The Sweater that Almost Was

Started March 2017.
Chose a different pattern stitch for the sleeves due to hand pain, November 2017.

First fitting, February 2018. Found out it was too small. Plans to enlarge existing pieces begun.

Second fitting, June 2018. Still snug across the shoulders, but maybe adding the second widened front will help.

Third fitting, August 2018. Found it really wasn't possible to make a medium into a large.

So after more than a year of knitting and reworking, we talked it over and decided it was time to rip. Instead of frustration, I felt a wonderful sense of relief. If you're interested, you can read the whole back story starting here.

The Garden in Bloom

DH visited the community garden with me and captured the season's blossoms, bees and butterflies.

Love in the Mist

Cosmos and buckeye butterfly

Garden spinner

Butternut squash blossom

Yarrow in bloom

Sunflower and honey bees

Cosmos

Budding yarrow

Miniature roses

Small sunflower

Wool Toothbrush Rug Finish

You might remember this project from a couple of years ago. Kelly's encouragement to "Keep going, it looks good! It'll flatten out as it gets bigger", helped me to keep going when I had my doubts about it turning out.

This round of gold was supposed to be the same as the second round, but I ran short. I was moving along at a nice pace and didn't want to stop, so I found some upholstery fabric that was a close color match. It was a little stiff to work with compared to the wool, but I was glad to keep going.

July 6

August 10

I've put it in front of the ironing board. It's nice and cushy and makes standing at the ironing board less tiring.

Hand Painted Yarn

Debbie invited me to try some hand painted yarn dyeing. Three of us got together at her house, with natural wool yarn ready for painting.

We used acid dyes, here the yarn is soaking in water with citric acid.

We mixed small batches of dye in plastic squeeze bottles. I like this picture, it looks like "A Dyer's Still Life."

We didn't feel real confident at first so I just started painting.

It was easy and fun!

After the color was the way I wanted, I rolled the yarn in plastic wrap and heated it in the microwave. These are cooling in the sink before the rinse. We called them yarn sausages.

Rinsing.

Debbie painting.

Debbie's yarn in the rinse.

Sharon painting.

Sharon's yarn in the rinse.

My yarn after it dried. Love it! I have no idea what it'll look like as knitted fabric, but that's part of the fun. I think I'll call it Ocean Song.