Week 37 of 2025

This week I finished another set of thrum towels -

Just one of twenty, 10" squares with overlocked edges, just like the ones I finished a few weeks ago.

I wanted to have a good selection of little towels to use instead of paper towels/paper napkins, and these are perfect. More details and photos can be found on my Ravelry project page.

My husband and I also finished making a little stool from a dead ash tree that fell in our yard this summer - very rustic, but surprisingly sturdy (Molly is in the background waiting for someone to throw her ball she dropped on the deck).

Photos from Around -

A couple of sunsets.

A couple of sleepyheads.

And a few curious hens.

All the best!♥︎

Week 36 of 2025

A couple of knitted finishes this week - 

A sweater and a pair of socks.

Handspun socks - knit toe-up, two-at-a-time on a 2.5mm circular needle, 64 stitches. The stitch pattern is a 4 row repeat with 3 rounds of knit and one round of knit 1, purl 2 - it works great with striped yarn.

The pattern for the sweater is Ranunculus by Midori Hirose. It is a pattern from 2017 and is always in the top ten most popular patterns on Ravelry (there are over 30,000 projects on Ravelry), and now I see why. The cover photos don't do it justice, but when I started hearing about what a flexible pattern it was - knit in any weight yarn, knit top down all the sizes start the same, so it is easy to get the fit you want, plus it takes very little yarn I was sold (I already started another one and have yarn for a third!).

I knit this one with some handspun (spun during TdF this year), held with a strand of commercial mohair/silk (Aloft from KnitPicks leftover from another sweater). I didn't use all the yarn and the sweater weighs about 250g. I was really surprised that I was able to make a long sleeve sweater with the little bit of handspun I had, and thought it would only be a vest (plus I have enough yarn leftover to make a hat).

Photos from Around -

The beginning of the week started hot, then we had a big thunderstorm (lots of rain, winds and hail), and the weather turned cold for the rest of the week (the reason I was able to get so much crafting in).

More rain later in the week, and a little rainbow.

The wild asparagus is easy to spot around the yard now, covered in red seed pods.

Evening walk.

Miss Maggie in the morning.

Surprised to see the cats sleeping close to each other.

All the best!♥︎

Week 35 of 2025

No finishes this week, but a few works in progress -

A pair of handspun socks that are almost finished (started the ribbing - this is my take-along project).

A new weaving project on the loom - another set of thrum towels (the last ones are so useful).

Knitting sleeves on a sweater - the sleeves have taken me a lot longer to knit than the rest of the sweater (I am knitting the sleeves two-at-a-time so there is a lot more adjusting of stitches and yarn than knitting the body of the sweater). I spun the yarn for this sweater during TdF this year (the green), and I am knitting it with some commercial mohair/silk yarn (the blue/grey).

Photos from Around -

Sunset walk.

Sunrise - we have had so much rain and the grass is green again.

The Mountain Ash tree is so full of berries, and here it is full of birds too.

GingerSnap! resting in the hot sunroom (we have had probably the last hot days of summer this week).

All the best!♥︎

Week 34 of 2025

Still lots of canning happening, but I did wash another raw fleece -

This isn't a full fleece, I am certain that I spun some of it years ago.

There is 682g after washing (should be left with about half after combing).

I combed, spun, and knitted a little sample, and it is so soft.

My husband recently started wood working in his retirement, so this week we figured out how to work our son's homemade Alaskan mill, and cut up a few boards from an ash tree that had fallen.

Photos from Around -

Molly snacking with one of the baby chicks.

The big chicks foraging for grubs.

The baby chicks are incredibly curious - GingerSnap! doesn't mind,

but Miss Maggie isn't too impressed  - here she is hissing at them (they just kept following her).

All the chickens live together now.

We had 3.5" of rain one night earlier in the week, so the yard,

and garden are flooded (it's all slowing drying up, but we did have more rain throughout the week).

With all the rain GingerSnap! had to find ways to use all his energy inside!

All the best!♥︎

Week 33 of 2025

It is that time of the year when everyday involves some kind of harvesting or preserving the bounty of the garden, so not much time for crafting. I did wash a fleece this week so that it would be ready to comb (to remove all the plant bits), dye and drum card this fall/winter.

The fleece is from a local farmer and was destined for the compost. I have had it for years, so it was time to get it cleaned.

After washing there is 2.8kg of fleece. After combing I will probably be left with about half that weight, enough for a sweater, and some yarn for weaving (there is a section that is quite coarse).

Some of the harvesting this week - 

Three types of garlic (over 200 bulbs). My youngest son grows this.

Grapes from the vines we planted last year (made into jelly).

Every year there always seems to be one vegetable that does really well, this year it is the celery.

I pickled some this week (recipe link).

We probably had the main honey harvest this week (~15L).

Photos from Around - 

The canola field around our home was sprayed two days this week - it was amazing to watch.

Miss Maggie had lots to say when GingerSnap! came close to her.

The hens free ranging on a beautiful day.

The baby chicks free range too. All the chickens live together now, but the chicks still tend to stick together.

All the best!♥︎

Week 32 of 2025

This week I finished a weaving project -

These are ~10" squares to be used instead of paper towels. Made with leftover 2/8 cotton from other weaving projects (mentioned the project on an older post - link).

I serged/overlocked the edges.

Here is the fabric fresh off the loom - 21"x95".

It was fun to weave with the thrums - and to think I had been throwing out the loom waste before!

A tip I was given by a friend for an easy way to make curves on the serger/overlocker was to cut off the corners before sewing - works great.

More details can be found on my Ravelry project page.

Photos from Around - 

Evening walk.

Patiently waiting for supper.

The little chicks have been spending a bit of time free ranging with the big hens.

All the best!♥︎