Summer Projects

Posted on by

In May, the boy started a new job closer to home that allows him to have more time at home on a daily basis, which has just been wonderful. In June they switched his schedule to Sun-Thurs so now he has Fridays off. Since they switched his schedule he’s been spending most Fridays (and Saturdays) with his dad working on a project in our backyard.

shed

Shed with dormer window - almost done!

Tonight they will finish the last two little trim work things for the outside. I am quite pleased with the two of them, they built the entire shed from scratch and some pictures of what we all liked. The next step is for the boy and I to figure out the layout of the inside and get the shelves, loft and work bench built. I am really looking forward to having a workshop space for us to work on projects for the house.

I will say though that seeing the shed go up made me stop to think about the amount of stuff we’ve accumulated (especially me) since we moved into this house three years ago. I decided it was past time for me to do some de-cluttering. So for starters I have a very lazy gal destash going on over at Ravelry. I put prices on several yarns that I doubt I will get around to knitting in the next year or two so that they may find homes where someone has a more immediate need or use for them. :)

Destash bin

Yarns for Destash over on Raverly

In other news, I am working on some languishing WIPs in a couple different mediums. I finished binding off Manu on Saturday then wove in the ends and blocked it on Sunday (it’s still drying). I finished spinning and plying up Garland yesterday – the last fiber I was working on for Tour de Fleece in July. I washed and whacked it this morning so it’s drying right now. I am also trying to knock out my WIP bin in the sewing room which includes a dress for my niece’s upcoming birthday and a duvet cover for our bed that I have had all the materials for, for umm at least two years…my how the time flies! :D

Hope

Posted on by

Meet Hope. She’s our newest foster dog, a purebred black Labrador.

Hope

Hope being a bit camera shy

Oh, I guess to back up the boy and I started fostering rescue dogs April last year with a lovely dog, Lucy, who was fortuitously adopted 3 days before our wedding (now that was an emotion packed week!). We took a several month hiatus and I became more involved with the rescue group again this March. We took on a temporary foster, Bandit, while his foster family was on vacation. I volunteered to help out the intake coordinator with placing dogs and we got Lizzie a golden retriever/boxer mix who is hanging out with us this week while her adoptive family is on vacation (totally their idea and choice – not a requirement of our organization! :) )

So Hope. Hope was rescued from a high kill shelter in Ohio (Shelby county). Our organization pulls all breeds from high kill shelters around the state, mostly ones within a reasonable distance of central Ohio. Hope was tossed out of a vehicle while pregnant with pups. She ended up at Shelby county and was saved from euthanization by a family who took her in so she could have her pups. My organization – ADOPT Pet Rescue – took Hope and two of her pups – Luke and Bosco – in this weekend. When we got her on Saturday she was very afraid of cars (with good reason!) and had no clue what to do with stairs. We’ve helped her figure out stairs (much to my chagrin!) and are slowly working on getting her more comfortable with cars. Right now though we have our hands full having two good sized dogs in the home. We usually only have one at a time! :)

Hope has been approved to enter a service/therapy dog training program where she will be a companion for someone with special needs. We have to finish up some paperwork before she can go live with her trainer but we’re very excited for her!

Tour de Fleece 2011

Posted on by

In July I participated in the Tour de Fleece that coincides with the Tour de France. The concept is that you spin every day that the cyclists are riding in the tour. I decided it would be a great time to dig into my Hello Yarn fiber club fibers that I have been hoarding stashing for the two years or so I have been in the club. I wanted to try as many of the fibers as I could and also try some different plying techniques.  I spun up some Romney, Shetland, Polwarth, Corriedale, Finn, Targhee, Superwash BFL and Merino/Bamboo/Nylon combo. I am really excited and pleased with some of the yarns I created. With so much dedicated time at the wheel I feel like my spinning skills have quadrupled over what I’ve accomplished by spinning in very very intermittent spurts over the past two years.

One of my more exciting accomplishments for the tour was my Buckland. I was able to spin up an entire 4 oz onto one bobbin. Normally I have extra that I have to put onto a second bobbin. I then managed to pull off a pretty successful n-ply that left the boy saying that it looked like yarn I could get in a shop. I’d say that’s a compliment on my more consistent spinning. :) Hopefully I can use these skills to tackle my fiber stash closet.

Tour de Fleece 2011 total spinning

Tour de Fleece 2011 total spinning

  1. Mystery brown wool – 4 oz spun, 7.5 oz plied, 292 yds total, 623 ypp
  2. HY Minerals in Shetland – 4 oz spun as singles, 306 yds total, 1224 ypp
  3. HY Cauldron in Polwarth – 4 oz spun and 2 ply, 212 yds total, 848 ypp
  4. HY Grim in Superwash Merino 60%, Bamboo 30%, Nylon 10% – 4 oz spun, 2-ply, 178 yards total, 712 ypp
  5. HY Night Sky in Superwash BFL – 4 oz spun, n-ply, 228 yards, 912 ypp
  6. HY Timber in Romney – 4 oz spun, n-ply, 118 yards total, 472 ypp
  7. HY Buckland in Finn – 4 oz spun, n-ply, 308 yards total, 1232 ypp
  8. HY Prism (polwarth) and Hither (corriedale) – 8 oz spun, n-ply, 140 yards total, 280 ypp (3 skeins – blue/yellow, dark purple, and red purples)
  9. HY Garland in Targhee – 3 oz spun

The top row is made up of the baby skeins of the other skeins.

All in all I spun up 42.5 oz (or 2.65lbs) and plied up 1782 yds (or just over 1 mile). Pretty impressive considering I haven’t really touched my fiber and wheel much lately. Just goes to show how much you can get done if you do a little every day (or you know beg your husband to do the household chores so you can spin all evening every day).

I really like these group challenges, they allow me to just dive in and tackle something that’s been sitting around. Now I am trying to apply this concept to my sewing. Hopefully I will have some FOs to show soon!

Sticks N Stitches Reminder

Posted on by

Good morning everyone! Don’t forget that THIS Sunday is Sticks N Stitches with our Columbus Blue Jackets! Puck drops at 5pm (doors open at 4pm) and we’re playing the New Jersey Devils. It should be a great evening. We have lots of great door prizes lined up and the organizers from My Very Own Blanket will be in attendance!

Two weekends ago we put together all the goodie bags that have taken over my house. :) You can see a sneak peek here:

Goodie Bags

Goodie Bags packed up and ready to go for Sticks N Stitches 2011

I am really looking forward to this year’s event. See you there!

Honeycomb Fingerless Mitts

Posted on by

Today on the day marking my 29th year of life I have decided to release my first pattern. :)

Honeycomb Fingerless Mitts

Last year during the Winter Olympics I worked on creating a pair of fingerless mitts out of some wonderful cashmere test yarn I had in my possession. It was my “Designer Dash” challenge and I medaled in the event. :) I found the stitch pattern while thumbing through a pattern book at my mother-in-law’s house in the fall of ’09. I tried making a scarf with the stitch pattern but it just wasn’t working out well, so I saved the stitch pattern for a better project. When the test yarn arrived I knew it would make an awesome pair of mitts to keep my hands warm while running between the car and the house but most importantly while at work. I spend all day in front of the computer and the lack of activity causes my fingers to freeze!

I had two wonderful test knitters working on this pattern, RunsWithHonden and sparkli. They both helped highlight points where I could explain things better and helped me make the pattern the best it could be. My friend Martha and I went to a nearby town over the holidays to take some pattern photos. I think they turned out great and I am glad she was able to capture them! I was also fortunate enough to come across some very nice design & layout software during the holidays so I taught myself to use it and created what I think is a pretty nice pattern. bunnysquirrel provided me with great help with some technical editing, proofing the new section of the website and giving the pattern a thorough review. I hope you find the pattern to your liking. I wear my mitts non-stop around here, especially while typing at work!

Photo: Copyright Martha Tremblay-Cohen