Got a full updated draft of the paper to my boss on Friday, yay! If I can get some stuff done this week and next, I might get this thing out by the end of next week. Assuming the rest of the week isn’t like today. Today is very Monday.

Cleaned my bedroom. Moved Ash in there, and currently the click reel. Bought a new belt for my vacuum, hoping it comes in this week so I can vacuum again. Apartment is still a disaster, but it’s slowly slowly coming under control. I think I might have figured out to solve the problem of my living room not being the TARDIS. Now to figure out how to afford the things I *have* while still squeezing out enough for the new shelf unit and cloth boxes to go on it.

And got a little spinning done. Not as much as I’d like (when do I ever?)

This is one of the finer yarns I’ve spun. Made from lovely hand-carded batts from the fabulous Bowerbird.

Across the Sea – Mostly Merino – 2-ply – 230ys – 16wpi (light fingering)

This is what’s on the wheel right now. Some true laceweight polwarth/silk. Mmm.

I also got quite a bit of dyeing done in between cleaning. Some will go up in the shop, some is for other things.

We’ll start with the things to go up in the shop…

Yay wensleydale!

Summer flowers always make me happy, and I just love the way this particular wildflower turned out. Warm and creamy.

Buttercup – 4oz – Combed Wensleydale Top

Another summer flower, bright and bold, in dry gardens…

Rose Campion – 4oz – Combed Wensleydale Top

This ended up a little more brown than the original intent, but I like it. Just have to go back and do the original attempt again. Brown with rich red under tones.

Red Oak – 4oz x 2 – Combed Wensleydale Top

And some luxury fiber… mmmmmmmm silk!

Summer Berries – 1oz x 2 – Combed Tussah Silk Top

And REALLY luxury fiber…

Gold Mine – 1oz – 50/50 Cashmere/Tussah Silk – Combed Top

These were done as part of two trades I’m behind on.

Muted Burning Bright in BFL. A massive dyelot for me. Really beyond what I’m equipped to do. Fiber ended up more compacted than I like do to that.

Middle Sea in Corriedale

And some stuff done and gone already.

Cashmere/Tussah Silk

Tussah Silk

Whee, fiber!

This is slowed down, really. It’s actually allowing me to do some colorways I otherwise have difficulty fitting in. Most of these take much longer times to get the needed saturation. I have a hemlock in silk and an oxblood in cashmere/silk (though it fell into three pieces) drying right now.

Back to trying to salvage today’s experiments which are so not cooperating.

~The Gnome

How I’ve missed you.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Life got… complicated. *insert whining here. car tires blah, 15 hour days blah, bobbin broke blah, blah blah).

But here I am, still alive more or less. And thus, this will be rather colossally large.

So, lets see…

Squares. We have… depending on how you count, 128 or 134 squares. From all over.

USA Kentucky C-Ville
Canada Manitoba Woodlands
USA Utah Logan
USA Texas Katy
USA Arizona Glendale
New Zealand Unknown Wanaka
USA New York New York City
USA Wisconsin Madison
USA Oregon Gearhart
UK Unknown Unknown
USA Florida Crestview
Norway Unknown Bergen
USA New York White Plains
USA New York Endicott
USA Minnesota Columbia Heights
USA Washington Lacey
USA Maryland Columbia
USA California Redlands
USA New York Binghamton
USA Illinois Chicago
USA North Carolina Hendersonville
USA Pennsylvania Conshohocken
USA Washington Tacoma
USA Oklahoma Broken Arrow
USA Alabama Huntsville
USA Maryland Huntingtown
USA Georgia Acworth
USA Idaho Moscow
USA California La Habra
Canada Ontario Oshawa
USA Oregon Portland
USA Massachusetts Somerville
USA Massachusetts Worcester
USA Wisconsin Madison
USA New York Babylon
USA California San Francisco
USA Washington Renton
Canada Ontario Stouffville
USA Nevada Boulder City
UK Unknown Bedford
USA Ohio Northfield
USA California Oak Park
USA Minnesota Chanhassen
Denmark Unknown Magdelonevej
USA Ohio Cleveland
Denmark Unknown Skeiby Vaenge
USA New Hampshire Belmont
Canada Ontario Oshawa

The afghan layout has gone through a couple changes. Wasn’t sure the corner squares were going to come in, so I did a layout without them…

Then, yesterday, they arrived, so did a layout WITH them…

I’ll likely keep this one. I’m debating a bit on seaming. I can seam in one color (my off white) or I can seam in two colors (cream and a green) to emphasize the color spiral (yeah, didn’t notice that, did you?). Haven’t decided for sure yet. Yes, it needs one more square.

Extra squares that come in will be used either for a pillow or a small lap blanket.

Also with one batch of squares came these

Mmm cookies. They came at a good time, as my mind was melting out my ears from an approaching project deadline (for which I was running 13-15 hour days).

Oh right, another yarn commission. A small one this time, but one that’s been beset by disaster. Pink Spinel, a 2-ply worsted yarn in SW Merino/Cashmere/Nylon. Spinning the single was fine, though the fiber and my fingers really wanted to make frog hair.

No, it’s not dyed yet. It’s going to be a semi-solid so I didn’t see a reason not to dye it as yarn. Since it’s a small amount and I’m going to be dyeing it all one color I thought I’d be brilliant and make sure I could use it all. So I wound it off into a center pull ball.

Unfortunately for me, I wound it too tight, so it doesn’t come out without often dragging other bits of the thing with it. Annoying but not catastrophic. Just slowing me down a bit.

What was catastrophic was my bobbin breaking in the middle of plying. The end popped off, which pressed against the flyer, keeping the whole thing from winding right. Urgh.

After some delay for the aforementioned deadline (Thesis Committee meeting, by the way, it went well even if it did almost kill me to get there), I got some gorilla glue and managed to put the end of the bobbin back on and put it back on my wheel. Assuming (la la la la happy thoughts) that I didn’t glue the yarn to the bobbin, I should be good. Got a little more plied last night. The annoying ball failure is delaying me a lot.

Finally, I made these:

Stitch markers (as you can see). I’m rather pleased with how they came out. Aventurine, garnet, and labradourite. One thing I’m especially pleased with is the lack of edges. They’re made with a solid cast nickle o-ring, rather than a welded o-ring or jump ring. No catchy place. And the end of the wire wrap is also tucked in and protected. I have the supplies, I think I’ll likely make some more in various stones.

I’m going to try to get some dyeing done in the next few days. I have some blending noil, shetland, and bfl to dye. And at some point, some polwarth.

For now, signing off.

~The Gnome

Progress.

Square Count: 71
Squares Needed: 18-20 (Plus the corners, which should be arriving shortly)
Locations:
USA Kentucky C-Ville
Canada Manitoba Woodlands
USA Utah Logan
USA Texas Katy
USA Arizona Glendale
New Zealand Unknown Wanaka
USA New York New York City
USA Wisconsin Madison
USA Oregon Gearhart
UK Unknown Unknown
USA Florida Crestview
Norway Unknown Bergen
USA New York White Plains
USA New York Endicott
USA Minnesota Columbia Heights
USA Washington Lacey
USA Maryland Columbia
USA California Redlands
USA New York Binghamton
USA Illinois Chicago
USA North Carolina Hendersonville
USA Pennsylvania Conshohocken
USA Washington Tacoma
USA Oklahoma Broken Arrow
USA Alabama Huntsville
USA Maryland Huntingtown
USA Georgia Acworth
USA Idaho Moscow
USA California La Habra
Canada Ontario Oshawa
USA Oregon Portland
USA Massachusetts Somerville
USA Massachusetts Worcester
USA Wisconsin Madison
USA New York Babylon
USA California San Francisco
USA Washington Renton
Canada Ontario Stouffville
USA Nevada Boulder City

The current layout. Subject to some minimal changes as the final squares arrive. The corners will be double large white/offwhite squares, and the binding will be off white.

~The Gnome

My good friend the Tsock Tsarina is fond of saying, “It’s the people, stupid” in reference to big events where things are acquired. Because, it is.

And that stretches beyond events, as I’m sure she’d tell you.

It wasn’t the gifts of the holidays that made them good for me, it was the family. It wasn’t the rest, or food, or drinking at New Years that helped, it was the friendship and easy companionship.

And now that I’m back, I come home every day and go to my front door to check for little packages. They’re coming in from all over the world, sometimes with extra notes, sometimes not. And they warm my heart and make it all easier, knowing that this many people all over the world really do care.

If you’ve sent a square, check the photos and location list to see if you’re included. If not, then I’ll add them as they come in and post an ongoing total.

The current square count is 40 Squares
Locations squares have been received from:
Kentucky C-Ville
Canada Manitoba Woodlands
Utah Logan
Texas Katy
Arizona Glendale
New Zealand Wanaka
New York New York City
Wisconsin Madison
Oregon Gearhart
UK Unknown
Florida Crestview
Norway Bergen
New York White Plains
New York Endicott
Minnesota Columbia Heights
Washington Lacey
Maryland Columbia
California Redlands
New York Binghamton
Illinois Chicago
North Carolina Hendersonville

And the squares themselves:

Squares are still coming in, so please feel free to send in the next week.

~The Gnome