Summertime and Tours

Hi. It’s me again. I’m going to try writing more often, in an effort to improve what’s left of my mental health. So happy July.

Everything here at Chez Goth is going. I’m trying to decide whether or not it’s worth holding onto the job that I have for the next 5 years or so. DadGoth is too. BabyGoth has 1.5 semesters of college to go, and is trying to decide if she wants her M. A.

Other than that, there’s fiber things. Spinning, knitting and crochet are what is keeping me alive at the moment. I’ve been spinning every day since the Tour de France started. Not entering in the Tour de Fleece formally, but just getting into the habit of regular spinning again. Behold:

A bobbin of grey Jacob lambswool, spun long draw from carded rolags. July 2023.

I’m still working on a bag for myself; the Décima by Isa Catepillan from PomPom Quarterly 41. I’m also working on a CAL with http://altknots.com – when BabyGoth and I went to the yarn store, we got some more yarn, and I am working on the July square.

There’s been a lot happening this summer that I should talk about, but not today.

Bad Dalek Mitts

Last night I finished the Bad Robot mitts. Here they are, drying:

Like I said before, it’s all my handspun. I’ve been trying to figure out why one seems bigger than the other. I measured them against each other, and they appear to be the same size – except when I lay them next to each other. Maybe when they’re finished drying it’ll even out. Maybe.

I also thought I’d try changing the order of finishing ops to see if it makes a difference. Blocking first this time, then weaving in the ends. It’s a little more nerve-wracking than I thought, but that may work itself out too.

Today is Memorial Day in the US, and my dad’s birthday. Before the Monday Holiday Law here in the US, Memorial Day was always my dad’s birthday, a fact that I vaguely remember. He lives a pretty good distance from us, so a phone call and a card will have to do until we see him again sometime this summer. Baby Goth and her twin cousins all go to high school this fall (how the hell did that happen?), so we’d like to see everybody again. If all goes well with a new thing I’ve got going – and there are enough ifs that I don’t want to talk about it yet – I won’t be able to go anywhere until after December. So I’d like to go see them soon.

Happy Memorial Day – that always seems odd to say, there’s nothing really happy about it. Remember those who gave their lives for our country.

High Schooler

Yesterday was Baby Goth’s last day as a middle school-er. Apparently it was a weird day; there was a half day consisting of a)signing yearbooks and b)queuing up for the snow-cone truck. As usual on a last day of the week/year, I waited in the car outside. Obligatory Knitting Info: I worked on the second of the Bad Robot mitts I started last weekend. That and some podcasts kept me normal.

It was weird watching the kids wandering around, going from the truck outside back into the school. Many of them were doing that for the last time. Some of the kids I’ve known since Baby Goth was in kindergarten. They’re “big kids” now, almost unrecognizable when you see them from a distance. Up close, they are the same as they were (for the most part). Not quite adults, far less adults than they think they are. But not children either.

As my mom’s always said, teenagers are weird.

Finally Baby Goth got to the car, along with her friends/our neighbors. The chatter was non-stop: summer, with songs from High School Musical and Frozen accompanying them; signing yearbooks/what people wrote; what are we doing this afternoon. It was good.

I’ve been thinking for the past couple of days – well, I think about it almost every day, but a lot more now – about how fleeting time can be. In 4 years Baby Goth will be an “adult”, far later than she’d like to, and she’ll be able to live on her own. I can’t stop seeing the kindergartner who couldn’t bear to see me leave when I dropped her off from school. She may always be in there, underneath everything else. I guess it’s good that I’ve got 4 years to figure out how I can let her go.

It’s FO Day

Or something. Yes indeed, I’ve got a finished thing to show off. The Dalek Shawl, she is done! Finally! And blocked.

I’m okay with it. The shawl is all handspun and the border is hand dyed. Next time, I’m not making a shawl unless I have at least 4 oz of fiber on hand and dyed. Nope. Preferably 8; I have a hard time with underestimating the amount of yarn I have/will need for any given project. It’s a talent of mine.

In hindsight, I’m glad that I ripped and redid so many times. The yarn held up remarkably well, stood up to blocking even after ripping out 5 or 6 times. The BFL is considerably “crunchier” than the alpaca, but even washing before blocking softened it up a bit. I’m happy enough with it to wear it to A’s band concert tonight. But we’ll see.

There’s another skein of Churro done too; 74 yards/2.5 oz of very dark gray.

Once it was washed and set, it shrunk down to 66 yds. But still not bad. I’ve got more fleece to go through, so I might have enough.

Other than that, not a lot else going on. I got Geek Knits from the library this week. I think I might try one of the mitt patterns first. Baby Goth is in marching band this year, and gloves will not work with a saxophone. It’s a sad, sad thing, especially when marching in cold and snow, but the gloves she’ll need will have to be fingerless. Since we’re both Whovians, possibly the Dalek ones.

And Now, a Bit of Knitting

This has been a long week so far, and it’s only Tuesday. I guess I could start this off by saying there aren’t a lot of good things happening for us right now. We still have a place to live, a car to get us places, and food and clothing. That’s the good part, and the only part I can bear to write about.

Let’s get on with the fiber stuff. I’ve been working on a version of a Dalek shawl for the past couple of weeks. The inside lace part is finally finished, no thanks to my little yarn eater. This past weekend I looked for some yarn for the outside border lace.

There was some laceweight Blue-faced Leicester that hadn’t yet been dyed. It looks like there will be enough. I grabbed a packet of dye that said “Gold”, weighed the yarn, measured the dye, and got to work. While the yarn was simmering it looked yellow. Really, really yellow. Like a giant pile of lemons yellow. Not exactly the gold I was going for.

By this time I was sad that I didn’t have any “copper” dye around, but I figured I’d stick with it. I took the dye pot outside and let it cool off, then drained and rinsed the yarn. Not a lot bled off, which was a nice surprise. Then I hung it up to dry.

Superwash wool of any breed takes dye a little differently than even the same breed of sheep without the treatment. The wool tends to suck up the dye and the color is a bit darker than it would ordinarily look. The small skein is a sample of Shetland singles that I had lying around and wanted to experiment with. The color isn’t exactly what I wanted, but I’m going to go for it anyway.

Yesterday I wound up the two BFL skeins and picked up stitches for the border.

I guess it’ll be okay.