Tour de Fleece finished on Friday.
I spent the last day of the "race" replying my "Strung-out Frog Prince" yarn, because it wasn't balanced. (I had put more twist into spinning the fiber than I had during the plying, so it wrinkled up.) I ran it through the wheel again, adding more twist, then I washed it and hung a spray bottle on it while it dried as a weight. I'm happy with the result.
I didn't get much more spinning done with the drop spindle, although I did a little bit each day. If you compare with the photo from last week's blog post, you can see some progress, however.
The knitting of the Coastal Skies shawl is finally done, but I still need to weave in the ends and block it. The pattern is Knockout Round by Ann Weaver.
I finished it while we were still out of town visiting the kids, and fortunately, I had brought along another project to work on: my "Trickle-brick Socks," using the pattern "Trickle Socks" by Katie Douglass. I started these in November 2015. They got shoved aside to do other things, like doll knitting and shawls. I had one pattern repeat done past the ribbing. Now I'm almost to the heel turn.
Billy needed some pants for warm weather, so I made these cargo pants. I used the same pattern as for the jeans, but left off the back pockets and added the side pockets instead. I shortened the length by reducing it 1" and then turning under 3/4" before hemming. Then I turned the edges up to make a cuff.
From having raised two boys, I have learned that boys shouldn't have more pockets than they need. It's just more to go through before you do laundry, removing tissue, bubble gum, crayons, frogs, rocks, notes from the teacher, etc. I will make another pair of these for Emil, who will be joining the cast in September, assuming all goes well. (He's paid for, so it had better go well.) I might vary the pants pattern a bit.
In this week's story in The Doll's Storybook, Veronika teaches Charlotte how to sew. They make the dress Veronika had on in the picture from last week's post. Veronika started at the beginning, explaining all the tools you need for sewing. If you don't usually read the stories, you might like to read this one, just for fun, especially if you like to sew.
I've been meaning to make kimchi again, something I used to do frequently. If you aren't familiar with this dish/condiment, it's a kind of fermented vegetable, similar to sauerkraut. If eaten raw, it is purported to contain beneficial bacteria, the way yoghurt does. I cut up some cabbage, carrots and green onions, and put them into my kimchi press along with some special seasonings and salt. There are various recipes for this, and I picked one I had ingredients for.
I left it for four days. I ended up with 6+ cups of kimchi. (One partial jar is not in the photo.) I put the jars in the fridge. It will keep a long time. Yum!
We've had an indoor basil plant before, but haven't managed to keep it alive for long. This one is doing well after a month. The instructions said to keep it in a sunny spot and keep the roots wet. My solution to keeping the roots wet is to have a dish of water to keep it in. I keep adding water whenever it's soaked up, so the roots never dry out.
Pandora moths have shown up, lying dead on the trail or in our yard. I've seen one or two a day. I was curious, so I looked them up to see what they were. I found this report on the website of our local radio station. We're learning about the local wildlife. These are interesting.
Sunday evening (last night) we went to one of the local meet-ups. This week's meet-up was at Bevel Craft Brewing. They let you taste first and pick what you like. Food was provided by a food truck. I had lettuce wraps with tofu and peanut sauce. It was yummy!
I managed to walk two miles a day for another week.
What's on my needles: The Trickle-brick socks.
I spent the last day of the "race" replying my "Strung-out Frog Prince" yarn, because it wasn't balanced. (I had put more twist into spinning the fiber than I had during the plying, so it wrinkled up.) I ran it through the wheel again, adding more twist, then I washed it and hung a spray bottle on it while it dried as a weight. I'm happy with the result.
I didn't get much more spinning done with the drop spindle, although I did a little bit each day. If you compare with the photo from last week's blog post, you can see some progress, however.
The knitting of the Coastal Skies shawl is finally done, but I still need to weave in the ends and block it. The pattern is Knockout Round by Ann Weaver.
I finished it while we were still out of town visiting the kids, and fortunately, I had brought along another project to work on: my "Trickle-brick Socks," using the pattern "Trickle Socks" by Katie Douglass. I started these in November 2015. They got shoved aside to do other things, like doll knitting and shawls. I had one pattern repeat done past the ribbing. Now I'm almost to the heel turn.
Billy needed some pants for warm weather, so I made these cargo pants. I used the same pattern as for the jeans, but left off the back pockets and added the side pockets instead. I shortened the length by reducing it 1" and then turning under 3/4" before hemming. Then I turned the edges up to make a cuff.
From having raised two boys, I have learned that boys shouldn't have more pockets than they need. It's just more to go through before you do laundry, removing tissue, bubble gum, crayons, frogs, rocks, notes from the teacher, etc. I will make another pair of these for Emil, who will be joining the cast in September, assuming all goes well. (He's paid for, so it had better go well.) I might vary the pants pattern a bit.
In this week's story in The Doll's Storybook, Veronika teaches Charlotte how to sew. They make the dress Veronika had on in the picture from last week's post. Veronika started at the beginning, explaining all the tools you need for sewing. If you don't usually read the stories, you might like to read this one, just for fun, especially if you like to sew.
I've been meaning to make kimchi again, something I used to do frequently. If you aren't familiar with this dish/condiment, it's a kind of fermented vegetable, similar to sauerkraut. If eaten raw, it is purported to contain beneficial bacteria, the way yoghurt does. I cut up some cabbage, carrots and green onions, and put them into my kimchi press along with some special seasonings and salt. There are various recipes for this, and I picked one I had ingredients for.
I left it for four days. I ended up with 6+ cups of kimchi. (One partial jar is not in the photo.) I put the jars in the fridge. It will keep a long time. Yum!
We've had an indoor basil plant before, but haven't managed to keep it alive for long. This one is doing well after a month. The instructions said to keep it in a sunny spot and keep the roots wet. My solution to keeping the roots wet is to have a dish of water to keep it in. I keep adding water whenever it's soaked up, so the roots never dry out.
Pandora moths have shown up, lying dead on the trail or in our yard. I've seen one or two a day. I was curious, so I looked them up to see what they were. I found this report on the website of our local radio station. We're learning about the local wildlife. These are interesting.
Sunday evening (last night) we went to one of the local meet-ups. This week's meet-up was at Bevel Craft Brewing. They let you taste first and pick what you like. Food was provided by a food truck. I had lettuce wraps with tofu and peanut sauce. It was yummy!
I managed to walk two miles a day for another week.
What's on my needles: The Trickle-brick socks.
What's on my sewing machine: Clothes for Emil.
What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. No work done on it this week.
What's in The Doll's Storybook: Veronika Sews.
What's in The Doll's Storybook: Veronika Sews.
What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Cadenza by Stella Riley. Then listened to Episodes 1 and 2 of The Report, a podcast from Lawfare that explains the unredacted sections of the Special Counsel's report. (I have listened to part of the actual report in audio, but there is a lot I don't understand, and this other podcast explains things a layperson needs to know to understand it.) Now listening to From This Moment by Elizabeth Camden, who also wrote The Rose of Winslow Street, which I read (listened to) a year or so ago.
What's in my wine glass: One on One Bachelorette Chardonnay 2015. Not my favorite, but then Chardonnay isn't really one of my favorite varieties. The beer was a nice change.
What's my tip of the week: You don't need to backstitch if you are going to sew over a seam, but in some places where you might need to secure stitches but you might not want the excessive stitching, there is another way to secure stitches so they don't show.
Turn your work to the inside/wrong side. Pull on the bobbin thread slightly.
When you see the top thread come through to the back, grab the loop with a needle, pin, awl or something else that will fit through the loop. Pull on it until it comes out and is on the back of your work.
Then tie the top thread and the bobbin thread together. I like to use a square knot. Once it's tied, you can cut off the excess thread. In this case, I was sewing on a pocket, so I tied the beginning and the end of the stitching. It won't come out unless the thread breaks.
Turn your work to the inside/wrong side. Pull on the bobbin thread slightly.
When you see the top thread come through to the back, grab the loop with a needle, pin, awl or something else that will fit through the loop. Pull on it until it comes out and is on the back of your work.
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 or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.
