Knitting and Quilting and Spinning, Oh My...

So I have enjoyed the last week, my first week of summer vacation.  We cleaned a little bit and got C.J. ready and off on his grand adventure (a school trip to Williamsburg and D.C.) and now I have gotten myself a little organized.  I have knitting and quilting and spinning projects all going at once, this way I can work on whatever I want to, whenever I want to.

I have four active knitting projects right now.  I say active because I have at least twice that on the needles hiding somewhere.  I am working on a cowl and fingerless mitts to go with the teal jacket I got last year.  I am working on a shawl as a gift for Christmas out of my hand-spun, I can't tell who it's for because it's a surprise.  I am trying to finish up my Color Affection shawl so I can actually use it this fall. Last but not least,  I am working on a Shrug This for my self out of my hand-spun.  I am trying to finish these up before our trip out of town, which is next week, but a girl can hope.

Cowl and Mitts

Surprise Shawl

Color Affection

Shrug This

The quilting project I am working on is a bag for K.T. to take on our road trip. I am also going to try to make one for myself, but I haven't started it yet. K.T's is taking a long time because she wanted pretty stitching for the bag, now that the main quilting part is done, I just need to work on the pockets and the straps, put the lining in and be finished.

K.T.'s bag

Close up of stitching

I have also started a new spinning project which I will not finish before we leave.  My goal for this summer is to spin enough of my stash to end up with several projects worth of yarn.  I have a new pattern book on it's way to me and I want to make at least three of the sweaters in it.  Instead of buying the yarn for them, I am going to spin it.  I will hopefully make a lot of progress toward this goal next month during the Tour de Fleece, which is just a bunch of people on Ravelry spinning along with the Tour de France.  Lots of spinning for me in July.

Abstract

Abstract and Sage

My first sweater quantity spin of the summer will be Abstract on Corriedale and Sage on Wool Blend from Spunky Eclectic.  When I received Abstract as part of my fiber club a couple of years ago, I loved it so much that I ordered 8 more ounces.  I had been planning to spin it for a traditional three-ply but the I think this darker 4oz bump will go great with the 4oz of Sage I have.  I am hoping to spin them together for a lace-weight, two-ply yarn and get enough yardage to make a fantastic sweater.