My plans for Sock Summit are tentative at best. I will have to see if I can get refunds on my travel arrangements.

A family member just lost her battle with breast cancer.

My sister-in-law chose to be practical about making plans, and so I know she prepared herself and my brother for this. It doesn't make the loss easier, though.

107 degrees.

This weather is good for drying laundry on the clothesline. That is about all I can come up with.

Monkey monkey monkey project bag for socks.

Tapestry crochet bag using a cotton/linen blend DK weight yarn. It is a small project bag big enough for socks. The design is my own - I made it up as I went along.

Sock Summit. The signs are out on the streets of Portland. (Picture by "We Do Not Have a Knitting Problem")

The period of time when it was possible to cancel has passed, so there is no turning back. It is full steam ahead now. 'Self-employed' equals no paid vacation, so I have to work extra hard these next couple of weeks.

I ordered some "Bare" fingering and DK highland wool yarn from KnitPicks for my class projects. It has 2 weeks to get here - but will it arrive in time?? Total investment in class materials was $20, and I made sure I had extra. I can live with that.

It is hard to believe July is almost over.

I fell off my wheel in the Alps. This means I am off the Tour de Fleece. I will still be following along, though. The Tour de France is very exciting. Go Lance!!

Poor eyesight is good for dieting. At least that was the case this evening.

I stopped at the store today to get the ingredients for homemade cookies. I don't often bake anymore, but this was to be a treat. I quickly mixed up the ingredients this evening so I could get back to my transcription work. I scooped up some dough on my finger to make sure it tasted right. Mmmm good. It is a Mrs. Field's recipe that I modified to suit my tastes. Then I noticed a tiny ant on my other hand. I immediately wondered where it came from, since there weren't any ants on the counter. I went down a mental list of possibilities and my mind stopped on the brown sugar. Usually I double-bag it, but since ants have not been in that cupboard I neglected to do that this time. Yup. Ants in the brown sugar. Ants mixed in the cookie dough. Ants in the yummy dough I licked off my finger. Everything went in the trash. The cookie monster part of me tried to tell me that in some cultures ants are considered food. Not in this house. ick. No homemade cookies.

Tour de Fleece
Stage 13, Vittel to Comar
I only spin a few minutes at a time these days, so progress is slow. This is mixed wool. I like the neps and the streaks of navy blue and deep red in the purple. It gives the color depth.


I find that I am building a nest next to my desk.
One basket holds a finished red and white dishcloth that I started at Christmas time and a ball-band dishcloth that I recently started with a combination of denim blues and shades of peach. Another basket holds the fiber that I am currently spinning. And the 3rd basket holds a black cotton cardigan that I am designing for myself. Just out of sight is my knitting bowl that is holding socks that I am designing. Having knitting near me is like having a 'woobie' (a comforting blanky).

Stage 4: Montpellier, team time trials


I finished the singles of the Corriedale and plied them.
I added it to the yarn that I spun at Black Sheep Gathering.

2-ply fingering weight yarn. The color is like a heathered denim blue (somewhere between these 2 pictures).


Up next, the neppy, unruly purple fiber. Sounds like fun.

Day 1, Monaco


Wheel: Louet S51

Fiber: Corriedale single in denim blue.

My first tapestry crochet project. It is a sock monkey project bag. It has just had a soak and I am trying to shape it while it dries. This idea kept coming to mind like a hummingbird to sugar water, so I stopped everything else and got it out of my head. I used a cotton/linen blend, DK-weight yarn. It still needs the finishing details.

I have joined Le Tour de Fleece. My wheel will be spinning along with the bicycle wheels of the riders on the Tour de France. My goal is simple - to spin every day of the Tour, at least 10-15 minutes. It doesn't seem like much of a goal, but my other job will be starting again soon and time will be budgeted closely.

I enjoy seeing France as the Tour rides across it.