Summer break has now begun!

Whew--the 2019-2020 school year is over! Reports are written, books are put away, and I'm allowing myself this week to rest before starting on my summer projects. Over the course of the last week I worked on various projects while I was also finishing up my school work. I worked on some dishcloths as a going away gift for my headmaster and his wife. I'm so sorry to see them go!

And I made a few masks for someone else.

Most of my crafting time was spent with my new loom--I love it so much! I have some super deep stash laceweight that I thought would weave up nicely, so first I tried one set of swatches with some leftovers in another colorway and some sock yarn to see how it wove up with that warp,

and then I did three different warps so I could get a lot of information from two swatches. I wanted to see how the shawl would weave up with either cotton or the wool laceweight as warp, and I wanted to see what kind of fabric the crochet cotton would make because I'd like to make some dishtowels next. Crochet cotton is significantly cheaper than weaving cotton, so I'm hoping I can make it work. I need to do a drying test with the swatch, but overall I'm pretty happy with the fabric.

I decided I liked the plaid look of the wool laceweight, so on Friday I warped up the loom (which takes a loooong time when you're using such fine yarn), and have been happily working on what will be either a scarf or wrap, depending on how this comes out. Lots of yardage--just in time for Stash Dash! The blue ribbon on the side is to help me measure the length of my pieces, as I'm hoping to make an identical second one. However, that kind of depends on how the yardage works out...

The other big project I accomplished last week was to bake a baumkuchen, a German tree cake which is broiled layer by layer. I had been intrigued by the concept since first seeing it on The Great British Baking Show, then on the German Nailed It. I decided that I wanted it to be my birthday cake, and since I was officially done with work Friday morning, it seemed like a great time to try this labor intensive cake. First, I made my own almond paste as I didn't realize you could get it at Wal-Mart.

Then, I used this recipe, but increased it by 20% to fit into the larger springform pan I had. A burned first layer and 21 successful layers later, I had this delightful cake to share with my family this weekend. Well worth the effort, but I don't think I'll make another anytime soon! This cake's flavor improves with age; more of the almond came through the second night.

So that's what I've been up to! I've got a summer top, sweater, some spinning, and a few weaving projects I'm hoping to finish to make my Stash Dash goal of 5k, and I've got plenty of reading, sorting, and planning to do for next school year. I'm looking forward to more relaxing days, and some more free time to create; if only the hot weather could hold off a little longer!

Quaranteaching and quarancrafting

This week is the last week of my school year, and I have some test reviews to do, two tests to give and grade, report card comments, a day on campus to deal with resource returns, and a final distance staff meeting. However, the test is on Tuesday, so my schedule is starting to look quite a bit lighter. Distance learning has been an interesting challenge; I missed my students a lot, I missed my coworkers, and I missed my routines, but I’ve been working on creating new markers and things to look forward to in my weeks. This summer I have quite a bit of professional development I want to work through, as well as tackling the filing of a bunch of resources that I have been putting off. The ACCS conference is going to be online, so I plan to ‘attend’ that and get some more ideas and inspiration for next year.

In addition to work, I’ve also been working on several fiber projects! I finished a pair of socks for my sister-on-law that were originally meant to be a Christmas present, but ended up being a Mother’s Day gift. I adapted the heel on the Jaywalker sock; I quite like how it turned out and would consider doing that again, but this time I’ll take notes!

I started my long anticipated Ink cardigan last spring and promptly lost steam on the collar, so I dug it out and I’m about halfway to the dividing for the arms and body point. I LOVE how this is knitting up, and plan to have it done for this fall/winter, as I need another layering piece for work. I love the cable, I love the yarn, and I’m super excited about having the finish garment. Plus, as a sweater in fingering weight it will be quite wearable.

The other garment I’m currently working on is a summer top, Vanora. I decided that rather than knit it in two pieces, I would seam the shoulders and join in the round after the underarms. Now that I’ve done that, the next exciting bit is going to be when I get to the hem…in several inches. So, until then, it’s half a row of lace and half a row of stockinette. I’m using the Lion Brand Coboo yarn that I made my tank out of last year; it’s a sport weigh cotton/bamboo blend which drapes nicely, and is cool enough for a Texas summer. I’m looking forward to having this done and being able to enjoy it! This is a picture of the back lace pattern.

Since I had only one pair of movie socks hibernating (not like I’ve had the chance to go see a movie in the last few months!), and since I’ve been watching my way through Star Trek’s the Next Generation, I decided the time had come to cast on my Trekkie yarn in an easy, vanilla sock pattern. I think I’m going to do an afterthought heel with forethought gusset; I’ve got a little more time before I need to make the final decision. I’m getting the itch to do a more patterned sock soon, but I figured with a cable and a lace project, a vanilla sock would round out my WIPs nicely.

Since I last posted I have finished the delightful yarn from my birthday fiber from last year, and I’m dreaming about what to knit with it. I plied this on my wheel; I have improved as a spinner dramatically, and I’m quite pleased with how this turned out.

Not only did I finish that project, but I tested out the Andean plying technique on a little oddment of fiber with pleasing results.

Now I’m working on spinning up an indigo dyed batt from my good friend Rebekah, and I’m still trying to decide it if I want to try chain plying it on the wheel, or make it a two ply. It’s coming out super fine so I’m inclined to chain ply it, but I have some time to keep deciding what I want to do with it. Stash Dash is coming up, and I’m hoping to reach 5k again!

Lastly, I decided to treat myself to a life-long dream, but ordering a Schacht Cricket rigid heddle loom. I got the 15” size as it seemed like the most versatile starting point, and it arrived on Friday. It was super easy to assemble, and I had it warped in no time. I learned quite a bit from that first project; I ran out of yarn so the one end is rather purple, but it was well worth it for the learning process.

I’m currently working on a set of four cowls out of early, very lump handspun, which is turning out to be all I hoped. I continue to learn; I got my warp centered properly this time, but still need to work on my warping calculations a bit. After this set of cowls is off the loom, I’m going to put in my finer heddle and work with some laceweight that has been sitting in my stash for over a decade. I also have ambitions for dishtowel weaving this summer, so stay tuned!

Parting shot: If my knitting is on the floor being photographed, that *obviously* means I want Neko to come sniff/lie on it, right?