Knitting, spinning, and canning

Last week was spent working on both the Transverse Scarf (finished one skein) and the Simple Yet Effective Shawl. I also pulled out my Borscht Greenjeans cardigan and added a few rows to it. I had brought it along to Judy's dr. appt that resulted in a three hour wait in the lobby for me. I went through all three of them entertaining myself, besides the people watching. ;-)

I've tried a couple of approaches with a skein of the raw silk that didn't take the dye as well as the other three (I didn't pick out the four, or I wouldn't have taken this particular skein). I wanted to see how obvious the change in skeins is so did a chart repeat and saw this:

Pretty freaking obvious! So I frogged that and pulled out a second skein and have been doing two rows of each and alternating them so that its less "LOOK AT ME!"
You can still see the end of the first skein, but less glaring.

I finished up the Gotland by plying it and finished spinning the Norwegian and also plying it. Wrapping up the Tactile Ancient Breeds Sample Pack. Still love the Finn, the Shetland, Icelandic and Gotland were all itchy for me. The Norwegian was less itchy but felt softer after working with it. Here's the collage of them all:


William went with Luke and his father on the trip to Moscow, ID to deliver Luke to his college apartment. He had a great time and now is contemplating going to Washington State University for his nursing program (Pullman is only six miles from Moscow). We'll see. When he got home Luke's parents brought him home with some vine ripened tomatoes from their garden (ours haven't turned out as well because someone sprayed some lawn fertilizer or something on them and now they're a strange yellow/orange).

Since I had some peppers (jalapeno, banana and chili) just waiting to be used, I opted to make the first batch of salsa for the season. Canning the results so that we can enjoy it longer. I did use smaller jars so that I can share too.



I fell off the no adding to the stash wagon a couple weeks ago in Susan Pandorff's Destash Sale. My thought was that I could use them for Christmas gifts so I was saving money. I got both for less than the price of one. They're the Mountain Colors 4/8's Wool in Mountain Twilight and Sweet Lavendar:


I had thought to do a shawlette with them but I've also found a mobius cowl that would be cool too.

OFFF Vendor Booth organization continues. We're getting all the payments in so that a group payment for the booth can be sent in before the end of the week. Still need to get out into the garage for one of the projects I have in mind. I'll have to see if I can afford an order for some supplies for other projects. We'll see. ;-)

This week's plans involve more knitting on the Transverse Scarf, hopefully finish it too. More work on the Simple Yet Effective Shawl, really would like to finish it also. Put the tabs on Stained Glass Window Quilt so it can be hung. Start spinning either the wensleydale or cream alpaca. I'd like to get some peaches and either marionberries or blackberries for more canning fun. Jams of course. Need to save money too so that I can enter in the Walk for the Cure Knitters for Knockers team - just $25.

Forgot to mention that I tried out Smitten Kitchen's Blueberry Boy Bait Cake from a cup of blueberries picked from my late season bushes. The boys are enjoying it. Next time though I'm splitting the batter between pans. I'm currently constrained from using a 9x13 and so used an 8x8 - took forever to cook! Tempted to try out The Pioneer Woman's Coffee Cake, but don't have any heavy cream on hand and trying to wait for groceries until later in the week. Very tempting!! I might be able to do it if I liquefy the espresso in the frosting.....oh no. There might be another cake before the end of the week.