Year of Projects #3 - A little progress is still progress

 

This will be a short and sweet update as I have been battling (and losing) with a migraine.  

I have made a little more progress on my 54 pickup lap blanket. 

and I started on my Contrapunctus socks.  It was a new shortrow heel construction and I really liked how intuitive it was. Now I am just knitting to the toe - which will be a shortrow  toe construction that is also new to me. 

I did take a 'me day' on Friday and was able to buy some yarn to try with the Wildernesse shawl. 

And yes, I did buy some more stitch markers....I used to have 60 of these little coloured rings, but while working on the 54 pickup I used what I had and couldn't find any more....Really, I do have a problem with buying stitch markers that you can read about here. 

I did the smallest amount of spinning - I am on the 2nd bobbin so I will have enough to ply, but it is slow going.  I just don't seem to have much spinning mojo these days. 

So that is my week.  I wasn't able to read everyone else's posts last week, so as soon as this migraine settles I will get caught up with everyone. 

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Yopping Update #5 - It was a spinney kind of week

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Good Morning!  We had some rain in the wee hours of the morning for an hour or so.  Yay!  I think it has been over forty days since the last bit of precipitation.  I am sure the plant world is very happy. 

I did finish my toque to match my gansey and my fingerless mitts.

Lovely free pattern Rainbow Indigo Fisherman's Beanie

I then started my gansey style socks called Sunday Best 

Colour is more purple than this picture shows

I didn't get much done on them because I was busy spinning the 250 gms of fleece (unknown breed). I spun directly from the fleece using the long draw method.  It was easy to spin from the fleece and the locks seemed to easily get spun into the drafting area.  Using the long draw method made it easy to pick out the grasses and such as I came upon them and this particular fleece must have been washed because there wasn't much lanolin in it, but after each bobbin spun (I ended up with four) my lap was full of dust and fine dirt that I would have to shake off.  I ended up with 346 metres of aran weight yarn.  Now I have to decide what to knit with it.  I want to knit something fairisle using it with the 250 gms of white I spun during Tour de Fleece. 

Speaking of Tour de Fleece I found out yesterday that I won a $25 Etsy gift certificate.  I already found something to buy - a hand tooled birch wood darning disk.  They are made in the UK but it does say they ship to Canada.  Stay tuned. 

Also this week my key fob cover was looking tatty so I double knit a new one out of some rainbow hemp I have lying around. I forgot to take a picture of the one I replaced, but trust me this one looks much nicer. 

My navy Frangipani yarn arrived on Thursday so I hope to cast on my next gansey sometime this week.  I just have to verify the recipient's measurements.  

The best news of the week is that on Friday (our 44th Anniversary) our son arrived!!  We haven't seen him since October 2019.  We have three weeks with him!! (Yes, all those exclamation marks are necessary)

Last night's sunset walk

There were quite a few errands run this week getting ready for his visit, and for a short camping trip we hope to take  with him later in August.  Bear spray, camping chairs, and a propane fire pit (because wood fires are banned in our province because the dry weather has sparked many, many wild fires).  I even reorganized the camper and bought a three drawer unit for one of the cupboards so my husband's clothes can be better organized than just one big messy pile to sort through.  It feels good to be getting things done in the house and in the camper.  Between my husband and I it seems like we have deliveries coming to our door almost daily! You are welcome Amazon. 

Okay - that's it for this week.  Despite this morning's rain it is supposed to get hot and humid again later today so I had better get some chores done before the heat starts to build.  I already had my swim this morning (my son came too), so after chores I will get my knitting out for certain. 

Yopping Update #4 - No surprise here - still knitting and spinning and swimming (not necessarily in that order)

 

I felt like I didn't do much this week (except mope) but now I am doing the weekly update I can see I have been quite productive.  

I washed and thwacked my spin - 

412 m - 167 gms

I finished my fingerless gansey mitts - 

I started spinning backward long draw directly from fleece - I almost have two full bobbins 

I started a gansey beanie with my left over frangipani yarn that I used for the toddler and my gansey.

I found a new sock pattern called Sunday Best that I can cast on now because my KnitPicks order arrived!

yummy Stroll sock yarn

I also got this cute tote with Kitchener Stitch instructions and lotsa pictures of pretty little socks - 

 

Plus I order two stitch holders.  I don't like the ones that look like giant safety pins because sometimes my stitches find there way off, and or they are too bulky.  I like these simple ones that are a straight pin that locks on both sides.  They can also double as a cable needle.  Win-Win. 

Most importantly I ordered some canvas boxes from Amazon thanks to a tip from LeftyCrafter's post last week.  I now have my fibre/handspun/yarn organized and labelled!  I still have some wool to put in the bins but it is in the freezer right now preempting any moths or larvae or eggs that might have travelled with it when it was mailed to me by my dear friend who said it had been in her stash for some years. 

Otherwise this week I did get in three pool swims, but no walking.  My back is not happy.  Yesterday we spent 7 hours working on our truck and camper.  Hubby was installing something I don't understand and I was there to hand him the tools while he lay under the truck.  Needless to say we ordered dinner when we got home - watched a bit of the Olympics (saw the Canadian Women's 4 x 100 relay swim team get Silver) and went to bed very, very tired.  Just before bed our daughter and grand-daughter video called us so that was a lovely end to a l o n g day. 

A new flower bloomed on my back deck.  I don't know what it is called but it is so delicate and lovely.  It came in a packet of seeds that is said to attract bees/butterflies and hummingbirds.  

blossom about the size of a quarter

Okay, that is it for my week. 

How I wish I was on that beach with her

I better go fill the Hummingbird feeder - those little birds get so bossy when the feeder runs dry.  Until next week, dear Readers - take care, be brave and find joy that is all around us if we only take the time to look. (Are you listening to yourself, Mary-Anne?)

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Yopping Update #3 - spinning and swimming and knitting too

 

First up this week is a finish!

Strandwanderer scarf

This meant having NOTHING on my needles for two whole days, so I turned all my attention to finishing this endless spin.  I divided my remaining fibre into equal(ish) portions so I would be finished by today 

However, yesterday I was in a mood, and decided just to spin and spin and spin.  I finished all the fibre and then plied it all.  Today I will get it on the niddy-noddy and measure it so I can post my final amounts in my Tour de Fleece group.  Today is the last day of the tour - stay tuned next week for my totals. 

3 full bobbins of 2ply handspun

My wool order hasn't arrived yet so I decided to cast on some gansey fingerless mitts.  I changed the cast-on and cuff but the pattern and thumb gusset are Beth's.

pattern by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Hopefully the Knit Picks order will arrive next week as I am itching to cast on some socks. I am going to start picking colours for my Advent socks - maybe even today!

There were lots of firsts this week.  I went into Winners and bought some pjs and capri pants.  This is my first time shopping in person since March 2020.  (I also bought some salt and vinegar potato chips - just sayin!)

On Tuesday I went for a swim at the pool.  You have to book in advance so they limit the number of lane swimmers, and no change rooms are open so you arrive ready to swim, and then after the allotted forty-five minutes you go home to shower and change.  It was amazing.  I swam and swam and swam for a total of 1100 metres.  Then I went on Thursday (and also this morning) to do it all over again.  It feels so great to be back in the pool.  I have missed it so much.  I even went into the ocean for a short swim on Wednesday - (my dh knew it was what I needed to boost my mood - smart man).

With all that swimming I did some more on-line shopping and ordered a new swim top and swim capris for ocean swimming.  I hope to swim well into the fall and think the long sleeve and long legged swim suit will be useful.  Maybe I will even swim through the winter.  Stranger things have happened. 

The weather has been much cooler this past week, but I haven't done much walking because my back (and my mood) has been on the fritz!  As my mother used to say "This too shall pass", and I am sure it will, but there have been some low days this past week - back pain takes the fun out of just about everything!

Yesterday I managed to do a small repair on my car by changing the bulb for the turn signal.  On Friday I tried but gave up, and then yesterday I managed it in less than five minutes.  Oh, the difference a day can make!

I was up early to swim on Thursday and the sky was so beautiful. 

Mother Nature doing her best to cheer me up

And then, of course, pictures like this always make me smile.

best friends

Until next week - happy crafting to all you yoppers out there, and to all my dear readers thanks for the comments and may your week have beautiful views and time with friends and family.  

Oh yes, and another first - I bought an ice cream cone yesterday.  So good!

If you want to subscribe to this blog you can go to Bloglovin  It is a great site where you can subscribe to any blog you want and when there is a new post it will be emailed to you.   You can find Breathing Life at https://mary-mann.blogspot.com

Yopping Update #20 - Spinning around

 I forgot last week to mention two things I worked on so I am going to get those out before anything else. 

My rainbow spin - I am still working on this and I do see the end in sight.  I have four more groups of the six colours and I can do a group in a couple of days.....so maybe by next week I will have it all ready to ply. 

While working on my Havana, I noticed that the raised print on my crochet hook was really irritating my thumb.  I checked all my hooks, and they all had some sort of writing in the little indentation where your thumb goes.  That doesn't seem smart.  So.....I went onto Amazon and I ordered some pencil grips and modified my hook to look like this.  

works like a charm

I have continued the weekly decluttering challenge and this week it was magazines and knitting/tatting/doily booklets - 24 in all!

I also found a home from a balance board I had in storage with the user manual and an accompanying book.  I am happy a dear friend of mine can use it in her classroom. 

I am almost done the creche - I need to find the perfect sticks for the shepherd crooks and Joseph's staff.  I also have been looking to find a pattern to knit a donkey, ox, and camel.  I will also add an angel.  So I guess I am not as done as I thought - but done as the pattern was written!

My Havana is coming along spendidly.  

I am on pattern 5.  I realized that I won't have enough yellow for pattern 7 so I made another Knitpick order.  I also had to do the math to figure out how much yarn I need for the double border.  I hope I calculated right - 500 gms I think - about 1400 yds.  I ordered a few extras (had to get the free shipping after all), and I will give them to my hubby to wrap up for my Christmas present.  We won't be going into the stores so agreed to order ourselves something online for the other to wrap up and put under the tree. This year our tree will probably be another little cedar from our yard, or I am even toying with decorating our Jade Tree.  

So there is my week.  I have got out for a few forest/pond walks, and we had a very few snowflakes fall earlier in the week.  It was cold enough one day that I wore my handspun/handknit toque and mitts.  I was feeling very stylish..and warm. 

The days seem to go by quickly and my only in person group meeting has been cancelled by government orders because the CoVid cases are going up and up here in my little province.  I do have a hospital procedure coming up in the next couple of weeks so I am a wee bit anxious about the mask/sanitizing protocols, but I imagine the doctors know how to keep me (and them) safe. 

My dear little grand-daughter has a new addition to her family.  

meet her little black kitty

I am so grateful for our almost daily whatsapp video chats.  She calls while her momma is making her breakfast, and we are almost ready for bed.  The nine hour time difference works well for our daily visits.  

So off for a walk before the next rain prediction comes true.  Happy Sunday all.  Stay safe.

Yopping Update #14 - ready for winter

I continued to work on my toque that I started last week.  I was using my homespun and after it was finished:

I figured I had enough yarn left to make a pair of matching mitts:

I used the pattern the simplest mitts ever and they will be perfect when the temperatures dip to freezing. (not for a while I hope). So I am ready for winter with handspun/handknit cowl/toque/mitts.

My Knit Pick's order is not here yet, although it has been shipped, so I started another gnome with some leftovers I have.  She isn't quite finished so you will have to wait until next Sunday to see her in all her glory, with ends sewn in! I still have her arms and nose to knit today. 

That was pretty much it for knitting this week.  I planned a couple more WIPs but they aren't yet cast on - so I guess they aren't actually wips - just things added to my list of things to do.  I think I will knit my own cat, and knit my own dog.  I have lots of white and black left over from previous projects so I think a Tuxedo cat (ala Otis) and a border collie (ala my dear Maggie from so many years ago). 

I did take Yarnma up on her October Minimalist challenge.  Each day of October I am to de-clutter the number of things that match the date of the month.  As of today that is ten things: 1+2+3+4=

4 books, 3 knitting tools, crochet needle case, a 12mm straight needle, and some random 8mm needle that doesn't even have a mate. In the process I re-organized my double points, and I have many extras to declutter but I will wait until later in the month when I need the numbers!

My plan is to mostly tackle my shelf of teaching supplies - some of which I do not need to keep anymore and I can donate to the school.  Stay tuned. 

I did get my cat scan results, and they now involve a referral to yet another specialist.  So more waiting.  You would think I would be good at it by now.  Sigh.

The sun was out yesterday so my dh and I headed to the beach to dip our toes in the ocean.  After about 45 minutes the smoke from the California fires rolled in dramatically and the temperature dropped suddenly.  Still, it was lovely while it lasted. I really wished I had taken my bathing suit with me - I totally would have gone in for a dip.

I will leave you with a lovely still I captured of my grand-daughter on the teeter-totter.  She was singing her name.  So endearing.

Yopping #11 - Second verse, same as the first

 

Does anyone else remember that song by Herman's Hermits. 

I'm Henry the Eighth I am....

There is a line where he says - "Second verse same as the first."

I feel that way about my blog post this week.  It should have the same title as last week's entry.  Gnomes and Spinning.

First my finished Gnome - 

Here we Gnome again by Imagined Landscapes

He has joined his buddies atop the piano. 

I spun on my turkish spindle (will ply them tomorrow) 

I had a much more successful long backward draw after Highland Heffalump's suggestion to spin from rolags. 

And then spent time plying another sample - this one Icelandic which I think is my favourite so far.  I love the colour and so easy to spin. 

Handsome Icelandic boy

I have the Dorset Horn sample on the wheel but you will have to wait until next week to see it.  I also have another gnome on the go, but he is naked right now and I need to knit him a wee little sweater - so next week as well. 

The big news this week was yesterday my husband, nephew and I put two solar panels on top of our camper.  It was a full eight hour day and we are all tired today, but doesn't it look like fun?

picture from my living room window (note slanted driveway we are working on)

Auntie and Nephew

husband was taking our photos and supervising from the ground

We are all pretty pleased with ourselves.  

Of course we expected a nice hot day to do this work, and probably it was good it was not for the sake of my nephew who was on the roof most of the day, but the skies were very smokey and cold from the fires in Oregon, Washington and California.  I think by the time we were done the temperature at 5 pm was only 57 degrees (14 Celsius).  By 6 pm when I started dinner it was already so dark it felt like 8 pm.  

this was taken about 2 pm - very apocalyptic, no?

So today we will take it easy.  My husband is napping and here it is 2 pm and I am still in my pjs.  

I hope everyone is staying safe, and keeping their outside activity curtailed if your skies are as smokey as mine.  

Boy, 2020 has not been fooling around, and we still have 3 1/2 months to go!