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 Hey blogaverse! What's going on?

I feel like it's been ages since I last posted, but it's really only been a few weeks.  Time is strange.  I've been keeping busy crafting.  Not actually doing anything or going anywhere, though school finally started up, so I have that to set my clock to.

In my last post I was working on a hat, well, I finished that hat! go me!

Unceremonious FO shot.  I don't even think I blocked it.  It's really soft though and has a nice drape, perfect slouchy hat.  It's weird cause last time I knit a sockhead hat (that's the name of the pattern) I feel like it took ages, and I even shortened it quite a bit.  There's definitely something to this knitting monogamously thing. Again, pattern is sockhead slouch, and the yarn is cashmere and coconuts.

I started some handspun socks the next day:

There's a nice progression of the last week or so of knitting.  these are done out of the fire gradient I spun up last year for TDF.  It's an organic polwarth, chain plied to maintain the color sequence.  And it's knitting very nicely, indeed.

The second sock I started last night, but this time I'm knitting cuff down, starting with the gray.  So, they won't match, but I'll get to see the entire progression of the gradient between the two.  Also, I just prefer top down.  the heels will look similarly, since I did a faux heel and gusset in the first one, and that's my go-to for top-down socks.

In spinning news, there's a lot of spinning news!  I continued to spin that lovely BFL on my Minstrel:

And right around that time, my new e-spinner showed up!  literally three days after I ordered it (including a weekend, so it was FAST shipping).

I tested it out with those rolags I was telling you about.  From the Wooly Witch.  I got two sets of 3 ounces of rolags.  The first is more of the same from one of the sweater yarns, and the second is a surprise (cause I forgot to take a picture!)  silly me.

Anyway, I finished the singles of BFL on my Minstrel, and decided to ply them on my new spinner.

 

Now, I think I've complained about bobbin capacity in the past, and these bobbins supposedly have an 8 ounce limit.  This braid is 4 ounces and it Barely fits.  I know there's a difference between plied yarn and singles, but I was surprised that I had to pack the bobbin so.  I thought it would easily fit 4 ounces.

Alas, it did end up fitting the entire braid, and my future plans generally involve only 4 ounces of braids at a time, or less, so it's not really an issue.  It's still a Vast improvement compared to the Minstrel bobbins which have a 4 ounce capacity, and plying I am lucky if I can fit 3 ounces on them plied.

 Here's the finished braid.  It's 287 yards, which is about a sport weight, though I don't think I spun it very consistently. There's quite a bit of thicker and thinner places.  I don't have any immediate plans to work with it, but it was really really nice to spin.

Around this time, I named my new wheel!  I decided to lean into the brand, since it's an Electric Eel Wheel, I decided to go with Ariel.  I wasn't feeling Flotsam or Jetsam, but Ariel would be the one to encourage the collecting of nonsense you don't need for crafting.  Definitely.  Plus she was my favorite Disney Princess as a young girl, and I think she's fab.

So, I've been spinning off and on on Ariel, mostly in my glider, which is not the first chair I showed.

During the day I've been cross stitching a lot.  Last I showed, I had only just finished the crystal between the title words.  Well, now I'm up to the first two letters of "FANTASY" so, that's cool.

There's a lot more colors in this than you think, and a lot of color changes.  It's time consuming, but not terrible.  I'm looking forward to the characters, but I'm saving them for last.  They're kind of going to be tricky since I had issues with making them clear in the full sized pattern.  I'm really going to be just using that for counting, but they do overlap, so it'll be interesting.  I still have a long way to go on the title though.

There really isn't an enormous amount of life news.  I did make a new friend, who happens to also be a spinner, which is exciting.  I don't make friends often, especially friends in real life.  She's offered to drive Hazel home from school every day, which is exceptionally nice since the pick up line is a nightmare.  She has a son in school, and he and Hazel are friends.  Our house is on the way home from the high school, so it's not out of the way for her.  I offered to knit her something, and there's yarn coming for that project.

The heat, by the way, hasn't really let up.  It's been so hot for so long, it's hard to imagine it will be cool enough for woolies.  But, you know, eventually it will be, and right around that point we'll be moving.  And that's a fun thing to look forward to.

Cheers!  I hope you're staying cool and enjoying the rest of your summer.