How To Eat An Elephant

Morgan Monroe State Forest

I got to go hiking this weekend, and it was a wonderful, difficult time. I used to consider myself an accomplished day-tripper, but it has been many years since any serious trips. This winter has been a tough one on my body. Poor cardio and a knee injury made me nervous about how I would do.

It was a beautiful day, about 80 degrees. We went three miles in about an hour and a half. There were moderate hills with some switchbacks and I found myself panting more than once. But I did it!  I hope this signifies the return of this most enjoyable activity into my life.

Beautiful wildflowers on hike

Today's Project: Spinning

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, of course! That's how I feel about my current projects. I think spinning has re-captivated my attention. I am truly enjoying the process again. Yesterday, I pulled the wheel out before the whole house woke up and was able to spin out on the patio with the morning birdsong and spring flowers. Ahh. That lasted about 20 minutes before the child joined me, and the mood was broken. But now I remember how thoroughly relaxing spinning can be.

It's hard to take a spinning selfie

Something I need to spend some time on is the cleanliness and organization of my crafting area. It has become a hot mess, especially with me dragging out so many old projects. If I can't get to this during normal business hours, I might have to make it part of my hour of creativity.

Podcast du Jour

• Just One More Row--these wonderful ladies are currently going through a lot of health issues that take up a bit of the podcast, but I love listening to them for their knitting content

Knitting Corner

I just have to let you know, one silk stocking is DONE and the second is cast on! I now think I can get them done in time to wear to my next event over Memorial Day weekend.\

My happy buddy Wiley

Creativity To Go

Clematis coming soon!

The yard is coming to life as April draws to a close. This is my fourth summer in this house, and I finally feel like I have my yard "established". Perennials have taken hold and are coming on with a vengeance. My front flower bed looks full and respectable, though of course it isn't finished.

And garden season is upon me. We made a 10' x 4' raised bed last year that was quite a success. I got lettuce planted and it is trying its best to grow. I had a surprise crop of seedlings pop up. I was hoping for tomatoes, but once the second leaves came on, I found this:

Volunteer Green Beans

Green beans! I wasn't planning on planting any this year, but how can I say no to this? One of my projects for the rest of the week is thinning these out. I'm hoping to get out today to buy plants for the weekend to avoid the mad rush on Saturday. Everyone is itching to plant!

Today's Projects: Knitting and Cross Stitch

Today is a major errand day. I knew I'd be stuck at the oil change place for an hour, so I decided to take my crafting on the road. I'm not afraid to knit in public, so I dragged my silk stocking along. I'm making great progress (though I remind myself this is only the first sock), and managed to turn the heel and start the foot while waiting for the car.

Knitting in Public

It's mostly men in the waiting room at that time of day. I got some looks, but no comments. However, one woman approached me, asking if I knit for myself or other people. That's not what people usually say. We chatted a bit and it turns out she has crocheted 150 shawls for people at an organ donor center. The center provides the yarn and looks to volunteers to knit or crochet. She gave me a contact card, and I might look into this when I'm ready to take on some charity knitting.

Not technically today's project, but yesterday on my lunch break I found the missing directions for the counted cross stitch peacock. I had a few spare minutes so I even started on it a bit.

My nemesis, the Peacock

See all that blank canvas around the peacock, from about 10 o'clock to about 4? Yes, that is what needs filled in. With teeny, tiny stitches, with practically every square being of a different color thread. Aiyiyi. I love it, and I want to finish it. It will be mine.

Podcasts du Jour

I didn't listen to podcasts at the oil change, but yesterday and today I've been working on the back catalog of:

• Prairie Girls Knit and Spin--they've got a great rapport, and complement each other's styles in many ways
• A Playful Day--she's still on the topic of blogging and creativity!

I guess there are going to be a lot of repeats on these, and I'm not sure how to handle it. I think I'll go ahead and post what I'm actually listening to for those who stumble on the blog. It will be new to someone.

Spinning is Like Coffee

I don't remember her name but she is a perennial beauty

Creativity has been on the back burner for a week. We are having a bathroom remodeled, and I agreed to do the painting. That has slurped up every bit of my free time of late.

Today's Project: Spinning and Sewing

I knew I had to get up this morning to craft something. Time alone, just puttering with whatever, seems essential to my mental health.

However, I am not a morning person. I know that. The coffee pot is my only friend at that hour. So I have found that I either need to prep what I am going to work on the night before, or, I can spin myself awake. There isn't much thought required for the spinning process, at least once you have the hang of it. There's very little movement even. In fact, I might've been asleep the whole time...

I finished that silk/merino bobbin last week and had the second one all laid out with the fiber. Easy peasy. I fell into a half hour of spinning. It was good to get the second bobbin started because now it feels like I'm on the downhill side of the project, and that always seems to go faster.

After a bit of spinning, I felt like doing something else. But what? No prepping last night. The tri-loom is staring at me, but half an hour isn't enough.

I spied a little pair of pants on top of my sewing books. Hemming? Meh. But it did need doing, and was about the right size project for my remaining time.  I took these little school uniform pants away from my daughter this winter. They fit her great around the waist but are too short to be considered pants and too long to be capris. Nerdy high-waters, yes indeed.

I started by guessing how much to trim off, leaving enough so the hem wouldn't go right up against that decorative stitching.  I pressed and pinned, then laid the two legs side-by-side, repinned where the lengths weren't the same. It's very scientific.  Then I hunted high and low for my brown thread.

Not in the thread bin, of course. I looked at every spool at least twice, willing it to turn brown. I settled on a nice dark maroon, and sat down to sew. I uncovered the machine and found...my brown thread! All bobbined up with brown and ready to go.

I decided to do a double line of stitching to match the rest of the pants. I think they came out nicely and are ready to wear to school this week.

It Looks Like Tuesdays Are For...Spinning?

Baby lettuce in my garden

So, I took sleeping pill last night. It helps me stay asleep, but makes me feel sluggish the next day.  I had a hard time dragging it out of bed this morning, and had no bandwidth to think of something new to craft.

Today's Project: Spinning and Planning

I went on autopilot and headed toward the spinning wheel. The end was in sight on that bit of merino silk, and I could almost smell a finished object. Well, half of a finished object. This bobbin is half of my fiber. Now, spin a second bobbin, ply the two together, and voila! We'll see how long that takes.

I'm already thinking of what I want to do with this yarn. I'm pretty sure it wants to be a nice shawl. I'm going to look over the designs of Romi Hill. I have a few of hers in my Ravelry queue. I'll have to see how many yards I get.

I want my next project to be something on my triangle loom. I have a Spriggs 7' adjustable tri-loom and I think I want to make a small shawl/scarf on it out of something soft and drapey. However, I need to set myself up for success by unearthing the loom tonight and getting it set up. Perhaps I could even find the yarn I want to use. Then tomorrow I can just start weaving. Another thing I want to do with my loom is use nail polish to mark every 10th nail. I saw that tip in a weaving forum and thought it was genius.

Podcasts du Jour

• Family Tree Magazine Podcast--host Lisa Louise Cooke has a voice that carries over any background noise. An excellent podcast both technically and for content for genealogists.

Knitting Corner

I finished hemming the Highland Bonnet. Just waiting to use my friend's washer to felt it. It feels good get something off the needles.  I have to say, this hour of creativity experiment just feels good all around. Finished items that have been languishing for months, sometimes years. Clearing out some clutter. Realizing limits. This is all good stuff.

It Looks Like Mondays Are For Spinning

Nothing spectacular yet, but we just planted these gladiolus bulbs about 10 days ago. They seem to have sprouted overnight!

I got back on track today with my early morning crafting.  I was on a roll from spinning at the festival, and since I started out last week with spinning on Monday, I thought I'd continue on that path.

Today's Project: Spinning

I had to unpack my wheel from the fiber event. Since I'm working on the same fiber as before, I thought I'd tell you about my wheel.

I use a Kromski Sonata. I think I purchased it in 2007 or 2008. In finding that link for you, I was interested to see the price. I am almost certain that when I bought my wheel, I paid about $400 and that included the carrying bag for free. I see that the cost has gone up considerably to $660.

My wheel in action

My first wheel was a Saxony style double-drive with a single treadle. It was difficult to transport to events and suffered some wear and tear in the car.

I knew I wanted my new wheel to be portable. I settled on the Sonata. It was a fairly new type of wheel at the time. It folds up quickly and neatly into a special backpack. It's pretty light and the bag fits easily anywhere in my car.

I wasn't sure about the double-treadle action. I'd only tried single before. I shouldn't have worried; I love it! It feels much more balanced to have both feet working, less tiresome on my knee and hip.

The other aspect that was different was the tensioning. The Kromski has a single drive band with Scotch tensioning. At first I had some difficulty adjusting it, but with time I find I like it better than my first wheel's system.

I also chose this wheel for its appearance. I wanted a wheel that I could pass off at a re-enactment. So far, no one has complained about it.

Podcasts du Jour

• The Knitmore Girls--best knitting podcast ever! I devour these as soon as they come out
• Prairie Girls Knit and Spin--I just discovered this one. They have 66 episodes out; I like them enough to start back with number 1

Knitting Corner

I finished the knitting on the Highland Bonnet I discussed last week. All that is left is sewing up the hem for the band and then felting it. Huzzah! I'll show before and after pics when I get there.

FIBER FEST! Or, The Fiber Event at Greencastle

Momma Goat and her two-week old twins

Last Friday I did not rise early to craft. Instead, I prepared myself to go to a fiber event in Greencastle, Indiana. I've been to this even several times and it is one I really like.  Bonus one: my daughter is in school so I got to fly solo.  Bonus two: a friend of mine was vending so I got to catch up and sit in his booth.

It was a perfect April day. Sunshine, light breeze. My favorite nut vendor, Yummy Nuts, was there. I might've accidentally bought three bags...

I did really well with my purchases. I'm always overcome with wool fumes at these events. I've tried nearly every aspect of fiber craft at one time or another. I know what I like and what I find tedious. But dammit, when I smell and feel a beautiful fleece I just want to buy it! Never mind that I will never get around to cleaning and processing. Must. Buy.

However, a recent bout of decluttering helped me on this front. I know I don't need a fleece. I love to spin, and I have learned it is much more valuable to me to buy processed fiber so I can get to the "good part", the spinning.  HOWEVER, I also know I have a few several pounds of processed fiber waiting for me to spin it. I refused permission to purchase fiber.

Same with yarn. My stash overfloweth. I have many beautiful yarns. I love touching them, I love the colors. I love knitting with them. But there is more than enough there, I do not need to be purchasing willy-nilly.

I went with two goals: a pretty shawl pin and a new spindle.  I have no shawl pins now. I loaned out my old spindle (which was cheap and I wasn't overly fond of anyway), and was looking to upgrade. I don't spin well this way at all, but it is a skill I want to cultivate for my re-enactment hobby. I'd like to be able to walk around spindling.

I ended up with these items:

Three Bags Full

Pretty Pin

My new spindle

I spent a lovely few hours spinning in my friend's booth, making some headway on the green merino/silk I showed you last week.

Me and my Kromski Sonata

I leave you with my favorite two sights of the day. 

The ingredients of my shake-up. So Pretty!

That just says it all.

If you get a chance to attend a fiber festival, I highly recommend it. It's a delight to all the senses.

Re-runs and Leftovers

My 25 cent petunias from the bargain bin at Lowe's last week:

Petunias after the rain

Today's Project: Sewing

Sewing is gratifying, compared to most of my hobbies. Spend an hour cross-stitching and you aren't even sure you did anything. An hour knitting, you might see and inch or so progress on your sock. An hour sewing? Half a blanket done! Another hour? Blanket! Bam!

So I decided to continue on with the cashmere blanket until it is done, hence you will have reruns for a few days. This morning I got all of the squares and rectangles assembled and it is as big as it is going to be. It's still a little too long, or not wide enough, but that's what you get when you don't plan ahead.

One more day on this, and I will have a finished object. I have to add a little edging and sew up a few holes that didn't get caught in the serger.  Also, I'm left with this much cashmere:

The Leftovers

I'll need to decide if i want to stitch these up for doll blankets or just let them go. Either way, it is time for my love affair with cashmere sweater recycling to be over.

Do you know what a serger is? I am a totally self-taught sewer, and I never even heard of one until I was in my late 20s. This fabulous machine sews the layers of fabric together, trims off the raw edge, and binds it all neatly up so there is no fraying. GENIUS.

Mine is an el cheapo from Hancock Fabrics, I think. I've had it for several years. If I ever get serious about sewing I might buy a better one, but this one suffices.

Podcast du Jour

• Once again, reruns: it's Caithness Craft Collective. I'd fallen a little behind on these; one more episode and I'll be all caught up.

Knitting Corner

I've pulled out an old project that needs finished up soon. I told you yesterday about my re-enacting group. I volunteered to make uniform bonnets for all the guys. This is a long-term project, as I'm doing it out of the goodness of my heart. I finish one or two a year. The guys all have bonnets, but these are upgrades as they are "properly" made, as in knitted large then felted down to size. The one on my needles is nearly done with the knitting, huzzah! I hope to make great strides today and tomorrow on this one.

Finished bonnet