[knitting] Aran Afghan Square #8

Another finished and blocked square:

All the blocks are generally the same size, with slightly differing cast-on/cast-off numbers of stitches. This is one of the larger ones. It will take a bit of math and tweaking when it's time to sew everything together.

[knitting] Aran Afghan Square #7

A finished and blocked afghan square:

I definitely have enough yarn for 12 squares. I might try to make 16, for a 4 block x 4 block blanket (3 x 4 might be more of a lap-ghan). But that means I'm less than half-way through the blanket. :(

[crafts] DIY Bottlecap Tray #2

Since I have 25,000 bottlecaps and the first bottlecap tray that I made only used about 80, I decided to make another tray. This time without grout because that was a pain to add.

The tray is from a Joann craft store. I added several coats of Mod Podge: Hard Coat to the interior, just seal up the joints and edges. I was sure the resin would leak out of the joints and edges where the wood pieces came together.

I hot glued the caps to the tray and poured the resin.

No grout this time, which was actually quite detrimental to the finished project. Air pockets under the caps released bubbles. You can actually blow on the surface of the resin as it dries, to pop these bubbles but the resin takes hours to cure and I can only huff toxic fumes for so long. I left and came back to hardened craters:

When you feel the surface, it's pockmarked. Had I added the stupid grout, it would have prevented the bubbles escaping from under the caps. So. Back to the drawing board. This tray is fine for me to use at home- I just won't be giving it as a gift like I had originally planned. 

Time to go hunting for new trays.

[crafts] Presidential Coasters

Some boring coasters of Presidents that I made:

I'd like to add more things to the coasters, collage-style. Maybe an axe or a big cherry to Washington's outstretching hand? Taxidermy heads to the wall around Roosevelt? A bullet behind Lincoln's head? (Oooo, too soon?) I think I might stop by the craft store for appropriate stickers, and then Mod-Podge over the surface again.

[misc] Kitty Monday

What an awesome weekend! The weather was amazing. I weeded a bit, planted a bit, watered a bit, divided some day lilies, got dirty. I came inside and poked my head into the bedroom:

Yeeeeah. Three kitties and the lump in the back is Dollar. 

[gardening] Spring as Sprung

The cactus seeds I started in small terracotta pots inside have germinated:

I started these seeds in March. This is going to be a sloooooow process. From what I've read, they'll be ready to transplant when they're the size of a marble- from 6 months to a year after germination.

It's so nice to be working outside again. I'm preparing the beds around the house to transplant all the things I've winter sown. This past Saturday I weeded, moved some day lilies, added stone borders to a couple bed, planted seed tape.

And the daffodils I planted last fall are currently blooming!

[vermont] Foraging

It's ramp time! I hiked up to the big patch with my sister:

On the way, I saw trout lilies and picked a few:

These are edible as well. They get their common name from the mottled coloring- like trout skin. They're a little labor intensive to pick (a lot of work for little leaves) so I didn't pick that many. They have a slightly bitter taste- good to add to salads.

We picked and picked and picked ramps. I washed them right away:

And as it happened, I bought a small vegetable CSA share this year from a local farm. They were having an open house on Sunday. I went to pick up a bonus May share of greens:

Clockwise from bottom left: spinach, collard greens, baby bok choy, arugula, mustard greens, kale.

So. We have lots of green stuff to eat. Time to make pesto!

[misc] Lifeguard

Penny, making sure I'm safe in my bubble bath:

After doing a ton of yard work Saturday and foraging for ramps on Sunday, I was sore. A bubble bath was in order. Penny comes to watch and can't seem to figure out why I want to lay in a big bowl of hot water.

[misc] Penny Paws

Saw Penny on the couch making silly paws:

I finally have some crafty stuff to show (spinning up the dog fur, cross-stitch biscornu, afghan squares), I just haven't taken pictures yet. 

The weather's been dreary and rainy but most of what I've winter-sown has germinated by now. I've got to start cleaning up the flower beds and figuring out where I'm going to transplant everything.

[gardening] Hen and Chicks

This hen laid lots of chicks:

Sempervivium turn a burgundy color during the winter- I love the green color coming back into the plant now. So pretty. 

[travel] Montreal

Quick day-trip to Montreal, Quebec for a special preview of the new Cirque du Soleil show Kurios. The big tent is set up on a pier in Old Port.

This was my first Cirque du Soleil show but I've seen every show offered on DVD. It was absolutely wonderful to see live. The performers were excellent (and impressive) and there was so much interaction with the audience. It was funny, too! The music and singers were live and amazing. I can't recommend enough seeing a live performance. 

Before the show, we walked around until we found a place for supper. I've been wanting to try poutine for years but missed the opportunity to try it in Quebec City a few years ago when we went up for the summer music festival. This time was not going to miss a bowl of fries, gravy and cheese curds:

I think this is going to be my regular order from now on whenever I'm in Quebec. It was as good as I imagined it would be.

Also made a pit stop to a SAQ to pick up two bottles of Sortilege: the original maple whiskey and the maple cream. Omg, the maple cream is going to be like maple Bailey's- I can't wait to try it!

[gardening] Seedlings

Things are sprouting:

I started the seeds in small pots inside, after using a plane grater to shave off some of the shell. All parts of this plant are edible- leaves, stem and flower. I don't have any glow lights so some of the seedlings that are further along are rather leggy, but I'll give them harden them off a bit every day now that temperatures are rising again.

Finally some seeds are germinating in the cactus pots I started 3 weeks ago. Most of my winter sown seedlings appear to be all right outside, but I have had to cover them the past two nights. The freezing weather has slowed everything down and none of the crocuses have even bloomed yet.

[vermont] What's that about spring?

Just when almost all of the snow around the house had melted:

Thank goodness I covered all my winter sown jugs with a sheet last night. It was close to 80 degrees two days ago and last night the temperature dropped to 20.

[spinning] Carding Siberian Husky Fur

Many years ago a friend gave me a bag of dog fur. He has a pack of Siberian Huskies for sledding and an abundance of fur since this breed sheds it's undercoat twice a year. I brought the fur home and Googled the best way to wash it: stuffed into panty hose, soaked in a tub, dried in the sun. It's been so long but I finally took it out this weekend to card it into batts*. 

*Okay, WEBS is having their annual anniversary sale and I've been rummaging through my stash of fiber and yarn, distracting and convincing myself that I don't need any of the beautiful things that they're offering at ridiculously reduced prices... must... resist...

The drum carder, secured it to a table:

I had lots of random merino in my stash to blend with the fur- white, yellow, brown, three shades of blue. I was going to use it all, at a ratio of 4 parts wool to 1 part fur. On average, everything I blended was 20 - 25% fur. The supplies here are 2 oz merino, 0.5 oz fur (half of the contents of the panty hose snake), a long knitting needle to help take the fiber off the drum and a slicker brush for cleaning up the drums.

I'm no expert at carding, having only seen a handful of YouTube videos and using this drum carder twice in the past. I just did what I thought made sense. The staple of the fur is short- only about an inch. So, I would lay down a layer of merino, add the fur, add another layer of merino. Then blend this again because if there's anything I learned from all the instructional videos, it's that "once is never enough" when you use a drum carder.

The first layer of wool:

Then feed in the fur:

 

Kind of lump at first:

But things start to smooth out (also, lots of fur gets picked up by the smaller drum- I used to slicker brush to repeatedly take this fiber off and feed it back into the carder):

Add another layer of blue:

Use the knitting needle to separate the fiber on the carder, so that you can peel the whole layer off. If someone would like to give me an ice pick as a present, that would be so much better than this aluminum needle (which has started to bend). I promise I wonder consider an ice pick delivered in the mail as a threat.

Then peel:

This wool-fur-wool sandwich is then separated into strips and fed back into the drum carder.

If "once is never enough" then "twice is good enough for lazy people". The fiber is more uniformly blended:

If I were going to sell this or give it away as a gift, I'd probably run it through the carder again but, hey, I'm the one spinning it and I really don't have many F's to give. 

Here is the fiber ready to spin. Such a soft cloud. SO SOFT.

First time spinning:

Adding a lot of twist to help lock down the fur. Will process all of the yarn as two-ply. This picture is my practice yarn- I've spun more and the plies are a lighter weight and will be a finer yarn.

Once it's all spun and washed, I'll knit something. I can't wait to see what kind of halo anything knit with this yarn has.

[vermont] Spring

The crocus bulbs that I planted last fall are JUST starting to poke up:

It should be a random mix of colors- I can't wait to see them bloom. Some daffodil bulbs are starting to poke up a bit. I've been cutting away dead foliage from other plants and found growth hiding underneath. This is a sedum ("Stonecrop") that I purchased last fall:

And I've been checking my winter sown containers every day... and thinks are sprouting! I'm so relieved- but now I need to make sure that I don't (a) let the containers dry out, and (b) let a hard frost overnight kill the seedlings.

[misc] Murderface Monday

Murderface on the nightstand, Santana on the bed behind him.

Had a nice weekend. Went to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Started my gourd seeds in small pots inside- just to give them several extra weeks since they need such a long growing season. I pulled out my drum carder to blend some merino fiber with washed siberian husky fur that a friend gave me years ago. I finally did my taxes. Got a hair cut. Still waiting on all the snow to melt...

[knitting] Sirle-paca

I knit a Sirle hat back in the day. I really liked the pattern- the lace leaves and the length. I made another with 100% alpaca yarn, for nice drape:

Yarn is a dk-weight alpaca. 

[knitting] Blue Biased

The last biased infinity scarf was knit during the trip home. I used the same yarn as the previous one (Regia Hand-dye Effect) but made this one completely in stockinette and a bit more narrow.

It definitely rolls at the edges when you wear it. I would recommend keeping periodic purl ridges to maintain the width of the cowl.

I knit it this way because the boucle biased cowl was made as plain stockinette and stays completely flat. Apparently this was just an added benefit to the texture of that yarn. This smoother sock yarn didn't work that same way. Still, I like it. It's long enough to wear doubled and matches one of my favorite winter hats.

[knitting] Rainbow Biased

For my trip out to Palm Springs, I had a bus ride down to Boston and two flights- i.e. a lot of knitting time. The bus and flights were completely full. I furiously knit this entire project in one day to keep my mind from fixating on things like (a) why won't the girls in front of me avidly talking about nothing SHUT UP, (b) why are neither guys giving me either armrest even though I'm in the middle seat, (c) should I offer the woman next to me who is sniffing every 4 - 15 seconds, THAT'S RIGHT I COUNTED, a kleenex, (d) STOP WHIPPING ME WITH YOUR HAIR EVERY TIME YOUR TURN YOUR HEAD, (e) WHY ARE YOU STICKING YOUR LEG INTO MY FOOT AREA, (f) AAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

So. Obviously I do fixate. I just don't like to be crammed into a can with a hundred strangers. I didn't have the two things with me which would have solved all my problems- earbuds and lorazepam. But I did have knitting. I made another Totally Biased with sock yarn- this is a perfect project for self-striping sock yarns with wide bands of color. I'd love to make another with Noro Silk Garden Sock. The yarn I used for this was one ball of Regia Hand-dye Effect.

This one was knit as 80 stitches on size US 8 needles. It can be wrapped around neck twice but it's a little tight. I haven't blocked it yet, which should make it longer. I worked a purl ridge every 8 rows.

[knitting] Boucle Biased

I love the pattern Totally Biased. I made one for me and then one for my sister. Scarf weather is almost over (YYYYAAAAYYYYY) but made some new versions for next season. Here's a quick one:



Yarn is Knit Picks Quarry, an alpaca wool and nylon boucle blend. This yarn is so very discontinued. I can't even remember when I bought it but I've had two balls kicking around my stash forever. Finally, it's put to good use.

It was worked as 34 stitches on size 10.5 needles. So quick- it only took a few nights to complete.



This is plain stockinette but the edges not roll in due to the biased shape and the boucle yarn. It so soft and looks great on. I think this one might actually turn out to be a gift for my mom next Christmas. After I wear it a few times.