Month: June 2010

No, not the running type.  A 2-mile walk around the block with Maggie is as intense as I ever plan to get.  This will be a spinning marathon.  I've cleared all other spinning projects off the calendar and will be concentrating on this lovely BFL:

At the Spin-In in April I bought 3 pounds to make my son a sweater.  I've subsequently learned that 3 pounds is probably overkill, but I'm going to go ahead and spin it all up in the hopes that I may even have enough for two sweaters.  I've already sampled and will be spinning a 3-ply heavy DK weight (I hope).  My experiences so far have taught me that I really need to do this all at once rather than intersperse it with other projects.  So it will be a marathon.  However, I am finding this a very relaxing fiber to spin.  After spinning so much merino/silk, this has a very different feel.  It's not as silky, crimpier but even though it's very clean, has a wonderful lanolin feel to it.  

My most recent project has been the aforementioned merino/silk.  This was the fiber:

 

When I 2-plied, I tried to see how much I could get on one bobbin – it worked out to 7 ounces!  However, toward the end it was very hard to treadle the heavy bobbin:

But it may have been worth it to get over 400 yards of a heavy laceweight/light fingering:

Another FO to report – Winterscape socks from Austermann Step.  These will be for a quilting friend:

And I am sad to report that Whistler has indeed been frogged.  The yarn is neatly wound and bagged and awaiting another Dale to be chosen when fall rolls around.  Although, at the rate our weather as been going, I may be casting on for warm woolies in the middle of August!  This leaves my knitting calendar also freed up to work on a project for my sil.  Her son is getting married in August and she has a rather ambitious afghan planned for him.  She enlisted the help of myself and my other sil (nice to have knitters in the family!).  My portion is two 6" x 60" panels of a leaf pattern – very easy and fun to do.  Almost mindless:

The yarn my sil is using is Wool-Ease.  I've never used it before and I'm finding I really like it.  It's 80/20 wool/acrylic, but is very soft and not at all "plastic" feeling as some acrylics are.  I've been looking for a go-to yarn for charity knitting and everyday wear for the girls.  I've been very, very disappointed in the Encore I've been using.  I know some pilling is inevitable, but the Encore's pilling has been horrendous.  Anyone out there have any experience with high wear garments made of Wool-Ease?

Back to spinning now!

My vacation is over and I think this is one of those times that I need a vacation to recover!  My sister and I flew back to Missouri to visit my parents.  Those of you who have followed my blog for a while might remember that my hometown is pretty small.  It's one of those places that you might miss if you blink:

Yup folks – that's it!  It was a little traumatic seeing my parents' house for the first time in a few years as they had to cut down the old maple tree in the front yard.  It was huge – I couldn't put my arms around the trunk – and had been there as long as I could remember.  But age and disease had taken its toll. 

Other than that the old homestead was as I remembered.  One of the nice things about Thomasville is the laid back lifestyle.  An exciting evening consists of hanging out on the front porch swing:

While I was there I relaxed and spent a lot of time knitting.  I found a good pattern for my handspun and completed a Multnomah shawl:

 

I wasn't able to make it full sized, but it turned out to be a nice little shoulder scarf/shawlette.

My parents flew back to Washington with us and it was great fun to see them meet their great-granddaughters:

The girls took to them immediately and showered them with hugs and kisses.  The girls had come up to our house on Wednesday and met my parents for the first time.  On Thursday we went down to their house.  When Mei-Mei saw my Dad she went running up to him, hugged him and said, "I missed you so much!"  Yes – they definitely made big points.

We were even able to get the whole family together for a portrait:

On Saturday we had our 4th Annual Spring Tea.  The tea was almost over before I remembered to break out the camera.  As you can see, Mei-Mei was quite proficient at serving tea;

Mom and Dad left yesterday and made it back home without incident.  The house is strangely quiet, but I've managed to fill my time productively.  I spent most of the day in my sewing room, straightening up and spinning.  Maggie even got to go out for a walk.  Life is back to normal.