I think I found it. Just tell me where to send it, I will be glad to hand deliver it.
The mugginess is back. I noticed it yesterday – got up early, thought it felt nice and cool, went out to water the gardens, and came back in absolutely dripping wet. Not from the hose. It wasn’t hot, but the air is just overwhelmingly full of water.
So, I didn’t do any more gardening. I really have to get moving on working on it, but I am feeling uninspired. Instead, I just kept spinning and knitting.
Frieze cowl is nearly done, just need to finish the ribbon and knit the cord.
![IMG_3054[1]](https://whatimuptotoday.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/img_30541.jpg?w=840)
I like it, mostly. I don’t like the visible jog at the end of the row. I think I know how to fix it on the next one. It will be on the side or back of the garment so I can live with this one. Not ripping it out and doing it again.
I made the large, and it is taking the whole of the navy blue skein (color A) and likely a bit more. Luckily I was able to buy more, and it is a color I will happily use again. I also got some different colors to make a few more. I will make them smaller, and shorter. I think that will make them more useful to people.
I did lots of spinning, as Tour de Fleece (TDF) demands…or inspires.
This spin is a fun one. I want to make a nice thick yarn, and I have 7 ounces, combined, of these two braids. The Three Waters Farm one was a gift from a friend, and the Purple Fleece one I had purchased. I spotted it deep in my stash as I was digging about, and I thought they would look fine spun up together. The Purple Fleece one (Sweet Dreamz) is 3 ounces, so I had to augment that half of the spin with a little bit of the TWF (Iron Blue), but I think when they are plied together it will just be blue. I am calling it Sweet Iron Blue Dreamz.
![IMG_3046[1]](https://whatimuptotoday.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/img_30461.jpg?w=840)
Here is my end of day Saturday shot:
![IMG_3053[1]](https://whatimuptotoday.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/img_30531.jpg?w=840)
And my end of day Sunday shot
![IMG_3059[1]](https://whatimuptotoday.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/img_30591.jpg?w=840)
This is once again BFL and silk, and I do love it. Spinning thick yarn is a challenge for me, I expect I have too much twist in most of it, and it is not particularly even. But I have the wheel on the largest whorl, and I am trying to remember to treadle slowly. Whatever it is, I know I will love it and be happy with it. With 7 ounces, I should get enough yardage to do something fun with it. And I should get it this week. I finished filling this bobbin this morning, so will ply tonight, then refill both bobbins. That should get me to the end of TDF. And I then I will be spinning up some of the great rovings of the month I have been collecting from the Purple Fleece. I think I am meeting my goal to spin more than comes in, yet I seem to not be keeping up with spinning the most recent ones. I get distracted by stash. Then I see what my fellow spinners do with the braids, and I wonder why I put it off. 🙂 I need more hours in a day, I think. (I just checked Ravelry. I actually am ROCKING the whole spin more than comes in thing. I have started and finished 11 braids since January 1, this will be the twelfth. And only 7 have come in, so I am down 5 from stash! We won’t talk about how I am doing with using up yarn, lol) )
Other than this, I did NOT MUCH this weekend, in the way of chores. I did finish up the laundry, and I did clean the bathrooms, you will be happy to know. I did go to Whorls and Purls (SUCH a chore – not!) and the grocery store ( a bigger chore each week – here comes a rant – the clueless tourists have shown up. Our store has very narrow aisles. If you stop in the middle to get something, all flow in the store stops. Natives know this and pull over so people can pass. Tourists, operating as the center of the universe, do not know, nor do they observe everyone standing around staring at them while they look for something you can’t get here. They frequently get annoyed if you ask them if they would mind moving over. And then you meet them at each aisle. I do see why old time Mainers referred to tourists as “summer complaints” Kinda like black flies. )
Sunday evening, I had to attend a fundraiser to take photos for work. It was an absolutely lovely event, and I think I got some fun photos. While I was there, the rain held off, though it sprinkled. After I left, I guess it really rained, and so volunteers were bustling about holding umbrellas over the wait staff. I probably should have stayed longer to get that photo! But all the patrons were under cover, so I think they had fun.
Now it is Monday, and I got to go to work and sit in an air conditioned office, and so life is good!
whatimuptotoday 
We spend very little time in the garden now. Between the humidity and the skeeters we hurry through our yardening and gardening.
The cowl is so pretty. It’ll be warm and snug when the cold wind blows.
Sweet Iron Blue Dreamz is a perfect name for your gorgeous yarn.
Grocery shopping is a chore even on a good day. Sounds like “Summer complaint” is sometimes an understatement.
Have a great week.
You have a good week, too, EC! I hope your weather dries out!
Wow your cowl is very pretty!
Thank you!
Your cowl looks great! Mine has the same jog. I’m ignoring it:)
Gorgeous yarn you’re spinning! I love that color.
I’ll bet those are the same people who regularly shop at my grocery store. I often wonder if they drive their cars as obliviously as they push their carts.
It’s humid and rainy here in PA. We’ve walked outside repeatedly and been surprised that it just gets more and more humid.
Re the cowl… she has you add the stitch after the ribbing. Next time I am trying it without that stitch. I will share how it works!
Thanks, I also love this yarn. It is so soft and squishy! Wait until you see the finished skein!
I bet they are the same people, and I think they do drive the same way! Last week when I asked a father to please move his cart, he looked and said “can’t you get by?” I could, if I moved the cart with his son in it. I can imagine the ruckus if I tried that!
Kudos on the more out than in! That blue is incredible – both the color and the spinning.
Thank you!
those colours on the cowl are amazing, although I’m finding it difficult to appreciate knitted projects in this heat ^^
btw we have enough humidity of our own, so maybe you could bottle yours and use it when needed?
Lol I agree about the knotting projects. Glad I already finished my sweater! I can only deal with small things now.
Bottling it. Good idea! I could sell it to a desert dwellers.
I love the yarn you’re spinning. As far as the jog goes, on your next cowl you could try slipping the first stitch of a round, with yarn in back, any time you know your first stitch will be stacked on top of another of the same color. For example, if round 1 is A-B-A-B (starts with A) and round 2 is something like A-B-A-A (also starts with A) you can start round 2 with sl 1 wyib instead of knitting the first stitch. This interrupts the jog nicely and it’s an easy solution. If you really want to get into it, I recommend the techknitter blog: http://techknitter.blogspot.com There is a TON of information on this and many other technical things related to knitting. I hope the mugginess goes away soon!
I have read the tech knitter on this, an amazing post!
This is mosaic knitting, so often a different color. I think the problem arises on this pattern because she has her pattern repeat end at the end of the row, and I think there should be one less stitch so it blends. So if you were doing purl slip all around she has the round end with purl. If it ended with slip, the jog would be more seamless. That’s my theory anyway, and I will give it a shot on the next one.
You’re totally right! I wasn’t sure what technique you were using and, actually, mosaic knitting is just another form of striping, so ending or beginning with a slip stitch will hide the jog.
Humidity, my least favorite kind of weather! Muggy, yes! Looking forward to a Fall spin-in here at the nursery, Maybe mid-September. I’ll let you know. Your work looks fabulous…industrious spinner, you are!
Oh, that would be so fun!!! I look forward to hearing more about it.
Yes, a fish could live nicely out of water here it’s so humid. I’ve basically halted finishing the sweater because the thought of having it all on my lap in this humidity is so unappealing. I’ve also put aside my spinning for now. The humidity makes everything so sticky. I love the yarn you spun. It looks perfect. I look forward to the time when I can also say that I chose to spin the yarn to a certain thickness. Right now I am still at the point of taking what I can get. The cowl is lovely too. The colors are great together. Summer tourists are the worst. I couldn’t wait for them to all go back home when I lived in Maine.
Yes, the humidity makes it not so fun to be handling or covered in wool!
The day will come when you CAN spin what you want, though I often take what I can get. 😉
We have the tourist problem here too, cluttering up the place, failing to queue for a car parking space and generally being inconsiderate. I should add I try not to behave like that as a tourist.
Lol I am sure you don’t! I try not to as well. I think those of us who deal daily with the inconsiderate ones try hard to behave when we are elsewhere.
I have a friend who wants to design bumper stickers that say things like “your waitress is trying to get to work” but realizes the people who need to see the message are ahead of her, not behind her, lol.
The humidity has been down here the last few days. Very comfortable actually. Last night we went to the beach to see the sunset and I had to wear a sweater as it was unusually chilly. We hadn’t been to the beach since before I injured my knee and knee surgery, so it was really nice to get there and be able to make the long walk from the parking lot to the beach. I love the blue yarns you spun. So pretty. The cowl is looking lovely. A beautiful pattern.
They said we would be less humid yesterday, but it was still pretty brutal. Today feels cooler, finally! I am so glad you were able to get to the beach at last!