Road Trip Knitting

With the goal of visiting a place where we could see the totality of the eclipse this week, my family took our first road trip. 

We went all in: 5 national parks, 2 national monuments, 5 states, 16 days and 4000 miles traveled.

We began in North Dakota at Theodore Roosevelt Park.

Since we were in the car so much, I had tons of time for knitting. 

I was able to start and finish a vest, inspired by the fluffy clouds in the big sky

The other knitting project I brought along didn't get quite finished, but I made some serious headway on it. 

I had the book Yokes by Kate Davies, and it was hard to choose one pattern. I love everything in the book, and I will probably knit more as the years pass. 

I settled on Cockatoo Brae, which is the cover pattern. (photo from the book)

I dug through my stash and found some colors I liked. 

 As we traveled around, I realized that I was seeing all the colors of my yarn in the gorgeous landscape around us.

The lichen, the fauna, the water, the woods, it was all represented in my palate. 

We had a marvelous time, despite the odd 35 degree night, or swarms of flies in the outhouses. 

I can't wait to finish up this sweater, and be reminded of our travels.

Joining in with Crafting On.

Flurry of Back to School Sewing

So, this little peanut will be starting Kindergarten in about a month, and what's a crafty girl to do, but go into major dress production? 

I was flipping through the top children's fashion sites and saw this adorable dress from Mini Boden 

and thought to myself "Self, you can make that!'

So I grabbed a pattern for a basic jumper and added a face and ears. 

The mouse came out so cute, I let her pick out fabric for a cat.

 I had this knit dress cut out for about a year, so I finished that one up.

The original jumper pattern had a version with this faux Peter Pan collar, so I did one in this amazing Space Baby fabric. When I saw it in the shop I audibly gasped. I had made an outfit for The Elder when she was 6 months old (that particular lady is 13 now!)

Also on the Mini Boden site there were a lot of applique dresses and so I tried that too.

I still have a few more things up my sleeves, we'll see how many I finish up.
The Youngest is also my Last, so I feel a little extra pressure to get these made before she decides that she doesn't want homemade clothes anymore.
Joining Nicole for KCCO this morning

A Glorious Day

This sweet lady and I went to the beachy woods (or is it the woodsy beach?) on Monday. 

We had a picnic, built a sandcastle,

we let our (OK, my) pasty hobbit feet see some sun, which after a long winter and a week of steady rain felt pretty terrific.

 There was also some tree climbing, but only fallen trees, because I am not that brave.

She, however, is very brave and climbed to the very end. 

I can't wait for school to end so we can do this with the Elder and Younger as well. 

Blanket from the Ashes of a Dyelot Disaster

I was going through my stash and found some pretty multi-color blue yarn that had been discontinued while I was working at the Yarn Shop in town.
The colors were beautiful and I knew that what I wanted was this sweater right here-

From a 2009 issue of Interweave Magazine.
So sweet!
So I got cooking, and after I was 10 inches into the second ball I remembered why the yarn was discontinued.
The dyelots were ridiculously out of whack from themselves.
These two yarns are the SAME DYELOT.

I was pretty bummed out, but I thought to myself "Self, just weave with it. The crazy variation won't show as much and you will still get to use that beautiful yarn."

So I loaded up my rigid heddle, which is only 20 inches wide so I had to make three panels to make a blanket, and in a week or so I had this lovely throw.
It came out just how I thought, and I love it.
Joining Nicole for KCCO

Mostly Finished

I cast off my handspun sweater on Monday.
It could use a little tweaking, like it totally needs blocking, and I need another pocket, and the sleeves are a little closer to three quarter than I like.
However, it's wearable, and super cozy and I spun the yarn! And before I spun the white yarn I washed an entire fleece! And I dyed the bright green! And I designed it!
I am a little in love with this guy.
What's on your needles? 

Spinning, Spinning, Spinning

I have been putting my anxiety to work lately.
The easiest fix for my sad feelings is always food, but since I have probably gained 20 pounds in the last year I am trying to find another outlet.
Long-time readers will know that I have a new-found obsession with spinning, though I put it on hold for a bit for the holidays.
The past few days I pulled it out again, and have been getting a lot of yardage spun up.
A couple of weeks ago I received a surprise package in the mail from a facebook friend, filled to bursting with spinny delights.

I grabbed a braided top and got to work.

It's fascinating to me how different the final yarn ends up looking from the roving. 

From right to left here is the unbraided top, the predrafted top, a spun single, and a plied yarn.

Here you can really see the difference between the roving and the yarn. I am still a total beginner but I am trying to practice every day and I think I am seeing some improvement. 

The colors of this one are just perfect with the sweater I have been plugging away at. I don't know if I will incorporate it into the actual sweater, or maybe a matching hat?

Anyway, my pants thank me for channeling my nervous energy into this project rather than more cookies...

New Year

It's been a while.
Christmas happened, with all the attendant family time and coziness.
I am in a bit of a funk. Just moving from home to work to home to the couch.
This week we joined a gym in hopes of getting my middle-aged ass moving.
I don't really have a plan yet, but with a few hours of my own each day while all of the kids are in school I have many opportunities to get to work.
The thing is, there are so many things I would love to do in addition to working out.
In December I took a class in glass-blowing and made a tumbler (which turned out more like a vase) and I really caught the bug.

And while I was there I was reminded of how much I used to love working with clay.
So, in continuation of my previous foray into a #midliferenaissance I hereby pledge to take more classes and explore some interests that I have been neglecting since I had kids.
There will still be much knitting as well, though if this week is any indicator I need to be much more careful with my hands as I cut my thumb on a mandolin a couple of days ago and bruised the hell out of my finger moving a table.
I just finished up a shawl, the first I have tried with this method of construction.
It's called Somerled and it's a Scottish Hap.
It is was worked as a border first,

and then you pick up the inside of the border and knit the inner border.

Lastly, you knit the center and pick up as you go.

Then you have to block it, because it's pretty rumply.

And then, you send it away to get blocked by a professional because this looks terrible.

I don't have this back from the blocker yet, but I can't wait to see how it turned out. 

In fact. I loved this so much I am planning a new one, using some reclaimed yarn from a sweater that I loved that was attacked by moths (little beasts.)

The new plan is to add some different laces, I don't know how that will go yet, time to do some research.

What's on your needles?