A Slice of Pi

 

The Mister went to play golf this week and as soon as the car was up the driveway I pulled the Pi Shawl out so I could weave in all those ends. Then I dumped it in the tub for a long soak while I went and located all the things I would need to block it. I haven't blocked anything in ages so it took a while. 

I have long blocking wires but they were of no use here. I had to crawl around pinning and adjusting until I got something circle-like.

If I'd had a million more pins I could have opened up that lace edging better.

After about five hours I realized it was never going to dry in the house so I carefully carried it out on the deck so the sun could make quick work of it. 

Then I spent two days draping it over things trying to get a photo that would show how blocking had worked its magic and turned it into something wonderful. 

Chairs didn't work, hangers didn't work, Dumpy Debbie, my dress form, didn't work but the ball did. You can see the lovely drape. Blocking really opened it up. Of all the things I've made with handspun this is the absolute best. I was beyond tickled with the improvement. So much so that I had to talk myself out of starting another one. 

Caribbean Plaid

 

The warp for my next dish towels has been sitting here finished because I was waiting for....

....this to show up. That Caribbean Plaid draft (pattern) was recommended to me by SoxieKnitter because it works well with willy nilly colors and stripes.

What took the longest to do was to go back and pull out all the colors I had used in that warp so I would have them ready for the weft. It would have made a lot more sense if I had just pulled them out while I worked but I didn't so there was a lot of color matching going on. 

After adjusting the number of heddles, I tied it up and got it onto the loom but there it's still sitting. It was one of those days when we had a lot of yard things to do. The last tree was unexpectedly delivered a few days early so there was digging to be done before the predicted thunderstorms arrived. 

Wednesday WIPs

 

The sock pile is showing some progress. Mostly on the rainbow socks but this is as far as they will go for now. I need to try them on the Grand to see where those toes should go. 

The Grand's abandoned pair have been moved to my prime knitting spot in front of the TV where I sit on my big ball and bounce along to podcasts. This should help them move along a bit faster. 

I picked up the Hue Shift this week and added two more blocks in the last row of this section.

The biggest surprise this week is how much I am still enjoying working on the Winter Doodle Cowl. I thought for sure I would have abandoned it by now because of the hot weather but it's still a joy to work on. I've been sitting in the AC with the fan on and thinking about how cold it will be at the holiday parade in December and how nice it will be to have this wrapped around my neck. The June section will be a big one. It might stretch out into July tbh. It's a BIG snowflake.

TNT: Tiny Trees

 

The only cross stitching that happened this week was to add five little trees to the squirrels patch of the Garden. I'm afraid to count how many more of these trees I have to stitch. My brain goes numb just thinking about them all. I need to get on a schedule where I just do one a day. I might be able to handle that. 

The little trees might be tedious but the quilt is anything but. The blocks are flying by. I finished number 12 this week and have started number 13. 

As for Taylor Barbie's dress, my plan to line the bodice worked perfectly in theory but it was too small. I'm going to have to add an additional seam allowance. I'm doing all this stitching by hand since my machine tends to eat up small pieces like this and I have to say it's been a much better experience with at least 80% less swearing. 

Explain This

 

When I posted about my rogue Black-Eyed Susans you all did a great job of explaining to me how they jumped out of the pot and into the front bed. Now tell me how a broccoli plant sprouted up in the middle of a dry patch in the front yard. I have never planted broccoli here. My neighbors don't have gardens. They pretty much have let their yards go to forest. There's even a tiny head of broccoli. Crazy, right? 

In garden news that makes sense, my cherry tomatoes have tomatoes. 

The pot of lilacs that I've had for years has produced its very first flower. 

And my pot of herbs has really taken off. I guess all the extra sun on the deck is a good thing for them. Not so much for me.

It was really hot again today so The Mister and I spent some time filling out our mail in ballots for the upcoming primary. It took a lot of homework since it seems that everyone and their brother is running for office these days. Thanks to the Supreme Court, being a public servant is now a ticket to untold wealth so it makes sense to throw your hat in the ring. It's better odds than playing the lottery. 

Absent Friends

 

Blogger is driving me crazy. I keep track of all my friends out in Blogland by using the Blogger Reading List but it hasn't been updating very well. I won't see anything new and then I'll see several day's worth of posts. I check for updates every day. Sometimes several times a day and always when I'm writing my own daily post. If you think I've been ignoring you, I swear, it's not me. 

In other news, my Saturday haul from the Farmer's Market looked like this.  Not too impressive. There's a lot out there but I was too hot and grumpy to want to spend any time shopping. I told The Mister this might just be my last trip until cooler weather.

We're always down there early, at 8 am, when it opens because The Mister has to have his oatmeal whoopee pies from the Amish stand and they sell out fast. The problem is the sun off the bay cooks that area of asphalt in the early morning since we are on the western shore. I usually stay in the shady park once it gets this hot with Pup while he shops. No fun there but I hate to be hot. Pup's not crazy about the heat either.

I Knew It

 

The Swiftieverse was all in a twitter yesterday over the release of the single I Knew It, I Knew You from the upcoming Toy Story 5.

There were hints last month that something was coming. She telegraphs with her outfits and this one had social media in a tizzy making guesses so.....

...a few weeks ago I went looking for blue striped material for Taylor Barbie.

I made my first attempt yesterday and it didn't go so well. The neckline is wrong. The waist needs to be dropped. The skirt needs to be wider and longer. I'm also going to try to line it next time to stiffen that bodice. It was 92 degrees here yesterday so fooling around with doll clothes was a good way to waste a terribly hot afternoon.