Fits and Starts

The Echo Flowers Shawl is finished and in use:

Here's a closeup of the edge detail:

The yarn is Bare 100% Merino Lace Weight yarn from Knit Picks, now called "Bare Shadow." I had tons of it left over from Daphne's Gown, made for her naming ceremony, now five years ago. I bought way too much. This only used one hank of the lace-weight yarn. I'm probably going to dye what's left different colors using KoolAid and the Sun-tea method.

The pattern is "Echo Flower Shawl" by Jenny Johnson Johnen. It was a free pattern on Ravelry.

I had a major case of startitis this week. First I made a new iPhone cozy for my iPhone, using Wool of the Andes Worsted in Blue Ink.

The other one has been wearing out at the corners, so I decided to line this one. I had the fabric left over from the quilt I made for Rocky when he was a pup.

It felted nicely, and when it was dry, I needle-felted the Apple logo on one side with wool roving and then inserted the lining. (I have a stencil I made by tracing the Apple decal that comes with all Apple devices.) Complete instructions for knitting and felting the iPhone cozy are in my notes on the Ravelry page for this project. The lining is just fabric slightly bigger folded over than the iPhone, sewn right-sides together with the bottom corners rounded and the top open. Then I folded the top edge over toward the wrong side and inserted the lining into the felted cozy, catching the edges with a matching thread. (I used an appliqué stitch, but whipstitch would do.)

Then I started Shaina's Busy Bee Throw, using the City Tweed DK I had originally planned for another project that turned out to be very tedious. (And did I mention boring?) This one is fun, and it goes really fast, as crochet often does.

I have more yarn coming for edging the hexagons in Obsidian, a deep charcoal. I hope I have enough of the City Tweed DK in the colors. The pattern is designed for HW, so this throw will probably be slightly thinner and smaller.

Well onto the Busy Bee, I decided I needed a new iPad tote. I CO with Wool of the Andes Bulky in Navy. I'm also using WotA Bulky in Bare and some WotA Worsted in Blue Ink held double, which I had left over from my iPhone cozy. I will be lining the iPad Tote as well.

Common Threads met at Karan's this week. Karan is expecting her first grandchild. She has finished the mobile:

The instructions are available to buy as a Ravelry download.

Karan also made this cute sweater using self-striping sock yarn and bought some cute baby clothes to go with it. The baby is due next month, and they already know it's a girl.

Besides being Fathers' Day, Sunday was also the Summer Solstice. This was my view at 5:00 AM, when the light woke me:

We've been taking advantage of the warm days to hike. On Saturday we hiked on the trails in our neighborhood. There were lots of lovely windflowers, and their scent was everywhere, mingling with the scent of the fir trees.

Because I've been busy with fiber fun, this past week, I've also listened to some audiobooks, including my first WhisperSync novel, Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina. I get free eBooks through Book Bub, usually from Amazon (Kindle), and sometimes they are available with WhisperSync, which allows you to read for a while and listen for a while, but you can listen from start to finish if you want. It's a regular audiobook. If WhisperSync is available for the book you have bought, you can add the audio for a small charge. If the book was free, and the WhisperSync is $1.99, you get the eBook and the audiobook for $1.99. A regularly priced book with WhisperSync may be more than the audiobook from Audible, so if you only want the audiobook, check there before you buy. This week I learned that you can access WhisperSync audiobooks through your Audible app if you combine your Audible account with your Amazon account. I needed some hand-holding from an Audible techie for that, but it wasn't difficult. However, my listening stats disappeared. They are trying to get them back for me, but I recommend you write down what they are before you combine your two accounts, just in case.

What's on my needles: Navy iPad Tote Bag and the Fair Isle Flower Socks . 

What's on my Featherweight: Lining for the iPad Tote

What's on my wheel: Still Full Circle spinning fiber in "Pigeon." No progress there.

What's on my loom: Still the Multi Scrap scarf, 32". No progress there, either.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina, a book in a new genre for me: Steampunk. Still reading Death by Cashmere in iBooks and Ann Budd's Sock Knitting Master Class on Kindle.

What's in my wine glass: Charles Shaw Chardonnay, chilled, for a nice summer change.

What's my tip of the week: Felting (or fulling) a knitted item can be accomplished in a top-loading washing machine. I like to put the item into a zippered pillowcase, zipped up with the zipper tab fastened to the pillowcase with a safety pin. I throw in a pair of worn-out jeans to add agitation and wash in hot water with a little laundry detergent, followed by a cold rinse. 

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.