If we were having coffee ...

This type of blog post is for when I have a lot of little things I want to share, or when I feel the need to catch up. 

So, grab your coffee/beverage of your choice. Tonight I'm drinking hot chocolate.  Because I can!

If we were having coffee ... I'd say "Hey, it's been a while." I didn't write at all this past week.  I had no inspiration.  I've had lots of little things I want to share, and I didn't feel each topic could fill a whole blog post.  My life hasn't been very exciting. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd tell you about my garden.  It's growing like gangbusters this year. 

Our tomato plants are the biggest we've ever had.  A couple of the plants are almost as tall as my husband.  I'm keeping an eye on them, so we don't lose any fruits.  

Can you spot the tomatoes?  So many this year!

We have been eating broccoli like popcorn.  So tasty! 

Speaking of fruits, we are going to have grapes this year! 

Our raspberry bramble is doing great, too. We've got a few canes that are at least seven feet tall. Not to mention all the fruit that will be ripening very soon. 

This photo shows at least one of those tall raspberry canes. I tried putting text in the photo.  It didn't show up. If you look to the left of the photo you can see them. 

I wish all the summers could be this good when it comes to the garden stuff. 

This is the new patch we have started up by the house. The chickens have been sneaking up here and eating the fruits. Killer (the roo) leads a group of hens up here. I think he's telling him "Ladies, follow me. I will take you to the land of milk and honey," and they like the sound of that, so they all make a direct beeline to the bushes. 

We've already been enjoying black raspberries fresh off the canes. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd tell you about the ladies and our baby roos. Not to mention, our sweet turkey boy. I do think I mentioned previously that we sold off a lot of the older girls.  I think our Killer appreciates this.  He seems more calm now that he doesn't has so many to keep an eye on. 

The baby roos, and they aren't *all* roos, are doing great.  They are having a wonderful life. There is definitely a lot of testosterone in the yard.  I often see birds facing off, then one will break off and run away to see what the others are doing. 

Our sweet Turkey Baby, he's not gobbling a lot yet. He thinks he's just a big chicken and he flocks with everyone else.  I have *got* to get a video of him running, because it's hysterical to see.  He's so gangly. 

Can you believe that in April he fit in my hand? 

If we were having coffee ... I'd tell you about the baby bunnies. Oh, those sweet little things.  Yes, all the animals are sweet and adorable right now!  Thor and Loki's babies are starting to venture out of the nest and eat and drink with their parents.  They are ready to move into the house and spend some time with us.

They are so curious right now.  They aren't very skitty of us people.  

Shadow had babies ... a few weeks ago, I think.  I've lost track.  She makes adorable babies.  Shadow and the babies live in a safe space in the chicken coop.  It's neat to see chickens and rabbits co-exist. Those little stinkers are starting to leave the nest and run around the coop. Shadow is a good mom.  

This is one of Shadow's babies. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd share that I *finally* completed the Halloween table runner I've been working on. 

I used my walking foot to sew on the binding.  This is my best binding work, to date.  I'm really pleased with it. 

This was also my first time using thread from Connecting Threads. I don't have experience with many threads. Connecting Threads thread seemed just as good as the thread I was getting up at JoAnns.

I have a few quilt kits that I can start working on now.  I probably won't start anything new until fall. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd talk to you about my knitting. 

I've made a little bit of progress on my vanilla sock. I've worked on it, here and there. 

Project: Vanilla socks
Pattern: My own
Started: July 10, 2019, or so.
Needle size: U.S. 1, 2.5 mm, circular needles
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici 
Colorway: Surf's up, Mostly blues with a stripe of purple

I have about five inches knit up.  Another couple inches, or so, and I will start the heel.  I'm going to try a heel method from the Cat Bhordi book I own. 

I spent most of my knitting time on the shawl. 

Project: Easy Half Circle Shawl
Pattern from Lionbrand.com
Started: July 6, 2019
Needle size: U.S. 8, 5.0 mm
Yarn: Lionbrand Shawl in a Ball
Colorway: Wind Chimes - 305, various blues

I've put my shawl in time out.  I didn't have a full skein/cake of this yarn.  I thought I'd work on it as far as I could, then cast off.  I got to row 20 on the last part and decided to cast off.  I played yarn chicken and lost.  I ripped the cast off back.  I was going to rip back another row, then realized if I rip back another row I won't have any garter stitch and the shawl will roll up.  

Look at how close I was to the end. 

So I sighed heavily and decided I need to get another skein/cake of the yarn. When I get the yarn I will add more length to the shawl than what the pattern calls for.  

I do have a finished object.  I made this little one a while back. BUT, I waited to do the hand embroidery on the face. All done!  Just needs a new home. I made this out of dishcloth cotton, which is recommended by the pattern I followed.  A year ago, or so, I made a pair of octopi for a friend out of acrylic, thinking of the wash factor.  The dishcloth crochets up better. I like the fabric a lot. I don't know how well the color will hold up if it needs lots of washings. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd blather that I've been immersing myself into all sorts of things about yarn and fiber dyeing, and fiber preparation for spinning. Spinning for Tour de Fleece has rewakened something in me and I could easily, and happily, spend hours spinning, if I could. I'm still going to do a separate post about the spinning I did for Tour de Fleece.  The spinning has slowed significantly because I spun all of the one fiber I had. What fiber I have left is white fluff and that gets boring after a while.  My spinning is also becoming more refined. The single I have going on the wheel is the thickness of a heavier thread. 

This is the fluff I'm spinning up. 

I ordered a turkish spindle last week and it arrived on Saturday.  It is a dream to spin with. It is a cherry Reekalf spindle from Snyder Spindles.  I asked for recommendations and this company came up a few times.  I went on faith, people. 

I'm still getting the hang of spindling again.  Winding onto this style spindle is new to me.  I haven't figured out how to butterfly the yarn onto my hand before putting it on the cob. Or however it's referred. 

I've been following hashtags on Instagram and I'm seeing so much colorful fibers. I want to spin colorful fibers too!  

I dipped my toes into fiber dyeing.  I winged it.  I haven't dyed anything in years. It's all going to be a learning process. Thankfully, I have some wonderful indie dyer friends who are all encouraging me from the sidelines and giving me tips and offering suggestions. 

This is just a couple yards of some superwash wool carded top my husband ordered for me years ago.  The preparation is excellent.  It fluffed right back up after drying. 

It's so fluffy and squishy.  

I also dyed this up.  I was playing with the red, and trying my hand at making orange. It looked so bright and vibrant as I was dyeing it up.  I do hope it stays when the fiber is fully dried out. 

Can you guess what I was going for? 

I've been practicing with just a few yards of fiber at a time. Until I get more comfortable with the process.  Then I'll start working with braids worth of fiber. 

In the meantime, I'll keep going along with these smaller pieces. Then, maybe use it all to make one thing.

If we were having coffee ... I'd share that I finished the audio book I was listening to.  

It's such a sweet story.  If I had known it would tug at the heartstrings so much, I don't know that I would have picked it. The story revolves around "Winnipeg" the bear that Winnie-the-Pooh is based on. I would whole-heartedly recommend the story to anyone who wants to read with their young children.  I'm sort of a wimp when it comes to some stories and they just make me feel all the feels, and get a little weepy. I probably won't read or listen to any more stories until school starts again. 

I recently learned that a bookish podcast I listen to off and on went through Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Now, I read through that book on my own.  Took my time, had what was basically cliff notes to help me through, and I did not like this book. 

 I'm debating on going through the book again this fall.  Do I really want to put myself through this?  I don't know.  I feel if I go through the book again, while listening to a few people who make books their business, I will either change my mind about Jane Austen, or say "It's official, I hate the writing." Decisions, decisions.