Mop Tops

I have two mops. One of them is the kind with the liquid cleaner on board. The other is designed to reach into corners and nooks and crannies. They both require special cleaning pads. This bothers me for both financial and environmental reasons. I don't know why I didn't think of this when I bought them, but I can't un-buy them now. It seemed to me that one could make reuseable pads. This has occurred to other people and I was lucky enough to find patterns for both of the mops.

This Reusable Cover uses a design from a dishcloth pattern. I found it on the ballband of some Peaches & Creme. I tried it out and it works great! The texture grabs the dirt and helps scrub the floor. The cotton's very absorbent. The pad wasn't soaked through the way the disposables sometimes are.

I modified this Mop Cover to use the same ballband dishcloth pattern as the other cover. The original's an excellent design, but I would go crazy knitting every row.

Yarn Dash

"Play Yarn Dash" said the Ravery ad. I'm miserable from the heat and don't feel like touching anything fibery. "It's free". Okay, it's something I can afford. Clickety click, I sign up and start to play.

It's a game that runs from the 15th of the month to the end. Shop owners donate prizes and hide a graphic on their site. You have a list of sites to visit. Some of the sites will give you a hint where to find the graphic. One didn't, so it took a little longer to find. It looks like there can be up to 30 shops in each monthly Dash. There were only six or seven this month. I imagine that once the word gets around that there should be lots more shops and players.

There was much temptation, but I've resisted it thus far. One of those sites had mmmmmMalabrigo on sale. It had really good prices on Malabrigo sock yarn. I whimpered, then reminded myself that it's 95 degrees out and I don't want to be fonding wool.

Tinkertoy swift

Tinkertoy swift
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

What we have here is a skein of Malabrigo laceweight baby merino. The fibers were hanging onto each other big time. It took a long time to wind, but the not-so-swift made it a LOT easier. If I'd dumped the yarn over one knee instead of using this silly thing, I'd still be untangling it.

I've used this same creation with sock yarn and it spins around more like a traditional swift. I weight the bottommost round thingy in the center so it stays in one place. I remove one of the two yellow pegs at the end of each arm. It works fairly well, especially for something that didn't cost anything to make.

Tour de Fleece

This is another fiber challenge designed to parallel a sporting event. This time it is the Tour de France (that's a bike race, in case you've managed to never hear of it). Participants spin daily on July 4 through 26, with rest days on Monday July 13 and Monday July 20. When the bicycle people are struggling through the mountains on July 26, we're required to do something especially challenging.

I'll be putting on a white rookie jersey and spinning along this year. My main goal is to spin a little bit every day of the Tour. I am doing this as a stress reliever and to improve my spinning. I will pull out those spinning books I just had to have and see what I can do on the improvement end. I'll mostly use my drop spindle. For my challenge day, though, I'm going to be brave and try my wheel.

I'm going to finish spinning the finger roving that Miz Libby gave to me ages ago. If I need more, I'll card some of the lamb fleece and use it. The alpaca I got at Stitches South and the yummy Alaskan fleece I got in my last Knitter's Holiday swap are going to remain untouched until I get better at this.

Baroque Bliss

baroque
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

Lookie, I finished a pair of socks! After fussing with patterns and different yarns, I decided to follow my bliss, so to speak. (Bliss is the yarn's name.) I enjoy the process more than I enjoy having a completed project. I enjoy multicolored yarns much more than I like solid colors. I enjoy complex patterns that don't necessarily show up well on the yarns I like.

Bliss is the first in the Intentions Yarn club. The second one, Family, may be in my mailbox later today. I read a spoiler and know what the color is, and am happy about it. I don't know what I'll do with it yet.

Next on the needles should be either Sunshine from Cookie A's book or Franklin's lace sampler from the new Knitty. Whichever it is, it'll be started soon. The not-working situation is stressing me out more than it has and I need the distraction since sleep's a problem.

Stuff I would get

if I had a job and all the bills were paid off would be lots of fiber to play with. I know I already have some I haven't played with yet. It cheers me up a bit more to think of what I might get someday than actually work with what I have.

One thing I would do is try for a PhatFiber Sampler box. I may have blogged about this before. People who are looking for greater exposure for their fibers donate samples to PhatFiber. The samples end up in monthly boxes that some lucky people get to buy. Even if you aren't lucky enough to get a sampler, you can find out about a lot of wonderful small businesses by following the goings-on at PhatFiber

While reading PhatFiber's blog, I ran across Corgi Hill Farm. Her batts look delicious. I wanted to lick the screen (not really) when I saw the Raspberry and Cream merino/baby alpaca blend. She's got some wonderful batts made of luxury fibers that are very reasonably priced. Free shipping to US and Canadian addresses is great. I'm going to fantasize about that pretty Rose Luxe with the merino/baby camel/cashmere/silk all blended up so nicely.

Fun with leftover sock yarn or...

slugssnails
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

...if life gives you rain, knit slugs and snails.