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Friday, September 23, 2022

Like Flipping a Switch

It's Friday(!) and the first full day of autumn, my favorite season. I've been waiting for cooler weather and crisper air, but it seems Mother Nature has taken it to the extreme: When we got up this morning, it was 42 F outside! Considering that's a decent temperature for a winter day here, I'm not feeling too enthusiastic. It is supposed to warm up to the low 60s, though, and I'm not feeling too bad about the fact that I have some work to do first thing this morning and need to postpone my run until mid-morning.

I'm finishing up the week with a finished skein of handspun, though final yardage has not yet been calculated because it's still a bit damp (I skeined and washed it last night). I'm delighted with it, though.


This is a traditional three-ply spun from more of the "bits and bobs" HipStrings batts from this year's Tour de Fleece. This skein used all the green and blue batts in my bag, and I spun them in a gradient-ish fashion from lightest to darkest. You can see there's a fair amount of color in there from bits of silk, a dimension I just love. I'll have full details once the skein is dry and I have specs.

I got some new yarn this week but I didn't buy it -- and what's better than new yarn but free new yarn? This arrived Wednesday, right in the middle of a fairly boring conference call:


This was a prize from the Unraveling podcast, hosted by Pam and Greg. Every month they do a random drawing from their monthly chat thread, and in August, I was the lucky chatter whose post was picked! The podcast is sponsored by Knitcrate, so my prize was one of the previous shipments. This is URU.Yarn Asher, a chainette sport weight that's a blend of cotton, linen, Lyocell (rayon), and nylon, in the colorway Cucumber. It feels soft and silky, not unlike the Lindy Chain I just used in my last sweater! I've already decided to use this to knit myself a Rift (Ravelry link) with it; I have plenty of yarn for the smallest size, which is conveniently the right size for me.

Today, once work and run are complete, will be an easy day. I'm taking the afternoon off because we have a cupcake tasting for the bat mitzvah scheduled this afternoon, but because that's not until after school, I will have a few hours to read, knit, spin, or nap, depending on what mood strikes me. I hope you enjoy the first weekend of autumn, and inspired by Katie, I'll leave you with this late bloom on one of our hydrangeas:

8 comments:

  1. What is better than free yarn! (And Gorgeous Free Yarn, at that!)

    It certainly did feel like a switch flipped this morning! Quite different from yesterday! Happy weekend to you!

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  2. The autumn switch was flipped here in Illinois as well. I hope you have a great weekend!

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  3. The switch was also made in Eastern PA - accompanied by very gusty winds (we wanted to have an outside fire last night, but it was way too breezy). Gorgeous flower and most gorgeous yarn (both). Enjoy the cupcake tasting!!

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  4. Congratulations on winning that stunning yarn! That's a real beauty you've got there! (I bet the conference call was less boring after that, right? ;) ). I also absolutely love your handspun. The colours are so beautiful, it does remind me a little of seaglass for some reason (maybe because of the shine).

    As for the weather - our switch flipped right on the first of September, more or less - we finally had rain (a LOT of rain, thankfully) and temperatures have dropped quite a bit.
    I hope the cupcake testing was yummy!

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  5. Congratulations on winning that pretty yarn. It is fun to be a lucky winner now and then. The handspun gradient is lovely. Cupcake testing sounds like fun.

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  6. I love that hydrangea bloom! The blue flowers are so gorgeous - lucky you! And yay for winning yarn - how fun! Your newest spun yarn is also gorgeous. I am in awe of you spinners!

    I hope you had fun tasting all of the cupcakes. Let us know what flavor Rainbow picks!

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  7. Such lovely free yarn! The best. (I never win anything, so I'm always in awe of those who do.) Our weather hit that same switch . . . and it feels so suddenly-fall around here. (I kind of love it.)

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  8. The yarn is all lovely, but my favorite is that hydrangea, with the fall-colored Sedum (I think!) in the background. It's going to get chillier here this week, too and we are ready! (although not 42-ready ... more like 52-ready?!)

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