Fiber Monday - 2025 projects

I've decided that one reason I have so many projects going at a time is that I still have something to work on if I finish a project and can't quite decide what to start next. There are so many ideas in my head that it can stop me in my tracks a bit while I decide which to choose. 

When I finished spinning the yarn for The Dress, I didn't have a new project in the works. I had plenty of fiber and possibilities, but no clear direction. When I finally settled on something yesterday, I realized two things. One, that I hadn't really spun anything since last April or so. That felt like a really long hiatus. And two, spinning is good for my mental health. I'm at a point where I have to expend very little effort and it is a very soothing activity. 

Here is what I decided to work on. 

This is a silk/merino blend that came with my most recent wheel. I have over half a pound of it, so will make a pretty decent amount of yarn. I'd been putting off spinning it because I was worried it would turn to a mud color because of how it was blended. Deciding to do a sample to see, I was happy to see that it was mainly red with various other colors appearing here and there.

I will chain ply this to try to stop any further color mixing. 

For sewing, do you remember before I made The Dress, I sewed a wearable muslin to make sure everything was going to work, including finishing the seams in the same way.

I was actually really happy with the dress and plan on wearing it. I had only made half of the jacket, though for fit because of time constraints. It was bothering me that I hadn't finished the jacket to complete the outfit. I knew from seeing the actual jacket that I didn't want to finish the sleeves in the same way (there are a lot and it's a lot of work), so decided to line it with the same silk I had used to finish the seams. It's going to be a lot faster and easier. 

But even with the crazy lining, the actual jacket was going to be a fairly dull blue.

So here's my plan. Once I get it put together, but before I insert the lining, I'm going to embroidery the edges using some of the same motifs and colors from the lining. I'm my head it looks great. We'll see if I can pull it off. The fabric is leftover from IKEA curtains that I had to cut off and hem to fit windows in a bedroom. Unbelievably, even with a dress, a half a jacket, and a complete jacket, I still have enough to cut the jacket out one more time if I need to. The curtains were really long. 

I also started a new knitting project. The tank top I was working on has been put in time out because I'm not sure I'm going to like how the variegated yarn is going to look, so have been avoiding it. Plus, who really wants to knit a tank top when it's 20° outside? 

Instead, I've started a cabled vest because I've been wanting a vest layer in my wardrobe.

The yarn is a mossy green and an alpaca/wool blend. It is very soft and lovely to work with.

And weaving... well, that same project is still on the loom at the same place it was last week. I've been avoiding it. What I need to do is just weave enough to wet finish the fabric so I can double check it will work as I hope and just be done with it. Then I can get on with weaving the actual blanket which will feel like a relief.