Sick day

Even retirees need to take a sick day once in a while. Last Thursday was it for me, a 24-hour bug that laid me low, probably a norovirus. I tested for covid, just to be sure it wasn't something worse.

Knitting: Cranking on the three projects: socks, sweater, cowl. Nearing the end on all three.

And that is about all for this week. Except I purchased these sweater clasps from the Woolly Thistle.

They are made of pewter. This style is called 'Karin' and each is about 42mm from end to end. I plan to use them with the bog jacket I knit oh-so-long-ago. Once upon a time I wanted to add a zipper to that piece, but never got around to it. From out of the blue, sweater clasps seemed like a great alternative.

Studio re-org

I had the French doors in the den replaced with a patio door this past week, as the former were quite leaky. That meant shoving stuff around to clear the area for the installers, which made me reconsider how I have my fiber workstations organized. The bedroom-turned-studio is not working for me, maybe because that room feels so FULL.

I think the studio would work better as a storage space while the den is more attractive as a work area. But I don't want all my wheels and looms and fiber cluttering up the den. So the plan is to have only projects I am actively working on in the den. We'll see how well I can stick to that concept.

There are two spinning wheels in this corner; I can spin on only one at a time.

New door, lets in more light

Project table

Knitting station

Knitting: Still working on the sleeves of the Lempi sweater, have started the decreases, so now I have to remember to do that every fifth row. My quota for the cowl is at least two rounds per day - oops, I haven't done that yet today. I took the socks to the guild meeting, as they are my "traveling" project, but I have also been working on them at home, to get them finished in a more timely manner.
Weaving: The second washcloth is woven.

I went to the spinners guild meeting the past week, and it was... meh. Or maybe I was meh. I know I was tired, but usually these meetings perk me right up. Not this time. I would not have gone at all, but I've been organizing a gathering for Spinning and Weaving Week and brought the sign-up sheet. Between the two guilds, twenty people have signed up, which is a *great* response. At least I feel a little excited about that.

Burned out?

The weaving guild meets September through June, so this past week was our first meeting of the new year. And I found myself less than enthusiastic. We met at the library so that we could view (or, for some of us, view again) the weaving exhibit. I don't know if it was the different venue or the smaller than normal for September turnout or my energy level, but I could not wait to get out of there and go home. I belong to two fiber guilds, and while that doesn't seem like a lot, sometimes it's just too much for this introvert.

Knitting: The "traveling" socks went with me to the weaving guild meeting, so some more progress there. I'm back to knitting the sweater sleeves; my goal is to finish a pair of color bands each day. I've settled on how to proceed with the cowl: since I won't have enough of one color to have one "main" color, I'll shift those along with the contrast colors.

Weaving: I'm now on the second loopy washcloth, weaving 2 picks between each row of loops (the previous one had three picks). I also wove the hem on the warp for a rug.

I keep track of the colors of the Lempi sweater in a small notebook. Since I know fiber people will ask which color is from what material and I'm not likely to memorize them all, I wish there were some way to label them on the sweater. Maybe embroider labels with the pertinent information and sew them on the inside? The sweater is a lot of work; not sure I want to add more needlework to that.

Have a documented week.

Diverted

Sometimes I wonder if I like to weave at all. Part of the problem is I am easily distracted by other projects (ADHD, you know). I am finding it easier to stick to a project if I have something to listen to, like NPR. So the situation is not hopeless.

Knitting: I took the socks to a spin-in yesterday and made some progress. The sleeves on the Lempi sweater are underway; I decided to follow the same colors as the body of the sweater, but the stripes won't be as wide. The Timberlane cowl is giving me fits, plus I keep second guessing my color choices.
Weaving: I finished one of the loopy washcloths; the loop-making is slow going.

And that's all I've accomplished this week?!? Time just gets away from me.