My project monogamy is still going strong, as is the knitting of the Scottish Stripes scarf. It’s a great knit, I absolutely love it!

I can’t get over how enjoyable it is to work those small sections and then have a large portion of the scarf completed at the end of that section. Really satisfying. I’ve always loved knitted on edgings and anything that incorporates picked up stitches one at a time. Icord edgings are absolutely satisfying to me as well. So, it’s no surprise that picking up stitches and working these sections is inspiring to me.

It’s been a very busy week. Work busy, around the house busy, just busy. That’s kept my knitting time at a minimum really. Miss Butterfly is off to camp this weekend, and Mr. Ink is currently at work so I am having a quiet morning catching up on things. However, I also have not been able to get too much sleep lately so I am exhausted and my morning, yet again, began at 5 am. (Thanks Lizzie. This routine is getting old.) Anyhow, I am going to really try to get a nap in today. Maybe even one before Mr. Ink gets home.

Things around the yard are looking lovely! Green, flowers and plants are popping up everywhere, and spring flowers are still blooming or fixing to bloom. It’s becoming somewhat apparent where some of the plants may not have made it, but considering that the season was so late, we will be reserving our judgement for awhile.

Some of my peachy fluffy daffodils with tulips ready to bloom in the background.

In our ongoing makeup exploration, Miss Butterfly and I have been continuing to learn and practice new eyeshadow techniques. We’ve had a great time with it. The other night I got home from work and she immediately had me do her eyes. Which I did. Then she got into one of her 50 cent formal dresses (Another passion of hers, finding thrift store formal dresses) and showed me how she’d look for homecoming next year. Which…well…it didn’t even occur to me that this was a thing! But of course it’s a thing. She’s less than a year away from homecoming games and dances. That’s pretty startling.

We’ve also had fun watching “project pan” videos. And it’s really good for us too. Like with any hobby one really gets into, a stash is accumulated. And I think there’s a danger when one newly embarks on a hobby. That danger is being enamored with all things related to that hobby, before you really know what you are doing and what you truly enjoy using. To that end, we’ve been mostly trying out samples of things. But, the project pan videos are from makeup lovers who are trying to work through their stash before things expire. Unlike yarn stash, you really do have a limited amount of time to use things up, and these videos have been a great reminder to be careful not to over purchase. On the flip side of that, I did toss my make up that was 14-20 years old. That seemed wise. Did you know there are websites out there that can tell you how old your makeup is? Fascinating. We had a great time being grossed out by how old the small amount of makeup I did have was.

Anyhow, that’s about it from this corner of the internet. Have a fantastic weekend my friends!

My Saturday turned out to be just nutty. Productive, but nutty. From the moment I got out of bed until 5:30 p.m. I never once got an opportunity to sit down and knit. Or even sit down really. I switched out heavy winter clothing for summer clothes. I’d done a spring clothing switch out but I decided to do the summer clothes this weekend. I did a ton of laundry because I feel like despite the fact I washed everything before putting it in storage, things do not smell great when you bring them out of storage. So, that was a bunch of extra laundry to get done, and sorting and packing away.

I also blocked two knitting projects. One you already saw, the 3 color cashmere cowl. The other I’ll feature tomorrow. It required a full on hard blocking with pins so it took a bit of time.

There was of course all the normal house chores, cooking, dishes, clean up, dog walking, etc.

And then there was shopping. Now, I have to say, I actually had pretty good luck and a pretty good time with this. I hate shopping, and there’s something specifically about trying on dresses and looking critically in the mirror that just brings up awful insecurities so I just feel like it’s not a project I ever want to go do. I’d been looking at dresses since our return from Alabama, but really hadn’t had any luck. So this time I went to a fancier store. Despite it being a very busy day on the roads, there were only a few people in the store. And the salesperson was attentive as I explained my situation. “I need a dress for a wedding and I hate to shop.” Was basically how I approached it, and she kindly stepped right in. She picked out a number of lovely things for me to try on and I did end up finding a dress at that very store. It’s nice enough for a wedding, and bonus, it’s not so fancy that I can’t wear it to work afterwards. It was on the pricey side as the shop is pricey, but I’d say that they gave me the ease of finding something without feeling miserable so I am going to say I paid for that experience as well, and call it good. And honestly? Much of what the salesperson picked out looked great and I’d totally wear it if it weren’t for the price. Hah.

So, all in all, a very busy day but productive which works for me. I did get an opportunity to fill in the corner section of my Scottish Stripes scarf though:

And I am off and running on another section now.

And Mr. Ink did what Mr. Ink loves most:

There’s a new tree way in the back that went in this weekend, and he’s working on two more spots for two new trees. I told him that I have no intention of mowing anymore. He said he knew that already.

I am hoping today works out to be a bit more relaxed. There’s still much to do, but I have a moment to blog already, and knitting has been done. Have a happy Sunday!

The Scottish Stripes scarf continues to be quite engaging. I was able to finish the first triangle, and am now working on the second smaller edge triangle.

I am not sure if the picture will make a ton of sense, but it’s the lower left hand corner that I am working on filling in now. Even if it doesn’t make a ton of sense, you can still see how the colors are playing nicely together. You may also be able to see that I picked up stitches incorrectly on the second two wedges, which is unfortunate but I am not going to go back and fix it now. I’ll just try to remain consistent from here on out. It may bug me a bit, but once it’s done, blocked, and worn it probably won’t matter much.

Nothing much new to report, we had a pretty easy going evening but I’ve been in a MOOD, which probably still has a lot to do with the weather. Even my dreams reflect a bad mood! Weekend task? Shopping by myself to find a dress for the upcoming wedding. A task I do not relish, but it will go smoother and quicker since I can do it by myself. That is, IF I can get myself out the door in the first place. Hah.

 

There’s a moment when I cast on that often makes me feel like I’ve just chosen the best project and pattern ever and actually makes me feel like I am SO LUCKY to be able to knit. This project is certainly one of those:

This is the very beginning of Scottish Stripes by Ursa Major Knits. It’s a case where the handspun plays perfectly with the pattern, and that’s entirely one of the reasons I love creating handspun. That moment when you find what really works for the yarn is always thrilling to me. So far, this has been a very pleasant knit and I can’t wait to get home and work on the next section!

There’s not too much new to report otherwise around here. It’s been a busy week, I’ve worked late, but not for emergencies, just because it suited me to do so. Work was getting done, and I didn’t want to stop that momentum. That’s a nice feeling. I’ve done some knitting as you can see, but I’ve also had a lot going on otherwise, the dog has been needy probably because I’ve been out of the house a lot, and requires more attention than usual, and Miss Butterfly has me working on puzzles with her, which is a pleasure but it isn’t knitting. Oh, and it’s been cold and has snowed again, which is unpleasant. At one point yesterday while walking the dog, I realized that I had sleet absolutely pelting my face, while the sun was peeking through the clouds and shining in my eyes. I was like “SERIOUSLY!?!?!” I was so annoyed. And cold. 10 day forecast is looking a bit more springlike again, and there is much rejoicing. Though, it may be too little too late, because anything under 70 and sunny right now is feeling like a bit of an insult at this point.

I am willing to guess a fair number of you are feeling similarly!

I finished my Easy scarf over the weekend, and I can tell you right now I’ll be knitting another of these. Or, perhaps 10. It’s a truly fantastic pattern and I love the finished object so much. Since I don’t have much else to blog about, let’s review the history of the project.

Back when I was super interested in exploring interesting spinning techniques from Spinner’s Book of Yarn Designs, I began working on singles with cocoons. Fairly quickly realizing that I didn’t love making them, I decided to quit. Thankfully I’d divided the braid I was working on in half. So I finished spinning cocoons on the half I had started and then called it good. For the second half, I changed my ratio and spun thinner singles, then plied them into a 2 ply. The weight of the 2 ply was pretty close to the weight of the cocooned singles. And amazingly enough, I had fairly equal yardage. Only 10 more yards of the 2 ply than I had of the singles. I couldn’t believe how that worked out!

Here’s the two ply on top of the cocoon singles. I used Dyeabolical’s bfl silk (I think!) in colorway Kara for the fiber, and the cocoons are all scraps of Loop! fiber I had in stash for blending into batts.

I began the shawl using the cocoon yarn, knowing that I had a little less of that. On the second half, I misread the pattern not once, but twice, leading to a ruffled edge that looked like crap.

I think I’ve only got the one photo of that mistake. Anyhow, it took me two times making this mistake to figure out what I was doing wrong. Once I got it, I was off with a much nicer looking scarf.

Everything laying flat and not puckering as one would hope for in a knit item.

And now for the final finished object!

It turned into a great looking and interesting scarf! I love it! A couple of things. If I were to knit this again, I’d slip the stitches under a cocoon to make the cocoon lay flat, alternating between laying the cocoons on the front and the back as to keep both sides cocoony. This would have showcased the cocoons far better than just knitting them in as I did, but when I thought about doing this I was FAR too involved in the knitting to rip it back out. Anyhow, it was really fun to showcase the difference between knitting up spun singles and knitting up spun 2 ply. You can really see the effect of the two ply muddying up the harsher stripes, keeping everything far more gentle in color transition. The only other thing of note, when I knit this one again, I’ll bind off a little bit more loosely. While I tried to think loose, it’s still a bit on the tight side for the project. Doing a lace style bind off would be too loose, but going up a needle size or two probably would have fixed the issue entirely.

Anyhow, that’s about it from here, as there’s been nothing new or interesting to report since last post. I’ve got a new project I am working on and it’s going well, and going quickly, so I should have a photo of that to post tomorrow. Have a great day friends!

Believe it or not, in the past few days I’ve done a bit of spinning.

This is a bobbin full of singles from a loop bump I’ve had stored in my fiber closet for absolutely ever. I’ve got two bumps to spin, then I can ply them together. So it’ll be a long process. However, I am about halfway done with bobbin 2 out of 4.

This weekend was a lovely at home weekend for the most part. Miss Butterfly was off with her father. Mr. Ink had to work Saturday morning so I had the house to myself for a bit. He was feeling under the weather the remainder of the weekend, so we really did have an introverted weekend, necessary after being away. I did some various house cleaning that desperately needed to be done, as well as a major clean up of my craft room which had TRULY gotten out of hand. Once I cleaned that up, Miss Butterfly and I moved our makeup collection to a desk in that room. She’s kind of excited, as this means we can sit side by side and practice together when we get the urge. We are still working on finding a mirror solution but we did enjoy ourselves even without the mirror last evening.

Enough of the now stuff, it’s cold and gloomy here. Let’s take one last look at sunny Alabama:

A collection of kids with chickens. The one Miss Butterfly is holding is named Mark, and she absolutely adored him, carried him everywhere when out there. In fact, she loved the chickens in general really, they were pretty tame. Every extra chance she had, she’d go out to visit them. Two mornings she was the one to let them out for the day as the other kids weren’t up yet.

Check out these stunning barn cats! They were feral when they arrived. Now they are quite friendly, and are big protectors of the outside around the home. In fact, there are stories of 7 large snakes when they moved in, but once the cats showed up, they made quick work of the snakes. The second photo was their ingenious way of grabbing some fresh water. They’d go stand on the pool cover until the water seeped through, and then get a drink. They didn’t even seem to mind they were waist deep in water.

The neighbor had a horse that the girls could ride, much to Miss Butterfly’s happiness. When I went over there, after they’d been riding a bit, the owner of the horse kept asking me “Where did she learn to ride? Where did she learn to ride? SHE’S GOOD!” That was fun to learn, since she clearly loves it SO MUCH.

And one more funny photo. My cousin still hides the easter baskets for the kids. He’s not kidding around either, he takes great joy in hiding them so hard the kids can’t find them.

This is one not too happy, still sleepy kiddo having finally realized (through the hot and cold game) that her easter basket was actually IN the duct work.

In about a month, we’ll be back there for a wedding. Miss Butterfly and I plan to drive. I always love a good road trip and she’s now at the age she can probably manage one too. We’ll do the drive there in 2 days and the drive back in one. I think May will still be lovely there, and we are looking forward to it!

I got home from work last evening and immediately grabbed my blocking Quaker Lines shawl in order to get a picture quick. Because we were predicted to get snow. Which turned out to be true, it’s currently snowing. So, don’t believe for an instant that our yard looks nice and sunny anymore. We are also predicted to get a record low in the teens tonight too, so goodbye blooms.

Despite my bitterness about the weather, this project turned out beautifully. I love the look of the handspun 2 ply, spun in a fractal pattern. I love the shape of this type of shawl. I love how bright and cheery the colors are, and I am wearing this today. I guess the bonus here is being able to still get some wear out of knit projects since it’s cold. It’s not enough bonus to keep me going.

Enough of the bitterness, let’s keep talking about vacation. On Saturday my cousin’s family took us to Lacon Trade Day. He asked me later how I would describe it. I told him it was like a microcosm of a microcosm. He agreed this was an apt description. It was completely fascinating. A whole bunch of run down shacks, a whole bunch of makeshift tables, and a whole bunch of people just selling stuff off the back of their trucks. We certainly were able to keep ourselves occupied by the sights and sounds. Miss Butterfly and I were particularly enjoying the section of animal sales. A few cows and goats, but mostly various birds and rabbits. Also some bonus puppies.

Miss Butterfly asked if she could hold a chick, and this was allowed so she was thrilled.

Now for a “weird weekends” picture. (Seriously, if you want fun, weird travel pictures along with interesting and creative craft endeavors, go read his blog, it’s so fun!)

My mom actually pointed out this particular combination of things being sold in a shack, and then I grabbed a photo. We…didn’t go in.

Saturday was a bit chilly in the morning but warmed up absolutely beautifully. After trade day, we didn’t go out to do anything else, we hung around the farm and enjoyed extremely delicious lunch of steak and baked potatoes. In the evening, my cousin took me on a bike ride. He wanted to show me a hill he calls “the gates of hell.” I knew before we got there that if I saw the hill, I’d have to pedal the hill. And so we did. I haven’t been on my bike much at all and the bike I was riding was not my own, so I did worry about my ability to climb it. Especially toward the end when I was really suffering. But climb it I did, and we got to enjoy the long fast downhill afterward. And we immediately made plans for another bike ride.

Tomorrow-many photos of teens and chickens. Happy Friday!

So, we got back from Alabama where everything is blooming on Tuesday evening, where a grand time was had by all. I genuinely believe this was one of Miss Butterfly’s and my absolute favorite vacations. We had a wonderful time.

We flew in on a Thursday, meeting my parents at the Atlanta airport, then flying on to Alabama together where we were picked up by my cousin and his family and taken out to have some BBQ lunch straight away. It was pouring rain, but not too chilly, and we could see more green than we’ve seen in ages even in the airplane.

Later in the evening the storm passed, and while everything was still quite wet the kids were able to get outdoors and play around in the woods.

This right here is the first picture of kids in wellies, you’ll see many more over the next few posts.

I was able to get out and take a photo of a blooming clematis, which I just couldn’t get over.

The next morning we had a breakfast that couldn’t be beat, and wandered off to the botanical gardens, where quite a lot was blooming nicely and we got to soak it all in. It was cool and windy, but not raining.

 

Once too hungry to keep going, with many beautiful sights soaked in, we had lunch and then went to a very large art place in an old warehouse. I didn’t take many photos here, but enjoyed taking a quick photo of this piece, a care bear.

This was also on a tshirt and I should have gotten it. But was stuck in that mode of “Do I buy something now and find something else I want to buy later or just let this one go?” I let it go, and kind of wish I hadn’t. This happens to me ALL the time on vacation.

There were places for snacks as well, first we stopped for homemade popsicles, which I didn’t feel the need to have but the kids loved:

I think the adults enjoyed them too. Then we stopped at a homemade chocolate/candy shop, where I found the prettiest chocolates ever.

They were delicious as well!

We enjoyed a lovely day out but were also grateful to get back to the house as well to relax. It was a great first full day. And now I’ll leave you with some knitting, since this is a knitting blog after all. This is where I had my Quaker Lines shawl worked to on the very last day of vacation prior to the airplane trip home. I wanted to grab a final photo using a lovely leafed out japanese maple for a backdrop.

Spoiler alert, I finished this last evening and it’s blocking this morning, so a final finished object post should be up shortly. Unfortunately it won’t be featured on something as pretty as a properly leafed out maple, since I am back home in the cold again.