Zigging and Zagging

 

I've only got one more row to add to the Zig Zag quilt before the borders but that one last row has been a hair raising adventure. 

They were really skimpy with that lighter material and I ran out. Luckily, I saved all those dark blue and yellow HSTs that I ripped out because I've had to carefully pick out all those seams to make 10 more blocks to finish the whole thing off. I've also been in short supply of the charm squares so making sure I didn't back myself into a color corner was also a priority. For something that was supposed to be an easy summer project, it's been anything but. All my fault of course. Trying to make improvements over the designer's original plans never works out for me but I never seem to stop trying.

 

The Ladies' Turn

 

Today is le grand depart for the Tour de France Femmes and I'll be pedaling along because I still have things to finish. It's only nine stages so there's not a lot of time for fooling around. 

I finished the blue skein in the pastel gradient group I started during the men's TdF but still have the purple to finish spinning. I want this project over and done with so I can start something new for the Vuelta de Espana which starts at the end of this month.

While I was watching Stage 3 of the Tour of Denmark yesterday I started winding off the year's worth of singles on the support spindle. I really underestimated how much was on there. I should have put it on a regular bobbin because that old TP tube isn't doing the job. 

Friday Felines: The Gangs All Here

 

I wish I could say the birds were waiting patiently for their breakfast of leftover cat food but they really weren't. The babies are like.....well, think puppies with wings. When they've had enough of the waiting they'll start tossing all the things in the recycling bin at the door until I come out with a couple of paper plates and a couple of cans of cat food. I'm starting to worry that these particular babies are never going to leave. They've got it too good. 

Loose Ends

 

That very ugly but very colorful warp that I had started getting on the loom has had a few hiccups. 

Not the kind where you rip it all off and then sit in the corner and cry. It was the kind where I had thought I was ready for the next step but in the process of moving on I found an error that had to be pulled out and re-done. 

The threading error was about in the middle so I have had to re-thread the heddles while also pulling them through the reed which is finicky work. It's probably for the best because it slows me down and makes me re-check my counting several times before I move on. 

In the meantime, I've been putting the rolls of scrap cotton to use by tying up the skeins I was finishing during the TdF. They came in very handy but I'm really looking forward to using them for what they were intended for. 

Wednesday WIPs: It's All About the Color

 

I loved those little pastels minis so much that when I noticed that the darker shades were on sale I had to buy them.

This is what I had in mind for them all. That gradient rainbow Pi shawl might be happening after all.

The Stroll pi shawl looks like this now. It's a lovely lump of mindless knitting in lots of soothing blues and greens.

The Uneek socks have just morphed into the most gorgeous red-violet color. It looks purple in this photo but it's not. 

And I am very happy to say that the Hue Shift has moved away from that dark blue and onto a lighter blue. It's much easier on the eyes. 

TNT: Needled

 

Whatever I did to my back last week wasn't going to let me hunch over my stitching or quilting frames so there's not much to see here. I did have to buy new needles for the needlepoint project because it seems that I lost the only one I had. I'm on a real roll for losing things at the moment. It's making me crazy. 

Once the new needles arrived I discovered that I could balance the needlepoint frame on my knees in such a way as to not put any pressure on my healing back muscles so I did get the second block finished. Every day it gets better so I'm hoping soon I'll be back in the stitching business. 

Aux Champs Elysee...

 

I made it to Paris with the riders yesterday but I don't have much to show for it this year. 

My little pile consists of 4 finished skeins of the pastel Polworth.

I still have half the blue and the purple to go. 

I finished four drop spindles of the BFL from Fiber Optics. I'll put them all on a bobbin and then finish spinning it on the wheel. I did not enjoy working with this fiber. It was very compact and hard to draft. 

I'm ready for a big wind off on the support spindle. I've been working on a big bag of Puckerbrush Farm's Merino pencil roving for years. I don't think I'll ever see the end of it but it's such a lovely fiber to work with that I'm not complaining. 

Sadly, I never found the missing piece to my Spindolyn so for now my cotton spinning adventure is at an end. I'll keep looking on eBay to see if anyone ever sells one. The vendor who sold them originally doesn't appear to be in business anymore. 

It certainly wasn't a big podium finish for me this year but I'm not done. The TdF Femmes starts on Saturday and the Vuelta de Espana starts on the 22nd of next month so there's still a lot of opportunities to spend some extra time in my little spinning corner.