Spring finally feels like it is arriving which is really nice. I have progress updates on a few ongoing projects and a few new beginnings to projects that have just started.

Socks

First update is the socks! I finally finished the second lacy pair! They were a lot of fun and I really enjoyed making them. They did turn out a little too small for my feet (which was my fault oops). So I will be sending them to my mom who will love them. I learned so much through making these socks. The shape difference between the two different ways to construct socks via knitting was really surprising! I also have a bit of yarn left from this as well. So I may make some tiny people socks as well.

Flax Project

This update is both exciting and boring. Exciting because the rust color came in and it is gorgeous! Boring because it is really just progress photos of the slowly growing fiber on the bobbin. I am finding that I do like spinning flax and want to try it with a different preparation (i.e. not in a commercial top preparation). But it is coming along and I can’t wait to get it spun and finished and see the final product!

Needle Felting

This one is semi-new because I briefly mentioned it at the end of my previous post. I finished needle felting and filling a little tube with catnip to make a toy for Bandit. He loves it! And will go hunting for it occasionally. I am pleased that I got to use some of my carding waste for something useful and that someone will enjoy. I am using wool yarn scraps to needle felt a dryer ball which is still on going.

Distaff Day Fiber

I got gifted this gorgeous fiber from a member of the Jillian Eve discord group for distaff day. I was saving it to spin on the wheel because it was so bouncy and fun and I really wanted to do it justice and I wasn’t sure I could do that on the drop spindle. I had so much fun spinning it and it is so bouncy. I filled the bobbin so full when plying it that I ran out of space/ room to tension it. I am thinking of trying to knit a color work something with this and possibly Pip’s yarn (Romney). But haven’t decided what or even determined if they will go well together in the same project.

Gwen Jacket

This one is definitely a new project and kind of impulsive. When I finished knitting the socks I realized that I didn’t have a new portable thing to with my hands because the socks were done and the linen top is waiting on the flax to be spun to continue. So I cast on a jacket for Gwen with yarn I got for Christmas. I wanted to start with a small jacket pattern as a practice for future projects for myself. And it is coming along so much faster than I thought. I may need to get another ball of yarn to finish but it is so pretty!

Garden

The coming of spring brought about a new house project that had been on my mind all winter. Starting a garden. We don’t really have a backyard per se. The 2.5 acre lot that the house sits on is mostly wooded. But it wasn’t always wooded. It was previously a working farm that sat on 5 acres. The loss of acreage is an interesting one. Some was sold/given to the neighbors at one point. A small portion was purchased by the city to widen our street. And some is a mystery. But I grew up with my grandparents gardening and loved helping out and am excited to now have my own. So we marked out a portion of the woods that should get a good amount of sun to attempt a garden. And started clearing the underbrush and some of the tree roots from the area. Because of the location I want to try out a Three Sisters garden. A Three Sisters Garden is a garden of corn, beans, and squash. Each plant has its own role to play in this style garden. The corn grows tall and will support the bean vines. They both will provide a bit of shade and space for the squash to grow and spread. Because Gwen likes watermelon we will probably swap out some of the squash plants for watermelon ones.

Finds

I did find a few fun things this week. One from the craft room/new office while moving things. And one from the dollar store when we went to get the girls Easter basket stuff. I found a pantograph in the craft room/new office. A pantograph “is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line drawing is traced by the first point, an identical, enlarged, or miniaturized copy will be drawn by a pen fixed to the other.” I believe Emily was using this to enlarge pattern pieces from magazines just by tracing them. Which is really cool and efficient and I am excited to have found it. The other are these cool baskets that I thought I could use while scouring wool to keep it contained but also allow water flow/penetration.

I think that is all for this week. Thank you for joining our adventure!

Lots of Love,

The McMullins