Good Intentions

Oh well, it is good to know that I am human. The summer has been very busy. I reconnected with my inner spinner.


I am learning to be more relaxed when it comes to accomplishments. For TDF 2011 (Tour de Fleece) my main goal was just to spin and enjoy it. I actually used merino, 50/50 s70ilk/superfine merino, 70/30 alpaca/silk, superwash merino, Australian merino and BFL. With the exception of the Australian merino there is still more of each fiber to spin. I can consistently get singles that will double ply to lace weight/fingering and Navajo ply to fingering/sport weight.

The Australian merino was a beautiful deep red. A friend gave me a piece of the braid she had. So I spun it up and two plied it. I got about 120 yards of lace weight. It had been spun during the last week of TDF at some concerts in the park. I gave it to the wife of the sound man. How difficult could that be you ask. Very is my response. But, it was fun and I look forward to seeing what it becomes.

I finally finished the baby afghan I started last summer. It is waiting to be washed and then taken with the others that are done to a local home for teens who need a little help. I started a new one using a pattern from "A Year of Afghans, Book 3". Hopefully it will go a bit quicker.

Don't ever let on when you are in the hardware store what you are going to use your purchases for. I was going to order the interlocking blocking mats from KnitPicks but I just kept putting it off. Eight months later, the first knit shawl I had finished was still unblocked. A friend loaned me her blocking wires and I still didn't have mats. So on a whim off I went to a big box hardware store. When the nice man asked me what I needed I said I wanted some of the interlocking floor mats. I now own 8 - 2' x 2' - mats. I purchased 2 yards of a 1" gingham (that way you don't need a yard stick) and I was off. Yesterday I put everything together and blocked the first shawl.

This morning the second one got pinned up.

It feels wonderful to finally cross things off the ToDo List. The summer issue of Interweave Crochet has some incredible things and they have found their way on to the project queue.

When I was at the local fabric store for the gingham I found a beautiful piece of that is gold/purple/oriental/Hawaiian. It managed to jump into my basket and now I am off to JoAnns to get a pattern. I realized when I was taking the rubber mats apart that they will make a perfect place to pin and cut out patterns.