The summer left the grass in sad condition; the following rains perked up the native varieties we’ve been planting but showed us how much St Augustine grass was still in the mix as it died off the hardest. (That really doesn’t make me sad, I detest St Aug grass.) There is one particular healthy clump that Sophie the cat likes to “hide” behind. I didn’t get the photo of her stalking pose, but did capture the moment she thought the tuft should die.
Inevitably when I sew a lining, a section of the lining slips and shows past the edge. I use pins and go slowly, but lining material tends to be slippery, especially when sewing satiny fabric to velvet.
At this point there are several choices: hope no one notices (I know it is there!!), rip out the seam and try again (horror), or hand sew it. I have found a rather useful stitch to tuck in the offending blob of material.
To fold the lining in and keep it there, it works well to alternate small stitches near the original seam, then at the top of the original fold. Keep these stitches loose for four or five repeats, then gently pull the stitches tight. The fabric folds down and is secured!
This is part of an adjustment on a purchased velvet tail coat. It was faster and more economical to get a pre-made garment, then make alterations, than to make the jacket from purchased material and a pattern. Although I would have had the same issue either way; linings and velvet always gives me fits.
The crossvine we planted at the corner of the chicken runs has come into its own. It has happily spread vines across the welded wire and is in bloom. My eldest even spotted a hummingbird flitting from flower to flower! We chose this location because it gets the most sun of anywhere in the yard, and to provide shade for the chickens in the hot summer. The vine is performing admirably.
I’ve spun up my mohair from Rutabega the Angora goat, then plied it using a drop spindle.
I transferred the yarn to my PVC niddy noddy, wet it down and let it dry. I then had a hank of spun mohair.
Since working from a hank is a recipe for tangles unless you keep it stretched out on a swift, I then used my swift and ball winder to make a yarn cake. The inside of my cake went askew; I think I might have had too much tension as I wound.
I am now ready to make swatches for my fiber page!
“What?” you say, “you have never been to a fiber festival? How is that possible?” Well, you might not say it, but the woman in the elevator did. I must say that she said it after cheering that it was my first visit. Yes, I have been working with yarn for around 40 years, but I only took up spinning just before the pandemic, and during the pandemic all the festivals were shut down. I have been searching out fibers to spin locally and online. Walking into a convention center with a huge room full of fiber was mind blowing.
Probably 90% of the fibers at the festival were already spun and dyed, ready for the eager knitters that lined the aisles. But there were pockets of un-spun fiber in various preparations. I found bamboo, hemp, nettle, and yak (!) spinning fibers, all of which I have not yet attempted to spin. There were a few raw fleeces as well: mohair and Rambouillet. I caved on some white mohair (it was the first time the seller was offering raw fleece and it looked like she did a nice job skirting and labeling). Rambouillet is now on my wish list; I couldn’t quite face a whole fleece right now, but the processed yarn and blankets were divine.
I did find myself some wool combs, which appeared to be the last pair in the room. I also found an intriguing Turkish spindle 3D printed from flexible filament (more on those another day). The booths did cater mostly to the knitter, but there was representation for weavers, crocheters, felters, spinners, and there were even some nålbinding needles! After about an hour and a half, my brain shut down. It appears that I will have to work up my festival stamina!
Critters and Craft 