Heating Up Again

So where did I leave you last? Oh yeah. My thumb is feeling totally fine again. No idea what the problem was but I’m so glad it didn’t linger. I’ve had tendinitis issues in the past that were extremely long-term and debilitating. I’m always doing my best to avoid that happening Ever Again! It’s kind of hard to do though if I don’t have a clue what caused it in the first place.

So finally I’m partway through weaving the last Waffle Towel. I found the secret is to keep spritzing the warp with water to counteract the dry conditions in my studio right now. Oh, I will be so glad to cut this particular demon off my loom! I have given myself permission that if this last towel gives me any more serious trouble I’m going to hack the darn thing off and call it done. Life is too short to put up with struggling to finish weaving a few bucks worth of yarn, even if part of it was very fine and time-consuming handspun. Moving right along. I already have an inspiration for the next warp. Which was one of the original purposes of this first project – to jumpstart the weaving mojo that has been missing for the last number of years. Of course I haven’t been doing any sewing while I’ve been weaving. Hmmm…

The weather has been heating up again. I was so enjoying some cool days and even a spot of rain to ease the constant garden watering. Speaking of the garden, the peas are done but the beans are coming on strong even though the scarlet runners have barely even started yet. I’m quite liking the French-style filet beans (pole) that I’ve been growing for the last couple of years. They seem to be quite productive with their long skinny pods. Must get a photo to show you. I’ve pulled out the garlic which is currently curing on the deck. Also the Juliet and Black Cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen. They are so big this year! The plants have already reached the roof of the greenhouse and fallen over because I didn’t tie them up well enough. It was a chain reaction with the weight of the bunches of tomatoes bringing several more stems down with them. I’ve since tucked them back to clear the pathway into the greenhouse and hope they will keep producing anyway. Oh well. We get what we get.

I tried to fill in some of the bare patches in the garden with some more greens: lettuce, arugula, mizuna and red komatsuna. Sadly the lettuce totally got eaten off by slugs. The mizuna only has a few survivors but the komatsuna has more and the arugula did very well. We’ll see if I can get them big enough to eat before we go away in September. Otherwise there’s not much point in planting new seeds because they wouldn’t do much before we leave. Nobody will take care of them while we’re gone anyhow.

Speaking of going away, we decided not to go to Kettle River this coming weekend to meet up with bro and sis-in-law. Too far, too hot, too risky. Provincial campground rules say no second RV in a single campsite and even though we seem to be able to get away with it at Manning Park, Kettle River is fussier and their campsites are smaller. Our van is no bigger than an SUV which would be allowed but some parks managers are sticklers for THE RULES. I’d hate to drive all the way there (6 hours) and find out there’s no place to stay on a crazy-busy BC holiday weekend. Not my idea of a good time.

In other crafty news there’s not much to report since not much got done. I’ve been happily spending some of my earnings from the Kumihimo Classes though! I bought a few books, a video class, some yarn:

This was my first order from Elann and they were very prompt. The box was really well packed – even the receipt had its own plastic bag! I’m quite pleased with them. The company is actually within driving distance of me in Delta, BC so I could conceivably get Thom to take me out there to pick up an order and save a bit of postage but it wasn’t really expensive to get it delivered. At least there were no Canada Customs involved which always slows things down! So what did I get this time? The new A-Series F05 sock yarn: a dozen balls. The A-Series yarns are knitter-influenced and made especially for Elann. The whole fibre content and their sources are right on the label. This one has South American and European wool and nylon and is spun in Italy. The price is very reasonable (less than $4 per 50g ball) and there are quite a few single colours including white and natural that I especially like for overdyeing. This lot is going to be either a sweater or 6 –8 pairs of socks. Don’t know how it will wear as socks but I guess I’ll find out, huh? It doesn’t seem as durable as say DGB Confetti or Regia to my fingers though.

I also ordered a couple of extra items in my Elann box: two more connectors and a pair of Heartstoppers (end caps) for my Addi Lace Clicks (short tip) set. I never understood why the set doesn’t include these items in it in the first place! These will give me more options to keep stitches from falling off if I need to detach the needle tips. Also to create stitch holders for armholes etc. So convenient. I love my Addi Click system so much that I’ve completely ignored my original Denise interchangeables since I got them. No contest. Although if I needed larger sizes the Denise has some really big tips! For smaller circs though I need the regular Addi Lace fixed circular needles. Clicks don’t size down past 3.5mm due to the connectors. Next time I order I’m thinking of adding to my cords as well. Can’t have too many of these great tools, can we?

So guess I’d better get a wiggle on and get my next instalment of the Summer Woolie Wash out. Yesterday I did this many shawls and scarves:

I ran out of blocking wires, foam mat space and room on my deck for any more! Most of these are sock yarn except for the Black Rock Shawl (Jared Flood’s Rock Island) in Zephyr wool/silk and Galloping Gail (Gail or Nightsongs by Jane Araújo) in handspun bison down. There’s a bunch more waiting their turn in the warm soapy water today. It’ll be so nice to snuggle into clean woolies come the cooler weather!

More soonest. I have several crafty books and videos to review.