I Want to Cry

 After hand washing the shawl I blogged about yesterday in Soak Wash. I went to block the shawl.  As I was laying it out to my absolute horror I found another deliberate cut in the lace work.  So all attempts at blocking were stopped. I found 4 more holes in my shawl. Two of the holes were side to side. As you can see by the double pointed knitting needles I did my best to stabilize the area’s. I will also have John look over the shawl to see if he can find any other areas.

Thankfully I did not have time to put the thread away yesterday. So it is ready to go when the shawl dries. It will be a little harder this time because the washing brought up a beautiful halo in the mohair. The halo will also hide the repairs very well.

This Much Left

 There is an old adage in knitting circles.  When a project looks almost finished. When someone asks how much more knitting do you have to go? The response is always holding up the last of the yarn and saying this much.  Well tonight is my this much moment on Grandmas Summer Shawl in my own hand spun yarn.  Ooo’s and awe’s welcome.  Tomorrow morning I will finish it and block it.  

My Ramblings

 I finally felt well enough to get some work done around the house today.  I did 3 loads of hand wash and 1 regular load.  I also caught up on a little bit of folding.  I found an hour to block the new pattern.  Found an hour to work on a present.  Spent a couple of hours sleeping after a walk. It felt good. I have not walked this far in a while. It still leaves me a bit winded.  Maybe we will have an answer soon. Placed an on line order and got most of it put away   

I did not catch up on paper work including typing the new pattern.  Well there is always tomorrow.  But for now I will call it a day. 

Living Near a Fiber Artist

Sometimes I wonder what our neighbors that of me.  Living next door to a fiber artist must be weird at times.  What got me thinking about this is that I have woven 3 scarfs since the beginning of the year.  After I am finished weaving them, I soak them in a hot bath of *Soak Wash* and very hot tap water and rough them up a bit to help set the weave.  After the water cools I rinse the scarf out of the excess dye.  Then it is time for thwacking. To do this I take the soaking wet scarf to the back yard and swing it as hard as I can on to the patio table for a few minutes.  Then it goes into the garage to dry on the line.  The same thing happens to freshly hand spun yarn too.

At other times I have freshly washed fiber drying in the sun. Perhaps blocking mats laying outside when I have to block something. Sometimes it’s a freshly wash quilt hanging on the fence.  On a nice day I might take my spinning wheel out side to spin.  If a fleece has a lot of vegetable matter I might take the carder to the driveway or front porch to card so I don’t have to sweep and vacuum a mess in the house.  I might even sit outside and knit.

I have friends who hang freshly dyed yarn outside to dry.  Even decorate fences with fiber art.  I have friends who dye yarn in their back yards too. I also will dye yarn in the back yard at times.  When I waited for Eric’s bus I used to stand outside and knit scarfs.

Does this make me weird? Does it mean that I just know how to have a lot of fun? That I don’t know when to stop having fun?

* I have been using Soak Wash for a long time.  If your local yarn or lingerie shop does not carry Soak Wash you can get it directly from Soak Wash , Raverly or Amazon. The makers of Soak Wash did not pay for this endorsement. I have not received anything for the mention in the blog.  It is just my favorite wool and lingerie wash.  I always have at least a couple of spare bottles in the laundry room so that I don’t run out.  I also recommend it to wash all of my by hand created fine washables.

Off to a Great Week

Well today was a very busy one here. I started the house work at 7:30. Then I went on to do other things that needed to be done around the house today.  I took pictures of Thursdays guild project and for the very first time decided something would really look a whole lot better blocked. I am really pleased how the pattern turned out. I will release the new pattern on Raverly and Etsy after the OPK luncheon on Thursday. I am thinking a price point in the $2.00 price range.

I tried my hand at Moroccan food tonight. The verdict is in, yes we will add it to our rotation. I think it will be a good meal for easy swallow nights. I want to make it again before I share the recipe. Tonight I was just hoping that it would turn out good. I know I had a hit when John went back for seconds. I also have enough coccus left over for breakfast.

John and I actually got to enjoy some TV time together tonight. We caught up on a few shows while I did the set up rows for a couple of extra projects for Thursday just in case I did not reach everyone. I will also do some partials tomorrow night so I can show off the design  in stages. In all probability the extra projects will be available for purchase when the next Taglit fundraiser occurs. By the way Taglit is the name of Eric's day program which he just loves.

Speaking of fundraisers, it has come to my attention that a small non-profit called Halos of Hope has run in to some funding issues. They distribute chemo hats of all kinds around the country.  They make their money through the sale of patterns which of course are copy righted. The problem came about when some unidentified LYS's bought a single copy of a pattern and then photo copied and distributed the pattern for free with yarn purchases. On the surface it may not seem wrong, after all the people did buy yarn from the store. But if a pattern has a copy right that says you may not distribute it with out the express permission of the copy right holder it is wrong in so many ways. This has left Halos of Hope short on funds to send hats out to where they are needed most.  I am including a link to there donation page of Halos of Hope where a $6.00 donation will send out 15 chemo hats to those going through a bad time. Would you be willing to give up just 2 cups of coffee to help 15 people? Just skip going out Saturday night and your dinner money could send out over 60 hats. Any amount will help. If you would like to make some hats that would be wonderful too, just be sure to follow the guide lines posted on the site.

Now it is time to count my blessings before bed and settle Eric down, hopefully before midnight tonight.