Spinning in the RAK

We had a spin-in this past week in The Frog Prince and his Knitting Community Orphans.

That was the first bobbin. I’m close to finishing the second one. I’ll try to remember to post a photo of the two together, plied when I reach that stage. The spinning fiber is Knit Picks Full Circle in "Fawn."

Life got in the way, as sometimes usually happens, so I didn’t get as much done as I had planned, especially because we were getting ready for the convention and the commute to it in Salt Lake City, as well as getting the dogs ready to be boarded at Camp Barkalot in Salt Lake City overnight.

I also spent a few hours this week selecting recipes from our "Rather Spin than Cook" thread on the Knitting Community, which is going away May 1st, and moving them to the new thread of the same name on The Frog Prince and his Knitting Community Orphans forum on Ravelry. Often there were photos included. (What's a recipe without a photo?) This new thread is for quick, easy recipes, to save you time not just for spinning, but for knitting, crocheting, quilting, weaving and dyeing.

Made some progress on the Vicenza Lace Shawl at the convention.

The yarn is Knit Picks Hawthorn in “Lovejoy.” Nice to work with. I think I might have some left over. Someone at the convention asked to take a photo of my new knitting bag, which contained my shawl project (Remember from last week, when I got RAK'd the first time?)

When we got home Friday, I found out that I had been “RAK’d” again.

Lucky me. What a surprise! I received some lovely Waimea Rooster, already an object of much admiration by me; spinning fiber (Merino/Tencel blend, the colorful one); some Teal Carded Targhee/Polypay and some Dark Teal Carded CVM/Romeldale: a coloring book and pencils; some lovely tea and some scissors I will never lose because they have a magnetic holder. Grapes! How appropriate (see above knitting bag)! Thank you, Christina Rowell/AlohaBlu!

I missed the quilt guild meeting because we had an impromptu soprano sectional for Beethoven’s Ninth, but here are a couple of quilts from long ago to show you quilters just to keep you reading my blog. This was an antique quilt my friend Tina Lewis restored, called Broken Dishes:

Here's another one, a Log Cabin:

I was hoping to be able to spin on the front deck during the week. I made a valiant effort, but when it was nice (60° in the sun) it was so breezy I was afraid I was going to lose my roving. 

DH said it was the front moving in. Front? What front? It was supposed to rain and then snow! Well, it did, and then was cold (48° max in the sun) through Sunday. Just when our daffodils were coming up. When we picked up the pups in Salt Lake City (about 2,000' lower elevation and much warmer), the person in charge at Camp Barkalot said that Rocky and Sunny had spent a lot of time outdoors, even standing in the rain. Spring! And then they had to come home...to winter.

What's on my needles: Still hand-quilting the “Delectable Pathways” quilt. Working on the the Vicenza Lace Shawl. Still have Aran sweater for Daphne Jr. and socks on needles.

What's on my Featherweight: Ready to start on Dolly’s Regency outfit when I get a chance.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listing to the Beethoven’s Ninth choral practice recording is cutting into my audiobook time. I have downloaded a new audiobook, but I couldn't even tell you what it is. Still reading A Love That Never Tires by Allyson Jeleyne on the Kindle app. Good thing it never tires.

What's in my wine glass: Bohemian Highway Merlot. Described as a casual, free-flowing spirit. Sometimes I can manage that.

What's my tip of the week: Of course, you know to run the garbage disposal whenever you put something in it, but do you have family members who forget to do this? You know the type: they come in to make a sandwich, sweep bits of this and that off the counter and into the sink, and then walk off with their sandwich. (Crumbs in the sink are a giveaway.) If you don’t need to run the garbage disposal yourself in the process of meal preparation, it can sit there and take on a life of its own. You know what I mean. I run mine every morning as one of my morning chores. There’s always something in it.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Bats, Beethoven and Booty

Now that I have your attention….not done with doll clothes. Here is Dolly wearing the jeans that are part of her western attire:

The hat and boots came from The Doll Clothes Store. The pattern for the jeans was from Pixie Faire, not as hard as I expected. The shirt was from The Best Doll Clothes Book. Here's a closeup from the front:

And from the back:

We met at Joanie’s on Thursday for Vintage Stitchers. We were a small group, but sometimes that’s nice. Janet was working on her Washington Park Shawl, which will be glorious when it’s done. She was wearing this lovely dropped-stitch cowl she made. She’s getting to be a fantastic knitter.

Joanie had started a new project and needed help. (Difficult yarn, stitch count off. Story short: we frogged it, and I started it over and got her back to where she was.) Joanie is a talented knitter. She had this fruit bat from Knit Your Own Zoo.

Here is the fruit bat awake:

…and asleep.

OK, we covered the bats. Now for the Beethoven. I’ve been practicing my part in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. We only sing the final movement after sitting and listening to all the earlier movements, but it’s a humdinger when we get to sing. Most of the soprano part is in the rafters, long and high.

As for the booty. (No, not that kind of booty.) I received this in the mail:

It was an unsolicited package from a friend in the new Ravelry group, The Frog Prince and his Knitting Community Orphans, as a “Random Act of Kindness,” or “RAK.” We filled out a survey of our likes and interests if we wanted to participate. When we feel the urge to do so, we can choose a subject from among those who filled out surveys and send them something we think they would like. I found this in my mailbox.

Knowing I love knitting AND red wine, she thought it prudent to include this pin on the bag.

If you have to get RAKed, this is the way to do it. Then the next day, this appeared at my door:

All kinds of goodies from Knit Picks. I CO the Vicenza Shawl with the Hawthorne “Lovejoy” that arrived in the box (shown at the bottom of the photo)…once I ascertained that I had enough for the project. Not much to show yet, but I think it’s going to be a fun knit. The pouch now holds my favorite knitting notions, including my new favorite scissors.

I’ve also been taking part in the Spin-in that started Saturday in the The Frog Prince and the Knitting Community Orphans group. Here’s what I have so far:

The fiber is Knit Picks Full Circle 100% wool roving in "Fawn." It will be a blanket someday, when I get my weaving studio back.

I also knit and felted a new iPhone pouch, something I’ve been meaning to do since I got my new iPhone, which is a little taller than the old one and thus a bit too big for the pouch I made before we left on our trip last summer. Here it is with the fabric I used to line it. I don't know if the colors are showing up as they are, but the magenta background is a perfect match. The lining fabric is Connecting Threads batik “Nebula-Ultraviolet.”

I decided that, now that I know how to post a pattern on Ravelry, I would polish this pattern up a bit and publish it, so…if you really want to make one just like mine, you can find the pattern here.

While I was at it, I knit a little purse for Gabi (until she has to give it up for Daphne Jr., when the birthday package gets shipped). That way I could felt them both at the same time and save water.

Just in case you think spring has arrived, we got lots of snow this past week. Most of the snow is now gone, but it’s still pretty cold out, but I woke up one morning to this.

What's on my needles: Still hand-quilting the “Delectable Pathways” quilt. Working on the Aran sweater for Daphne Jr. and socks. Just CO (I admit I have a problem) the Vicenza Lace Shawl. 

What's on my Featherweight: Ready to start on Dolly’s Regency outfit when I get a chance.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Saint Odd by Dean Koontz. Listing to the Beethoven’s Ninth choral practice recording is cutting into my audiobook time. Reading A Love That Never Tires by Allyson Jeleyne on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Gato Negro Malbec, a red, of course. 2014 vintage. Drink it while it’s fresh. :-}

What's my tip of the week: White vinegar and salt will remove tarnish from copper and brass. Cheap fix.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.