Miss Mini

I love my car but you wouldn't know it to look at her. She is usually filthy.

She spends a lot of time parked under trees and the sap makes her a sticky mess.

It drives Daddio crazy to see her looking like that so from time to time he grabs some washing stuff and gives her a good scrubbing.

He's made me promise to leave her to him in my "will".

In the event of the unthinkable, at least I know that she will be well taken care of. He even has a garage.

2013 Tour de Fleece: Let the Spin Begin!

 I am not going to bore you to death with daily updates on my Tour de Fleece progress. There won't be much to see this year because I have picked only two main projects and I am sticking with them.

 There is going to be a lot of blue Merino this year and that's pretty much it.

 Except for the orange Merino I am spinning for next year's MDSW shawl. I have worked on that everyday since May and will continue to do so throughout the Tour. I already have one bobbin done.

I am not even going to set goals because I just don't want the pressure this year. I just want to enjoy playing with all this lovely the fiber and enjoy getting up every morning and watching the beautiful French scenery go by. It's three of my favorite weeks of the year. Vive la France!

Class Dismissed

 I have come to the end of my Craftsy Class. This is the last of my third pillow cover.

 It sat on the loom for a few days because The Mister was giving me so much grief about how much yarn was still left on the loom. It didn't make sense to him that I could be done.

Underneath you could see how much I had finished already so he finally understood that in spite of all that leftover yarn, I was DONE.

It was time to cut it off. I was nervous.

Ouch. It was like giving your baby its first haircut complete with wonky bangs.

Goodness. Did I make all that?

I guess I did. It all went by pretty fast.

I was completely giddy with joy when I realized I didn't have to untie all those knots like you do on the rigid heddle loom. I just slid them off and into the trash.

Following the class instructions, I evened up the fringe using my quilting tools.

Then I snipped those loose ends from the joins. I didn't cut them off just yet. That comes after the wet finishing. Since I used acrylic, I realize that finishing isn't going to work miracles with this fabric like it would have with wool.

Close inspection revealed lots of boo boos, especially on the underside of the fabric. That's kind of scary. I thought I was being so careful. I am going to have to pay more attention "down under" with the next project but other than climbing under the loom every inch or so, I am not sure how that is supposed to happen. Any ideas?

We did get a lesson on fixing those boo boos and with some patterns it was a smashing success. If you can follow the line of weaving with a needle, it works. If you can't, it doesn't. Don't ask me how I know this.

I had an interesting time repairing a goof in the warp here. It took a few tries but it turned out semi-ok.

Lucky for me these three pieces of material will be sewn together to make pillows so I don't have to worry about every single mistake on the inside. Now I have to figure out what my next project will be. Since I have completely forgotten everything I learned about warping, it's back to Craftsy to repeat lesson number one. Thank goodness you get to access those videos forever. I am going to need them.

Summer Blooms and Bugs

 It's mostly green around here in the summer. I live under the trees and there is too much shade for flowers.

 For the past two years I have filled a few stray pots with impatiens. This year I wanted more but came up empty handed in the clay pot department. Doesn't anyone make them any more? I hate plastic.

 My hydrangea is about to do something odd. The blooms are very tiny this year but there are lots of them. I like them best when they are still green. They remind me of weddings and I love weddings.

The hostas are also about to put out their flowers. I like them until it is time to trim them all back and then it is a real chore because we have lots and lots of hostas.

 Over at Daddio's house the daylillies are just beginning to do their thing.

 It won't be long before the the whole backyard will be ablaze. Mom planted them everywhere.

 Daddio planted one of his own this spring. He choose a yellow one.

 He also insisted on putting some portulacas in Mom's old cement boat that is in the front yard.

 We also threw out a handful of nasturtium seeds and they are promising to be spectacular.

Last but not least is the blossom that I hope is intending to turn into a pumpkin. We had more pumpkins than we knew what to do with the year before but last year we had none. All I really need is one so I hope this means we are off to a good start.

 As for bugs, I know I've talked a lot lately about my issue with moths but when I found this guy on the new screen door I had to admit that even moths can be quite nice-as long as they stay out of my woolly stuff.

Duh....

For days I was whining to myself about not having another pair of size 6 needle tips so that I could get started on my Color Affection while I was in the process of spinning the rescue yarn for the Sideways Surprise. Then I realized that these were interchangeables. I could just screw off the needles, screw on the caps and get on with it.

A few minutes later I had the next Color Affection under way.  And it only took me a week to figure this out.

Hooky to the Rescue

 Little Sister is a newbie knitter but she is a master of the crochet hook.

 On a recent visit, she wowed Middle Sister and I with her newest project.

Then she went all hysterical over a hole she found in a knitting project when she thought she may have to visit a place I go to quite often-the frog pond.

Happily, I recognized the hole for what it was-elongated stitches, so the master of the crochet hook got a lesson in pulling stitches up to fix a tension issue. Problem solved. The pretty blanket lived to see another day.

The Countdown Begins

 The Tour de Fleece begins this Saturday. It has been a mad rush trying to get all the old projects off of the wheels so I can start the new ones on time.

 Daughter had bought me this overdyed BFL from Misty Mountain Farm at this year's MDSW.

 I had been taking my time with it and enjoying the spin but I really need the Ladybug so it had to go.

 I have a blue braid that kind of matches this green one and I am thinking I may have enough for a smallish cardi if I stripe it.

If not, I know Misty Mountain Farm is already on the vendor list for this year's SVFF in September so I have my fingers crossed that they may be bringing me some more.

Dragon Tales

Our quiet little beach town comes alive in the summer. Sometimes all the extra tourist traffic can be annoying but once in a while all the congestion is worthwhile.

If you look way out to the right you will see an event that was totally worth all the commotion.

It was all about dragons....

...and they were everywhere..

Especially on boats.

The dragon boats raced along the bay and it was spectacular.

 To the sound of beating drums, team after team competed against each other all day.

The huge event was brilliantly MC'd and DJ'd by Doug Hill of local weather fame.

The boardwalk was lined with colorful booths that sponsored the boats.

They were terribly creative.

Cheering crowds lined the waterway on this perfectly lovely day.

I sure hope they do this again next year. Even if I can't round up enough people to have a team, I am definitely going to go watch. Ba da boom!