Done and Gone

And didn’t the painters do a nice job?

These are the bits that are immediately on view from my back door and I’m sorry I don’t have a “before” photo to compare. Yes, I know they still look old but my house is nearly 80 so that’s to be expected! You’ll have to take my word that this is a huge improvement. It took 3 days as the painters scraped and undercoated and gave it all 2 coats of paint by hand. No power tools except the pressure washer (who was also the only one who didn’t do a great job). Then they cleaned up their mess. They worked hard and it shows. I’m thrilled to know that good old-fashioned craftsmanship still exists in young people. Makes me not quite so worried for the future. Now to get my decks back to normal and move the flowers and furniture back to their accustomed places. But first I have to scrub the dirt off the top porch. My turn to work hard.

At least I finished one project:

Segue Socks

For:  T-Man

Begun:  July 30, 2011
Completed:  August 16, 2011

Yarn:  DGB Confetti Superwash, 75% wool/25% nylon, colourway 9026 (light gray), dyelot 6053, overdyed by me, 50g = 231 yds, 2 balls.

Needles:  Blackthorn 5” dpns, 2mm.

Comments:  My usual plain socks on 68 sts, 28 rows 2/2 rib, 8.5” before heel flap, 8.25” before toe dec, dec to 24 sts (6 per needle), dog-ear reduction.

I really like the way the dye technique started lighter at the top and moved to ever-darker colours at the toe. So pretty! It only took me a year to get around to using this yarn. And I still have another set of segue yarns waiting for me to knit them up. That one’s for me.

I’ve spun up two bobbins of the black Corriedale and will ply them today. That’s 2 skeins out of however-many-gazillion for a man’s sweater. And I have enough teased wool for one more bobbin. I see a lot more work in my future! I’ll have a better idea when I’ve counted how many yards are in one skein. I’m quite pleased with how easy it is to spin thicker after all the lace-weight I’ve spun the last few years. Not labouring over it and just letting it go is kind of fun. I’m not aiming for perfect because it doesn’t show in the knitting anyhow. What does show is keeping it light and easy. It’s not true woolen spinning though because apparently I don’t know how to do that very well. (Really. It’s a gap in my spinning education.) It’s also not worsted which I am good at. It’s somewhere in the semi-woolen gray area. I’ve never been clear on the distinctions. It’s yarn. It knits up nice. It’ll do.