An old yarn

I came across a bag of yarn scraps upstairs in the spare/craft room last week as I was puttering around. It is the ends of yarn I spun 10 to 15 years ago! Much of it was also dyed by myself in my Brooklyn backyard.

It was nice to run across this yarn. Not a bad spun yarn if I do say so myself. Most of it is 3-ply as I was heavily into Navajo plying at the time and spun of lot of yarn using that technique. Most of it is also spindle spun. These yarns were spun all over the city, at bus stops, parks, atriums, etc.

So I decided to make something of these scraps, a scarf for winter yard work. Nothing fancy, size 8 needles, just 20 stitches wide, seed stitch because it doesn't curl and looks nice.

I'm glad I ran across this yarn, it reminded me how much spinning I did back then, and like I said, it's a pretty nice yarn. I think I'm going to have to revisit Navajo plying, it's been years.

I did a bobbin's worth of spinning on one of my wheels this week but it was far from successful. I'm trying to figure out the best way to spin a short, soft, lofty mixed fiber. I spun from the fold but ended up with insufficient twist and too many thin spots. I'm out of practice. Today I spun another sample after carding some of the fiber and spinning it long draw. This test looks better and perhaps I will spin another bobbin using that technique this week. Tour de Fleece begins Tuesday but I'm not signed up for it. Not sure I can commit to daily spinning right now.

A visitor last week. Deer are a rare sight on my property.

Yesterday, mama bear and two cubs were out back. Melts my heart...

A little bit slow

 

It is a little bit slow at the moment but I did get the tapestry backed and hung on the wall.

I took out the wool applique quilt of flowers I made last year and sandwiched the backing, batting, and top so as to start quilting, but I haven't started quilting yet. There are a couple large house projects that need doing and I feel I need to attend to those before getting engrossed in a large sewing project.

However, I dug out some knitting needles because I want a new dishcloth.

This yarn is called "Scrubby" and I find it at Walmart. It makes the best dishcloths. 100% Polyester. Not expensive. It's great at scrubbing and doesn't scratch. It also last a long time. I've been using my current one for months!

I had a foray into the spare room a few weeks ago, mainly to straighten it up (it really needs a professional!) and I came across a small hooked rug pattern that I've decided to hook. In my opinion, small patterns like this do not work so well on such a loose weave as this burlap; there just aren't enough holes to get the detail in. But it's coming along OK so far and it should be fine. I love hooked rugs and I enjoy hooking them. Maybe I'll set my sites at making something considerably larger this fall.

In gardening news, the Egyptian onion patch is out of hand again. I'm tempted to remove it entirely, to be honest. In an effort to make something of what's there, I harvested a bunch of onions a few weeks ago and decided to dehydrate the greens. I think these will work well in dips and soups, etc.

Happy Solstice!