Knitting progress............

I finished the 2nd hot water bottle cover that will be a gift. Very cute. I love mine so I hope the recipient loves using this one.  (once again pix are sideways for what reason I don't know as they aren't sideways on my computer)

 I finally finished a pair of black socks, with specks, that I had set aside while working on holiday gifts. I love having handknit black socks but this is the last time I knit black ones, way too hard to see. I can cross these black socks off my to-do list.  In the bottom corner is another pair of socks in progress, always need to have some on the needles to work on when I have down time waiting somewhere. 

Playing with fiber on turkey day......

We're having a very laid back turkey day which suits me just fine. It's harder this year with no family here locally but we're doing fine. I'm playing with fiber and Sam is watching the Commanders, formerly Redskins, our team as we both grew up in DC/MD. I am making a small turkey dinner but got much of it done yesterday, will finish up in a bit and put a spatchcocked turkey breast in the oven which shouldn't take long to roast. 

 

I've got more socks on the needles - this is sock number two of this pair. Kind of weird color combinations but I like them. 

Over a week ago I wound a warp and got it wound on the back beam. Yesterday I threaded heddles, sleyed the reed and got it tied on. Today I started weaving. It's a networked twill with an advancing twill treadling. The left side looks like there's a problem in this pic but there isn't, it's just the way the light is shining in on that side.  After this warp I may go back to a quilt project just barely started way back in March. 

I hope you all are having a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

In the pipeline...........

More socks in the pipeline for holiday gifts.  I'm having fun knitting all the socks and my hands haven't cramped up yet so that's a good thing. 

Love these lavendars and purples

These are very fun, have finished the first sock, this is sock #2 of the pair

We spent a few days on the coast escaping the smoke of the valley.  There was still a bit of smoke on the coast and inland just a mile from the beach there's heavy smoke. We have a big fire just to the south of us spreading most of the smoke but then there are also fires to the west, east and north. The AQI (air quality) has been hazardous for weeks, it's ugly out. I hate summer/fire season. 

Another start...........

 Another pair on the needles of the socks I'm knitting for holiday gifts.  I finished pair #2 the other night, started pair #3 last night. I love how this one is turning out.  I'm using a solid gray for the cuff, heel and toe.  Getting a lot of sock knitting done in the evenings while we watch Suits on Netflix - we're hooked. 

In other crafts I'm working on small holiday gifts here and there.  Hoping to get a warp on the loom soon but need to finish up a couple of other projects first, feeling very scattered. Would love to get holiday gifts finished up in the next 2 months so I can get back to a wall quilt I had taken a class on. 

Moving right along.......

I'm moving right along knitting socks for holiday gifts. I finished the pair I started last week, now have another pair on the needles. Also working on some other small gifts. 

Not much else to say.  It's hot, but not as hot as it could be, that's coming this weekend. Just like every summer we're in extreme fire season - fire just a bit to the west occasionally throws some smoke in our direction but it's mostly blowing the other direction. Counting down the days until the end of fire season. I hate summer. 

 

Sox in progress.........

I've decided I need to knit a number of pair of sox for holiday gifts so no idle hands around here for the foreseeable future.  Here is the first - I'm down to the instep on both pair, have them going at the same time so it's easy to match up where I start and stop in the pattern for contrasting cuff, heel and toe.  Also working on some other gifts but can't post them here..........

 

I am remiss. I meant to post these socks earlier in the week but totally forgot.  Neighbor Jill in the knitting group I was invited to last year gave us all a ball of holiday sock yarn at the beginning of the year and we're to create something with it for this upcoming holiday season. I made these slouch socks - love them. I only had a little bit of yarn leftover so made a little ornament for her, a tiny basket of yarn complete with yarn balls and knitting (on toothpicks).  Picture is sideways, don't ask me why...........

Took this picture last weekend at The Wool Co in Bandon (on the coast).  I went to visit Kelly, the owner, and saw this in the yard - it had been put up to celebrate knit in public day the weekend before. I love it - hope it lasts for a long time.  Of course in visiting I bought more 'stuff' I didn't need but what does need have to do with anything.......

 

Sox on the needles

Last year I think I only knit one pair of sox, or maybe I finished a pair from the year before and then knit another pair - can't remember right now.  Recently I decided I need a pair of black handknit sox so went searching through my stash and found this fun black yarn with specks (will take the 2 skeins I have). I haven't gotten very far and they'll be a long term project to cart along with me places......although it would be nice to wear them this winter.........

Still working on quilt blocks - think I have 34 now, not sure how many I need, at least 60 but probably more. I'll figure that out shortly.  I've been listening to the audio version of Outlander's book 7, An Echo in the Bone while I stitch. I downloaded it from the library so only have so much free time to listen to 46 hours, I 'think' I'm going to finish before it disappears from my Kindle. 

I've signed up for a quilt class in Feb/March. It has points and curves so I'll be learning new stuff. It's been so long since I've ventured out for any kind of class or workshop - I'm so looking forward to it.  I have finally gone back to my weaving guild meetings as of this past Saturday - nice to see many who I haven't seen since the start of covid.  I did wear my mask though with illnesses on the rise in our area. 

Cheerful.......

Very cheery socks started yesterday.  as tempting as it is to just keep knitting away and finish them quickly I'll be saving them to work here and there when in a group or waiting somewhere. This yarn came with another small skein to use for the heels and toes. Good to get back to knitting.........

 

Socks finally ready for feet.........

 These socks are finally ready to be worn.  I started these sometime last winter from a skein of sock yarn gifted to me by a friend..........then they got set aside as with many things this past year.  I pulled them out recently and finished them up.  Now I've got a pair of brown socks, which I needed.  On to the next pair to go on the needles - bright cheery colors. 

On the loom & needles.........

This week I got another towel warp on the loom - I've been weaving bright colors this last year so decided to go with more subdued colors this time and I love them.  Actually the reason why I chose these 3 warp colors was because I had mega cones of each of these 8/2 cottons. Of course I've hardly made a dent in those cones but at least I'm using some of it. The first towels I'm using a pale seafoam green weft and love it. Original plan was to use the 3 colors in the warp for wefts, I may still do that for some of the towels but right now I'm loving weaving this seafoam.  This is a two block twill.......seems I've been loving weaving two block twills this last year too.

And here's what's on the needles. A friend gifted me with this Malabrigo sock yarn over a year ago, I kept it right on my sewing table trying to decide what to use it for. My original thought was a knit shawlette but I just hadn't found the perfect pattern yet.......that I already hadn't knit. Then I decided on socks and I'm so glad I did - I love the way they're turning out. The pattern is called Tidal Wave Socks.  I have knit these before and love the pattern. Here's the link to the pattern on Ravelry.  Just enough to have something to think about while knitting the leg portion but not so much that I can enjoy watching tv in the evening. 

This morning I blocked the cowl I knit a few weeks ago, when it's dry I'll share a picture of that.  Now off to throw the shuttle on that towel warp.........

 

This and that.......

I have gotten a little bit of fiber time. I'm nowhere near where I need to be to keep my sanity but I'm trying to work toward getting back to what my normal had been for 2+ decades. How did life change? I need for it to change back, at least partially back to what it used to be or 'funny farm' here I come.

I put some handspun on the loom recently for a double weave/width afghan. Color is not quite right but it's close, and that was after working on it. Newer version of my old camera takes terrible pictures colorwise, just don't get it. Anyhow, that skein on the top is the weft.

Here it is in progress. The join is on the left hand side. When this comes off the loom it will unfold to be twice it's width, which is around 42" before washing.  I'd like to think I would get it off the loom today and be able to start twisting the fringe but I've also got 3 fruit trees to prune and I need to help Sam get the bird netting over the garden structure.

I finally finished a pair of superwash merino/bamboo/nylon socks that have been on the needles for probably a year. A project that I'd just pick up here and there when I needed to grab a quick project to work on while on the go. They feel super soft, with our weather these may not end up on my feet until next winter. Time to get another pair of socks on the needles for my on the go, no thinking necessary, project.

At the sewing guild meeting last week we learned about Swedish weaving, which is not really weaving (as we weavers know) but embroidery on huck fabric - the embroidery sits on the top of one side of the fabric. This is my sample in progress. I think I may be pulling my thread to tight - looks fine but once washed it may pull.....I need to consult my fellow guild member to find out. This is very fun and very addictive......the last thing I need is something else fun to do as I don't have the hours to do what I want but that's ok, I'll fit it in somewhere, sometime.  I'm thinking I need to make myself a couple of towels, maybe even make a few gifts for later in the year.

Busy week ahead.  I'm hoping to find time to start winding a warp for bumbaret towels although I'm learning life gets in the way all too often. All those colors of 8/2 cotton are calling to me to make super colorful towels.

Career sox finished

I can't tell you how long these sox have been on the needles - maybe two years, I really can't remember. I was in-between projects so thought I'd finish them up. Now they're ready to wear if we ever get cool weather.

I can't go into all the fire updates because it's just too much to write and it's too depressing and downright scary. The fires surrounding our area and are growing by leaps and bounds. The fire closest to us is the top priority fire in the nation but only has a fraction of personnel fighting it compared to other fires a 10th of it's size - the west is overwhelmed with fires and there is just no more support coming. There are so many fires and so many fires with evacuations. Here we have been told they will do their best with what they've got - not a warm & fuzzy feeling. The smoke is in the hazardous stage at our house, so thick that there is very little visibility, no air support working the close fires as they can't fly due to the smoke. I'm not sure how many hours one would have to drive to escape the smoke at this point. It smells of smoke inside the house even with it being closed up and the a/c running - there's no escaping it. We did get over to the coast for a bit but the smoke eventually made it over there too. Doing the rain dance here hoping for the fall rains to come earlier rather than later this year.

I'm still here........

.....just been gone so hadn't posted. I didn't take many pictures this past 9 days but here are a few showing what I've been up to.

The major reason for the longer than usual trip to the beach cottage was to paint - argh. I've painted so many houses over the last 38 years - I'm tired of it - I don't want to paint anymore, but it must be done. Since we bought this house 5 years ago we've been slowly updating/fixing it up. We need to get the nasty smelly carpet out of there and lay some composite flooring but first we need to paint all the windows, doors, trim, baseboard, doorjambs, etc.  I love stained wood trim but this was an ugly dark color so we decided to paint it white. What a job!  First a deglosser to clean it off and prep it for paint, then a primer, then at least 2 coats of paint, in some areas 3 and even a few spots needed 4. Here's Sam taking down the blinds in prep for painting.

Here's Sam putting the blinds back up after we painted - we painted every single window/trim and door jamb/trim in the house. The doors are started, baseboard to come on another trip over but that's a quick painting job in comparison to all the windows in the house....much of the baseboard we pulled out to paint.  Unfortunately we can't do anything about the black windows and grids that are in-between the panes - we just have to live with those.  I love how much bigger the rooms look now. I should have taken a pic of the hallway - it must be only 14 feet long, very narrow and it has 6 doors in it - yes 6 doors!  It looks so much better without all that dark wood.

Here's the dining room put back together....ignore those leaves all over the floor that were blown in the back door.

I don't remember if I posted a pic of the quilted placemats actually in use or not so here they are.

I may have shown one of these tables before, just had to share again as these are my favorite types of tables and I have several of them and will buy more if I see them at a good price. I remember my grandmother having one by her back door when I was growing up. Sam says I brake for any kind of small table but especially these. I don't know what era they originally came from - the 30's or maybe 40's???  Anyone know?

I finished knitting a pair of sox - my second in this colorway as one pair are a gift.

I started another pair of sox just because there always has to be a pair of sox on the needles.

Started another secret project with dropped stitches.

I snuck in a few hours to weave and finish off the towel warp over at the beach cottage......that day I was really tired of painting.........

Here's the pile of towels just pulled off the loom, different colored wefts, some plaids, some solids....now these need to be washed and hemmed.

Fire over near Bandon Dunes Golf Resort this past week while we were at the beach cottage (pic pulled from the local paper website). I had been painting windows on the back side of the house, finished up and walked to the front door and saw smoke enveloping us. Silly me not having fire on the mind over there - they can just as easily have fires as we can here in the valley. Fire started on the beach by someone with an illegal fire, it caught the beach grass and gorse on fire which is highly flammable. Luckily the fire was put out quickly before spreading.  The town and miles around it burned to the ground in 1936, from 30 miles inland right to the beach.

Final shot of wind surfers.  Sorry it's so hard to see, we were far away and I only had my phone with me to take the shot. There are windsurfers with the sails on their boards and there are the ones being pulled along by kites. This spot is famous for windsurfing - it's just north of Gold Beach, around an hour south of our place.

So now I deal with, as I call it, re-entry - have much to do as I have cataract surgery this week and since I'm not getting the standard lens but getting a premium one that will give me a better range of vision and correct my astigmatism I have some restrictions on close up work/reading for a week. Last night after getting home I pulled and boxed up orders so they're ready to mail tomorrow. Today I will be tackling the huge Ashland Bay roving order that came in over 2 weeks ago that I ignored......I'm out of way too many colors in the shop so I must deal with it now.

Slipper sox

These are super comfy thick slipper sox - they're made using worsted wool, I'm using Lamb's Pride Bulky. These are super fast to knit.  I'm making these and another pair for gifts for my nieces - can see the need for a pair on my feet in the not too distant future. The free pattern is by Veronica Van - it's available on Ravelry.

On the needles.......

I finished knitting a slouch hat the other evening and looking in my knitting bag I found around 1" of this sock on the needles so I pulled it out, figured out what I had done months ago, and got to knitting on it last night. It's a feather and fan pattern, I'm using some Opal yarn from my stash. This may go on the back burner again for a bit as I want to get back to knitting on the felted bag in the evenings and there are a couple shawlettes waiting in the wings..........

Forecast for 107 seems to have been downgraded.......maybe 104 instead........no matter, it's still hot.

On the needles.....

Last night I got some new socks started.....always need a pair  of socks on the needles to grab to work on in meetings or on the go. This is Opal sock yarn, I think the pattern is from the book Socks, Socks, Socks although I can't remember at the moment, it's a simple feather and fan pattern that I wrote down and keep in my sock knitting bag. If anyone is interested in the pattern please let me know and I'll go look it up to make sure that's the book it's out of.

Relaxing and a sigh of relief.......

Oh yes, I watched curling today - I know those that know me well are probably getting a good laugh over me being so enthralled with curling but it's my sport. Last night the finals for the Olympic Trials were on tv so I dvr'd it to watch when I had time. The US team beat out the Czech team to make it into the Olympics - they were so happy, it was fun to see them win but I felt so bad for the Czech guys. I'm already looking forward to watching it during the Olympics.....if they broadcast much of it, certainly not a sport that's at the top of the popular list.

I can't just sit and watch tv, I have to be doing something and that something was knitting the foot on the second sock. I was wondering if I'd get these done in time to put them in Sam's Christmas stocking as he'll be with me all the time starting this evening through Christmas. Finishing those was my sigh of relief. They are wrapped and in the stocking.......well, didn't actually hang the stockings so they're in a gift bag......a Trader Joe's brown shopping bag recycled into a gift bag.......

 This was the spinning I started yesterday while the power was out. It's from my stash, bought it several years ago from Janis Thompson of Dyelots up in Eugene. It's Karaoke - a blend of merino and soy silk. Soy silk is not one of my favorites to spin but the resulting yarn is lovely. I don't know what it will grow up to be after spun.

 

Here's some  roving I spun last week, just 4 oz from a Inglenook Fibers batt. I generally don't buy novelty batts because I don't tend to like spinning lumpy bumpy yarn but I thought I'd give it another try......not sure how many tries I have to give it before I stop spinning novelty yarn......so much happier spinning nice smooth yarn but I'll find the perfect project for this because it is lovely spun up. I spun it so it goes from one color to the next. It's plied with black quilting thread.

 

 

Sox that rock

I got back to some sox that have been on the needles for months, don't even remember how many months. Finished the first sock 2 nights ago and got started on the second, did some knitting last night and am now down to the heel. Hoping to finish these up knitting in the evening this week. These are thicker sox than my usual but I loved the colors so much I couldn't resist - the yarn they're knit out of is Indulgence 6 Ply Distrato from Knitting Fever using size 3 needles. I like them so much I might have to stop at Middleford Yarn when in Medford next to pick up some more in another colorway. I cast on 52 stitches for this size yarn.

Sox on the needles.......

So in the middle of being overwhelmed about getting things done for the holidays on Monday while the embroidery machine was smoking along I decided to start knitting a pair of socks for Sam. I only got a couple rows knit but it's a start......can't work on them in the evenings when Sam is home so I'll do what I can and if they're not done in time needles and all will go into his Christmas stocking and they'll be finished later. Light was terrible this morning, this yarn is actually more sage green and black.