It took me 3 days, but I finally got the fate, phd and steampumpkin mash up completed. I held both singles together and chain plied them. I ended up with 340 yards of 6 ply yarn out of 8 oz. The yarn is certainly bulky. And round. Very round.

It’s also quite colorful. Quite frankly, this project gave me quite a bit of trouble. I felt like I was learning to ply all over again, with the ensuing frustrations that go with it. I guess sometimes I forget what it’s like to learn something and practice it. The plies would get tangled or one would produce a tag thingy and then I couldn’t easily get rid of it because the other ply would be at the length the plying felt appropriate. I sometimes I had to cut the entire thing and start over. To be honest, if I ever do this again, and I very well might because the resulting yarn is fantastic, I’ll make a plying ball and ply from that. That seems like it might keep the appropriate tension on the singles as well as working out the kinks ahead of time. In any case, I do appreciate the resulting yarn and I feel fairly certain that any kinks will be almost invisible to the untrained eye.

It took 3 days to complete this plying project partly because on Thursday evening, Mr. Ink and I went on a bike ride. Guys, it was COLD! In fact, when Mr. Ink got home, he said “I think I want to back out, it’s cold and it’s windy!” But I really wanted to go! Turned out, there were only 7 of us riding and I was the only girl. And we were all cold. The mild days don’t really last the night. The worst part was that we had ridden from our house to the start of the ride to get in some extra miles. So, once we finished our ride and gathered at a restaurant for dinner and to meet up with other riders who aren’t dumb enough to ride in the cold, we warmed up nicely. And then, we had to get back on our bikes and be completely miserable all the way home. The funny part about my consternation about this is that I regularly rode in that type of weather in the past, so it’s simply that I haven’t been doing it that I feel the need to complain.

At the restaurant, one of my riding friends who had been over for my 40th birthday party in December brought me a little something. She’d seen our house filled with art and fiber arts and color, and she’d partaken in the great knitting purge of 2016, going home with a handspun lace beaded stole out of my knit stash. As such, she decided that something she made belonged in our house. She’s a quilter. And she’d created and framed this little paper pieced block.

Apparently she’d really been struggling to figure out who to give it to until that evening. And then she put it in her car, waiting for a chance to give it to me. That didn’t happen until Thursday evening. And I love it! It was also fun to see the other cyclists notice it and ask her about her work. I have a lot to learn from her. She was quick to explain her process, and quick to show them what a large project that tiny block was. When non knitters ask me about my craft, I tend to downplay it so hard. I don’t know why. But she didn’t downplay her talent at all, and I think that I could learn from that.

In any case, it’s a lovely block and I can’t wait to find the perfect spot in the house for it. I think it needs a place of honor, but I haven’t yet figured out where that is. I need to straighten up the place a bit first. We’ve got a house full of stuff that belongs in the garage, as Mr. Ink’s stuff for spring garden projects arrive.

I’ve been plying the fatcatknits batt as well, it’s almost done. It’s a great easy plying project to sit down at in between things like laundry and dishes and all the other stuff of a weekend. But, pretty soon I am headed out on my bike again with a good friend. We are going to enjoy a slow cool ride on our fat bikes while Mr. Ink is at work. And the evening will be filled with friends and games again, so really it couldn’t be a better weekend as far as I am concerned!