Going on an Adventure

I worked on the little boy doll on the way to Kelly State Park today.

Bill and I used to take the kids there when they were young so it was nice to go today with their families!   

It was so much fun to go to the source of the spring and float all the way down to the swimming area!

The kids-all of them, had a wonderful time! 

My camera SD card was left home in my computer and so I could take only two photos!  It was so hard!  But this is just one of the down time ways the kids played-in the 'nest' of the raft!  We have decided to make this an annual trip!

Hail, Hail...

We've been doing lots of yard work, even in this heat.  I don't last too long but the house is cool so I come in toget, well, cool and then head back out!  Bill is working on painting all the eclectic collection of lawn chairs by the fire pit.  He has the bench painted, too, but it wasn't dry enough to move here. 

 I sewed four pillows for the wicker furniture and we found 2 little end tables which is on the queue for painting, too.  (I try to keep Bill busy!)

I had enough of the seat cushion fabric left to pipe the pillows! 

And Bill found seven hanging plants on sale at WalMart for only $2.59 each! 

He grabbed them!  The front porch is looking fine now! 

The gang's half here!  Everyone came because we have a big family adventure tomorrow! 

Ella is getting ready for her big..... 

jump! 

Even Eli liked the water........if he could only get his hands on it. 

Once he hit the water he never stopped splashing....never!  He was a flailing machine!

Will just swims and swims  and twirls and laughs.  It was a great evening! 

On to the big adventure tomorrow!

Sweetening the Studio

I bought this laminated fabric at a 'new' quilt shop, it is out of the way for me but we were in town....so we stopped!  I am so glad we did!  I joined the Shop Hop for the Row by Row quilts and will get out more to collect patterns!  I had fun figuring out how to construct this tote so it would be functional and neat at the same time  I did us bias tape to cover the seams in the screen area so it wouldn't be scratchy .   

I lined it, too, so that made it interesting to figure out the construction but I got it done with only one major ooops!  I will use it on Friday when we have a big family outing....more later! 

It was raining today when Bill had planned to paint some more outdoor furniture for me so we chose a plan B.  My studio light/fan fixture had died so he removed the remains!  He did have a bit of a handicap because he had to work around Goliath!  (my quilting frame!

I have tried my hand at a bi of different for me knitting.  I saw this pattern on Craftsy and decided to try.  I was a bit surprised at the size, it is bigger than I expected (10") but it is cuddly and soft and I hope cute and lovely to a little girl. I sewed the face on while I helped Bill.

 He put up the new light/fan and it is so quiet and pretty!  We laugh because he buys these at a place called Dan's Fan City and that just gives us a smile!  Our house is filled with them!

I am giving the pattern a re-do and doing it my way this time!  (I do this with almost every pattern-the first time I try to do it their way and then I tweak it on the subsequent projects!)  I am NOT knitting it flat and seaming it.  I am knitting in the round.  I am ready for the stuffing and once I get the hat done, I think I have a few more ideas to try before I hand it over to my test toddlers on Friday!  It is a good knit so far!

Sewing Not Spinning!

I have the RSC2015 caught up and now I have to wait for more colors!  (I had to turn it on the design wall so it will almost fit!) 

I did a bit more stash busting and found fabric to make a pair of shorts for Eli. 

And some cargo shorts for Will.  

Garment sewing is my first love so it is nice to visit it every once in a while.  

TDF 2015 Finish Line

I finished plying this skein of superwash merino (233yds)

and spun up this little sample of FL Gulf Native Sheep when I found some I had missed!  This sample will allow me to knit up a little swatch for my fiber record.

Here is the Grand Finale of the fiber I spun over the course of the race!

There is a total of 2,988 yards of yarn here!

(I couldn't have done it without my electronic spinner which allows me to spin from my recliner, no treadling required;  and it has a Woolee Winder which means I do not have to move the yarn as I spin it onto the bobbin which just saves on the fine motor skills of my fingers!)

This ought to keep me in stitches for a few months! 

Yesterday, I made this little ruffled skirt for Ella!

They are just too much fun to make!  (the pattern is free from Purl Soho)

TDF 2015 Day 19 and Order

I plied the last of the Florida Gulf Native Sheep fiber.  I have another 292 yards of two ply yarn in fingering weight.

The fiber is a good medium wool but softer than most.

There was quite a bit of vegetable matter in the fiber and I looked a blizzard of bits of chaff as I spun it but I expect the rest to wash out when I set the twist with a good bath! 

I had run out of yarn for this pair of socks;  well, it came and I whipped through to the sewn picot hem and cast on the second one!  It is so good to have socks on the needles again!

TDF 2015 Day 18

Bill was a good sport and held the quilt up as best as he could.  (We decided to build a quilt holder in the sewing room for future photo shoots!)  The quilt sure is pretty!

I carded up the rest of the Gulf Native Fleece fiber.  I turn it into a batt from the carder first. 

Then I split it open by ripping it down the side but not all the way;  then I rip it back up a few inches over and so on so the whole batt is in one long section. 

Then I attenuate (a fancy fiber word for stretch it out!) the fat rope into one long, light rope called a roving.   

After I do this for all the batts I make, I weigh them and set them into equal piles for my two ply yarn. 

And then I spin!  Here is the work of the day, two bobbins each weighing 2.5 oz. 

for a 5 oz skein which I will have to ply tomorrow!

TDF 2015 Day 17 --Yes, it's Me!

I did a bit of simplifying on the blog layout.  I hope it works out for both this author and for you!

I have carded some more of the Gulf Native fleece for the other bobbin...it is very relaxing to hand pick the fiber and then feed it into the carder.  It comes out looking like a Santa's beard!  I then stretch it out to make my own roving (rope of fiber) so it is ready to spin.

I ended up with 300 yards of 2 ply yarn fingering weight yarn. 

It will be nice to knit with this wool when I am done with this spin-a-thon! 

The cowl is in the naughty bucket for a bit!  Like a fool, I knit until I ran out of yarn (like when I am going to add another color only this was the last color and I should have bound off the row before this!  It was not fun to unknit all 360 stitches!  I finished it and then didn't feel like playing with it any more today!  It will wait for me.......

I finished Mom's quilt!  I will have a better show 'n tell picture when I can get Bill to hold it up for me outside! 

I have the first (or last really...) rows all sewn together!  It is really shaping up! 

Millie brought me two more quilts that need quilting!  This one is from a box of vintage 9 patches she acquired.  She had to trim them to a uniform size and then sewed them with the white blocks.  Its so much nicer to have these beautiful blocks in a quilt finally!  The fabrics are a great catalog of old fabrics! 

I'm doing some simple stitching for this new, old quilt!

TDF 2015 Day Fourteen and Fifteen & Connected!

I worked for hours today to figure out the scraps of little connecting blocks!  I finally feel like I have a handle on this layout! 

I also worked on Mom's quilting;  it is getting near the finish line!   

There is nothing like  box to make the kitties happy.  They hide like this and then explode out of the box to pounce on the unsuspecting passer-by!  The box has been there or a week and they are still enjoying it so I will leave it until they're bored!  (Notice the flattened air packing-they loved popping them!)

Not a lot done for the Tour de Fleece the last two days;  I have three ounces here on the bobbins.  Tomorrow is a race rest day but Wednesday I will card and spin another ounce and then I will be ready to ply.

My body is not cooperating with the activity level I am asking of it.

Pain is such an exhausting state of being.........

TDF 2015 Day 14 and Cowled

A little skein of Angora; lumpy and bumpy and light-as-air!  It will be perfect as an edging on a pair of mitts! 

I am knitting away on the Cotlin (cotton and linen) cowl.  It takes forever to go around the rounds because there are 360 stitches!  I also moved up a needle size so I am working it with a size 4 needle.  The results are soft and drape nicely. 

TDF 2015 Day Thirteen and Wheels

This fiber is so light and soft-it is angora!  There is only a half of an ounce here!

That is it for today!

And then there were two!  Orange makes me so happy!

The self-seeding Morning Glories are blooming.  What  a beauty they are growing up the tree. 

The Mandvilla likes the heat and rain,  no aroma but plenty of showiness!

Speaking of showy;  our Toyota Yaris has been traded in after 7 years of great service... 

for a Ford Escape (2010) of the older design because I do not like the newer ones!

It is nice to sit up higher again;  the ride is wonderful! 

I have to get used to the more subtle color;  it has plenty of storage room for fabric or yarn!