Tappity...tappity...

Well!  Now.   Where was I?  Anyone still out there?  My silence has probably lost me at least half my readership (which brings it down to about...3?).  Well if any of you are still out there...Hi!  How are you?  

Things have been fine here in no-blog-land.  Work has been insane (in a good way, most of the time) and I spent a few months at either the office or crashed at home and not a whole lot else.  But I'm back (kind of), socializing and knitting again after not having done much of either for a while.  Well comparatively 'not much' - I've still accomplished a bit:

First, a final report on Tour de Fleece (in which I actually exceeded my goals, thankyouverymuch):

I finished spinning the green Meriboo (Merino Bamboo) into a 2-ply lace weight:

I also spun up the Camel/Silk from Redfish Dyeworks.  It's a 3-ply dk weight.  I loved spinning it so much I may have to buy more of the same fiber so I can make a lace weight with it the next time.

Late in the summer, The Queen of Purple Yarn and I each raided our stash and spent a fun afternoon at her house playing with color.

My handspun Cormo from Tour de Fleece went from this:











To this:












I over-dyed some nice (but incredibly garish) Alpaca that I'd found at a yarn swap:











It's now a bit more 'me' (as in, I'm now willing to be seen near it):











And another 2 crazy-loud skeins from a different swap went from here:












to here (embiggen to really see the color):











Here are some more shots/results of that afternoon - it was a lot of fun - sunshine, friend, fiber (and a goofy dog) - what more could you want?

We also took a short vacation this summer to the Mendocino coast.  The dogs came with us (they deserve a vacation too!).

Brian showed Miele the ocean for the first time:











She did a good job being brave!

She and Trouble also explored the beach together:

And napped together at the end of each day.


(being on vacation is hard work).

It was also The Summer Of Giant Garden Produce:











That's one (elephant) garlic clove that's half the size of Miele's head.  A clove!

The figs that ate San Jose:











Got eaten by us.  Arugula, fresh figs, fresh mozzarella, a touch of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.  Try it!











And this:

Turned into one of these (the largest came in around 102 pounds - the smallest nearly 90, if I recall correctly):
























And now we have a freezer full of pumpkin (and a whole one still left to cut up).

In spite of losing the mojo but good, there has been knitting:

During my least-productive time, a tea cozy requested by my husband, out of some of my first hand-spun:












This small thing took me nearly 2 months to complete.  Yeah, mojo-deficient.  Sad.

Fortunately, things picked up.  I knit my 2nd Girasole (out of Cascade EcoWook in Natural) in about 6 weeks:











This hat (Cascade 220 Superwash) took 2 days:











This is 'Snowflakes on Mulberries Hat' (worsted weight version) by Amy Klimt. Super easy, nice looking, and free - thanks Amy!

Yesterday I started this:














And a day later, I'm here:











I should be finished within a day or so.

Next in line:











This will become The Great American Afghan - it was requested because the new leather couch can be cold.  See how uncomfortable Miele is?











Trouble wants me to hurry up and knit it already.