Week 36 of 2024

I am still really enjoying weaving on the Meta towels-

Finished the second towel,

and started the third one in cotton bouclé.

Hopefully there are no temperature blanket police checking.

Photos from Around - 

Sunrise over the pond.

Morning walk.

Going to be windy.

Blackbirds on the other pond.

Now mainly the beloved pets!

Best friends

Checking each other out.

I can't imagine what they are thinking about Molly.

The chickens are so curious.

18 weeks now.

A good resting spot (his leg is still recovering).

Plenty of rest - tongue out and all.

I don't know what is happening with blogger but it is becoming so frustrating trying to write blog posts recently!

All the best!♥︎

Week 35 of 2024

This week I finished the first of the towels on the loom. 

My speed has improved - now about an hour to weave 4"! It is really an amazing pattern - I don't fully understand the ins and outs, but it is a joy to weave.

There are three different weave patterns going on at the same time. The bold graphic "woven" pattern in the pale green, a more subtle diamond pattern throughout the whole cloth, even in the grey sections (also woven with the green thread),

and a background of plain weave underlying everything (shown here in the hems at the end of one towel and the start of the next - the white thick cotton will be the cutting line). The plain weave makes the towels strong and holds everything together. The grey is the same as the warp.

The towels are woven with two shuttles thrown one after the other. The pale green cotton thread (an 8/2) is twice as thick as the grey cotton thread (a 16/2).

All ten treadles on the loom are used - I use rubber bands on the treadles so my feet can distinguish between each section of treadles needed for each weave pattern. The two on the left are for the plain weave. The next three are for the diamond pattern, and the five on the right are for the different parts that make up the graphic "woven" pattern. Every pale green pattern thread needs two treadles pressed at the same time (this is a skeleton tie-up and the first time I have every tried it - it is not as scary as I thought it would be).

On the back of the towel the colours are reversed.

The second towel has a different treadling sequence.

This project of an "everlasting flower bouquet" was a much quicker project to finish (just a few hours). I was inspired by something I had seen on Pinterest (then Etsy - link). I used scraps of glass, and salvaged copper wire from electrical wire (not the strongest but it is what I had). Hard to photograph, it looks better in real life.

Temperature blanket.

Photos from Around - 

Ginger Cat was back at the vet this week - his leg still hasn't healed.

We are really hoping that this isn't the reason he was "thrown away", or that more drastic measures will be needed. At least we found out he doesn't have any of the scary feline diseases.

Maggie still stays away from him - the chickens don't mind him.

17 weeks old now.

The asters and golden rods are in full bloom now.

Morning walk.

All the best!♥︎

Week 34 of 2024

It is that time of the year where everyday involves some kind of canning/freezing/drying/preserving of the bounty from the garden -

One thing this week was plum sauce (like apple sauce) - it is the first year that we have had enough plums to make anything with.

Works in Progress - 

Handspun socks - the stitch pattern has started to show.

Ran out of the first colour (the hottest temperature) for the temperature blanket.

Slowly but surely the woven tea towels are growing.

Photos from Around - 

The chickens are now able to roam free - Molly and the cats seem fine with them.

16 weeks old now (maybe laying eggs soon?).

Miss Maggie still doesn't like the new Ginger Cat (she doesn't see him in the above photo).

But in this photo she does - she is hissing if you look closely.

Miss Molly to sort her out.

Yesterday was the last day in the nest for the four Barn Swallow babies.

Ariel spraying across the highway this week - just barely over the power lines!

All the best!♥︎

Week 33 of 2024

Lots of works in progress this week - 

I finally started weaving on this new batch of tea towels. It is a pattern from Etsy I have been wanting to try, but it took me three attempts to get the warp on the loom (I kept making threading repeat errors! Over 600 threads!!). It is my first time weaving towels with 16/2 cotton. The weaving is going well, and much more fun now that I have it figured out.

I started a new pair of socks with some handspun from TdF last month. They are my regular toe-up socks, but with the stitch pattern from Syncopation Socks by Mary Henninger (a free pattern on Ravelry).

Another section finished on the cross stitch.

The temperature blanket has become an exercise in trying to use up the colours wisely because some are running low.

Photos from Around -

Maggie

Ginger Cat

Molly

15 week old girls

I should have known this one was getting ready to jump on my head.

Week old Barn Swallow babies.

The parents like to dive at everyone that passes - it can be quite frightening to walk in the back yard.

Garlic harvesting this week.

Sunshine squash ripening in the garden.

All the best!♥︎

Week 32 of 2024

This week I finished a pair of socks that had been on the needles for a couple months- 

My fourth pair of handspun socks so far this year. This one from a BFL/Nylon blend I dyed and spun four years ago.

Cooler temperatures this week, but because I am running out of some of the colours I have had to shift the colours/temperatures sequence.

Photos from Around - 

Ginger cat's cone is off - his leg and other parts have healed well.

This is the closest Maggie will get to him, and only because that is where her food is (she still manages to complain lots while eating).

Molly loves going for a ride as long as it is just around the yard.

Maggie resting after a large feast - such a good hunter.

Ginger cat watching some Swallows that have a nest above the window.

We are hoping that he will be a good hunter too, but we think he might have been a house cat in his previous life.

Here are the Swallow babies in the nest.

These chicks are 14 weeks old now, and enjoying feasts from the garden.

Drone photo of the vegetable garden (the section on the right died due to flooding earlier in the summer).

Stopped by a great old barn on an evening bike ride.

Enjoyed the Persius meteor shower this evening, as well as great northern lights.

All the best!♥︎