Making, Doing, Mending

Hi folks, and happy almost-June! I'm still here, and I'm still making, so I thought I'd post an update to sum up the past few weeks.

As we approach the halfway point of the year, it seems as though I've come to the conclusion of 2022's Acquire All The Tools effort. Since the beginning of the year, I have added a Minstrel inkle loom from Windhaven Fiber Tools, a set of short Dreamz interchangeable needles from Knitters Pride, and an Electric Eel Wheel 6 (as well as a yarn measuring device) from Dreaming Robots. 

Minstrel inkle loom

Left: Electric Eel Wheel 5, Right: Electric Eel Wheel 6

 

EEW Yarn Counter and very magenta handspun

While I haven't done a whole lot with the loom yet, I did make a plainweave band (see above) with some self-striping yarn to get myself acquainted. It's very easy to use, and I can see some custom shoelaces in my future. I also did a short bit of card weaving, though I want to revisit that in the future as I wasn't enjoying this one a ton and cut it off the loom early. I still have enough to make a bracelet or key fob.

 

Purple tablet woven band

Additionally, I subscribed to a hand-dyed fiber subscription from Oink Pigments back in February, and I have no regrets. The goal with the subscription is to have a constant flow in and out of fiber and yarn, and to allow myself to use the good stuff without feeling too precious about it. Fiber in, yarn out, use in project.

 

Oink Pigments club colorways: March (Marsh Madness), April (Rainbow? Sure, Bert), and May (That's My Jam)

I haven't spun any of the three braids I have so far. They're just glorious and I can't wait to dig into them!

However!

I have been working to clear my plate, as I've been talking about since the first post on this blog, and I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere. For an update from my previous post, the Rad Radish socks are finished! Getting back into colorwork was a bit slow and cumbersome on the first sock, but the second one really zipped by. Spouse is over the moon about them, and I'm very pleased. The sparkly Fondant Fibre spin is also finished and on the shelf for a future project. It's not terribly consistent (one end is much thinner than the other) so I likely won't try to use it for socks, but at 502 yards it can easily be a shawl. I've also made quite a few more crochet squares with the yarn I dyed last fall, and they're sitting on the shelf until I finish the others and take stock of what I have. 

Rad Radish socks

Handspun yarn from Fondant Fibre Spangle Top

I also spun up about 50 grams of bright as heck magenta Blue-faced Leicester that I dyed last year (I think). The singles were spun on my Woolmakers Bliss and plied on the new EEW6. It came out beautiful and tonal and even, and I'm very happy with it. As far as spinning projects go, that leaves me with the orange Lincoln-Leicester-Romney that's on the Bliss right now. It's a coarse blend and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with the final yarn yet, maybe autumn housewares of some sort. There's also the ongoing spindle project, which is a collection of small bits of fiber that I take with me when I want a spinning project on the go. 

Campsite spinning with a deconstructed batt from my old shop stock and my trusty cross-arm from Snyder Spindles

Yesterday morning I got out my Habitation throw project for the first time in several weeks. We had a bit of a coffee date at a nearby shop, and I remembered what good coffee shop knitting garter stitch is. Much less chance of messing up!

While we were enjoying our coffee time, there was a large table of friends (or maybe some kind of local group) nearby, and it reminded me how much I miss having a knit night/morning to go to. I might start looking a bit harder at finding one to join or starting one of my own, depending on time and location. The animated conversation and sense of community just can't be replicated in a virtual space, and I think many of us need it more than we realize.

More on this in a future post.

Working on the Habitation Throw with Tosh Light Holo Glitter (and also the largest almond danish I've ever seen)

I also frogged the Umaro blanket. Whoops.

I just wasn't loving the process, and I've since started a crochet blanket with it. Okay, I started a different crochet blanket first and frogged that too. Sometimes it be that way. The current iteration isn't really photographing well, so I'll spare you until it's finished and blocked. I've even considered frogging this one a few times, but I don't know if the yarn can take another round of ripping, and I really do love this yarn! It's so soft and squishy, and I'd hate to ruin a whole project.

So, for now, it's in time out while I work on the Habitation throw. 

To sum things up as far as projects go, I guess I'd say that I'm not feeling overwhelmed by WIPs anymore. I only feel like I have one long-term project (Habitation), one faster project (crochet blanket), and one spin (orange LLR). Two of those I can see being finished within the next week or so, and that will either give me a chance to focus on Habitation and finish it or allow myself to cast on something new that I'm excited about. 

There's a lot I'm excited about, too! I have big plans to work through much of my stash and to continue teaching myself that it's okay to use up the good stuff. That's what it's for. 

Am I repeating myself? Probably. Is it necessary to remind ourselves of things we're working toward? Absolutely.

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A thing I'm struggling with right now is constantly wanting to be working on something other than the project I have going. Not so much with the Habitation throw, thank goodness, but with any other project I've had on the go recently. While I haven't come to a solid conclusion on the underlying reason, I suspect it's due to feeling obligated to make a thing because I said I would, or because I owe it to someone, or because it's been in my queue for a long time. Looking back on my makes, it seems like the ones I cast on spontaneously or planned out and then immediately started are the ones I've been the happiest making.

Because of that, I'm even more excited to wipe out my WIPs and get on to something new. But for the same reason, I'm going to take a good look at my queue and see what really sticks out to me as an enjoyable project and choose that, or something that's not in my queue at all if none of them fit the bill. That way I'm not just going through the motions.

It's not all bad; I'm just learning more and more about myself and how I like to operate, what I enjoy spending time doing, and what I don't enjoy. Know thyself and all that. I'm getting where I want to go, slowly.

So that's where I'm at, creatively.

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I'll talk more in a future post about moving away from Twitch for good as well as some of my reasons behind that for those who are interested. To those who have supported me behind the scenes while I waffled and whined and questioned myself, thank you.

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I'm mourning the passing of the weekend, so I'll leave you with some parting words before finding a pleasant way to spend my last remaining afternoon:

Use the good yarn.

If you're not enjoying it, frog it.

Don't "should" yourself.

Take care, and I'll talk to you soon. 🌿