Steam Is The Answer

The recent bout of germs around this house motivated to tackle a long overdue project….the family bath tub. This WHITE shower has seen so many bath crayons, bath paint, fizzy tabs and god knows what else. Jellybean cleans this regularly but not to the deep stain level. I couldn’t stand it anymore.

I first scrubbed the whole lot down with a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to get the surface stains clean. I then ran a Mr. Clean sponge over the lot to get rid of the grit and wash everything down. Next up, I hit the grout lines and the underside of the bath mat with a Bissel hand held steamer. Following this I soaked all bath toys in a bleach bath and then rinsed thoroughly. (A few were to far gone and got chucked). Lastly I took a white grout pen and marked over the remaining stubborn stains.

Y’all….my tub has never looks so nice! and what came out was so gross. There are few mildew spots in the corners I need some specialized cleaner for but this is marked progress. I may not be the most consistent housekeeping but damn if I’m not thorough when I find a project!

Happy Tuesday!

Let’s Barber-pole!

I managed to squeak in some plying this past weekend in between laundry and dishes. Still trying to get my sea legs back after getting a cold. Darn boogers anyway!

I 2-plied the extra fine merino singles onto one super cute bobbin. I just let this fiber be what it wanted to be and didn’t try for anything in particular. I haven’t measured yet but I am guessing I have another worsted skein. I am going to let this sit on the bobbin and get it washed/whacked later this week.

But now….what to spin next??

Coffee Sock

Back to school germs got me. I am down for the count with a sore throat and headache. Thankfully its not COVID, just normal non-flu germs so should pass quickly. But for now I am going to sip frozen coffee and knit my Victorian Mauve Sock while binging Netflix.

I am almost done with the leg and need to start my increases for the upper leg and cuff section. We will see if the cold meds allow such brain power.

Happy Knitting!!

Ultra Fine Merino

Turns out that my practice at spinning is making me faster and more confident. I had a work colleague over for a patio chat one evening and I managed to get all four ounces onto bobbins.

This fiber is just so super soft. I am glad I don’t plan to wind these off into cakes. They would tangle like beast. Looking at these bobbins, I for sure will get barber-poled finished yarn. For now, I am going to rest these singles and try to get my mo-jo working back in the knitting direction.

Happy Spinning!!

Tiny Tots And A Sock

PB is a bubbly 4 year old these days and we decided to give a shot a gymnastics. A chance to learn to move her body and socialize outside her daycare group. Upside for Mama? Forty minutes of uninterrupted knitting time as parents are not part of class.

This is the second sock of my UniZebraCorn vanilla socks. The first sock is done-ish and its a full tube now. And I owe you a beauty shot of that because its SPECTACULAR! This yarn is wild y’all.

I added about 3/4 of an inch in sock foot before I scooped up a sweaty PB. She looked me dead in the eyes and said “That was really fun. I don’t think we need to come back though”. Tough cookies tootsie, we paid for at least a full month!

Happy Knitting!!

Super Fine Merino

My wheel was feeling a little lonely without any spinning on it after finishing my batt. So I pulled out another little braid from the fiber club that my hubby got me for Christmas. This one is DELICIOUS! It’s 18.5 micron merino and like BUTTER!

I opened up this braid and split the entire thing in half. I wasn’t overly scientific and just eye balled it. The plan is to spin half the braid onto one bobbin and the other half onto a second. Then I can 2-ply.

This braid is giving me some serious stripes in the singles. The colors are very saturated and I can’t help but think I will some great barber poling in my finished yarn. I am not taking care to line up colors in the singles. I am just letting the fiber do what it wants to do.

Happy Spinning!!

FO Friday: Blue Batt 2-ply

Disaster adverted….mostly. My 2-ply did get completed after about an hour of untangling. I ended up with a couple small balls of singles that I attached to ends coming from my wheel and got those overlapped and plied. I then picked up the ends from the remaining cake and kept the cake between my thighs for control. This worked fairly well and I got the whole thing wrapped up last night.

I gave it a quick wash before work and hung to dry near the dehumidifier in the basement. It was dry enough last night to weigh and measure and skein up. I ended up with yet another worsted that varies between light and heavy worsted. The finished yardage was 72 yards and 62 grams. So just a little mini skein but super cute nonetheless.

And I have learned my lesson, next time I ply from a cake…..I will keep it controlled in my lap and not rolling around the floor!!

Happy Spinning!!

That Went South Fast

My plying process started out so good…..

And then it went south SOOOOO FAST…..

My tension from the cake got all wonky. And then the outside started feeding faster than the inside and in the end I ended up with tangled ramen.

I took a big girl breath and decided to walk away for a minute. My play is to break the singles and wind the ramen into separate balls. Once I get all the chaos under control I will then reevaluate and figure out best to keep plying this beast.

Slightly less happy spinning today….

From Batt to Singles

The two ounces of this wee little bat didn’t take me long to get spun into singles. I have a finished bobbin of singles all ready to spend 24 hours in timeout.

I feel like a I have strong singles with good enough twist that I feel comfortable winding this off into a center pull ball. I will get out my tensioned lazy kate and ball winder to make my cake. But that is tonight’s task!

Happy Spinning!!