'D' is for Disorder: One Year Older and Hopefully Wiser

Well, I guess it's been a while. I'm not sure why, but summer really chases away my knitting and spinning mojo. It seems to be back in full force now though - along with my desire to write about it.

Weeks in Review

So what have I been doing all summer? Well, mostly I've been gardening and composting and running. This year I started most of my veggies from seed, which was a neat adventure. My peppers and eggplant didn't produce even though it was warm here, but it was late getting warm so I think the season was too short for them. I had a huge garlic, beet and snap pea harvest, and there are still some carrots and greens and squash growing. My tomatoes and cucumbers are hanging-in and I just put in some spinach and radish. It's been really fun! I love going outside to pick my lunch!

Running has been a great success so far too. I'm running about 8-10 km three times a week, and so far I'm injury free (besides some bruises). I still run in my Vibram Five Fingers and as long as you don't mind blisters, they're a great running shoe.

I did get one camping/hiking trip with Jeff and that was great fun. In the past, we've always gone backpacking with all our gear and food for 3 nights packed on our backs, but this summer we decided to go car camping and BOY was it a different experience! I love both, and it's hard to compare the two since they're fundamentally different types of trips, but it was super fun! We went to Fundy for three nights, with two full and two short days. We did some short hikes and a lazy kayak on one day and had a really nice long hike another day. The really neat thing about car camping is that you can really be generous with meals and booze. We had fresh coffee in the mornings and lots of wine and s'mores at night. Plus the food was locked in the car at night so we didn't have to throw it up a tree.

Also, I turned 33.

F.O.s

Despite my fall from knitting grace this summer, I did manage to finish a sweater. I finally gave my mum her Mother's Day sweater (in July) and she LOVES it! I knew she would :) Ease is a great "easy" knit, but I did start finding the stockinette a bit much. The instructions are clear and easy-as-pie to follow. It would make a great first sweater to knit and it's such a simple, cozy, laid-back sweater that anybody would get tons of wear out of it. I did knit it a bit big and I took out the waist-shaping because that's what my mum wanted. It's sort of a big, cozy hoody but without the hood. It's also super soft and squishy because it's made with superwash merino.

I have a sewing F.O. From last month too! It was Jeff's mum's birthday and since she's something of a yoga enthusiast, I made her a mat bag :) It's purpley brocade on the outside with a pretty tan silk lining and silk shoulder strap. I'm not sure that it would hold-up to a lot of rough use, but it's certainly a cute way to store her yoga mat and she seems tickled by it.

So I guess I did get some crafting done after all :)

W.I.P.s

I've only got one knitting project on the needles right now and it's not super portable, so I'm going to have to cast on something new soon. I'm working on a sweater for Jeff that I'm designing myself. I'm knitting in the round but plan to steek it and add a zipper. I'm having a lot of fun with it but it is taking a lot of brain power and emotional energy so I don't always feel like working on it. When I need a break but don't want to knit on it, I've been doing some other fibery things.

I made my Buddy dog rolags, which was neat. I blended my Buddy fur with baby alpaca on my new blending board and ended up with six tidy rolags weighing-in at 2 oz. I plan to spin that up pretty fine and then ply it with long staple cashmere, ending with a light-fingering 2-ply that has lots of softness and drape with a touch of sweet golden retriever. Then I think I'll dye the yarn green and design a puppy-themed shawl for Buddy!

My wheel has been getting some attention too as I continue to spin-up my merino that will eventually be a sweater for me. I've also been playing a bit with my spindle - just spinning a bit of fuchsia superwash merino I've had in my stash.