Making and learning through the turmoil

Once my school year ended, I gave myself a week of vacation (which coincided nicely with my birthday week) before jumping in to the professional development I’d planned to work on this summer. That includes reading, online classes, and later this month an online seminar. I also need to go through materials and unit plans for next year, but I think I’m going to do that in either July or August. In between all that I have of course been making, but also doing a lot of praying and taking some steps to educate myself in the wake of the protests and Black Lives Matter movement. So far protests in my little Texas town have been peaceful—which is encouraging, and I pray that these days of turmoil will lead to an anti-racist tomorrow.

In the midst of all that I have been working on my summer top (nothing exciting in the progress), a little on my Ink cardigan, and quite a bit on my Trekkie socks, as I’ve had need for some mindless knitting. I finished the first one today, and when I had a triumphant finished fitting, I realized that a) the heel decreases weren’t quite where I expected them, and b) I had never made myself a plain sock with a short row heel and my integrated gusset. I wonder if I’d be more satisfied with doing a 60% heel… It’s not like I don’t like the heel--the fit of the sock was lovely; it’s just not what I was expecting. The second one is started, as I still need a brainless knitting project.

I’ve been doing a lot of weaving and a lot of learning about weaving these last two weeks as well. I wove two panels for what I hoped would be a ruana, but found that they were rather narrow. So, I found someone destashing the discontinued yarn on Ravelry, and I’m hoping I can get the yarn soon so I can weave two more panels to widen this to usable size. Knowing that, I’ve also ordered a second 12 dent heddle, so I can play around with some double weaving, and have a bit less seaming to do with my next two planned ruanas.

I’m also working on weaving a baby blanket for a friend. I’ve planned the blanket to be in three panels, and two of them are done. I ran out of the black yarn, so I’m waiting for another destash skein to makes it’s way to me so I can finish. I was quite pleased by how I matched the panels, and hope the third one comes out as well.

And, the other big experiment from last week, was using crochet cotton to weave tea towels. I reduced a pattern I found online, and while I learned a lot and will be able to use the finished (slightly wobbly) objects, the fabric is much more open than I had hoped. The mercerized cotton gives an interesting texture; it wouldn’t be for drying dishes, but as a liner for a bread basket will probably work quite well. I’m trying again, this time doubling the warp, and then doing one towel with one strand in the weft, and another with two so I can do some more comparing. At the very least, I’ve been getting some valuable experience working with fine gauge cotton, and will be much better able to use the ‘real’ stuff when I buy some. Here are the finished towels-

Neko spent a week where he couldn't keep food down, but after a trip to the vet and some anti-nausea pills (not sure who was more traumatized by the process of administering them--him or me!) I’ve got a little floof feeling much better, who likes to be a part of my reading from time to time. I’m continuing my challenge to myself to make at least one new recipe a week, and I’m also continuing my morning walks in the gardens near my house. The gym has opened back up again, but I’m not sure I’m quite ready to head back yet. It’s so hard to know what the most wise courses of action are these days…

Parting shot: I love how tidy a freshly warped loom looks!