Tour de Fleece

OK I know its been a week since I blogged but I thought I would share the first bit of fleece that I finished. This is ready to be wound into usable balls for knitting. Yes I swear that they are all from the same 4 ounce braid. With no different dye lots.

The dyeing of the braid was done by Cloudlover
The colorway is Sakura.
It is 50% Moreno , 50% Silk. Yes I did find the silk a challenge to spin, but isn't that what the Tour De fleece is all about.

Since I plan on using a different vendor for each item spun in the tour I will give you the link to each shop as I show the photos. The is the link to Natalie's shop  Cloudlover . And Just in case you were wondering this will be made into a top down shawl for me.

Currently on the spindle I have Easter Egg BFL and It is a dream to spin. I like the long staples of the fibre. I like everything I have gotten from Rachel so far. Don't forget to check out her soap, even my fussy skin likes it.

I have one more batt lined up after that by Kathy, of Unique Designs by Kathy Sky Blue Batt. I am also a fan of Kathy's hand spun yarn.

I am still practicing on the wheel but I have a while to go before I am happy with that yarn. Right now that wheel spun yarn is suitable for rugs, place mats or coasters. So if you need something for those projects let me know and we can work something out.

Well it is time to get back to work. Laundry and cooking await me.

From Bad to Better

Eric had a very bad night last night. He needed to be turned every 1 to 2 hours. So it should not surprise you that I grabbed a bottle of conditioner by mistake this morning. I could not figure out why I was not getting any lather. Then I picked up the bottle and tried to focus on the label, I got as far as the big C to realize that I had made a mistake. So I rinsed out the condition, shampooed my hair and reconditioned it. My hair was none the worse from the extra round of conditioner.

You will be happy to know that my day did get a lot better from there. 2 cups of tea later I started working on the pink hand spun shawl. After some tinking and playing with the pattern.  90 minutes of knitting later the shawl for the UCP fundraiser was finished. I will post pictures tomorrow. After that I did manage to spin for a few minutes today. Only a few yards got spun.

Then it was nap time. I don't know how everyone figures out that is is nap time but the phone rang incessantly. Then it was time to pick up Eric from camp. Despite being tired he had a very good day. I even managed to find time to do Wii today and made a very small incremental goal.

Well it is getting late and I still have a few chores to do before bed. So Have a great evening.

The Last Few Days

Well your guess is correct. A tired body going into a four day weekend is not a good thing. We still did try to do a few things this weekend. Eric and I saw Larry Crowne. It was a pretty good movie. I would go and see it if you have a chance.  Eric was pretty impressed when Larry Crowne got the teacher. I want to know how Julia Roberts keeps her legs so slender.  I hope that they don't make a sequel to this movie because it was a good stand alone movie. John saw the latest guy movie Transformers. I  also did replace my cell phone so hopefully this one will work better.

The fireworks are on Tivo and I will watch them sometime this week. The rains have started and so far at the house we have had slightly over 1/2 inch. I really do love the summer rains, but for some reason this year I am very distracted and am having a hard time just sitting and watching the rain.

I have not done as much spinning as I had planned to do so far, but I have fibre and spindles, so I will get to play with the fibre.

 So we trudged through the weekend and made it to Tuesday, the light at the end of the tunnel. I spent the day doing chores and paperwork in short bursts and most of the knitting I did today will have to be tinked, but such is life in the fast lane. Well it is getting late and I see a long day in my future.

Orange Slush or My Restful Day

Wednesday my body won. I spent the day resting, knitting and spinning. I have also come to the following conclusions:

1. I am not superwoman (but this might be readdressed when I get a little more rest).

2. My toe will probably heal faster if I don't kick things multiple times a day.

3. I love fruit especially when someone else cuts it up.

4. Some people provide great entertainment thus people watching is good.

5. Naps are good at times.

Well even though I spent the day resting I am very tired and I think it's time to call it a night.

Although I would like to provide my recipe for the day.


Orange Slush

1 blender full of ice

Orange juice to cover

Blend until smooth. Pour in to glasses and top with a splash of orange juice. Serve with spoons.

114

Would you believe it was 114f at our house today. We are usually a few degrees hotter than the airport. So I gave the appliance the afternoon off, well not exactly it was more like the whole day off durning daylight hours.

I decided that the ice had a funny taste to it so it was time to clean out the ice maker. Note to self it is probably not the wisest thing to do on the hottest day of the year so far. Then while the appliance were busy resting, I also took a nap. Then packed up a few boxes, did a bit of cleaning. I did manage to make a dent in the empty recycle bin and reclaim most of the dining room table. Not much knitting and no spinning got done today.

Off to the post office and then to pick up Eric from camp. Then it was time to clean out the fridge and do some more picking up. It was definitely time for a light dinner of salmon salad, canned green beans and crackers. Well they can't all be 5 star dinners, the cook gets tired sometimes.

I wanted to mention the best part of the day was the heat. Even when I made a trip to the trash can at 11 pm it was still nice and warm. Well if I am to get to sleep before tomorrow it is time to say good night.

Just a Quick Update

It has been a great couple of days around here. On Friday Eric got to go swimming for the first time this summer. He was so excited that he did not let me leave camp even for a cuppa tea. Since I did not have the project I wanted to work on I spent the waiting time spinning. Spinning along with knitting is a great way to kill time. He had a great time in the water and I think (fingers crossed) that I will not have to be at all the pool events for Eric to go swimming this summer..

It looks like the 3rd time is going to be the final design on a shawl that I have ripped out twice already. I managed to find a perfect match for some hand spun yarn to make an art shawl a little bigger. I found the art yarn at Grandma's Spinning Wheel on Tanque Verde South of Grant on the east side of the street. I am knitting 2 rows of art yarn alternating with 2 rows of hand spun. I picked up a partial skein of art yarn for the boarder at Kiwi's on 6th and Tucson blvd. I did notice that they had some of my stitch markers left if you need any.

We saw the movie Cars today. It was a pretty good movie and of course the good guys won in the end. It is a good movie for kids of all ages. I am also getting a head start on laundry tonight considering that it was 113f at our house today according to John's weather station. It has cooled down to 97f at 10:30 pm so it is the perfect time to run the washer and dryer. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day so it is time to say good night.

Chilled Gazpacho Soup

I had big plans for today, but alas my body went on strike. So not much got done today. This is the recipe I made for dinner. No it was not a good idea in light of the very bad body day I am having. No this can not be made in a blender it must be chopped by hand so here goes.

Gazpacho Soup

1.5 pounds of fresh tomatoes diced
1 sweet onion peeled and diced
1 large or 2 small cucumbers peeled and diced
1 clove of garlic peeled and finely diced
1/4 cup of cilantro finely diced
1/2 green bell pepper finely diced
2 tablespoons of basil finely diced
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 large or 2 small limes juiced.  For Key Limes I would use 3 or 4
Salt and pepper to taste

Garnishes
Avocado as needed ( usually 1/4 to 1/2 an avocado per person)
Fresh scallions if desired
French, Ciabatia, or rustic white bread. If the bread is slightly stale that would be OK too since the bread is used to sop up the soup and no butter is used.

Mix all ingredients in a large Glass bowl. (you do not want to use plastic or metal because the flavor of the soup will change). Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or longer to chill and develop the full flavor.

This will make a little over 8 cups of soup. So as an appetizer I would guess it would make about 16 servings. For a main course it should serve 6 to 8.