Busy Day

Towels, gifted:
Fiber, spun:
Knitting, done.

I've had the woven towels finished for awhile, but was waiting until I'd given them to their recipients to share pictures. The pattern is from Webs (here) and details are on my Ravelry page (here). All three towels were done on the same warp; just the weft color changed in each one.

Started spinning the first of two 3-ounce batts from Spinderella - in 'Harvest' - that have been in my stash since 2006 or so. Love this colorway, especially how it sparkles. I'd been saving it for "special", for when I became a "better" spinner. Finally realized great fiber should be enjoyed (so I have an excuse to get more!)

Both fronts and backs are done on the Scarf Trick Sweater. On to the sleeves!

Tour Progress

The sweater is coming along; not much done since class on Friday but I did get photographic evidence today. Still hoping to get this finished by the end of the Tour, but since I have little to no idea how to put sleeves in, I may be off by a day or so.

Today's BIG news is that I finished spinning all 9+ ounces of BeeMiceElf's 'Serene'. Whoohoo!! Planning to let this sit tomorrow in honor of the Tour's rest day, then start plying it on Tuesday. Sooooo pleased to have this done.

The colors in the first photo aren't accurate - bad lighting this time of day, I guess - so this is more what the yarn actually looks like. I still think it's Christmas-y.

Touring the Progress

Tour de France KAL - 2nd back piece almost done. Hope to start the fronts tomorrow. Or I may try working this pattern in Tunisian, making a 2nd sweater at the same time as the knit one. Can you say "crazy pants"?

Tour de Fleece - 34 grams/1.2 oz (45.4 grams/1.6 oz total) of superwash BFL spun today. Hoping to get all 8+ ounces spun and plied by Tour's end.

Tour de Fleece

Happy birthday, America! I spent the day comforting Leanne, who is not enjoying her first teething experience; spinning for my Tour de Fleece challenge;
and working on my Tour de France KAL* project. I need to finish spinning the 7.5 oz of Polworth so I can use the bobbin for my real Tour de Fleece project. I'm down to just a small bump, thank heavens. This stuff is poorly prepared and pulling out all the nepps and VM (vegetable matter) is slowing me down and making me crazy. Just.Want.It.Done.Already. Maybe by tomorrow night.

*KAL = Knit-along

Next Obsession

Tomorrow's the last day for the Tour de France and the knit-along. It's been amazing fun - I was assigned to the Yellow Jersey team (go Team CSC!) and I accomplished all my KAL goals, so I also earned my Polka Dot jersey for King of the Mountain. Unfortunately, I pushed too hard and re-injured my shoulder. I won't be doing any knitting or crocheting for at least 30 days. I'm hoping I can still spin (probably not) and weave (more hopeful). I'm bummed but at least I finished my projects before I went on the disabled list.

So what's my next obsession? Fleece baby blankets with satin binding. For the last year or so, I've been buying fleece remnants whenever I find them at a good price. The Joann's in Loveland is my best source; they often discount their remnants by 75%, after marking them down 50% from the regular price. My original plan was to crochet edgings on them but I really don't like having to hand stitch around the edge to give the yarn something to hold on to.

A passing comment about how much babies love satin-trimmed blankets sent me back to Joann's. I hand-sewed one blanket for Addy (8-hours later I was firmly convinced to never, ever do that again.) For these four blankets, I pinned and sewed the trim while watching the Tour de France. The white/pink (Marie's favorite) and orange/yellow blankets (my favorite) are presents for Baby Leia. The other two (it's been a loooong time since I've seen Pokemon!) are for us to use when the grandbabies come to visit. I have a couple more remnants but I'm out of satin binding - and truth be told, I'm bored with pinning and sewing. I need to come up with another way to trim them. Any ideas???

Books!

Hello, my name is Elisa and I'm a book junkie. It's been 6 hours and 47 minutes since I bought my last book. I'm especially defenseless with on-sale craft books. I know I'm weak, but how could I resist books on the 75% off table at my LBS (local book store)?

The discount table is always my first stop at any bookstore. It's hard to find craft books - especially fiber arts books - on clearance, but today I really scored. I got Vogue Knitting's Weekend Knits for $2.59; Vogue Knitting Accessorize for $4.04; and for the grandkids, Eric Carle's Grouchy Ladybug for $3.36. I also bought Very Busy Spider, even though it wasn't on the 'deep' sale rack. I'm a sucker for good kid's books and Addy's going to love these two.

In Tour de France news, I've started on Goal #3 - making a knit baby sweater for Leia Kalise, who's due August 20. I had two balls of Plymouth Dreambaby DK in my stash - one pink and one a multi-color with pinks and purples - so I cast on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. I've made this once before, in a toddler size for Addy, so there shouldn't be any surprises. I'm hoping it will be a fast knit and I can finish by the end of the month. Can I bind off before the Tour ends? Probably not, but it should be close.

Done!

Except for sewing on the buttons, my sweater is done! done! done! Can you tell I'm excited? And I found the perfect buttons at my LYS. Photos tomorrow; it's too dark now to get decent shots.

Whoohoo!! Goal #1 is D.O.N.E.

Closing In On The Finish Line

Dick's been working on his own Tour de France challenges and finished two projects during the Tour's first week. The bottom is myrtlewood that we bought on our Oregon trip and the top is paduak; he turned, shaped, and joined two solid blocks to make this vase. Isn't it gorgeous? Dick was going to give it away as a gift but I claimed it first. It's MINE.

He's been working on Marie's hope chest for awhile, but put the finishing touches on yesterday. The top is leather; the outer section is cherry wood, and the inside is lined with cedar. I especially love the interior sliding drawer. He does such beautiful work. And no, I'm not at all biased. Why do you ask?

Onward to my Tour de France challenges: Goal #1 - I've finished the collar, bottom band and the left front button placket. I just need to do the right placket, seam and set-in the sleeves, weave in my ends and find the perfect buttons. I'm taking it with me to tomorrow's hair appointment so I can button shop on the way home. With any luck at all, this should be done tomorrow. The finish line is in sight!

Goal #2 - tonight I Navajo-plied the second 8-ounce bobbin of Gotland. I'll set the twist tonight and let it dry tomorrow. The first batch, a slightly lighter gray, is finally dry; this unusually humid weather we're having is interfering with my time schedule. Fortunately, the weather forecast is for significantly less humidity starting tomorrow. But with my luck? We'll get pouring rain.

Stage Win

What an amazing ride by Italy's Riccardo Rico in today's mountain finish! That's what makes the Tour de France so exciting to watch, someone sprinting out of the pack, flying by everyone on a steep uphill run. But the sad side-note? Wondering if doping made his victory possible. I'm crossing my fingers that he's clean and the Tour can put the doping scandals behind them. I guess we'll see in a few days.

I finished the reworked sweater back tonight and sewed up the side and shoulder seams. I anxiously tried it on and it seems to fit well; I'd have been really ticked to have had to rip and redo at this point. The sweater is being modeled by Lily, the adjustable dressform that Marie bought me for Mother's Day. This is the first opportunity I've had to put Lily through her paces. I love being able to see how things look without breaking my neck trying to see my back in the mirror. I see a long, happy partnership between me and Lily, especially after I figure out how to adjust all her dials and levers.
I didn't get my sampler finished during the weaving workshop but I made good progress and learned a lot, which was more important. We warped (the long-ways threads) one inch sections of 12 colors plus 3 neutrals (white, gray and black), then wove six 1"-patterns in each color, in the same color order as the warp. The object was to see how colors interact and how the different patterns affect color. I started weaving with red so I'm a little over half done. Depending on how this looks off the loom, I may hang it on the wall in my weaving area - or I may throw it in a drawer, never to be seen again (kidding!) As usual, I'm anxious to get it finished, but I'm trying to be good and finish my Fair projects before I weave any more. Being good is hard.

Time Trials

Goal #2 for my Tour de France KAL is Navajo-plying a pound of Gotland singles and making a shawl before next Saturday. I love Navajo-plying, but my technique is a little rusty so I decided to do a practice run before starting on the big project.

This is about half of the 4 oz Ravelry roving, 70% merino/30% kid mohair, that I bought from Twisted Fiber Arts. It was a joy to spin and I didn't want to muddy the colors with traditional plying. I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. The only problem with Navajo-plying is that I end up with less yarn than a 2-ply would give me; this is a little less than 100 yards.
With the practice run out of the way, I did a quick time trial with the Gotland. I thought I'd over-spun it when I got this bit off the swift, but after a quick rinse, it hangs perfectly straight and balanced. I love the texture and the thickness. Tomorrow night I'll start plying the rest of this so it can dry by Monday night and I can start crocheting on Tuesday. No pressure.

And why am I not plying until tomorrow night? Because I'm taking a weaving workshop that started tonight and runs through Sunday evening. Hooray for multi-projecting!

KAL Pile Up

The Tour de France - and the Knit-along - started last Saturday but Rachel's TV package doesn't include the Tour channel, so I was three days behind when we got home. Thanks to the miracle of DVR, Dick and I watched stage one last night and stages two, three and four today (I love being retired!) We'll watch stage five in the morning before catching stage six live with Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen (my favorite commentators).

The watch-athon gave me plenty of time to finish the sleeves - all the sweater pieces are complete now - but not without my own personal crash and burn. I'd finished one sleeve and was almost done with the second when I noticed something wasn't quite right. Turns out I'd skipped a row in the cable pattern, 10-12 rows back. Would anybody besides me ever notice? Probably not. Would I always know it was there and would it bug me forever? You betcha. I feel better having riiiiiiipped it out and started anew. Tomorrow I'll sew the back and fronts together, then start the collar, button band and bottom ribbing. That leaves only the cuff ribbing, sewing in the sleeves and finding the right buttons. I'm excited now that I can see the finish line.

Although not technically part of my Tour de France challenge, I did finish this blanket Monday while watching news highlights of the Tour. The blanket, fleece with satin ribbon edges, wound up being 38" wide by 58" long. I'd hoped to use Rachel's sewing machine to attach the edging, but the power cord is among the missing so I ended up blanket-stitching the entire one-hundred and ninety-two inches by hand. For over eight hours. And I have the blisters to prove it. Could I have waited and sewed it by machine at home? Technically, yes. But with my compulsive personality? Not a chance. I love how it turned out - and so does Addy - but the next one? I'm using a sewing machine.

Brought To You By Jiff

*Tour de France KAL update below!

Addy is more of a grazer than a meal-eater. She'll nibble on things but seldom eats all of what she's offered. The exception is peanut butter toast. She licks it, pokes it, wipes her hands and face with it (not her hair this time!) and then she eats it alllll up. Super yummy!

Tour de France KAL Update:

No Tour TV coverage for me until Tuesday - daughter's cable package doesn't include Versus - but I'm working hard toward my first goal, finishing the crocheted cable sweater. I had the back and both front pieces done before the Tour began. Now the first sleeve is 2/3's finished; that's where the first ball of yarn ended. I decided to start the second sleeve with the next ball of yarn, rather than finish the first one, and then bring both of them to the finish line together. This one is about 1/3 done.

I only brought 2 balls of sweater yarn with me to Colorado (poor planning, but I didn't think I'd get this far, this fast) so I've been working on making fleece blankets for Addy. I gave her a choice between a light green and hot pink, and - no surprise - she chose pink, pink, pink! I added a Tinkerbell applique and a no-sew fringe border, and voila - Addy has a new favorite blankie.

The pink and green are both remnant pieces I picked up at Joann's on a previous trip for 75% off (about $4 each). This trip I got 2 more pieces, one 35" x 36" with neon-colored hearts for $1.30; I'm adding a 4" satin border around the entire blanket. Pictures tomorrow when I (hopefully) get the border sewn on. The second remnant is a muted orange that I'll use as a car blanket for Dick and I. That one is much bigger and cost a grand total of $1.20. I love fleece remnants!

Tour de France KAL

After all the fun I had last year, I decided to join this year's Tour de France Knit-Along (Go Team CSC!) and was fortunate to get in before all the spots were taken. I'm competing for the Polka Dot Jersey aka King of the Mountain. The goal is to choose a challenging project to work on during the tour - and that can include challenging yourself to finish an FO or two.

Goal #1 - completing the 'Craving for Cables' sweater, aka Dusty Miller, by the July 18 deadline to enter it in the Fair. The back and both front panels are done; I just need to crochet the sleeves and put the whole thing together.

Goal #2 - ply the Gotland singles I spun and crochet a shawl. To make it more challenging, I'll probably Navajo ply these. I love the technique but I'm not all that comfortable with it. By the time I'm through plying a pound of Gotland, I'll either be comfortable or suicidal. Not sure what pattern I'll use for the shawl. The Perfect Spring Shawl would be fast but been there, done that (a bunch of times.) I'd like to find something more challenging, but with the same deadline as the sweater, I may go with fast and pretty rather than challenging and 'not sure how it will look'.

Goal #3 - since the Tour will still be running after the Fair deadline, I'm hoping to make a knit sweater for Matt and Chris's baby girl (current top name choice - Leia Kalisa. Kalisa is a combination of the grandma's names - Kathy and Elisa. I love it.) Baby's not due until August 20, but the shower is July 27 . . . I'm not betting I'll have it finished by then, but hopefully by August.

And before all that, I need to finish the next three squares for the crochet block-a-month class I'm teaching. July is entrelac - August is a starburst stitch - and September? Probably using math to determine stripes from the class I took at TNNA. I'm mathaphobic, but that was interesting and fun.

The squares will go together in an afghan for Dick. Maybe a contender for next year's fair??