I’m quite easily distracted. At least for a while in the summer I put some effort into the front garden — specifically into my hosta bed. This year, I suppose because of all of the rain, these wonderful plants have gotten enormous. I’ve never seen such growth in a season.
Each year I add 3 or 4 more to the plantings. I need to wait for a year to see how the plants are going to interact with one another, and which are growing out over the tops of others. There always is some transplanting to do. I have another 4 waiting to go in. Two are hostas and two are other plants that will give additional color to the bed.
I didn’t add any Japanese Hakone grass this year, because, like the hostas, they are growing almost out of control.
Here’s another distraction. I forget exactly what I was looking for, but what I found was dreaded moth holes in one of Bruce’s sweaters. They all are relatively small, but of course, one or more of them on each sleeve, both fronts, and the back.
Because they are so small, I actually could have mended the sweater by slightly enlarging the holes and using duplicate stitching (also known as Swiss Darning). Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a yarn that would match well enough.
However, since “Mindful Mending” has become a “thing” recently, I thought I’d try out one of the small looms known as a “Speedweve” loom.
The instructions were…well, a little obtuse. I did eventually get the disk fixed behind one of the holes, but not before shooting the rubber bands across the room several times (the cats did not approve).
The first challenge was warping. The metal loops toward the top of the loom control the direction of the hooks below, and they need to be straight up for warping. The only issue is that the minute you touch any of them, they fall over. I discovered that a twist tie works a small miracle to keep them together.
Warping finished, I began to weave, and found that the warp ends were getting caught up in my darning thread. It may have had something to do with the fact that I was using wool embroidery floss that had a tendency to be really “sticky,” and flopped all over the place.
The rubber bands gave me a bit of inspiration, and I slid them over the tails to keep them out of my way.
Here is the result. It’s kind of fun, and Bruce says he will happily wear the sweater with my colorful patches.
It was definitely a learning experience. The instructions failed to mention the need to anchor the weaving yarn on each side with every pass.
The other issue with these little looms is a negligible “shed” to separate each pass of the yarn. I found I needed to take the darning needle through the shed right at the top of the warp (just below the hooks) to get the maximum separation. As it was, there are a sufficient number of mistakes in my first try to indicate I need more practice.
The instructions fail to mention anything about finishing except for tacking down the loops at the top, but I’ve got it figured out. I’m just leaving it to do all of the “weaving in” at one time.
The second mend is being done freehand over the loom disk. This is something I’ve done before, and is not my best effort, but it definitely is a bit faster than using the Speedweve. However, I do plan to use the loom for the next holes.
All in all, I have to say I’m not the best candidate for “mindful mending.” I both understand and appreciate how one could find it peaceful and satisfying, but that doesn’t apply to those of us sorely lacking in patience. The fiddly nature of the Speedweve just made me anxious, so the whole thing felt like a chore. I will finish this project up (at some point), but hoping that my moth prevention regimen will intervene to save me from another “opportunity.”
Meanwhile…
There isn’t a lot of knitting going on these days — not just because it has been quite hot, but also I’m trying to rest my hands from the big sock project. After mailing off the pair +1 for the photographers, my hands were so strained that I couldn’t bring myself to knit the second of the +1. The moment I was feeling better, I picked up the needles, but my hands protested about the knitting with small yarn in a tight circle, and so I abandoned the effort. Since not knitting at all was driving me crazy, I cast on for two sweaters.
No, you don’t need to remind me that knitting with black yarn could be considered foolish. I have a nice little light that folds around my neck that makes a big difference. Still, it’s pretty slow going unless it’s pretty bright outside. Once I get through the increase rows, I think things will settle down, and then it’s just going around in circles.
The red is a cardigan called Rossetti by Fiona Ellis, and it features this simple lace pattern inside a pleat on the back, as well as down the sleeves and along the front openings. Dragonnier by Marie Amelie Designs is meant to be a pullover, but I’ve added steek stitches to the front to convert it to a cardigan. I’m trying to decide whether or not to continue a few of the color lines down the sleeves.
I’ve been anxious about friends in Vermont these days what with the horrible flooding going on up there. Fortunately, the 3 people I know are safely out of the danger zone. Still, the weather is awful. Even here it has rained and rained to the point we’re unable to get the contracting work for the roof on the cabana done. It doesn’t do much good to rip in off and then have 3 days of rain inside. I’m not complaining. It certainly doesn’t reach the level of inconvenience and stress of so many others suffering from weather-related difficulties. Also lucky in a friend in Arizona who is safely up at a higher elevation, so not in extreme heat.
So to all of you not overcome by distractions, stay calm and craft on. We are so lucky to be able to do what we love.