Sock it to me

Like most sock knitters, I have a LOT of leftover fingering weight yarn. Some people use it to make "crazy socks" which is definitely one idea. I've also seen larger projects like blankets incorporating LO sock yarn, which is what I am interested in. One fiber friend that I follow on IG (amyhesting on IG, Amycakes on Ravelry) posted about a throw she was knitting from her LO sock yarn. So that is what I am doing now.

This pattern is surprisingly fun because of the (sometimes unexpected) color changes. It's fairly quick because of the US6 needles. And it is light and airy, which I appreciate in a summer project, as does Beau.

Knitting: See above. I also started a swatch of the yarn I tried to crochet last time, to see how well it felts.
Spinning: Yes, more red Tunis.
Weaving: I decided to give up on the last practice warp; there were too many loose warps, plus I was nearing the end anyway. I warped anew, to practice lettering.

The spinning guild met inside and in person this past week. Unfortunately, the building at Salomon Farm where we usually meet had been booked, so we met in the Big Barn... which has no air conditioning... and we were asked to mask... and there were fans running. It was hot and we couldn't hear each other. Show and tell was skipped, but I did manage to get rid of more fiber and yarn and a couple of handmade frame looms.

Fairly done

I picked up my county fair entries last Sunday. The judge's comments were generous and positive, but the process could use a few tweaks. The protocols for drop-off and pick-up are well organized, and comment sheets were attached to the items. In the display area, each item had a little card identifying the entrant, but nothing else. It would be helpful if the cards included information like the category (there's some overlap) and some detail about the item, i.e. title, content, technique, etc. Or maybe I am spoiled by art museums.

Spinning: Still plugging away on the red Tunis.
Weaving: Managed to get some inkling done this past week. The trick is to stop *before* my shoulders start to hurt.

I have some yarn I tinked from a sweater project that never got finished. In an effort to bust it, I started to crochet an afghan with it. After almost finishing one square, I've come to the conclusion that, one, the pattern is a bit too difficult (and some of the instructions are missing and/or could use better punctuation, and two, the color runs in the variegated yarn are too short for crochet. I'll have to come up with another idea.

An A for Effort

All my fiber arts and needlework entries for the county fair earned blue ribbons, and one a gold "Best in Section" ribbon, but I don't know what that means, or if it is even meaningful in any way since my work was the only entries in most of the sections. Sunday evening I will pick up my pieces and receive the judge's remarks. We'll see if that sheds any light on the results. Since it looks like my fiber friends did not enter anything, maybe I should wear all my ribbons to the next meeting, or would that be too passive aggressive?

We missed the races

Spinning: I accomplished some spinning this week, and that's about all.

My granddaughter wanted to bake and frost cookies, so that is what we did one day. Despite my trying to inculcate a "less is more" mentality, her motto seemed to be "half cookie, half icing". When I suggested they were inedible, she declared, "They're not for eating, they're for decorating."

For pain relief, I take three aspirin in the morning and three in the evening, targeting inflamation, plus I apply emu oil to my shoulders twice a day. Thursday I neglected this regimen in the morning, and by evening, my left arm was nearly useless. The inkle loom is still clamped to the dining room table, but every time I think about weaving on it, I also think about how much it hurts. I want to keep my skills active, in anticipation of the workshop at the end of September, but I may have to practice in ten-minute bursts.

Maybe not the best laid plan

As the cortisone injections wear off, my shoulders remind me why I want/need replacements. I scheduled surgery for the Wednesday following an inkle weaving workshop, forgetting that I will have to cease all pain relieving treatments about two weeks before that. Already I am having difficulty at the inkle loom, can't wait to see how non-functional my left shoulder will be by the end of September. At least I will be able to continue cortisone injections in my right shoulder.

Spinning: At least spinning doesn't hurt my shoulders. Since I decided to call a halt to spinning all the red Tunis, my attitude toward it has improved.
Weaving: I find twenty minutes of weaving at the inkle loom to be my limit before having to rest. Unfortunately, that left me halfway through one motif and I am having trouble picking up (HA) where I left off.

One of the members of the spinning guild has made inroads in recent years to get fiber arts included in the county fair. I've never participated, but decided to this year. And if you are going to enter one thing, you might as well enter several.

There was no fair last year, thanks to the pandemic, so you can submit anything created in the past two years. Unfortunately, many of my handwoven and handknit items were gifts that have already been distributed, but I came up with five to enter. The judges are not very well versed in fiber arts, so I don't expect to win or even get any helpful feedback. But it will be fun to take my granddaughter to the fair and show her my entries.

I give up (sorta)

I gave it the ol' college try, but the red Tunis just became worse after my attempts to clean it using hand cards. So I decided to continue spinning (and picking as I go) until I have enough to ply. Then the rest of the roving is going to become dryer balls. I want to move on to better things.

Spinning: I did spin a little more of the red Tunis this past week when not tearing my hair out over the hand carding.
Weaving: I finished not only the heddle pick-up exercises in Anne Dixon's book, but also the unheddled pairs and unheddled singles and pairs exercises. Now I am starting the combined unheddled and heddled ones.

The inkle study group met today where I not only learned how to pick up unheddled and heddled combinations, but picked up a few tips to improve my technique. There is something to be said for learning in a group vs being self-taught or learning from YT videos. Next time, we hope to tackle Baltic-style patterns.

The spinning guild met for our annual picnic (no shared food this time) under a park pavilion (it's been raining almost non-stop around here) this past week. I spread out my decluttered offerings and got rid of about half of it. The next day I found MORE bits and bobs of fiber. I plan to keep hauling this stash to meetings until no one wants any more of it.

Closet decluttering

One day I tried to store something in a closet, any closet, but all of my closets were too FULL. There is not a lot of storage in this house besides the bedroom closets. Even though I am the only one living here, in a three-bedroom house, it feels like not enough room. So I decluttered. Again.

After consulting with my granddaughter, I eliminated a lot of crafty things that she has outgrown: construction paper, glue sticks, markers, googly eyes, etc. We also sorted through jigsaw puzzles and craft kits. (Try as I might, I could not interest her in crafts - too tedious.) And then I hit the fiber stash.

The larger bin contains vast quantities of yarn that fall under one of two categories: Project Leftovers and What Was I Thinking? There are also some unused or little used tools, like spindles. The smaller bin is mostly samples of this, that, and the other, bits and bobs of fibers from workshops and swag bags and sampling. I plan to take all this to the next spinning guild meeting with plans to offer everything up for FREE. I may also take a couple of homemade (not by me) frame looms.

Weaving: Almost done with the heddled pick-up exercises from the Anne Dixon book, The Weaver's Inkle Pattern Directory, that I started in the last mini-workshop. We have another mini-workshop scheduled for next Saturday.

There is a basket of cotton yarn in the den beside the Ashford 24" rigid heddle loom that I am itching to weave. Arthritis in my shoulders makes that difficult to even think about. I've tried exercise, physical therapy, yoga, massage, medication, CBD, and corisone shots, but nothing has made much of a difference in the pain and mobility issues. BUT I now have a surgery date the last week of September for replacing the left shoulder. The tentative plan is to replace the right one a year later. With all medical procedures, I'm a bit apprehensive, but in this case, mostly relieved. I hope I am as happy with shoulder replacement as I am with hip replacement.

Pillow top to doll blanket to whatever

A while back (September, 2018, to be exact), I suggested to my granddaughter that she pick out two yarns and I would weave a pillow top with them. She selected the yarn left over from a crib blanket I had knit her, using blank Knit Picks superwash wool dyed with KoolAid, and pink Lion Brand Fun Fur (eyelash yarn). I was a bit dismayed, but soldiered on as grandmas tend to do. I didn't keep very good notes in Ravelry, but I think the plan was to weave the top using soumak stitch; each pass of soumak was divided by several passes of eyelash in plain weave. The problem was the eyelash did not pop through the top of the piece but through the bottom.

Soumak

Soumak reverse

I like the reverse side better, so hemmed the piece that way, using a zigzag stitch on my ancient Kenmore sewing machine (and I didn't do a very good job).

Weave structure: Soumak stitch (the "standard" one - there are a lot of different soumak stitches)
Loom: Ashford SampleIt (I assume)
Warp: 8/4 carpet warp (?) in white
Weft: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Superwash Worsted Bare, dyed with blue raspberry KoolAid, and Lion Brand Fun Fur Solid, in Soft Pink (101)
EPI/PPI: 7.5?/???
Size after hemming: 8"W x 10"L

Soumak

Soumak reverse

At one point, I thought this could be a doll blanket instead of a pillow top, but my granddaughter decluttered and all the dolls were evicted. I suppose I could still turn this object into a pillow top, but she didn't seem very excited about the idea. For the time being, it is a resting spot for some of her air dry clay sculptures.

In situ

This project is one of many almost finished ones in my UFO pile. With the passing of years between start and finish, frequently one's excitement wanes, but I've decided the UFOs either need to be finished or frogged.

Old dog, new tricks

Have you noticed that we learn the most from our mistakes? I've been experiencing that quite a bit with inkle weaving. When I am doing something correctly, I don't always know how I am doing it correctly... until something changes and suddenly I am doing it all WRONG. Figuring out what is wrong and how to right it solidifies the lesson, though.

Sometimes what I am doing is not wrong per se, but could be better. I tend to pull the weft thread too tight and the yellow doesn't show through the heddled design. Not wrong if that is your intention, but if you want to see the yellow, something has to change. (Different colors might have worked better, too.)

Sometimes when things are not going well, we need to ask for help. I am getting my inkle help from fellow inklers - we have another workshop scheduled this month. That blasted red Tunis, though, required my posting a question on my spinning guild's FB page. That resulted in links to two "No Fleece Left Behind" videos on YT:

No Fleece Left Behind
No Fleece Left Behind, Part 2

I will give these methods a try, although I reserve the right to abandon this roving altogether if I so choose.

Spinning: See above
Weaving: See above but also I managed to hem another UFO that has been sitting around for about three years. Separate post to come.

Over a year ago, my dishwasher stopped doing a good job. I reverted to handwashing while I researched a replacement, but then the pandemic hit. Now that things are better, my daughter helped me pick out a new Bosch 800 series dishwasher and my son-in-law installed it last Sunday. OMG - it does such a great job. And it's nearly silent, too! I've been washing all my dishes and glassware as I felt like nothing got very clean with handwashing. I am also experimenting with how best to load the machine - very different from my old KitchenAid, which was over 25 years old and spent most of those years running on softened well water that still contained a lot of iron. I thanked the old girl and gave her a good pat, then kicked her to the curb, literally.

Inkled

I follow a blog called Inkled Pink. Not many recent posts but for a while the owner was posting "daily band practice". That's what inkle weaving is - the creation of warp-faced bands. My goal is to practice a bit every day, most recently trying to learn pick-up, but I still found our recent mini inkle workshop to be helpful.

Two members of my weaving guild have been supporting each other (mostly remotely) as they explore inkle weaving. Cindy and Phil (who insists he is *not* a weaver despite evidence to the contrary) showed a select group of us how to pick up both unheddled and heddled designs. I had (mostly) mastered unheddled but could not figure out the heddled version. Cindy demonstrated and I learned what I was doing wrong.

Yellow is unheddled, gray is heddled

The group hopes to get together again, as the 2.5 hours *flew* by.

Spinning: Despite running the red Tunis through the drum carder, not enough VM fell out - there is still a lot there, so the spinning continues to go slow. I'm afraid if I take a break from it to spin something else, I'll never make it back.
Weaving: Inkling (see above).

The pandemic may not be over, but it is starting to feel that way for me and mine. My granddaughter is not vaccinated yet, so still wears a mask indoors when we are out and about, and we have been out and about A LOT. She spent a week at "zoo camp", then attended a kids art class at PFW. She is spending Tuesdays with me (I sense a book coming from this: Tuesdays with Grandma) which means I transport her hither and yon. She is also taking tennis lessons through parks and rec, piano lessons through PFW, and now she is interested in chess! Yesterday we spent some time at the local chess club (and learned a few things), then visited Artlink to see the member show. She is 10 now and even more fun to be with. I don't know much about chess, but if we are going to play with any frequency, I will have to up my game (so to speak).

The inkle hole

I'm enrolled in a mini workshop next Saturday, in executing pick-up on an inkle loom. Toward that end, I dragged out my already-warped inkle loom to practice with because I hate to feel unprepared. The inkle loom was warped from a previous practice session, but despite viewing a couple of YT videos, I managed to screw something up and could not advance the threads. I cut that bit off, then rewarped the loom... several times before I got it right. Today I found another warping error, but I think I can continue, at least for a while; I didn't position the part that loosens and tightens the warp correctly, so now I can't loosen it enough to slide the warp forward. We'll see how far I get before having to cut that warp off, too. Chalk it up to a learning experience, better now than in the workshop.

(As a knitter, I am used to preserving as much yarn as possible when working on a project, as sometimes the yarn is rather expensive. When the yarn is 8/4 carpet warp, however, I am wasting pennies, not dollars. Also, I save the waste to use as thrums.)

Spinning: More red Tunis, of course, but this week spun while sitting on the deck.
Weaving: Inkling (see above).

I took some UFOs to JoAnn to try to match material to line the bags and thread to hem a doll blanket. So many choices of fabric, most of them for quilting, it was paralyzing. Then there was the checkout line. Ugh. One thing I have no patience for anymore is standing in lines, especially if I have only a few things to purchase. I managed to find some thread at home I can use for the doll blanket. I supposed I can order the fabric online, then just pick it up at the store. Right now, I still feel rather paralyzed.

(A similar thing happened when shopping for a new dishwasher, but I took my daughter along and she helped me narrow the choices.)

Looped

I ran across four almost-finished washcloths last week while scrounging around in the studio. My brain has no memory of this project, but I had left a brief entry in Ravelry after starting the project, in November, 2016. Slowly, bits and pieces came back to me: I think the inspiration for this bit of weaving came from a program at a weavers guild meeting. Otherwise, BLANK.

Weave structure: looped pile as described for Looped-Pile Washcloths in Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom
Loom: Ashford rigid heddle, 24" maybe?
Yarn: Pisgah Yarn and Dyeing Co., Sugar n Creme Ombres, in 'Spring Meadows'
EPI/PPI: 7.5/7.5
Size after hemming and washing: 8" long, 7.75" wide

The pic above I believe reflects the original pattern: a looped row followed by three plain weave rows. The one below places the looped pile rows closer together.

The pattern invited the reader to experiment with the looped stitches. Below is a heart.

I'm not sure what I was attempting with this design.

When I found these washcloths, the ends had been machine stitched. After the shrinkage debacle on the recent dishcloths, I decided to send these through the laundry before the final hemming, which proved to be successful. As I become more confident in finishing techniques, I hope to tackle more of the weaving UFOs that are laying around.

Out and about

Decatur (Indiana) has an annual sculpture tour. Each year about this time, new scuptures replace the ones on display from the previous year. Friday night was the unveiling, plus music and food trucks. A fiber friend of mine and her husband have a studio/gallery in downtown Decatur. They hosted an open house this weekend, which my SO and I decided to attend. We did not go Friday night - besides the crowds, it was really HOT. Saturday was not much better temperature-wise, but no crowds, so we actually were able to talk with the artists. Of course, I was mainly interested in the weaving, but my SO (a photographer) is interested in painting. Jovan is 72, never painted a stroke until four years ago, but he has quite a body of work already. It's never too late!

Spinning: Still slogging away at the red Tunis. *sigh*
Weaving: While looking for something, I ran across a set of four "loopy" dishcloths that were complete except for being hemmed. Initially, I had not idea where they came from, but fortunately had left a brief mention of them in Ravelry at the start. I washed them yesterday and have started to hem them.

I'm typing this on the deck. The heat has abated and we are looking forward to highs in the 80's and 70's as the week progresses. As I've said before, fiber takes a backseat to yardening this time of year, and that is okay.

Foiled (I hope)

Ordinarily, my cats leave fiber alone. However. Beau the Feline Destroyer of All Things Nice sometimes eats roving. Not just any roving - he does have his standards - but this habit has interfered with my desire to move a spinning wheel to the den. I came up with this idea, though.

The roving is protected by a gallon Ziploc bag. So far, this has worked. The real test will be with Shetland top, which seems to be Beau's favorite fiber for consumption. We shall see.

Fiber prep: With some help from my granddaughter, we cranked the rest of the red Tunis through the drum carder, in half-ounce chunks.
Spinning: I have started spinning some of this red Tunis and, yes, there is less VM in it. What a relief!

I seem to have developed a bit of a case of agoraphobia from the pandemic. I tend to be a homebody to begin with, so enjoyed having an excuse to not go anywhere. Now that things are opening up a bit, I find I still don't want to go anywhere. I was planning to attend the weaving guild meeting in person this past week, but at the last minute decided to Zoom it. I'm glad I Zoomed, as I was tired anyway.

I'm glad I attended, though. The program was on yarn, or more specifically, the making of yarn. Even though I feel like I know about yarn, I still learned a thing or two from the presentation. For example, pulling yarn from a center-pull yarn can result in the untwisting of the plies. To avoid this, when winding a skein on a ball winder, first slide a toilet paper core over the center of the ball winder and wind the yarn onto it. Then when using the yarn, be it for knitting or weaving or whatever, insert a dowel or straight knitting needle into the core and unwind the ball from the outside. A couple of strategically placed holes in a shoe box to support the dowel helps faciliate this.

Summertime (more or less)

This happens every summer: yardwork takes over and fiber falls by the wayside. However, the weaving guild is having some summer sessions for their study groups. I want to participate in the inkle weaving one. The loom is sitting on the dining room table, just awaiting my attention. Too bad the weather is so nice. ;-)

Knitting: I *did* fix the pocket on the Reader's Wrap. It looks okay but only because I fiddled with it to get it to lay right.
Spinning: Over 200 yards of the red Tunis is now plied. Even though I thought I was being meticulous in picking out the VM, while plying I noticed more. There is still almost a pound of this fiber remaining. I plan to run it through my drum carder, to see if I can knock most of that VM out before spinning the rest.

I gifted the waffle weave dishcloths with instructions to use them and abuse them and to let me know how they hold up. The towel and placemat are staying here. Sometimes you just have to gift things to yourself.

Reader's Wrap, naturally

This project is basically a big rectangle with pockets. On Ravelry, a few knitters ask how to make this using different yarn. In my uncharitable moments, I think, OMG, people! Knit a swatch! But I know that, as a beginner, I slavishly followed pattern instructions, rarely daring to go my own way. This one would be difficult to get wrong, though.

Pattern: Reader's Wrap
Yarn: Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool, in '98 Natural' (total yardage: 870.6 yards, 425g)
Needles: US9 (although I cast on and bind off one size up, US10)
Modifications: Used seed stitch instead of moss stitch for border and pockets

For some reason, one of the pockets ended up wonky. At first, I was going to just let it go, but that didn't last. I resewed the pocket, but I still had to do some fudging to get it to look right. I am rather baffled as to what the problem is.

If you want to bust some stash and don't mind miles of stockinette, this is the project for you.

A towel and a placemat

For some reason, weavers appear to be fixated on weaving tea towels. There are towel exchanges within guilds, between guilds, at major conferences, etc. I'm not a tea towel weaver. In fact, I don't think I even own anything that could be considered a tea towel. I am on a fiber diet, and there is a lot of 8/4 cotton warp in my yarn closet, however, which makes nice tea towels.

Weave structure: plain weave
Loom: Ashford rigid heddle, 24"
Yarn: Maysville 8/4 cotton carpet warp, in pink, yellow, aqua
EPI/PPI: 12.5/12.5
Size after hemming, prior to washing: Towel = 17.25" x 29", placemat = 17.75" x 13"
Size after hemming and washing: Towel = 16" x 26.5", placemat = 16.5" x 11.5"

Originally, there was enough warp for two towels, but something happened to my thought process (a.k.a. a brain fart) that prevented me from stopping where I should have. So, just as I ended up with three-and-a-half waffle weave dishcloths, I wound up with one-and-a-half towels; the half towel is now a placemat. And, just for fun, I doubled the weft for the placemat, using two colors at a time. I like the result.

I secured the ends with an overcast stitch, then zigzagged on a sewing machine, then rolled the hemmed and finished using a zigzag stitch. Plain weave does not shrink like waffle weave, nor did these items shrink in a wonky manner. I'm pretty pleased with them, despite the selvages.

A gathering

Both my kids have May birthdays, so we usually get together around Mother's Day. Of course, last year that was not possible, so this year's gathering was extra special. My son and his girl friend had visited last October, for my birthday, but otherwise had not been here. My daughter managed to slip out of work early and pick up my granddaughter, so we had more than the usual suspects. We actually ATE OUT, then visited a couple of local galleries before heading back to my house for rhubarb pie and homemade ice cream. It was SO GOOD to see them!

Knitting: I finished the Reader's Wrap, BUT. One of the pockets looks wonky. At some point, I will fix it, but for right now, I am counting that project as DONE; separate post to come.
Spinning: Still working on the red Tunis.
Weaving: The towels are in the laundry as we "speak". Separate post to come.

Also in the laundry are most of my masks. I will keep a few on hand, as some places still require them; I will comply. I thought it would feel weird to stop wearing a mask everywhere, but actually it felt quite normal. We are more adaptable than some would lead us to believe.

P.S. The cortisone has kicked in and my shoulders feel MUCH better.

Waffle weave dishcloths

The impetus for this project came from a program at my local weaving guild. They are getting better about including something more than weaving cloth on a harness loom for sewing, so part of the presentation involved waffle weave on a rigid heddle. I warped my Sampleit loom prior to the program, not realizing just how much shrinkage would occur. If I were to repeat this project, I would start with a wider warp.

Weave structure: Waffle weave
Loom: Ashford Sampleit
Yarn: Elmore-Pisgah Peaches & Cream in 'Daisy Ombre' (although my SO calls it 'Buttered Popcorn')
EPI/PPI: 7.5/7.5
Size prior to hemming: 8"W x 10"L
Size after hemming, prior to washing: 8"W x 8"L
Size after hemming and washing: 6.75"W x 7"L

I began and ended each dishcloth with an overcast stitch (as described in Finishing Touches for the Handweaver, by Virginia M. West) to secure the warp and weft. I wove seven rows in plain weave at each end of each dishcloth, to fold over for the hem. (The odd number is because the pattern provided by my fellow weaver starts with the heddle in the down position; it is a personal quirk that I always begin weaving with the heddle in the up position, throwing from the right.)

Not trusting the overcast stitch to be secure enough, I also sewed a zigzag stitch at each end with my trusty Kenmore sewing machine. Then I rolled the hem and zigzagged again. As you can see, there was some pull-in; I don't have a temple for this narrow of a width.

Since these are workhorse dishcloths, I ran them through the washer and dryer just as I would for any cotton dishcloth. The expected shrinkage occurred, but the hemmed edges shrank less than the rest of the fabric. Perhaps I should have refrained hemming until after the shrinkage.

I gave one of these to my SO with the instructions to use it as he would any dishcloth, even though it is woven and not knit like the others I have given him. The others will go to my son and daughter, with the same instructions. I want to see how they hold up.

The instructions came from a YouTube video, but I don't have the link. A quick search reveals there are several videos out there to choose from. The Weaver's Idea Book, by Jane Patrick, contains several "mock waffle weave" patterns. Regardless, all involves the use of a pickup stick. I was able to weave each dishcloth in a single sitting, despite my shoulders.

I thought I had enough warp for four washcloths, but the last one was only a half. I considered turning it into a coaster, but instead tucked it behind the kitchen faucet where my wet hands drip water.

Divide and conquer

When I first learned to spin, I asked my instructor how much yarn to spin on each spool for later plying. Her answer was rather vague - about three-quarters full. The more I spin, the more useless I have found that suggestion. What I do now is weigh the roving I plan to spin (using a kitchen scale), then divide it in half or thirds, depending on how many plies I am planning. So a 100g ball of roving becomes either two 50g balls or three 33g balls.

I don't pre-draft by elongating the roving, as I invariably end up with thick and thin roving. Instead, if I think I need to thin out the roving, I divide the roving lengthwise.

Then I spin each sub-ballsworth (is that a word?) on a separate spool. When I ply, I invariably run out of one spool before the other(s). If two-plying, I can just wind the remaining single into a center-pull ball and ply that from either end. Similarly, I can three-ply from a center-pull ball and the remaining spool.

When spinning large amounts, like the current red Tunis, when I run out of yarn on one spool, I pick up the next ball, divide it, and start spinning on the empty spool, then I spin additional roving on the non-empty spools.

I hope that explanation makes sense.

Spinning: Red Tunis. Need I say more? I am on the third spool of the first ball of roving.
Weaving: I put on my big girl panties and dragged out the sewing machine to hem the dish cloths and the towels. The dish cloths have been through the wash already (post to follow}; the towels were late to the dance, so will be washed next week.

The CDC now says the fully vaccinated no longer need to wear masks. Yet when I ran errands yesterday, every place I went, masks were still required. I'm okay with that because how do we know whether someone is fully vaccinated? You can't ask - medical info is private. My county is about 40% fully vaccinated, not enough for herd immunity. We are not out of the woods yet.

Yesterday I received another round of cortisone shots for my shoulders. There is a numbing agent included in the shot, so for a day or two, most of the pain is gone. Then it returns until the cortisone kicks in after a few more days. So today is relatively painfree. Sometimes I worry that I am being a wimp about the pain, but the PA who administered the injections told me the surgeon described my arthritis as SEVERE (all caps) in my chart, which he had never seen before.

Happy Mom's Day

I'm not one for holidays, especially the more contrived ones. However, after my widowed dad remarried late in life, I made a point of sending my stepmother a Mother's Day card every year. She really appreciated it, even told me I was her favorite stepdaughter. (I was her *only* stepdaughter.)

Knitting: Both pockets are knitted and blocking. All that is left is to stitch them onto the Reader's Wrap.

Spinning: Still plugging away at the red Tunis.
Weaving: My warp measurement was off, so I will get only 3-1/2 waffle weave dishcloths. The half one will probably get folded in half and turned into a coaster.

I really need to develop a case of finishitis. There are quite a few UFO's lying around here. All they need is some finishing work like hemming. And then there are those fleeces in the garage that I have yet to tackle. So much fiber, so little time.

Time crunch

Some days I feel somewhat overwhelmed. How did I ever manage to get stuff done while I was still working? I know I clean more since replacing all the carpet with laminate - carpeting holds onto pet hair whereas the laminate allows for tumbleweeds of detritis. And now that things are opening up a bit, I'm out and about a bit more. Then there is the yard and garden and some home improvement and repair. Gah!

Knitting: The blocking of the Reader's Wrap was a success! The curl is gone, so I have been knitting the pockets. One down, one to go.

Spinning: More red Tunis. As I spin, I hold an internal debate on whether to spin it all or leave some as roving for future weaving projects.
Weaving: After the guild program on waffle weave, I tried my hand at it and failed. But I was following the directions for some "pseudo" waffle weave patterns I found in a book. This week I unwove that bit and started over, following the instructions from the program. Success! I think there is enough warp on this loom for four dishrags, so I will carry on.

My SO and I spent Saturday on the local Rural Artist Studio Tour. Last year's event was cancelled, and some of the regulars apparently chose to forego participation this year, but we still had a good time chatting up the artists. Then we stopped at a new microcreamery near downtown. As we chowed down on double scoops of hand crafted ice cream, we wandered around the historic West Central neighborhood. What a delightful day! Maybe someday, when the state reaches herd immunity (barely halfway there now), we will be able to be out and about without masks and social distancing.

Spring cleaning

There is a special place in hell reserved for the engineers who design stuff that can't be easily cleaned. The nooks and crannies defy scrubbing by toothbrush and picking with toothpicks. Some of that grime will be there until the end of time.

Fiber prep: I was hoping to have started processing a fleece by today, but no such luck. I did purchase some lingerie bags, as that is what will hold the raw fiber while it is being cleaned.
Knitting: The Reader's Wrap body is finished and is being blocked post haste. If the blocking ends the curling, I will add the pockets.

Spinning: More red Tunis. (This section of the progress report is going to be very boring for a very long time.)
Weaving: I wove in the ends of the blue sampler. I'm ready to prematurely end the macrameing of the ends - it's really tedious.

My granddaughter slept over Friday night, a real treat. Having her here no longer feels like babysitting, more like having a guest in the house, she has grown up so much. I feel like I have missed out on a year of her life.

Busy week

I was hoping to have some FOs to report this week, but for some reason I had a bunch of other stuff to attend to instead. While waiting on my granddaughter at one of her activities, I intended to weave in some ends on the blue sampler, but the needle container I grabbed on the way out was empty. Grrr!

Knitting: I just measured the Reader's Wrap and came up with 55", less than I reported last week. Maybe I can't count?
Spinning: More red Tunis.
Weaving: I did finish weaving the towels and pulled them off the loom. The expectation is they will shrink in both length and width.

I stopped by the Little Shop of Spinning in Roanoke (INDIANA) today, to pick up a few magazines (Wheel and two issues of Little Looms). The owner Phia and I enjoyed a nice chat which included a description of how she cleans fleece. I won't go into detail until later, but I now see a way forward dealing with the fleece in the garage.

Our governor lifted the mask mandate (too early, in my opinion). Most businesses are still "requiring" them and most customers are cooperating, but today I noted that more people than usual are going maskless. Makes me doubly happy that I am vaccinated.

Last zoom?

Last week the weavers guild had a blended meeting: in-person (masked) AND Zoom. That was the same day I received my second vaccination for Covid-19. I anticipate attending next month's meeting in person. A milestone. The spinning guild will probably continue to meet online, for now.

Knitting: Up to 56" on the Reader's Wrap. In the homestretch!
Spinning: Plugging away on the red Tunis, with much sighing over the VM.
Weaving: I just up and decided I was done with the wall hanging on the frame loom and pulled it off. There is still some finishing work to do. (More sighing.) Added a few more rows to the macrame ends on the blue sampler. And I'm nearing the end of the towels on the rigid heddle loom, although it looks like it will be one towel and a placemat.

The inkle weaving study group provided the program for the weavers guild meeting. We are also having a workshop in September on weaving Krokbragd on an inkle loom. So now I am interested in shifting focus to the inkle loom. One reason I abandoned it a while back was because of my eyesight, but now I have new glasses. I'm hoping it will be easier on my shoulders than the weaving I have been doing lately. We shall see.

Not the weather

This morning I woke up with much shoulder pain. Since it is GORGEOUS outside, I cannot blame the weather. I think it is weaving and folding queen size sheets and doing a bit of exercise with light weights. One problem with arthritis is, on good days, I do too much and pay for it the next.

Knitting: Up to 48" on the Reader's Wrap. I am becoming a bit concerned over the curling of the fabric, however. Others commented on this problem on Ravelry. When I reach 60", I will give it a good block. If it doesn't behave, it will go into time out while I decide how to move forward (or backwards, as the case may be).
Spinning: I *did* start spinning the red tunis. There is a big difference between spinning clean merino top and tunis roving with a fair amount of VM. It will be slow going while I pick out the detritus.
Weaving: Did a bit of work on the wall hanging and the towels. I also started macrameing the warp ends on a sampler piece. Using a book I checked out from the local library via Hoopla, I am doing some simple square knots. It is going very, very slowly. I think it has been over 40 years since I last tried macrameing.

Look at all those ends to weave in! I made this before I learned the "meet and separate" method of tapestry weaving which leaves no ends.

Last Wednesday, when I was scheduled for my second Covid shot, I woke up feeling ill. No fever, but chills and symptoms of perhaps a norovirus. So I rescheduled my shot for this coming week. It's always something, isn't it?

Achy, breaky

Recently someone asked me if my arthritis acts up when the weather is bad. I have good days and bad days, but had not equated them to the weather. However, this past week has been mostly rainy, and boy, do I hurt! Of course, it might be the cortisone shots wearing off and/or because I have been weaving on a frame loom which means holding my arms more horizontal. When some sunshine appears, I will have to pay attention to my pain level.

Knitting: Despite my aches and pains, I am up to 42" on the Reader's Wrap.
Weaving: I finished the first towel on the rigid heddle loom and started the second. But that project has languished a bit as I dragged out an unfinished project that's on a frame loom, unwove some of it, and changed it from a tote bag to a wall hanging. It's a prototype for a possible project for my daughter.

I'm actually weaving it upside down (the tapestry, not me)

I started this piece before taking Rebecca Mezoff's online course in tapestry weaving, so the weaving techniques change partway through, including how I do the flossa stitches. Since I am running out of yarn, it is almost done.