Knittinggarden

It really doesn't take much to entertain me, so with getting my spinning wheel I really hit the jackpot. I spun pretty steadily for the first three days, determined to see what I could make. I had some very brightly colored wool fiber left from the box of practice stuff sent by my good friend, Goatlady, so I took some of it without regard to order of color, and got going. I spun about one and three-quarters bobbins before I ran out of the fiber that I had put into my bag. (I later found a bunch more, but I had really done enough for my first attempt.) It's a little less than three ounces total. I understand drafting pretty well from the spindle, but of course had lots of control and wheel setting issues (as would be expected from a first try). I actually find it quite fascinating to compare the different sections of my finished yarn and see which look perfect (to me) which could be better, and which are totally unspun. Here are the two bobbins when I'd finished spinni...

She's an Ashford Traditional, about 15 years old. I think I'm the third owner. She's in good shape and I'm busy learning the ins and outs of using her. Already signed up for a class at Village Yarn and Tea later in the month so I can be sure I'm on the right track. What could be next?

Don't worry, he's not dead and no animals were harmed in the process of obtaining this photo. I hope you enjoy a happy, safe 4th of July that includes a chance to lie on your back in the sun and be as carefree as Buddy for a few minutes.

and then your baby graduates from high school.  As I predicted in this post, yesterday arrived quicker than I could've imagined.  From the first day to the last, time sped by.  Back to school night turned into the Homecoming assembly, winter holidays morphed into college visits, and the whole thing rushed headlong into moving up, moving on, and commencement. The Princess tried on her cap and gown. She struck a pensive pose. She waited patiently at the back of the alphabet for her row to walk to the podium. She posed for a few photos. The brothers came in - one from a semester in Australia. One from Eastern Washington.  I guess the barbers are on strike there. And then she was off to the school-sponsored all night party which, by her quick report this morning, was loads of fun. Now we're on to the next thing.

I'm continuing with my bad habit of not updating the blog very often, but that's all I'm going to say about that.  I got a new computer (yay for the iMac) and am slowly learning how to work everything that's different from my old PC.  I like it a lot, but definitely don't know all the ins and outs of it yet. On the knitting front, I finished a few things since last time.  My sister's late birthday present has been finished and given, so I can reveal it:  A shawl I based on the Snowdrop Lace scarf pattern, but made wider and longer so it would be a stole.  I used Knit Picks Bare merino/silk fingering weight yarn and I think it came out well. I also finished my Wollmeise Die Auster socks and like them a lot.  They're plain stockinette and were knit that way as an example of the colorway on the Wollmeiseaholics board on Ravelry.  Not many people have this color, since it was a Spring Fling gift last year, but I wanted to knit it up and this gave me a good reas...

I do yoga. I actually practice quite a bit of yoga, and have for some time. What's one of the first directions you get when the class starts? "Come into the present. Leave the past and future alone and just concentrate on the present moment." Sometimes I have trouble doing that, but for the most part, it's possible. So I can't figure out why I seem to totally be living in a different time period in the rest of my life. For example, I'm in a book club. It's existed for over five years, and we meet the last Tuesday of the month. Always have. Here's what happened at the end of April. I returned from my knitting extravaganza late Sunday night, April 26. Monday was my birthday and we went out to dinner. I know I mentioned book club a couple of times on Monday..."tomorrow is book club. Tomorrow I'll find out about etc. etc...." You get the picture. I knew it was tomorrow. Fast forward to tomorrow, Tuesday night. I'm sitting ...

I'm back from the second annual Loopy Ewe Spring Fling and it was great. I can't say enough about how well organized it was. Sheri and her family, friends, and employees did a super job of making sure everything ran smoothly and everyone had a great time. I took only one class this year, Advance Lace Knitting with the inimitable Anne Hanson . She was lovely to meet and full of tips and inspiration. I just may have to try one of her big projects soon. A couple of fun things: I organized a swap of small sock yarn scraps for people making (or thinking about making) a sock yarn blankie . You can find all the details of how to make this beautiful blanket right there on Shelly Kang's blog. Several people brought bags of yarn, and a few of us sat right down on the floor to swap. It was loads of fun. Now I have to get going on this project! I have tons of tiny balls of yarn just patiently waiting to join the party. Of course, a highlight of the trip is always the trip to...

A girl and her dog enjoying a bit of Seattle's elusive sunshine.

So the rain finally stopped for a couple of days and I decided to work in the yard. Lately, it's hard for me to drag myself away from knitting/spinning/rolling little balls of yarn to trade and go outside, but it's also hard for me to drive into my driveway and see a garden filled with dead ornamental grass that should have been cut down weeks ago. I took care of that, then moved on to start to tidy up the long garden that runs beside the driveway. This will take longer, but I contented myself today with cutting more dead grass and stalks from last summer. Here's something I saw while I was out there. Pretty, huh? The tulip and the rhody blossom I photographed last week are opening nicely in the slightly warmer weather we have today. While I was out there chopping away, a man came down the driveway with a big box. This was a BIG box. Here it is in relation to Buddy. Yes, Buddy did wonder why I was trying to make him sit or stay next to a big cardboard box that didn...