How does summer vaporize so fast? The daylily world categorizes cultivars as early, mid, late, and very late. We are almost through mid, and cracking into late blooming cultivars. Can the Red Sox really still be 7.5 games up at the end of July? The Yankees have lapped the Toronto Blue Jays. We of the Red Sox nation can uncomfortably feel them breathing on our necks. But then, it wouldn't be summer in Boston any other way.
Slogging through a wool/mohair/hemp blend for the Straker vest has not been a sweaty task. The back is done. The color variation where the new ball was joined is not quite as obvious in real life. Did it bother me? Temporarily. Would it bother the recipient muggle? It is what it is. (I've been saying that a great deal while knitting this vest in this yarn.) I'm alternating skeins on the front, which is now four inches along. This WIP is clearly stating that it needs to be done. I thought because of the sleeveless nature of the garment, that it would be quick to knock off the queue. Deluded much? Not anymore.
This Ackers Acres Angora bunnyblend (wool/angora) came from SPA 2006. I tried a ripply Barbara Walker pattern. That was frogged last week after 8 or so inches, with a resulting remarkable lightening of psychic weight in the Etherknitter queue. It is now restarted in the Arrowhead pattern that came with the yarn.
Spinning has actually been sweatier than knitting. I'm playing with a cashmere/silk sample (The Fold, 2006) that demands laceweight and dry palms. Just holding the yarn is warm enough to screw up the predrafted feathers that result. There is no talcum powder in the house. (There was an observational study years ago that linked talcum powder with ovarian cancer. ) So the spinning report here relies on the last two yarns that leaped off the bobbins.
100% tussah silk, colorway 'Plenty' from Abby, and merino 70%/silk 30% Ashland Bay (blue) from The Fold, 2005.
Many spinners gradually turn away from Ashland Bay fiber when "Oooooh! Nice colorway!" is replaced by fascination with more exotic fiber choices. I did too, until I pulled this from the stash for a less mindful spin. My fiber snobbery was trumped by superb prep and beautiful color blending. Chibi for scale in both pictures.
Abby's silk is simply wonderful. I'm planning two ply for both these bobbins, and will do that soon.
My life with Mr. Etherknitter expands into a 12'x12' space in the summer months. We live on the porch. Dinner relaxes into later evening. I put multiple hours into the deck plantings, all in containers, each year. This year was all about yellows/reds/oranges/purples in flower and foliage.
Last year, we had our first hummingbirds. They came for the salvias. In typical Pavlovian fashion, this year I purchased six different salvias. Can you anticipate which color the hummers like best?
Ha. Blue. Birds after my own heart. We have two that behave differently. One comes by, explores each flower systematically, and then scoots away. The second perches for minutes on a bamboo stake. 
As it is said in Philly, wit' and wit'out.
One word: cornstarch!
Posted by: Susan | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 08:44 AM
Droopy summer days indeed. I think many feel it. I'll live vicariously through your garden photos, mine is sadly neglected with bags of mulch still piled waiting to be applied.....
Posted by: PumpkinMama | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 08:46 AM
But its a lovely 12 x 12 space.
Posted by: claudia | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 09:42 AM
Oooo! The hummer! Thanks for the photo. Fascinating little critters. I don't think any stop by here, but I see them at my mom's house. How nice you get to enjoy them.
Nice spinning, too.
Posted by: Chris | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 09:44 AM
A lovely 12x12 space. If we were not of the desert our patio would be a similar haven...fall will bring the outdoor area back into our lives.
Spinning Ashland Bay is sweet and easy. Perfect for the lazy days of summer.
Posted by: margene | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 10:13 AM
Blue flowers (real blue) are my favorite, but I've put effort into hummer friendly colors. Or so I thought. They have been ignoring the feeder, but bouncing around a strange assortment of flowers in the bed. Next year, blue salvia.
Posted by: Mary Lou | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 10:31 AM
That silk is lovely! I have yet to spin pure silk.
Posted by: Cheryl | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 10:42 AM
Is that Victoria? I love Victoria....but keep forgetting to plant any. Like a lot of things, next year. After I arrange a hit on the 'chuck.
Posted by: Marcia Cooke | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 11:53 AM
Beautiful! I recently bought some Ashland Bay merino/tussah blend and found myself thinking, "oh, it's COMMERCIAL roving!" Spinning 4 oz. of it reminded me that just because it's mass-produced doesn't mean it's bad. It's very pretty, easy to spin, and if I run a little short - I know I can get more!
Are you plying Abby's silk with the blend?
Posted by: elizabeth | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 12:05 PM
You too with the doldrums? Man, this is just sad all around.
I love how that silk is spinning up for you! I had the most awful time trying to come up with a name for that colour, too.
That Ashland Bay 70/30 Merino/Tussah blend with the heathery colours is one of my favourite "comfort spinning" fibers. I always have some on hand, to be honest. I tend to keep my eyes peeled for their colourblends coming up for sale various places, and I usually have a few pounds of it around. I also have a lace sweater on the needles in a yarn I spun from some, that I haven't touched in a year. Oy.
Posted by: Abby Franquemont | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 12:11 PM
And how could I possibly forget to mention I'm a Red Sox fan born and raised, and have made certain my son is too. One of the things that always makes me maudlin about baseball season is missing talking to my dad about the Sox, and then thinking how they finally won the series the fall after he died. Thankfully, growing up a Red Sox fan gives me the spiritual fortitude to smile and laugh it off with a "Maybe next year" attitude, even though "Maybe next year" is nowhere near as applicable as it once was.
And yes, of course: my son knows all about the Yankees.
Posted by: Abby Franquemont | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 12:16 PM
Try a little cornstarch in place of the baby powder.
Posted by: Kim | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 12:17 PM
Ditto for cornstarch!
The melaleuca is blooming and rather popular with the hummingbirds right now. We have a pretty large, stable population. They love it when I stand in the garden with the hose set on mist and spray up into the air so they can fly through.
Posted by: Sylvia | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 12:20 PM
Lovely post. Very relaxing. Great photo of the hummer and salvia.
Posted by: Angie | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 01:45 PM
Your deck looks like a beautiful spot for spending time together. Do you bring your wheel out there?
Posted by: Carole | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 02:12 PM
you know, i'm not sure anybody USES talcum powder any more. it's mostly cornstarch (and i've never seen talcum powder myself, personally. my folks were big johnsons users, lol)
Posted by: minnie | Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 09:22 PM
What beautiful flowers you have!! Your deck looks like a wonderful place to be in the summer!
Posted by: Kim | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 10:36 AM
Wonderful! I'll plant salvia and see if they arrive. I cannot wait to move onto our patio ... soon, soon, soon.
Posted by: Cathy | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 11:44 AM
I've been in a blue period myself lately. Lovely spinning, lovely flowers.
Posted by: Lucia | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 12:55 PM
I love the hummingbird photo! And the winey-colored yarn is just lovely.
It's funny, I just got two boxes of unscented talcum in the mail today. I figure I'm old enough that by the time the talcum gives me cancer I'll have died of something else, probably winey-related.
I'm planning on putting a link to the talc in my next post, it's the real stuff, and yes, it IS better than cornstarch.
Posted by: Lorette | Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 10:20 PM
does cornstarch baby powder count?
Posted by: vanessa | Friday, July 27, 2007 at 08:16 AM
The blue flowers are always my favorites, too. And they look so good when you plant something orangey-gold near them... maybe that's why I like them. ;-)
Ashland Bay is fine stuff, I agree. It makes a more versatile yarn... I wouldn't knit anything lacy or cabled with a crazy barberpole yarn, but you can knit anything you like with a nice gently heathered handspun. :-)
Posted by: Beth S. | Friday, July 27, 2007 at 11:13 AM
Hummers have l-o-n-g memories. I haven't been able to put out a hummingbird feeder for 8 years, but they still come several times a day and check out the spot where it used to be. Then they go to the fuschias and red petunias.
Posted by: kmkat | Friday, July 27, 2007 at 11:53 AM
loe the photos of the hummer on the salvia!
and your spinning looks wonderful - wish I was sitting there sharing a sip of something wonderful on your deck :-)
Posted by: Teyani | Friday, July 27, 2007 at 10:21 PM
There is nothing ever wrong about a blue flower. Those blue salvia are beautiful.
Ashland Bay … that reminds me … rovingf the size af a beach ball. Summer. beach ball. That does it. The wheel is coming out when I get home from work today.
Posted by: Spinneret | Saturday, July 28, 2007 at 08:17 AM
I've got some Ashland Bay merino/silk I pulled out a couple of days ago, too. It's been calling to me.
Posted by: Monica | Monday, July 30, 2007 at 11:04 PM
I've always wanted to plant an old-fashioned 'Night and Day' garden...only blue and white flowers. The combo looks pretty during the hot summer days while the whites show up after the sun goes down! Maybe next year. Your patio reminded me of this project.
Posted by: Patricia | Saturday, August 18, 2007 at 01:45 AM