In a single evening I managed to finish spinning the singles of the alpaca, merino, & finn fiber that I had. It was 3.5oz, which on my kiwi would have taken me a few weeks, at best. The fiber wasn’t the easiest to draft (as I already mentioned) and was quite filled with neps, but I’m hoping to learn how to chain ply using it. Chain plying is perfect for when you want to keep colours together, or for when you don’t have 2-3 bobbins of yarn to ply it with. In this case, I only have the one bobbin. I’ve never tried chain plying before, but it has been on my to-learn list for a number of years. It’s just a nice skill to have. I think using my Starling will be a good way to learn, I can keep the speed very low, and I can forcus on the hand motions required rather than focusing on my treadling. Hopefully the next update on this yarn will be the completed version.
The yarn is just Lion Brand Pound of Love in worsted weight – but this cardigan is coming along nicely. Unfortunately I’m on the most boring part now – 14 inches of plain knitting. I’m hoping to do a row or two every day so I can actually see some progress, but it’s pretty slow. Especially now that I have the new spinning wheel to play with. The idea was to have this finished for fall, and I’m not confident I’ll even have it ready for then. We’ll just have to see!
After being on a waiting list for over 6 months, it was finally my turn to receive a Daedalus Starling spinning wheel. This is an electric wheel, 3D printed with kevlar components and goodness, it is *amazing*. Some days I’m unable to treadle my kiwi2, as much as I love it, and this provides me with an alternative so that I can still do something I love that relaxes me. I set it up last night on the couch while I watched some Golden Girls on Disney+ and honestly it was one of the most relaxing evenings I’ve had in a very long time. I didn’t game, I didn’t pay attention to social media, I just unplugged and worked on my spinning. In less than 2 hours I had almost 3.5oz done, the entire bag of fiber I had purchased so many years ago. Meanwhile, upstairs on the kiwi I have not even done a fraction of that amount, in a much longer timeframe. It will be hard to get the motivation to complete that spin at this rate, lol.
August is quickly approaching, and for a number of years now I’ve participated in Blaugust in various degrees, and hopefully this year will be more of the same. I know my blog posts tend to come in waves, but Blaugust has always been a great motivator. Belghast has all of the details over on his blog, and don’t forget to join the discord too if you’re into that sort of thing. You absolutely don’t have to if it’s not your thing. I’ve always loved watching the community that has evolved from this event, but I also tend to feel a bit on the outskirts of things. A part, but not a part.
The idea is to try to post on your blog as much as you feel comfortable doing. Some folks use it as motivation to post all 31 days, others have a more relaxed approach. There are little mini goals this year, along with the regular schedule for some post motivation. If it’s something you’ve never looked into before and you’re curious about it, I highly suggest checking things out. Blogging might be ‘dead’ but there are those of us who continue to carry the torch.
One thing I’ve wanted for quite some time is a fitness tracker. I’ve had a number of fitbit products over the years, but they never lasted longer than a year, whether it was because of poor quality or maybe my lifestyle was just too rough, I’m not sure. I decided enough was enough. I knew I was going to either go with an apple watch (let’s face it, I’m already deeply vested in apple products, we have 3 iPads, an iPhone, and a MacBook Pro), or I was going to go with Garmin. In the end I decided it was more important for me to have a fitness watch with smart watch capabilities, than it was to have a smart watch with fitness capabilities. I went with the Garmin 245 – heavily discounted from $479 to $299 (probably because they’ve just released the 255, and want to get rid of stock).
Setting it up was daunting but simple. It’s highly customizable, everything from the watch face to the screens that show to what activities you track. It gives health and fitness statistics like a heart rate monitor and oxygen. It can determine your sleep stats (though people say Garmin does not do this well, I think that can be said for most devices, they’re just not really there yet). It has GPS, can let me know if I have a call or messages on my phone, and so far I’m quite pleased with the device over all. Whether or not it stands up to the test of time is another matter. For the price I paid, I’d like it to last at least three years with constant use. It’s also just plain strange to be wearing a watch again, I haven’t worn one for many years.
I’m hoping this motivates me to move more, and to get healthier. I love statistics and have had good experiences in the past – so we’ll just have to see. On a side note, it’s hilarious that this also tracks stress levels. Let me tell you, as a parent to a 3 and 5 year old, those stress levels are ping ponging all over the damn place and bedtime is a zone you can effectively see on the charts.
stargrace 
