And a bit more organized

It's been a busy week, so not much fiber work happened. My primary focus has been on updated landscape, which you can read about here. Now that the yard is all pretty, I can't stop looking at it. This motivated me to rearrange the den a bit so that I can see most of the backyard and birdfeeders from my recliner.

I have a 24" Ashford rigid heddle loom in the den, along with a Joy 2 spinning wheel. Both of those were shifted over, once I made some room by moving the vertical wire shelving from its corner and making it horizontal. The shelf space is now doubled.

From last week's Art in the Park, I brought home a lidded container woven from sweetgrass and plastic, which now holds afghans. I was tired of leaving them draped over the back of furniture where the cats would bed down, covering them with fur and snagging them with claws.


Knitting: I am nearing the finish line for the Habitation throw! It should be completed this week.

The spinning guild had it's annual picnic last Tuesday. We don't conduct much business at the picnic, but Parks and Rec sent two emissaries to discuss the Fiber Festival. They want to eliminate the spring version and combine it with the Fall Festival. About 300 people a day went through the Fiber Fest this year; the Fall Festival attracts over 6000. So it doesn't make much sense to put a lot of effort into the former when the latter would not only raise our profile in the community, but also provide the vendors with an audience in the mood to buy. (Both guilds I belong to not only demonstrate their craft, but also sell items to raise money.) I contacted the weaving guild about this information. Parks and Rec wants to test out the change *this* September, so we don't have much time to prepare.

A little more organized

In my last post, I bemoaned my lack of organization regarding fiber and everything associated with it. However, I was able to easily locate the silk scarves and art tissue. That was because all of the aborted craft projects my granddaughter started are in one place. That is the secret - put everything in one place. And I started to do that.

One of the double closets in my bedroom is now the roving and commercial yarn stash, and it is FULL. It's rather shocking, as I have enough fiber to last me the rest of my life - and yet I buy more! A cupboard in the "studio" contains all my handspun, and the closet in the same room contains all the fiber I've dyed. There is more organizing to do, especially regarding little tools, but this is a great start.

Knitting: I actually feel like I am in the homestretch regarding the Habitation throw. It's knit on the bias, and the decreasing rows are getting shorter and shorter.
Spinning: I finished 3-plying all the Shetland. There is still a bit of roving left, so I have been trying to spin very thin singles with the plan of 2-plying it, then joining the plied yarn into "bundles" for tapestry weaving. We'll see how that works out.
Weaving: I advanced a bit on the skyline tapestry on the pocket loom.

The Three Rivers Festival started this weekend. The one event I always attend is called Art in the Park. My observation from today's visit was there are a lot of new vendors, which is exciting. I made a few purchases, like this weaving. It is three coaster-sized works done on the same warp. This will be a good example to take to the tapestry workshop in August.
July is also the month for the Allen County Fair. I'm gathering candidates for my entries. Last year I didn't have much competition, but hopefully some of my fiber friends will join in the fun.

Broken wheel

I was spinning along on my Ashford Joy 2 the other day when it broke. More specifically, the rubber thingy that connects the treadle to its arm broke. I think the part is called a "poly conrod joint". Hopefully, my local spinning shop can fix it for me. I could order the part and try to fix it myself, but my hands don't work as well as they used to - no gripping power.


Knitting: Still plugging away on the Habitation throw. I used to count stitches on just the eyelet rows, but I've been having so much trouble with the decrease rows that I have been counting stitches on every row. Down to 167 stitches per row.
Spinning: See above.
Weaving: I started towel number two, am almost halfway finished with it. I also addressed some finishing work on a wall hanging I created quite some time ago but it's still not done. I unwove the wall hanging I started a couple of weeks ago; it just wasn't working for me. I restarted it, though.

During the summer, Fort Wayne hosts festival after festival in our revitalized downtown. The past two years have been festival-less for the most part, but it looks like things are back to "normal". Since I needed to be downtown anyway today, my SO and I hit up Germanfest, celebrating its fortieth year. We ate brats and potato salad, and watched part of the "wiener dog" races. Even though I am not a big festival-goer, I admit I got a little teary eyed about the seeming normalcy of this kitschy event, even nostalgic about the polka music.

I hope things are feeling at least somewhat normal for you, too.