Self soothing to keep calm

With all the goings on going on, I've been self soothing, doing things that make me feel calm.

I finished spinning and plying this 50/50 Silk/Camel blend from Redfish. It is so soft to the touch!

 And the 8oz of fiber I started with is now 800yds of two ply.

After such a long project, it felt good to do a shorter one (and to get something else out of my fiber stash). I spun up 2 oz of Milk fiber, called Casin. I haven't done the math to figure out how many yards it is. 

This pair of socks was from a yarn I picked up at last year's yarn crawl. I taught myself how to do a different kind of heel. It's called a short row heel. I'm definitely going to try it, again!

I'm finally down to just one box of fabric scraps and lengths. Don't ask me how tired I am of these same fabrics. Really. Don't! I went onto Youtube to see how to cut it into continuous strips for weaving.

Right now, I'm using some of it to weave a rug with Sophie. I haven't been completely pleased with my previous rug projects, but practice is how I learn.

When my LYS closed, I picked up a pack of five small skeins of Manos del Uruguay, Fino. It's extrafine merino and silk. I really enjoyed doing the colorwork with this fine yarn.

It was so much fun, that I went ahead and used the other set of colors I'd bought. I ran out of the white with about 10 stitches to go. Can you tell? 

The hat is from a free Ravelry pattern called, "Katie's Kep". Such a lovely crown on this hat!

I'm Still Here!

Hey, Everyone! I'm still here!

I haven't done any spinning or weaving for months. But since I'm finally feeling more myself, I've gone back under the loom.

I wove this towel months ago. The pattern and cone of bulky cotton chenille are from Halcyon Yarn. The 5/2 cotton is from my stash. I finally washed and hemmed the towel. 
Now, I've made many towels but, I've never been completely satisfied with their absorbency. Ever. This pattern called for the use of a product I'd never heard of, Soda Ash. It changed the towel from one that moves water from place to place to one that actually absorbs and dries!!

So, what have I been doing?

Well, I made this sweet koala, just because.

And, ta-da! I knit this sweater. The pattern is from the Wool Studio, The Norah Gaughan Collection magazine. I used Berroco's Ultra Wool Fine.

It's another style that I would never have thought was for me. And I adore it!

Now, on to my next knitting project. This is from Ann Budd's, Top Down Sweaters book.

It's California, so I can't exactly say I'm trying to get ahead of things for spring. Spring's about here.

For the first time in a couple of years, the wisteria is putting on a show!

Little projects

I've been trying to get some little projects done.

I bought a doll house kit,

that came with dolls and their pets.

Finished!

Made mittens for an upcoming trip to the snow

and a cowl.

One of my nieces said I'd never made her any socks, so I got that done.

My husband bought me a new sewing machine at our neighbors' estate sale.

Okay. Maybe it's not so new, but it works like a dream

Most of my free time has been taken up with a not so little project. I've been trying to reclaim my backyard meadow from invasive grasses.

with some success.

On a day trip, we found a kit to make a cloth book in the local quilting store.

It was a fast, fun project.

Not quite as fast, but extremely satisfying was my reorganizing of this cabinet. My serger finally has a place to live (other than the floor) when not in use!!

The owners of my LYS (local yarn store) have been discounting some of their merchandise prior to their retirement. I'd been looking at this organic cotton, baby blanket kit, and with our friends' newest arrival, I had two excuses to purchase it, along with some other fiber...

...was that me who said: "I stash fiber, not yarn," (forgetting that they say, "never say 'never'!)?

No Theme

It's funny how purely by happenstance, there tends to be a theme to my posts. This time around, you're on your own. I can't find one.

I've been dawdling through a towel with Sophie. The pattern is simple (1,2,1,2,1,2,2,1,2,1,2, etc), but I kept losing count and weaving too many rows. So, I decided to go on a hunt for an abacus. This is so much easier for me to keep track of, throw the shuttle, slide a bead, repeat.

I made a tiger from Edward's Menagerie with some yarn I had left over.

This is my first successful round braiding! Isn't it pretty?!

Socks, always socks!

This pattern was in a "Vogue Knitting" magazine, early fall 2019. The sweater's not my usual style, but for some reason, I couldn't resist. Besides, it turns out, it matches my skirt!

Here's a better picture.

And the back (rather obvious, I know).

Edward's Menagerie strikes, again! My grandbaby was "the man in the yellow hat" for Halloween, so here's his Curious George.

And I'll finish with more diaper covers for someone else's end.

Learning

There's been a lot of learning happening.

Last month, I went to WEFF. One of the vendors taught me how to use this tool for Andean plying. It allows one to ply from both ends of a piece of yarn at the same time, without a tangled mess. 

Maybe I should learn some self control. Here is only some of the fiber I bought there.

I'm getting better at making diaper covers.

I don't know if this counts as fiber art for Spinzen, but here's my grandbaby using my inkle loom to learn to walk.

My friend works at an elementary school that has a massive garden. They grew the cotton you see here in the basket. She invited me to their school fair to demo the processing of it.

I spun this small bit from their homegrown cotton.

My nephew came for a visit and sat down to learn to spin.

 And my sister-in-law couldn't put the Inkle loom down.