Spinning

Normally, I don't get much chance to spin at home. I will spin on Wednesdays, at the spinning group that I attend. 

 I joined the Tour De Fleece 2011 on Ravelry. You are to make a challenge for yourself, to spin during the actual bicycle competition in France. Well, my challenge is to spin 20 minutes a day.  That may not seem like much, but it is enough.  :)  So far, I have been able to finish a skein of yarn, by plying it. I had it spun as a single, but needed to ply it, so I can knit with it.  It is now done. 

The fiber is a blend of Jacob Sheep and Alpaca. It is a pretty soft yarn.  I have 320 yards from 4 oz. I believe it to be about a DK weight, but haven't done the Wraps Per Inch yet.

Vintage Doily Vest

Well, with the temperatures soaring into the upper 90's and 100's, my mind is still on accessories that I can wear that won't make me hotter, but add to my outfit. Hence, the Summer Waves scarf in a previous post and now a vest made from 100% cotton doilies.

One time at a Flea Market/Craft Market, I saw a very pretty vest made from Vintage Doilies. It was on a mannequin in a booth, that was selling Vintage Doilies.  I thought the vest was absolutely gorgeous. So, I decided to purchase the doilies and make one for myself. 

Of course, I purchased way more than I needed, but that is OK. I will make other items with those.

Here's how I did it. I washed all the doilies, and in looking at them, I decided to use different colored ones in the same vest, plus lots of different shapes.

After considering my measurements, and the ease that is needed for a vest(I like at least 4 inch ease), I laid the doilies out lining them up in a vest shape. Then I shuffled them, changed them a bit and finally came up with this.

Here is a front. I over lapped the doilies and stitched them together with my sewing machine, on a straight stitch.



This is the back.

 The other front.



After assembling the fronts and back pieces, I then sewed them together at the shoulders and sides, leaving at least 10 inches open for the armholes.

Here is the finished vest.

Wow!

In North Texas, we have several roads that are being expanded and new bridges that are being built.

Last Monday, I drove under one of the new interchanges that is going in. It was pretty strange sitting under this 4 layer high bridge intersection at the stop light.  I just had to take a photo for you to see. The black car looks big, because it is near. Just past that large white support post is a white vehicle. That will give you an idea of the immense size of this interchange that is being built. OH, and those orange barrels are the 3 foot tall kind, that block off traffic.

We had the grandkids over to swim a couple of weeks ago. We have lots of "noodles" for swimming, but I didn't get any rafts this year.  So, as a matter of invention Claire invented a raft from a plasitc chair and pool noodles.  She did use all of the noodles for this, but that is OK, because I love seeing inventions going on in the minds of the kids.