Author: Caryn

UFO Discovered

On By CarynIn Craft

I was digging through my yarn stash and found yet another inherited unfinished object (UFO). This one I found in my husband’s paternal grandmother’s basement, along with the yarn.

Unfinished doll sweater

Not sure why the project was abandoned with only one sleeve left. A bit of trial and error led me to US size 6 knitting needles, and I could feel the seam in the other sleeve, so knew it was knitted flat then sewn up. I counted the visible stitches and added two for the seam. I knitted the sleeve from the top down, ending with a few rows of ribbing.

Very fuzzy inside

There was more mystery about the little cardigan; the inside was very, very fuzzy. Was it brushed? What was going on? Some insight occurred when I knit the sleeve. The yarn had a long halo (fibers that stick out from the spun yarn), and when knitting the garter stitch, those long fibers hung out on the purl side of the garment because of the mechanics of forming the stitches. So the inside was significantly more fuzzy than the outside. Some time rumbling about the bottom of several yarn stashes probably helped the condition as well. After finishing the missing sleeve and blocking the cardigan, I decided the fuzzy must be embraced. I turned the sweater inside out and gave it a brush to raise and align the fibers. It is so fuzzy, the inside out seams don’t even show.

Finished sweater, inside out, blocked, and brushed

The cardigan has a very mossy look. There was just enough yarn to complete the sleeve and sew up the seams; I trimmed about 3” of waste once the ends were woven in.

Made to Move doll modeling the cardigan

Bold

On By CarynIn Wildlife

Apparently the squirrel feeder is out of food, and she has come to complain to the manager.

Squirrel looking in, dogs looking out

We took the picture, kept the dogs inside, and put more food in her feeder. Bold squirrel.

Melon balls

On By CarynIn chickens

I have a melon baller, but I don’t usually use it because it leaves quite a bit of waste. The balls of melon are pretty in the fruit salad, but all the left over bits bothered me.

Cantaloupe scooped out with a melon baller

I was thinking of it wrong. It isn’t waste, it is more left for the chickens! With that in mind, I scooped out the cantaloupe and watermelon happily knowing the hens would clean out the rinds later.

Spin walk

On By CarynIn Craft
Alpaca fiber spun on a walk

I’m still nursing my achilles tendon back to health. PT helped with the surrounding muscle strength, and I was approved to start taking walks again! My first walk I paid close attention to the road, so did not take my spinning. The second walk I grabbed my spindle and fiber! I still have quite a bit of build up to get through to take the long walks I used to, by at least I’m back on the road.

Happy vs Sad

On By CarynIn Garden
Two hardy hibiscus

We have a large disparity in our hardy hibiscus plants in the front garden. The one on the left in the picture above was planted first, at the beginning of last season and is so happy to be here. The one on the right was planted at the end of the last season, and it struggling. They are different varieties of hardy hibiscus, but the difference in their appearance of health is vast. The one on the right I purchased because of the variegated leaves and dark red blooms. When I purchased it, it looked a little sad, but it was the end of the season, so I thought that explained it. Hm. Nope. I do want to plant another hibiscus in this area, something with a dark or true red bloom. I will have to be wary of sadness. I will not pull the sad plant, but give it another season to see if it can establish a healthy root system, and get grounded.