Unhinged

 

I gave The Mister a lecture about finding things to do inside during our latest Heat Dome episode. 100 plus is too hot for old folks and he refuses to admit he's an old folk. This came back to bite me in the you know what because I spent the entire day yesterday....holding screws. 

It all started with needing to put down a threshold in the downstairs entryway. The door needed sanding first because it was just a tad too long but the hinge had rusted and wouldn't release. Then the old screws stripped so we couldn't just take the whole thing off and put on a new hinge. It took most of the day trying one thing after another until my spinning wheel oil finally did the trick. Mission accomplished, I thought.

Was I finally able to claim some me time? Nope. 

There was just enough time before dinner for me to mix up some joint compound and help put the first coat on the patch we had on the ceiling from the big upstairs bathroom leak. Serves me right. I just should have let him go sweat it out outside. 

What I'd like to know is how I have no time to get anything done around here but he always manages to find the time to crank these PbNs out. This is the second one since the Grands gave him two for his birthday in April. I've got to be doing something wrong. 

Wednesday WIPs: Scratching an Itch

 

The socks haven't gotten much love this week but I did finish the rainbow Snow Socks for the Grand. His other bigger boy Snow Socks are at the heel. 

I've got one more block to go on the first row of the second section of the Hue Shift. I'm so confused as to where this section is going to end up but I'm not going to think too much about it and just trust the process at this point.

The July section of the Doodle Cowl is finished. I said it was going to be a small one and it is. August will be pinecones so it will be another bigger one. 

As for that itch, I had my heart set on starting another Pi Shawl with some handspun but it didn't work out so I pulled out all the mini sock yarns I could find in the stash. They were leftover from baby socks. I was sad to see that Knit Picks doesn't have any more of these mini sets but I did order one from another vendor so I would have a better variety of color to work with. I know I said no more sock yarn but if it's not meant for socks that doesn't really count, right? Right? 

 

TNT: The Impossible Dream

 

With the Garden sampler finished, I had to go digging in the pile of WIPs to find something to work on. I came across this in progress project that I started the year I retired which was 2012. I had this crazy idea I was going to be too poor to spend money on crafts so I bought one big kit that I thought would take the rest of my life to finish. 

I was right about this taking the rest of my life to finish but I was wrong about being poor. I've never had so much disposable income. Pension plus Social Security minus no house or car payment leaves a lot left over every month even considering the hundreds I seem to spend on cat food. 

I decided to go ahead and put this on the big frame but first I had to do something about my choice of floss organization. I had it all nicely labeled in little bags on rings but I couldn't ever get the blasted bags open. 

I've tried every method of organization and hate them all but this one I hate the least so this was it. My only goal right now is to finish the center motif before it's time to get out the holiday WIPs. 

In other tiny needle news, this Dear Jane block is finished. It looks very simple but it was anything but. Appliqueing down those tiny squares nearly did me in.

I also finished quilting another block on the Patchwork quilt and am starting this one this week.

And I'm making good progress on the second block of the needlework pillow cover. I know I complain about the heat, but it's giving me lots of time with the tiny needle right now. 

Loose Ends

 

Before The Mister had his first sip of coffee yesterday morning I was on a rant about making time to get to that quilt top that was in pieces in the sewing room. He usually fills up my day but there wasn't anything that was going to keep me from getting that top put back together. Things like that drive me crazy. First I had to clean up the thread all that ripping left behind in the fabric and on the floor. What a mess. It was like sewing with a spider web. I've been finding loose thread all over the house. 

I had the Tour to watch first but from 11:30 until it was time to make dinner I was in my chair in front of the machine. It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. 

It didn't take me long to find a better blue. I had plenty of yellows still in the charm pack so I skipped it. 

Much better. Five rows down (again) and six more to go. 

A Good Putter Gone Bad

 

Life is at its best around here when I get to spend some uninterrupted time in the sewing room. I've got several projects on the go in there that I rarely get to pick up. I made a few more tiny blocks for the Colorwash top. I'm at 165/300. Still a ways to go.

I made two more rows worth of HSTs for the Zig Zag top. 

Then I laid it all out and realized I didn't like the dark blue and yellow that I had subbed in for some of the charm squares I had cannibalized from the kit. 

There was nothing to do but a whole lot of this. I streamed an old movie from the TCM app and I was finished ripping it apart just as the credits rolled. Now I've got to put it all back together but that's for another day because....

...I had something else that needed doing in that room. I needed to update Taylor Barbie into some wedding garb. I also paired her with Stevie on her shelf since I heard that she was the wedding singer. I have no idea what the actual dress looks like and I doubt it will have any resemblance to this Mattel designed poufy princess gown but it's what I had to work with until I see otherwise. Come on Taylor, release those photos, please. 

Baking with Betty

 

I might hate all this heat and humidity but Betty sure doesn't. All the struggles I had when the weather was cold have disappeared and now I've got a starter that's run amok. 

I first noticed the changes two weeks ago when it really got hot. Same recipe, same techinique. Much bigger bread. 

Look at the ears on these two little loaves. I thought they were going to explode. For non sourdough groupies, the ears are the flaps that open up when you cut down the middle of the dough before you bake. It helps the steam escape. 

In spite of the eruption, the insides were fine. These two little loaves didn't last long so I had to make more.

She made basketball sized loaves. Again, same recipe, same technique. The dough puffed up so quickly that bulk fermentation, the main rise, only took a couple of hours. I was baking by dinner time.

I was worried that the fast turnaround would result in bad bread but it looks and tastes fine. 

Then I put her to the test with a few English muffins and ......

...a few bagels. Both were bigger and fluffier than my usual sorry specimens. I'm going to repeat "same recipes, same techniques" again because I need to give credit where it's due. It's all Betty. I hate the summer but I do love what it does for the wild yeast that creates the sourdough bubbles. They've gone crazy. 

Friday Fluff: Recalculating

 

The first of my rainbow skeins is off the wheel and I'm not pleased with the results. I had a plan for them. I wanted to make a rainbow colored pi shawl but I didn't factor in the Polwarth factor.

After soaking and thwacking it puffed up like crazy. It's soft and fuzzy but not fingering weight. I'll have to think of another use for it. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I really wanted this to be a spin and knit as you go project. 

I've got the orange braid in progress and like the pink, the singles look promising. I'll have to see if I can adjust the plying to get a better skein. One that's not so loosey goosey.

Since I like to be knitting with some handspun during the Tour and since I'm not going to be working on a pi shawl, I cast on some mitts to go with the wonky hat I knit using some yarn from last year's Tour. 

That yarn started like this. Anything I card on the carder spins up major wonky and these blended Merino batts are super wonky. 

I picked up all three spindles this week but they aren't quite ready for a wind off. I'm hoping to get there by the first rest day which will be Monday. I have to say that watching the Tour is a big yawn again this year. Once Pogacar gets that big a lead it's all over.