So... I guess isn't a lot going on lately. This is the first day of the boys summer vacation and they seem pretty grumpy today. I hope that doesn't mean we are going to have a grumpy summer!

I have had two center pull winders break on me in the last year. The cheap things from Michael's just don't last. I looked on line and found this and I love it. It is so smooth and quiet and if it breaks it can be fixed.  It cost ten dollars less than two of the ones which broke and takes less time too. It's got a lot bigger footprint but well worth the space it took up. This is the first part of the first ply of the roving I dyed last. I really like it as a single but I over-twisted for plying so I will keep going with that.

The green is not plied yet. I have been waiting for the weather to warm up so I can take the wheel out under the back porch and spend an afternoon doing it while I watch the wildlife (birds, squirrels, rabbits, butterflies, neighbors kids and our boys). The old ball winder made such a mess of the first ball and broke before I had finished the second, that it is not going to be too easy to ply. Oh well, it will keep me interested.

I finished quilting the center blocks of my Dear Jane and got a good start on the border this morning before I ran out of steam. I hope to finish it this week.

 I got this book at Joann's a couple of months ago, but have been to busy with the hat and scarf sets that I need to get done before fall. The patterns are beautiful and I just couldn't resist swatching one. Tricky though. I started doing one whole pattern but decided I had to break it down into units and working them until I thoroughly understand exactly what I am doing.

 This is not the best yarn for it but it will do for learning. It doesn't really have good stitch definition. It is an acrylic yarn made for machine knitting, but it will do to learn the technique and it won't waste my beautiful wool yarns while I learn. As you can see I have a long way to go, it is fun and I am enjoying it.

I did finish pinning the last of the Drunkard's path units, which is why I have some time to work on the non-scarf and hat knitting. I have only seven sets of those to finish before fall so I am in a good place with those although I am getting a little tired of them. I sent four sets of the finished sets to Matthew and his little family

I have to say I think that my two grandsons are adorable!

The rest of the day will be spent in cleaning, somehow things have gotten ahead of me again, well, I do know why, of course. Cleaning is so uninspiring, but I have to do it sometime although I would postpone it if the weather would warm up so I could sit and spin outside. But then, I would still have the mess, I would feel guilty for not cleaning and maybe I wouldn't enjoy my spinning as much. I had just better get it over with this afternoon, sigh.

Most days I can sew a little and spin a little, but not much else. I have been having some pretty bad back pain so 'I haven't accomplished a whole lot. I have been getting a lot of  'since you are 65' type of mail which is annoying, I won't be that age until August, although I will only admit to 29, and only if I am pressed. What is extremely annoying is when they put it on a postcard and announce it to the whole world. Just one of my pet peeves.

So anyway, David is working on my countertop in the laundry room so I will have a surface to dye on. He will probably pile it high with his crap, he never puts anything away. I am beginning to sound disgruntled, gotta work on that glass half full attitude. Back pain seems to cause bad moods.

 The pictures make it look darker than it actually is. The tiles are odds and ends we bought a long time ago and this is the last of them. It is going to be prettier than it seems right now and I will enjoy having it once I get David's stuff put away. We will have a coffee maker on it and and electric kettle. Maybe in time a small microwave. We will have to see about that.

This is another little job I am doing. Pinning all the rest of my Drunkard's Path pieces I have cut out. Once I am through with these it will be the last of the solid colored fabrics I have and everything else will be prints which I really prefer. Might as well get some odds and ends worked through while I am off my feet. A little boring but I can always turn the TV on while I am doing it.

The last few days the weather has been joyous, I start to feel better about most things when the sun is warm.

This is my beautiful hand-dyed roving being prepped to spin. I can't wait to start but I have to, I have a spin on Sweetheart that has to be finished first, although that is coming along fine too. When I can spin that is.

It looks far more orange than it actually is, the orange is all on the outside of the balls. I should get some lovely barber poling when it is plied. Can't wait!

And this is the first ply of the current spin balled up and ready to go when I finish the other ply that is on the bobbin right now, that bobbin is almost half done so it is coming along pretty fast. When it is done then I will bring Big Girl upstairs to ply. She has a huge bobbin and can take the whole skein without trouble. The color gradations done show really well in the ball, but the colors are lovely and will show better in the skein. I am trying for a fingering weight.

So that is what I have been up to the last couple of weeks. Right now I am going to go take a hot shower. The hot water on my back feels so good and gives me a little relief. I am just glad to be able to do the little I can.

I had a very busy morning and now I am just enjoying having my feet up. I got three quilt tops basted, yippie! I have done up to five in a day but it is just too exhausting. Now that I have a lot of my tops quilted I don't need to do as many at once. I still have a tub of tops that need quilting but that's a lot better than the three or four tubs of them that I have had in the past. The goal is to quilt more tops than I am making, maybe I will get there.

Anyway these are the three I did today.

 Dear Jane (surprise, surprise!)

 Al Beasley's Ties, I was going to hand quilt this one, but that's never going to happen. There is a lot of hand embroidery on this one, but I don't do that anymore either. This is a very old UFO and I have been trying to figure out how old and I would say 30 plus years, maybe more because I just can't remember when I started it.

This one has no name, it's a "bar" quilt. I made some bias pieced binding for another quilt and made way too much, I tend to get carried away and it was so much fun. The blue fabric was on a roll, about 50 yards but only about six inches wide. I still have some of it. This quilt does not lie flat, but I am going to just do the best that I can and call it good. I'll be able to do some creative quilting on this one!

So that sums up my morning and I am so glad to be able to relax with my knitting. Tomorrow I have to get the first of the hat and scarf sets wrapped up to be mailed as presents to one of my little families out in Washington. They won't be able to use them until next fall, but we also have Lego sets to send them. They will be mailed on Friday and I want them to be ready for David to take when he goes to do the payday business.

But for now, I intend to have a second cup of coffee. Rare for me but such a treat, and I feel I have earned it!