Longest Day of the Year

Today is the first day of summer.  I'm going to celebrate by going to a baseball game and wearing the newest addition to my wardrobe, my Linen Top.

I made a few modifications to this pattern.  I cast on 66 stitches for each piece and I knit 75 rows in the center sections between the pattern rows.  After I seamed the pieces together, I slipped this on to see how it would fit.  I was horrified that it was too short.  I don't have the figure for a belly shirt.  I immediately starting thinking which daughter I was going to give this to.  But after I put it in the washer and dryer for a spin, the fabric loosed up and the garment lengthened to the perfect spot.  I pulled it out of the dryer while it was still a bit damp, held it by the shoulder seams and gave it a good shake.  It then went on to a hanger to dry completely.

I wore it to work one day this week.  I got many compliments on it.  I can't tell you how happy I am with this.  I want to get more linen and make it in other colors.

This was my first garment made of linen.  Years ago I made a shawl out of linen. At the time I only hand washed it, thinking that is what you do with hand knits.  I was very nervous about putting this top into the washer, but a friend kept reassuring me that everything would be alright.  Now that I see how wonderful the linen is, I think I'm going to toss the shawl into the washer for a spin.

Since the top is now finished, I am moving on to a couple other projects.  First there is another summer top in the works.

This is my Pink Selway.  The yarn is a linen/cotton blend. I'm hoping it assumes the same drapiness as the Linen Top.  My only complaint right now is that the yarn is very splitty.  It is a 3-ply yarn without much twist. I have to be very careful when I'm purling the yarn over stitches to make sure I don't also grab the knit stitch next to it.

The other project I started is Nymphalidea.  

I saw the version that Wendy's Knit made and fell in love.  After a dive through the stash, I came up with two balls of cotton that I thought would work fabulously.  The green is Aslan Trends Class.  The multi-colored yarn is a mystery yarn I remember buying last year at one of the fiber festivals.  The multi seems to be a cotton blend of some sort.  I don't know how much is there, but my plan is to knit until I run out of yarn. 

Once these projects are done, I have to get back to Trisha's college blanket.  She is anxious for me to get it finished.

A Favorite Time of Year

It is strawberry season in Ohio. This was breakfast this morning.  Strawberry muffins.  Yum!

I got the recipe from here.  As always, I read the comments to see if the recipe needs adapting.  I followed the recommendations to add vanilla, cinnamon and brown sugar and to reduce the flour.  This recipe is a keeper!

I'll be making other strawberry items because of this.

This is about 8 pounds of strawberries.  Ed and I picked 11 pounds.  I made one batch of freezer jam already and have plans for another batch today.  Also in the plans are a strawberry pie, a strawberry cake and freezing a bunch for smoothies.

My spinning wheel is back in the sun room.  She was moved out temporarily because to make room for Trisha's graduation party.  Lena and I have been spending a lot of time together lately.  I want to finish spinning this roving.  It is a BFL-silk blend I bought last year at the Great Lakes Fiber Festival. The plan is to Navajo ply this.  Once I see what yardage I have I'll decide what I am going to do with it.  I do know I will have to carefully store it because I have already found little beasties chewing on the roving.

The Linen Top is coming along.  I have about 30-35 rows to do before this piece is done.  Then I sew the two pieces together and block it.  My friend tells me to just toss this in the washer and dryer and it will soften up nicely.  I'm a little nervous about that.  I've never worked with linen before.  I should have enough linen leftover for a test swatch to play with first.  I'll toss that in the washer and dryer first.

After this is finished, I will get back to my Custom Basic Black.