My second waiting shawl is more like a brief pause shawl. It took less than a week to finish, and probably only three or four hours of active work. Crochet lace goes fast, especially with thicker yarn.
Finished shawl/scarf, hand spun roving from Supernova dye works, crocheted with a pattern from Desert Blossom Crafts
It is more the size of a scarf than a shawl, and to help it stay on, I put a button on one corner, and use the natural holes in the lace as button holes.
Shawl after blocking with sewn on button
I like how the color variation came out. When I spun it on my vintage wheel, I separated out the colors in the roving, sorted them, then spun. I used a chain ply to preserve the gradient. The gradient came out beautifully when it was crocheted!
Step three in my 3D print design process has yielded a beautiful result! I was fascinated with a spindle printed in flexible filament I found at the fiber festival and asked my printer if he had flexible filament. He had a better idea: PETG. This is a plastic used for water bottles and is very sturdy and impact resistant. Done in clear it also has a sheen almost like calcite. So pretty! It is easy to sand and shape as well. I sent a new design to be printed.
New 3D printed spindle in testing
I took some Shetland wool roving with me to pick up the spindle, then sat at my favorite coffee shop and spun while sipping a gingerbread latte. Yum.
Cop of yarn and printed spindle
The cop of yarn I spun slid off the spindle easily. I did use some 400 grit sand paper to take down some of the printing artifacts inside the channel and holes. The spindle is very light, so my printer suggested putting weights in the cavity I designed. Brilliant. I found some long square tube beads that fit down inside. The little bit of extra weight helped it spin better, and is adjustable! Nice. I prefer square weighs, so if they escape they don’t go rolling everywhere.
Spindle with beadsSpindle with beads inside the cavity for weight
I like this version, but I have some tweaks to the design for the next round. Eventually I will have to do a destructive test, and drop my pretty spindle on the ground. But I’ll wait a bit.
A shout out to my printer, X of all Trades, and the best coffee shop out there, The Full Cup, without whom I wouldn’t have found someone to make 3D prints!
I keep a jacket by the back door in case I need it to go see the chickens. It was a little chilly, so I grabbed it and headed out. About half way through checking chickens, I felt something in the pocket. An egg. Already in the pocket. Hm. There were two more in the nest boxes, so those went in the other pocket and I headed back in. I weighed and recorded all three eggs, then subjected the suspect egg (how long had it been in that pocket?!?) to the float test.
Float testing an egg in a measuring cup
The egg didn’t sink to the bottom, so it wasn’t a fresh egg, but it didn’t float to the top (indicating a very old egg). Since it is floating slightly off the bottom, I estimate it was in my pocket for a few days, maybe a week. Hm. I broke it open to check the validity of the float test, and the egg looked and smelled just fine.
Egg yolk and white
The dogs enjoyed their treat, so it was not a wasted egg.
In case you are wondering how the egg test works, it has to do with water loss through the shell of the egg, which is semi-permeable. A fresh egg hasn’t had time to have significant water loss so is denser than water, so sinks. A month old egg has experienced considerable evaporation, and is less dense than water, so it floats. And is more likely to have gone bad.
Usually when the temperature dips below 40 my basil hands in its resignation papers. Seeing the upcoming cold snap (for Texas), I attempted to cover my little garden with a clear shower curtain.
Stock tank raised garden covered in a clear shower curtain
It worked! The weather app (oh Dark Sky, how can you leave me?!?), reported 38 degrees in the wee hours of the morning (6am). I took the cover off in the afternoon and the basil was all still green! No dark browning anywhere!
Happy Basil and Meh Squash
I don’t think this will work when we get a more serious Texas winter (I know my northern friends just laughed), but at least I have some reprieve on harvesting. In case you’re wondering, no fruit have set on the winter squash vines. But at least I have basil.
Critters and Craft 