Second Half as Grand as the First

 On Wednesday, I had a play date with a friend's children!  We toured our neighbors farm, took a swim and when the rain chased us indoors, we made the melted beads suncatchers!  We made some small ones to hang from the bottom of the large disc so this is a great wind chime now, too!  If you look closely, the kids ARRANGED each bead instead of dumping them in the cake pan.  This took forever but they were happy and I took the cues for patience from them!

 I am seeing the sock morph from paper to foot!  It is a harder knit than the usual Fair Isle charts which are regular in their repeats but I am catching on to the randomness of the design!

 I finished the first of many of these cotton wash cloths to go with my soaps!

A Good Week so Far!

 I began the rainy Monday by attempting to hand sew the binding on the quilt.  I immediately attracted a rainy day napper instead!  So of course I picked up my knitting instead...

I did manage to finish the binding and washed and dried it!  It is all packed and ready to deliver!

I knit my little skein of milk fiber into its swatch for the binder!

I made some goat's milk soap with lavender.  I used my first bar this morning in the shower-wow!  It is such a luxury.

The socks are officially finished.

I made a summer dress for a friend who had given me the fabric and asked for a dress in exchange!

Last night, I began the Field of Flowers socks but immediately ran into a problem.  The socks were way too large for a woman and since Bill doesn't appreciate flowers on his feet I had to re-size the chart.  This is my third drawing but I am ready to start it again in the morning!

H for Hurry!

                                            Hanks of hand spun yarn!

Hibiscus!

I am terribly behind on this week's post........it is almost time for I!!!!!!!!

Crossing the Finish Line!

 I had spun 2120 yards of my goal of 2125 yards so this morning after getting ready for church, I spun up the milk by-product fiber for my final 37 yards.........but when I finished taking it off the wheel, I was still short 5 yards!  A quick dive in the stash uncovered this bit of a batt!

 So, after church, I spun up the little Corriedale  batt and achieved an additional 60 yards and so attained my goal of 2125 yards (miles)......the distance of the Tour de France!

This is what the 2,180 yards looks like!  I am smiling like the winner, Christopher Froome of Britain!

Approaching the Finish Line

 I hit the floor spinning this morning to catch up on the race........I needed 2,042 yards by this evening!  This skein added 112 yards of Peruvian Wool spun fingering weight.

 By noon I had two skeins adding another 110 yards of the same kind of wool.

 After dinner, I finished the third skein of another 110 yards so I surpassed my goal tonight by ending with 2,088 yards!!!  Tomorrow I only need another 37 yards and I will accomplish that after church by spinning the July fiber from the Fiber Binder Club!

 On the knitting front, I am making another feather and fan pattern-the stitches are the same but I left out the garter row between patterns.....I am pleased with the results.  I also reduced the needle size to a 1 which makes a nice firm fabric with the Stroll handpainted yarn from KnitPicks.

 I have the second sock already clipping along on the needles!

I did sew the binding onto the T shirt quilt but didn't manage to get the hand sewing done.  It will wait for me!

Being Home and Getting it in Gear Again

                                            
 Proof I finished the feather and fan socks in NY-sitting in the SYR airport before boarding!

A welcome home sunset.

I got the socks washed and blocked and in the ta-da pile!

I don't have anyone in mind for these at this time.

 I thought it was about time I caught up on the Tour de Fleece since I did NO spinning while in NY.  I had brought this sliver and a drop spindle to spin at my parents but the event just never materialized.  Now that I am home,  I oiled up the Ashford Traveler and got my miles in for today.

And then I turned the quilt since I had stalled on that before the trip.  Sometimes the quilt gets too big to be able to stitch the full design and when that happens, you have to unpin the quilt and turn it to stitch from the other end.  I got it all turned and realigned with the pantograph and finished it....I worked off and on all day switching between spinning and stitching!

 I managed to finish the other bobbin of single and then plied them into the finished yarn.

 It is a very springy yarn since I spun it woolen-I wish you could give it a squeeze to see what I mean!

204 yards of sport weight yarn added to the TDF pile!  Since my goal was to spin the equivalent of race miles in yards...I am still a bit behind.

But the quilt is also finished against all odds (like running out of thread just a few feet from the edge...!  grrr)  Tomorrow, another skein of yarn and binding!!!!

G is for Garden (my Dad's!)

 I am behind on this week's entry but travel will do that to you.....We will take a belated tour of some of the highlights from  my Dad's yard.  July is a great time to visit Central NY!
This is a new Hydrangea bush.

 I forgot what these are called.....Mom, help me out when you read this to Dad!

 Mums.

 Two kinds of fluffy blooms here...

 A hollyhock of the most beautiful , deep, almost black, purplish red bloom!

It looks like velvet!

(I am going to post date this to keep it in line with future posts!  Here is the link to the main blog for more entries and links!)

Northern Waters

 Saturday evening we took a trip to Lake Ontario in Oswego.  The shore is made not of sand but of round rocks!

 Even the water here is rocky bottomed!  For July, it is nice to have the water clear and not mossy!

 This is the other nice reason to go here; the fish fry stand!

The lake was very smooth and inviting!

Sunday afternoon after church and lunch we drove to my brother's for a boat tour along the Seneca River.

He gives a great tour and Alicia got to take the helm for a bit!

We also got to meet their newest family member, Finley, a labradoodle!  She liked the boat ride, too!

Bob took a spin in Shelly's summer wheels.......I can appreciate a good, red sports car!

I finished sock one of the feather and fan pair!  On to the second, I have turned the heel already!

Savoring the Sharing

Mom and I set right to work to mark the celebration of her anniversary with a wall hanging!  We dug through her stash and found the right colors for her sun room.  We chose the wonky log cabin block because it fits our family!  It was fun to work together again!  It is done and hanging on the wall!

In the afternoon, Dad , Mom and I picked  2 quarts of raspberries out back.....it was fun to remember the mosquitos, prickers and other hazards that make these so delicious!!!!

For supper, we made mountain pies!  One of my 'coming home' requests!

The pan was full in no time and soon we were, too!

I am knitting on the top of my airplane sock....I am adding a feather and fan top to the sock.  I had some false starts because the pattern wouldn't line up but found my error by drawing it on paper and now it is lining up and adding up just the way it is supposed to!