To Finish, To Start

  

I plan to finish the blocks to this sampler quilt.

I will dig through the stash and see if I have fabric for sashing and borders. 

 I have only two more blocks to finish and they will be savored in the piecing!

 I also want to finish this baby boy sweater on the knitting machine.

And this sweater will be cast on today!

A fingering weight sweater in broken rib and a little bit of lace.

I hope it is as enjoyable as I expect!

TDF 2014-Day 17

I tackled the making of yarn today!   Plying the two bobbins of singles spins together much more quickly.   The new anti-inflammatory meds gave me some relief today, too.  Ahhhh, what nice words to type-r e l i e f.  Not eradication of pain but a reduction and that is a wonderful improvement!

 I have half of the Alpaca wound off now into a 450 yard skein of fingering weight yarn.

 I take it off the niddy noddy, admire it and then pop it into the wash basin!

This removes the last of the dirt and such from the animal and sets the twist so it is a perfectly beautiful skein of yarn!

See what I mean!

TDF Day 11-REST!?

 Since I didn't have to 'race' today, I used the time to card the rest of the Alpaca!  I have 12 more ounces to spin!  I might stop when I have another bobbin full at the 8 ounce marker...  I then took the time to clean out the carder, oil it and discard all the SAND that fell out from the fleece!  Wow, can this fiber hold dirt!  I then cleaned and oiled my Espinner so all is ready for tomorrow's schedule!

 I cut out a denim straight skirt.   I didn't have a lot of oomph left after this activity so I moved on to a sitting job.

 I finished the Mystery shawl clue one.  I was supposed to have at least 2/3 of my starting weight of yarn left after this clue and I have that and a bit more!  Nice to know I am on the mark.  (Remember this is no blocked;  lace knitting doesn't look as impressive on the needles!)

 This afternoon when a mighty thunderstorm moved in, I did some knitting on this project!  I did quite a bit of it in the dark as we lost the power several times over two hours!  We did get almost an inch of rain which is a lot for us!  This doesn't look too exciting laying down like this but when you put it on your foot, an amazing stripe is evidenced:

See the pretty stripe of zig zags up the outside of the foot and leg!  Very easy to knit and fun to just do 'one more zig...' !  (Zigzagular Socks is a free Ravelry download!)  I did add my own heel to this and make it toe up instead of following the directions but it is the same idea;  I have been a knitter too long to knit any way but my favorite way!

TDF 2014 DAY 10

This is the fullest bobbin I have ever spun!   It is holding 8 ounces of finely spun Alpaca!  I weighed it to be sure, subtracting the weight of the bobbin, of course!  This goal is reached;  a day off tomorrow!

TDF 2014 Day 7 and 8

It  might get boring to keep seeing this silver Alpaca, but it is a nice soft spin for me and I am using this fiber up which is a great bonus for the Tour de Fleece!  I spun up an ounce batt when  we got home last night and another 1 1/2 oz batt today.

The cats missed us.......they follow us around, just waiting for a lap!

 Today I also started a Mystery Shawl Knit A Long from Wendy Johnson.

  I am using the last of the Shetland I spun up. Once I figured out the direction she wanted us to go, it moves right along!   It is nice to have some choices for go-to projects from my control-center recliner!

TDF 2014 Day Five

I was a bit slower today but I dug out my delicious Alpaca fleece in silver grey and carded several ounces.  The actual spinning was only an ounce but I am spinning this in a fine weight yarn so I get a lot of miles in my ounce!

Just this Week

 I started the week with a visit from a friend who wanted to learn how to use acid dyes to color our fiber.  She raises alpaca so we had lots of that fiber to play with.  (This is my batch, it is from a fleece I had purchased from her in the Fall, Platinum Cloud.)

 After carding, the fiber is just too soft and delicious for words!

 I finished spinning the Shetland from that I started last weekend at the Spin-In.  (400 yards of fingering weight yarn destined for a shawl.)

 In the sewing room, I am making a new purse insert for myself from some vintage fabric.

 I have a new quilt on the frame, this on is from my neighbor for her grandson.

 The end of the week we were in St Augustine again for another foot doctor appt for Bill.

 I enjoyed watching the aerial antics of the pigeons; we used to have them in our barn in NY but do not see them where we now live.

 The tide was out and there were tons of Spring Break beach goers today.  Unfortunately, the midges were there, too, and we didn't stay long.

 The surfers were enjoying the 4' waves and the kids loved the tide pools.

 I have put up a new arrangement on our mantel.  This tree is from my Mom-I had bought it for her almost 40 years ago.  It has been in storage in her attic; she called my sister to dig it out and then gave it to my brother who drove down here for the wedding last month so the whole family got involved in bringing it to its new home!                                       

I am knitting away on the Philomena Cardigan........I substituted a new lace pattern for the bottom section and after one false start, having it working just fine.

       

 Bubba likes to be out all night ( he is neutered) and then takes over the good sleeping spots all day.

I used to keep pretties on the buffet but have left the center uncluttered so he can sprawl and not knock over anything!

 He does like the back of the couch , too, for a change of pace.

 PuffDaddy will nap wherever I am working, here, he is helping me while I spin.  It is interesting that he and Bubba stay indoors in the a/c when the temps climb outside while Bling, Nyki and JD stay out in the pool area most of the day and night!

 Speaking of the pool area-it is in full bloom in each corner-this is the day lily.

 ....the ground orchid,

 ....the African iris,

...the dew on the cactus roses.  We are spending a lot of time in this area , too!