins are three-ply Corriedale and total about 670 yards. I started spinning that 8 oz. bump in March last year. So it feels good to finally finish it. I’m rather pleased with the final results though I have no clue what to make with it. lol

I think this is the first time that I’ve made a three-ply yarn. Really, with the corriedale and how finely I managed to spin the singles, I was surprised at the finished result. It’s a light fingering to medium fingering weight yarn with a softness and spring that I didn’t anticipate.

I’m not a detailed spinner, and I don’t pay much attention to the technical aspects of spinning. I’ve never taken a class, so I spin mostly by feel. Still, I’m rather enamored of it.

Cheap Ass* Knitting Tools

I’ve been wanting to try some sort of pattern manager or tamer like the kind being sold at the Loopy Ewe, one of my favorite little shops, but I didn’t want to pay the $15.00 for a set. I’d rather spend money on fiber or yarn, but every so often you have to increase the tool box. So I pondered on this problem for several weeks.

Today it occurred to me that Hobby Lobby, where I was headed for elastic and buttons, might sell magnetic tape. Magnetic tape + pretty scrapbook ribbon = cheap ass* pattern managers. I think I spent about $4.00 plus tax and I have plenty of ribbon and tape left to make more of these. And they work quite well to track my chart row.

*An homage to Bezzie, and her cheap-assed-ness

Some Tiny Finished Pieces

I just couldn’t settle into knitting on my larger pieces yesterday, so I cast on another garter stitch washcloth while I watched Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. As a result, I decided to call this the “Charade” washcloth.

Not very imaginative I know, but no one said that I had to be creative every time I named a project. Well, actually, I’m never very creative with names. I should try for more creative names from now on. Nah, we both know that isn’t going to happen.

I had thought that finishing the washcloth would satisfy my craving for a quick finished object and I could get back to the new shawl that I started, but sadly my lust for finished objects wasn’t sated. I scrounged around in my mind for some small projects that I could cast on: another washcloth? a knitted toy? What to make? Of course! A garter for one of my soon-to-be-married friends. I perused my stitch dictionaries for an edging that could be adapted to a garter and settled on the Heart or Palm Leaf Edging from the second Barbara Walker Treasury. I followed the pattern and knit nine repeats in total. I rather like how it turned out. Now I just need a touch of elastic and a few tiny buttons to finish it.

Highlights from Sun.

We didn’t go quite as many places on Sunday, though we did a great many things at the house. We cleaned out the rabbit barn, moved rabbits around, and prepped nesting boxes before lunch. After lunch we cleaned the flower beds near my deck, planted seeds, mulched, and watered. Then we repeated the landscaping process in the front of the house, but only around one of the bushes.

Here are a few shots of the finished deck beds.

After we ran a few errands and had dinner at Sonic we went to the movie theater and enjoyed the new Indiana Jones movie. I managed to finish an entire garter stitch washcloth while watching Indy, so this one is aptly titled the Indy Jones Washcloth.

Plus, my clematis bloomed on the east side of the stairs, so I took a few photos to share with you.

And, my Dwarf lilac bush finally bloomed, it smells lovely, but since I can’t share that over the internet, you’ll have to settle for a photo instead.

Some Highlights from Sat.

Sculpture by the Farmer’s Market. Lovely tasty things to be had here. The Lafayette Farmer’s Market has been held for about 100 years, if I remember correctly. They still hold it by the courthouse every Sat. morning.

Speaking of the courthouse, here’s the fountain near it. . .

And here is the Courthouse from across the river.

We ate lunch at the Buttery Shelf where Cait’s salad was bigger than her head.

We saw the art around the fountain and went to the Art Museum where there was a gorgeous lilac bush.

We ran home for a little while, dropped off our purchases, washed some skeins and some locks and took off for campus with Beau in tow. . .

Where the flowers were in bloom all over campus.

And Beau was seriously contemplating a squirrel snack.

In the end we enjoyed the scenery, ran a few errands, and wandered home. For more photos from our day out, click here.