Wednesday WIPs

 

Chestnut's has a body! 

I added one more peerie from the chart that will be joined at the shoulders and then cut away for the neck. 

Now it's time to start the sleeves and I've got the big idea to knit them both at the same time like I do socks. I bought another 16 inch size 3 needle to be able to do this. Needles have gotten very expensive but I suppose everything has.

I also needed more wool for those sleeves and was HORRIFIED to learn that Knit Picks has discontinued some of the colors I needed.

Thankfully my yarn hoarding habit came to the rescue. Several of the very old kits I have stacked up in my stash closet include those colors. I'll be cannibalizing them soon. And always remember.....

Amen.

TNT: Loose Ends

 

I finished the kitty's blanket this week and should have finished putting the tassels on its cushion but I got sidetracked by a pin cushion. 

I finished the fourth block on the needlepoint project but I have to take it off the frame and stretch it out before I can do anymore. It's come loose which is making it hard to work on. 

This will be this week's block. I was shocked to find there are only two more to go after that. Then it's on to all the connecting doo dads which will take some time. 

To do that I'm going to need my smaller hoop which is now occupied with this small runner. I've been making an effort to get it finished but it's not nearly as much fun to work on as the Patchwork so it's been languishing in the sewing room for years.

Dear Jane is starting to look like something. I have to open the middle of the seams on the lattices to slide in the triangles and then sew the two layers back down. Fiddly but doable which is a surprise and a relief. 

Doing a Happy Dance

There's weaving on the loom. Finally. It's been a long time coming.

It's a refreshingly easy sequence of steps to achieve this lovely texture. Whew. I have high hopes. 

Speaking of texture, look at the lovely loaves Betty turned out this weekend. It's been a great summer for sourdough. I hope she's able to keep this up once it cools down.

Testing, Testing....

 

I had to get the ladder out and climb up to the top of my sewing room shelves yesterday so I could get down the testing pieces for the last soap making adventure. 

When I cut the loaves there's always one skinny end left and I use those for testing. They've all been sitting there curing for two months now so it's time to get started. 

Sadly, the Practical Magic inspired black soap did just what I feared it might. It bled gray onto a white washcloth from the overload of charcoal. I've been using it to wash my hair so it hasn't been a problem for me but I won't be gifting it. I'm hoping to re-home all the other bars when the weather takes a turn for the better. Watch this space. 

A False Start

 

The Mister went off to play golf so I thought I'd use my free time to sandwich up the Zig Zag. Didn't happen.

I got everything moved out of the dining area and moved everything I needed into the dining area. Measured, cut and sat down to pin when......I decided I hated the backing. It was too yellow. It's brighter than it looks here and there are no other similar yellows in the quilt so I pulled it all apart and put it all away.

But not before ordering more material. I'm trying the same fabric but in apricot this time. I've said it before but I'll say it again-I'm the worst at figuring out backing. This is when I really miss Joann's. I would take the top with me and figure it out there. It's not the same trying to do it online. 

Figs on Friday

 

We found figs at the Farmer's Market this week.

I used to have a giant fig tree and Back to School time always meant making fig jam. 

I put Betty to work making lots of bread and bagels this week so that little pot of jam won't last long.

Betty has also made some banana bread, a pineapple upside down cake and a strawberry shortcake in the past few weeks. There seems to be no end of things to do with her leftovers.

Hemmed In

 

Whew.....back to where I started and it all looks like it's going to work out this time.

Here is the back of the loom where I spent a great deal of time over the past few weeks straightening out and then threading each of the 300 plus strands of cotton. 

There was one scary moment where it looked like I made another threading error but it was just a twist in the strand and it was an easy fix. I was beyond relieved when the hem was finished. 

The first bit of weaving is just to get everything situated. It's cut away from the towel. The towel starts at the hem and I use this very fine thread so I can turn it under without a lot of bulk. It's always a big moment of truth.

That's all my heart could manage in one sitting. Stressed out is an under statement. Now I can get to the fun part. I have to decide on the order of colors and start winding bobbins so I can start the pattern. This is going to be one crazy looking towel.