Oh my friends, yesterday was good! I got a nap in, I got a bunch of spinning in, I got a nice long walk in, I got hanging out with my kid time in,  and I got to help a friend. And then I went to bed ridiculously early and slept in this morning. It was much needed!

Let’s wander through the spinning, shall we? First of all, I skeined this chain ply yarn up, the fiber is silky cashmerino from frabjous fibers, and it really truly is ridiculously soft! I chose to preserve the colors again, as these are all so pretty as well. I ended up with 370 yards fingeringweight yarn.

Forget the yarn, look at those mums!!!

Then I pulled out a fatcatknits batt and got spinning on that. The singles are now done.

But, instead of jumping right into a plying project, I pulled out another fatcatknits batt and spun that one.

These singles are also done. The colors are mostly yellow, purple, and white. And since I did a dyeing arts superwash merino in a similar color scheme awhile back:

I am hoping I can make them work together somehow. We’ll see once the yarn is officially done though, as the batt will be quite wild, and the merino is nice and smooth.

I also grabbed a snapshot of the rolags I put on spindles as well, they’ve really only just begun but they are nice and fun and full of texture which I love.

I guess you could say it is almost all spinning all the time around here! Today I’ll take a little bread, as we are headed out to a state park a little ways away for a hike and a cook out. Seems like a great thing to do when the weather is still pleasant but the leaves are changing.

Until next time friends, hope you’ve had a lovely weekend!

And a little bit of that.

My friend who has been in the hospital for the last 12 days is now in surgery. Waiting to see no longer was an option. So, I am spending my time today getting stuff done around the house and waiting for news.

I intend to get a bit of gardening done today. I’ve got two boxes of bulbs that need to go in the ground this fall, but today may be more about moving more flowers out of the veggie garden. I have a friend coming to pick up some excess mums today, which is great. I don’t have a taker for the elderberry bush that Mr. Ink has carefully tended but now does not want. Ah well.

I did do a bunch of spinning yesterday. Or rather, plying. I had been spinning up the singles on spindles for ages and ages. I never measured the amount of fiber before hand. So, I was quite surprised to find that I ended up with over 900 yards of 3 ply! I am guessing those little batts were more along the lines of 8 ounces instead of 4?

I did a nice long 3 ply gradient, moving the colors one to the next fairly seamlessly. It was a pleasant plying job, and I am glad to have my spindles free again in case I decide to work on another project.

I also spent some time with girlfriends, took a long walk, and made some rolags yesterday. All in all a very pleasant day. I won’t show the rolags yet, as I am only halfway through the project. I had assumed I was done, but then when I weighed the fiber, I only had just over 3 ounces, and you KNOW I kind of hate under 4 ounce projects. All in all, a pretty relaxing day which was just what I was looking for!

Oh weekend, how I love you! I decided to start my weekend off right, with a 20 minute nap as soon as I got home from work yesterday. By the time I woke up, Mr. Ink was home. He told me he wanted to get the lawn done quickly, because he wanted to go pick up a truck load of compost, and the compost place isn’t open on the weekends. So, we hurried out to do that, and once my portion of the lawn was done, I sat down for a moment to begin plying my latest spinning project.

Mr. Ink rather sweetly asked if I’d like to go with him, and I thought “The weekend’s still young, why not?” So I hopped in the truck figuring he probably wanted to spend a little time with me. We get to the place where he wants to pick up compost, and then tells me that they don’t load it for us. And I look in the bed of the truck, and realize he’s thrown in two shovels. Uhuh. Well played Mr. Ink.

I definitely whined about it, the shoveling of a truckload full of compost, especially since I’d just had my flu shot earlier that day and was a bit sore. However, he shovels two to my one, his upper body strength is so much better, and I told him I’d remember this when it was time to get some good compost or manure for my veggie garden in the spring.

The reality is, we’ll be getting compost all next week if necessary, as this is the last week they are open until 7. And I’ll help. Once home, we began watching the latest season of Black Mirror and I got a lot of plying done, so I still got a pretty lovely evening to start my weekend!

I’ve got some yarn to show off! It’s 2 toned BFL, chain plied, 356 yards.

The colors on it are wickedly rich! It was a very fun spin.

I also have all these lined up and ready to ply.

They were a bunch of small batts, two each, and I spun them all separately. But surprisingly enough, I’ve decided to 3 ply them, making the colors shift in odd ways. We’ll see how it goes, I am about halfway through that project currently.

The mums in our garden are going nutty, which is lovely. Also, the petunias have had a rebirth of sorts, due to one overnight frost, they seem to have lost their budworm pests, and are now blooming like mad. I’ll tell you what, I’d really given up on them!

But, Coco’s memorial tree is looking amazing, the mums are so full now they are covering his stone. We’ve got pink mums everywhere too, but I haven’t gotten a photo yet. (Except you can see them a bit at the top of the yarn photo!)

This weekend is going to be one I am insisting a bit slow. I’ll hang out with a couple girlfriends, spend a lot of time alone, get my spring bulbs planted hopefully, and also move some more plants out of my veggie garden and into more appropriate spaces. I need to get the gladiolas dug up as well as the cannas, though the cannas are still going strong. I think I’ve decided against dahlias in the future though. This area is just too windy, and no matter how well I stake them, they end up falling and breaking and looking cruddy. Maybe I’ll try again in the future, but not next year.

Happy weekend friends! I hope yours is wonderful.

Isn’t it amazing what a good night’s sleep can do? Or even just an evening to oneself? I got home from work last evening, took a quick nap to “reboot,” then blocked my scarf. Mr. Ink was clearly feeling it too, as he was home before 5:30, which never happens, and off to spend some time working in the yard. We were clearly interested in doing our introverted hobbies. Then we made dinner together early, while having a lovely chat with Miss Butterfly, had dinner, cleaned kitchen, and sat on the sofa with a glass of wine finally catching up with each other. It’s amazing how easy it is to disconnect from a partner when life is throwing curveball after curveball at you, but thankfully a quiet evening easily remedies that. I even slept amazingly well, which is SUCH a relief!

Here’s a picture of yarn! This is about 320 yards of sportweight yarn. I took a grey/black combo and plied it with a loop 3 ring circus cloud, which made a much more subtle black toned yarn with pops of color. This one was quite a lot of fun to ply! No clue what will become of it, but it was fun to make and it’ll be a joy to knit with too, with it’s color surprises.

I suppose someday I should spin 3 ring circus and actually ply it together, but the options for working with other colors were just irresistible. It’s quite a difference from this one that I plied with the fatcatknits batt.

This is my first day back at work post conference. We have hosted 3 gatherings at our house in 4 days, had overnight guests 7 out of 9 days, and attended a lovely family gathering for Mike. Mike was an artist, and the family had brought in just as much of his art as they could. Rather than tons of flowers, the room was filled with tons of art. It was beautiful, and there were so many pieces I had yet to see. The family also put together a slide show of old photos. Mike had these piercing blue eyes that sometimes felt like they were searing into your soul, and it was interesting seeing those eyes over the years, always the same. We will absolutely miss that man, his friendship and the way he wore his heart on his sleeve, and the bear hugs and affirmations he was so quick to give.

It was also fun to see Mr. Ink’s “gang” of high school friends all together. It’s like they all grew up, and I am looking at adults, but they somehow didn’t quite lose all the punk that they were in the late 80s. We had fun strolling through old photos and even VHS videos that friends had taken way back when, and it was interesting to see Mr. Ink being exactly the same version of himself then as he is now. In fact, out of anyone, he’s probably changed the least.

Mr. Ink got sick of waiting for a firepit (even though that’s his own project, he certainly has been busy with other jobs.) and just decided to drag the pit insert to where he planned to dig the hole in the ground and made a fire.

Now I am back at work, and I always forget just how much wrap up work there is from the conference. It’ll all get done, and probably in good time as I am still in that mode of thinking that there’s absolutely no time for anything so procrastination Just Won’t Do.

I did get my green yarn dry enough to grab a photograph yesterday. It’s 500 yards of 2 ply laceweight yarn, on BFL/silk that has GOT to be superwash but I don’t remember.

It’s definitely a tonal yarn in this case, and it’s very pretty. And very soft. And it absolutely was a yarn that kept my hands occupied while feeling stressed, which really is the best type of yarn!

The house is our own tonight, and I’ve got plans! Plans of cleaning up, and plans to block my nahant scarf, both hopefully before Mr. Ink even arrives home. The jury is still out as to if it’ll be time to mow. I got out of it last weekend due to the conference. But, with the weather in the 80s yesterday and likely to be even hotter today, you KNOW it’s going to grow fast again!

I, for one, am looking forward to a slower week, and a free weekend of gardening in the very near future. Have a great week my friends!

Yesterday was a day I had been looking forward to for a very long time. It was a bike race day, the participants were attempting 130 miles of hilly gravel and dirt roads yesterday. I was not a participant, but I had decided to volunteer, as two very dear friends of mine organize this race and I know just how much work they put into it.

The participants have to check in at different checkpoints along the route. This helps us keep track of everyone, gives us an idea of how long it’s going to take everyone to get through the course, and makes sure that we have everyone accounted for. These types of races are self supported. Meaning, there’s no food or water provided along the route by the organizers, and the participants are not allowed to have friends or family drive in along the route to bring them food or water. The participants can carry whatever they can with them, and they can stop at convenience stores along the way, but they are disqualified if they have organized outside help. So, it’s quite necessary for the organizers and volunteers to be as aware as possible of how participants are doing.

I drove an hour and a half away from home, into the middle of nowhere, basically a valley at the intersection of two very hilly dirt roads, on an indian reservation for the checkpoint I was scheduled to run. There was absolutely NOTHING out there. Except for us. Our checkpoint was at about 60 miles into the ride, and I was there from 10-2. I didn’t take pictures of riders, as I was busy checking them in and getting reports from them. Who had a flat tire, who missed a turn, who looking like they weren’t doing too well, and who may have dropped out. I was lucky to always have someone with me, and while waiting for the leaders to come through I had quite a few people with me. Including the race organizers, and I snapped a shot of their easy and comfortable friendship as they waited for the first bikes to crest the hill on the route.

These two guys are two of my best guy friends ever. They are amazing people, and I am so fortunate to know them both. I am telling you, nothing could have been more zen for me yesterday than sitting at an intersection in the middle of nowhere soaking in nature, sunshine, and friendship. It. Was. Good.

It’s been such an utterly odd week, to be honest. Between Mike’s passing, and the additional people at the house, and the gatherings of friends in the evenings, and we also found out that another one of my guy friends was in the hospital with quite a serious blood clot attempting to damage his digestive system. (He’s now out of ICU, and on his way to recovery, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a ton of worry during those few days!)

With all that, and with another good friend having had a double mastectomy and reconstruction last week, I think I’ve come to realize that we are all kind of heading into a new phase in life. We are getting older, it’s unavoidable and we are also being forced to stare it in the face. In my brain this year I keep saying “I am grateful our home has been a gathering place for friends and family during tough times, but could it maybe be a gathering place during some good times? Please?” And then I remind myself to be so grateful for the opportunity to provide that for people, and to be in a position where we are able to do so. And that the home is being used for what we wanted it to be used for. And life is truly about cycles, the celebrations and the gatherings of joy WILL come. This has just plain been our season for some tougher stuff.

And now on to lighter subjects. I have two more skeins of handspun hanging to dry. It’s unlikely to dry ANYTIME soon, because it’s so humid here right now, but by tomorrow I am sure! I’ve also got a finished Nahant scarf to block, so that should be featured this week sometime. But while we wait on those two things, I started a new spinning project and it’s basically just thrilling in it’s rich color!

When times are tough, look for the good, right? That’s what we are doing around here. We had a gathering of friends last evening. I got to meet a friend of Mr. Ink’s that he was very excited for me to meet, and she was indeed a lovely woman. Mike has managed to bring us together in a way, as that’s a friendship Mr. Ink has wanted to cultivate better as they’d lost touch over the years. Mike was the one who always kept in touch with his old friends, and now Mr. Ink will have to put forth more effort in that respect.

In any case, as she wandered through our house, seeing it for the first time, she took a look at my drum carder and was like “WHAT IS THIS MACHINE I MUST KNOW!!!” So Mr. Ink told her about my proclivities, she got quite excited and explained that she, too, is a knitter. I said “Just wait ’till you see the den of slack…” She took one look at the yarn stash and said “Mr Ink, she’s my new best friend!” It was a fun moment. We are headed over to see her house next week, and we’ve got some game nights planned. Plus, we are hosting another gathering of Mike’s friends tomorrow night when Mr. Ink’s younger brother gets in town.

I am, once again, so grateful for the home we purchased. We chose it in part for it being large enough to have gatherings of people, and I know that sounds a bit funny for two introverts. But, as I again flip the guest room quickly for the next guest, and sigh at my lack of alone time, I also feel a sense of relief that we’ve been able to use the home as we’d hoped, despite the fact that many times this year we hosted due to sad situations and life changes. This year has been highly busy in that regard. I do feel like this is a season though, and we’ll be able to host happy gatherings in the future.

Now on to the rest of the good. I’ve been knitting at that conference every other year for 10 years, and have apparently developed a reputation. One of the conference chairs this year, a woman I only ever see at the conference, decided she’d bring me something fun. It was a large bag full of wool!

Now the bad news, it’s not all necessarily something I can use. The white is angora, which I am quite allergic to. So, I’ll need to destash that. The red is very….red. And there’s a lot of it. On the other hand, I also know that I can easily throw that red on a drum carder and add to it so it has more interest for my taste. I’ll have you note though, this woman who is absolutely lovely, clearly has a thing for that red color. Every single day of the conference she had on a piece of clothing containing this very red colored red. And looked great in it! In any case, that was SUCH a sweet gift and thank you for the organizing, and really, only another fiber enthusiast could have picked out such a gift.

Yesterday I did make sure the house was in order, doing 3 loads of laundry, flipping the guest room, making beds, and doing general clean up. As I mentioned, the house is already in good order due to Christelle’s visit, I just had to straighten, which was a relief. I didn’t get a ton of crafting done, because honestly? I just needed time to sit. And I had a VERY long nap in the afternoon, which was so necessary as well. But, I did finally finish a bobbin of the black/grey I was working on that will be paired with the loop 3 ring circus.

In reality, I am not ENTIRELY sure it’s enough, but if it is not, I do have more of that wool, and can throw some more on a bobbin or spindle to finish the project. But today is going to be dedicated to working on plying those green singles first.

Miss Butterfly has today off too. I am looking forward to spending a bit of time with her, she certainly seemed annoyed after awhile that I was working so many hours. But as of right now? She’s doing that thing that 12 year olds LOVE LOVE LOVE to do. Sleeping in. And I am going to let her do just that. We can make some plans later.

Well, I did it. That yarn was too tropical looking even for me and my love of crazy colors. So I decided to up the nutty factor even more, and add in dyed border leicester locks.

The base yarn itself is a worsted weight, but it’ll have to be a bulky pattern to accommodate those locks. I ended up with 192 yards of this, which is a fair amount when considering the bulkiness factor.

Considering the busy nature of work right now, I am plugging along pretty well. I finished my nahant stole that I’ve been working on last evening, but haven’t had an opportunity to block it. Maybe tonight. And, I started some upcoming conference knitting. I always desperately need an easy but large project to work on during the conference, as there’s a lot of down time. This year I am hoping also to take some short walks, especially when there’s no chance of anyone coming to bother me for periods of time. But, I feel certain there will still be loads and loads of downtime available for knitting. I might even bring a little spindle spinning!

I did start a new spinning project too, on the wheel. Since the project featured here was so nutty, I went with a very basic bfl/silk top smooth 2 ply project as a comfortable contrast. I’ll need to get photos of that pretty soon, but it’s supposed to rain all day so it won’t be today. I also need to get photos of the new section of garden Mr. Ink put in, but again, with the rain, not likely to happen today.

In any case, have a great week folks! I’ll try to get some more pictures up by Thursday!

I’ve taken up a new endeavor. And it’s rolags. I picked up a blending board this week, and naturally, needed to sample immediately.

My drum carder is great at blending, and great at working with wools that aren’t particularly fine. But it doesn’t like merino, and it won’t really do a good job lining various colors up next to each other for a nice color progression in a batt. I don’t mind, it’s an off brand and it was inexpensive and I’ve gotten massive amounts of use out of it.

But sometimes a gal wants to try something else! So rather than a carder that is different than the one I own, I decided on a blending board. And the first thing I did was make a little over 3 ounces of pink toned rolags, using the bits and bobs I have for blending in stash and one of the grey romney dyed wools from last week.

I just pulled out a few to photograph because man can these things be delicate! But the first bobbin spun up so very nicely,

and I am already working on the plying! The rolags do a great job making a light and airy single, and I am eager to see how my first yarn turns out. However, I think the romney is better saved for my drum carder. I knew that the long staple of romney would probably not do a great job folded over in a rolag, but I guess giving it a try was still worth something.

Happy Weekend my friends! The plans around here are as always. Cleaning, biking, crafting, gardening. And that sounds exactly right to me, since work has continued to be pretty nutty!