FO: Sewing Machine Cover

My sewing machine and I don't always get along. When I first got it for my birthday a few years ago, I had to send it back because the stitch selector didn't work.  And then for a long time we were good, for the most part at least.  More recently, the feed wasn't working, and Robert and I spent a whole evening poking around inside the bobbin area.  I dusted it, and it still didn't work.  Robert dusted it, still didn't work.  I was looking into repair shops while Robert dusted the inside again and viola it worked.  Yea, my machine was that dusty.  It was then that I realized I'd have to buy or make a cover.

After procrastinating for a respectable amount of time, I looked around at patterns on the internet and bought fabric.  Using this and this tutorial as my guidelines I made this:

My version doesn't have a pocket, but I did a lining inside and then used double folded bias around the edge.  Isn't it adorable?  Can you tell those are little birds kissing? Here's a close up so you can really appreciate the cuteness:

Now I can leave my sewing machine sitting on my desk, ready to use, and not have to worry about it getting super dusty again.  And it's so darn cute it makes me happy to look at it.  Maybe it'll make me sew more, but then I'd have to remove the cover.

Tour de Fleece Week 1

Since I have a wheel now I decided it would be fun to participate in Ravelry's Tour de Fleece, which is a  spinning event that coincides with the the Tour de France.  And it just happened to start at the same time as my vacation so I did lots of spinning this past week.  Here's one very full bobbin of merino/silk, and I have another well under way.

I also spun in the car on my Bosworth on the way to and from the Cape. It didn't even make me motion sick, which knitting and reading sometimes do.

I enjoyed my vacation week in Cape Cod tremendously, but its back to work for me now.  Besides I had to come home to get this:

Its a Gripping Yarns Rose spindle in East Indian Rosewood.  It's beautiful and so delicate.  It's smaller than I thought it would be, but since I've never seen a supported style spindle in person I wasn't sure what exactly to expect.  I also love the little sample of merino/silk she included from Corgi Hill Farm.  Now I just have to learn how to use it or maybe I'll just continue to admire it.