Gotta love that sun...

Well, summer vacation is finally here... ::deep sigh::

I wish I could say that I had a ton of finished yarns and knitted projects to share (it has been long enough since my last post), unfortunately, I don't. The last two months or so have been progressively more difficult as my youngest child has decided that she doesn't really like to sleep at night. About 2 weeks ago we discovered that she's been cutting 4 new teeth all at once, which does explain why her crankiness has been kicked up to a whole new level. Regardless of the reason, there's only so much sleep deprivation a parent can take.

So, a few weeks ago my husband and I decided that going without sleep just wasn't going to happen anymore, and since then we've been working diligently (or, at least as diligently as someone can work in a state of complete exhaustion) to get her room finished so she could move in. Last night was her third night in her new room and she only woke up once. I cannot tell you how awesome I think this is.

Hopefully, after a few more nights of sleep, I'll have more of this stuff to show you...

"Reckless" handspun sock yarn

3 ply - fingering weight

approx. 4.3oz and 400 yards

Other than moving the baby into her own room, the major change happening around here has been happening in me. I feel like I've finally overcome the mental hurdles that have been keeping me from reclaiming a better, healthier lifestyle. For the last month, I've been enjoying the benefits of changed eating habits, morning workouts 4-5 days a week and a long walk every night after dinner. I've lost my first ten pounds and I feel better than I've felt in over 5 years. I still have a long way to go before I reach my goal, but I'm very thankful that I'm finally headed in the right direction!

As for Etsy news, there's not a lot to share. The lovely handspun yarn shown above is currently listed in the shop. I spent yesterday working over my dyepots and today I intend to do the same. I still need to place another fiber order (I'm hoping I'll have time to do that today) and in the meantime I'm going to dye up the rest of what I have on hand. Fiber enthusiasts can look forward to a hearty update some time next week. In the meantime, enjoy the beginning of a beautiful summer. :)

Irresistible

It's been a while since I've seen this sight. It has been raining, snowing, hailing and misting under an overcast sky for months and months. To wake up and find the sky looking this way is just... glorious.

So far this week I've been working. There has been dyeing...

There has been spinning...

But today (and tomorrow, if the weather is still permitting) I'm forsaking my dye pots, getting the heck out of this house and enjoying some of that warm, irresistible sunshine.

Who could blame me?

Evolution

This week I've been taking a look around my house and I've been noticing a trend. There are several knitting projects, partially finished and lying around my home in various places. Every time I make progress with my knitting, I hear the siren call of new (or sometimes old) fiber and I can't resist. Before I know what's happening, I've all but abandoned the knitting project and I'm spinning more yarn.

exhibit A

exhibit B

exhibit C

While this isn't exactly a bad thing (I very much want to spin down my stash to a manageable size) I've realized that my knitting queue has grown to over a hundred projects that I'd really like to knit and I've gotten to the point now where I'm only finishing 4-6 knitting projects a year. Somewhere along the line, I must have evolved from a knitter who spins to a spinner who occasionally knits. Again, this isn't necessarily bad, but I have so much more that I'd like to accomplish with my wool.

I think it's time for me to once again lay out some rules for myself, in the hopes that it will produce some positive changes. At this moment I probably have enough fiber to last from now till judgement day and I'll never spin and knit through it unless these changes happen soon.

I've decided that February will be for finishing up what's on my wheel, and that I'll not be allowing myself to spin more fiber for myself (meaning fiber that's not intended for sale in the shop) until I finish knitting up every project I have lying around here on the needles right now. I have some excellent projects in mind for this year, but I know I'll never get around to them until I get everything else out of the way.

This will also help me to finish the spinning projects that have been in limbo on my Kromski, which would be excellent as I'm hoping to sell it this year. I'll keep things updated here as I make progress.

Finishing Bug

Today is a great day for getting cozy on the sofa, having an afternoon cup of coffee or tea and, of course, working with yarn. I have been doing exactly that. I've been getting some good spinning time in and this is the most recent yarn...

2 ply handspun merino

fingering weight

approx 400 yards

As soon as the wool order comes, I think I'm going to spin up 3-4 oz of plain white merino into a nice 2 ply to pair with this yarn for some colorwork mittens. I've always wanted some and this might just be the time to do it.

Yesterday I was bitten by the finishing bug. Before I knew what was happening, I started rummaging through the closet, digging out UFO's and deciding what could be finished the quickest and I ended up choosing 3 projects. One was Allie's baby blanket, which I managed to finish in about an hour.

The second project was this pair of socks, which I started back in September (I think). I'm really glad to have these done. The weather has been sooo cold and nasty lately.

pattern: Longjohn Socks by Anne Hanson

yarn: Mystery Fish SAL handspun

needles: US 1 dpns

I intend to finish project #3 (a pair of Knotty gloves knit with a lovely green sw merino/alpaca handspun) this week. I have a few other things in the works too, but for now these are the projects that I have time to share. More to come soon.

New beginnings.

We've been in our new home for nearly 3 weeks now and the unpacking is almost done. I still have a list of several things that need to be sorted through and given away, but the house is really coming together well, except for Allie's room. That room is a disaster in so many ways. I used to use the spare bedroom in our house to store my fiber, but I'm not going to be able to do that for much longer. At this point, I think the only thing that will empty the room is the spinning and selling of fiber.

Moving into this house has been one of the greatest and most rewarding moving experiences that I've ever had. The house is much smaller than our old house, but once we finish sorting through everything it'll be perfect. While arranging things, we found that all of our furniture and belongings fit in this house as if they were always meant to be here. In the living room, our furniture and artwork go perfectly with the colors of the walls and the carpeting. I've been having a much better time than expected putting the house back together.

Now that most of the work is done, I've started spinning again. I finished the skein of Pigeonroof corriedale, and am now working on some Pigeonroof merino/soysilk.

Also, here is the Freckle Face Fibers merino/silk I finished a while back.

I'm getting ready to open the Etsy shop. If you go visit the shop you may notice a couple of things: First, there's a new name, which pays homage to our new home in Forks. Forks is named for the four rivers that fork around the area, so the new name, Four Rivers Yarn & Fiber, seemed a perfect fit. The second thing you may notice is that there is nothing listed in the shop yet, but there is an announcement saying that there is one coming in early November.

I have wool on order right now (dyeing should begin by the end of this week) and I've bought a giant new dye pot so that I can do larger batches of fiber. I've missed dyeing so much over the last year and it feels extremely good to be getting back to it. There will also be several skeins of handspun yarn. Nearly everything I've spun in the last 4 months will be listed.

I'm getting so excited for the first update. I hope you are too.

It's that time again.

Moving time!

Yesterday morning my husband brought in the first load of empty boxes to be filled. While I'm very excited to be buying a home and moving someplace nicer than where we are now, I can still feel myself groan inwardly when it comes time to pack up the house. (I'm thinking the groaning is a little louder this time. After all, this is the second time we've moved this year.) I managed to get these boxes filled and several of our shelves emptied and now there's already a new carload of boxes waiting to be filled. Fun times.

In between packing up boxes, I managed to get the Freckle Face Fibers merino/silk plied. This morning I skeined and washed it. Pictures to come as soon as it's dry.

And although I didn't have any time to knit yesterday, I did have time to take a picture of my second sock progress. This afternoon, we're driving into town to sign papers at the escrow company. One of the things I don't mind about the 1 1/2 hour drive to town is the knitting time I gain when hubs is doing the driving. I plan on making this sock grow today.

Hopefully I'll also be able to sneak in some spinning time too. I'm into the last half of some gorgeous Pigeonroof Studios corriedale. I'm thanking my lucky stars that I bought two bumps. I know I'll be keeping one of them for sure.

Catching Up: Part II

As promised, here is my post of recent finished objects. Starting with the yarn, here is one of my finished spins from the Tour de Fleece.

This is a fingering weight, chain-plied yarn spun from WoolPig Crafts hand dyed Merino in the Fern Gully colorway. I'm guessing that Gladys takes a lot of care when dyeing her fibers because this roving was an absolute pleasure to spin. The colors in this one were a lot of fun too. It kept making me think of sandy beaches, palm trees and bananas.

The next spin is from a fiber buried deep in the stash. It's All Spun Up sw merino/alpaca from a SAL she had a while ago. Because the fiber is one of my all time favorite blends I bought a double dose and was saving this one for a special occasion, which ended up being this year's Tour de Fleece as well. For this one I chose to pre-draft the whole braid and spin it from end to end. It's also a chain-plied fingering weight yarn.

There are more on the wheel now, one of which I will have pictures of as soon as it is finished.

Now to the knitting. Pretty much all of the knitting I accomplished over the late spring and summer has been for Allie. The first is a sweater set knit from yummy Funky Carolina merino that was spun a long time ago. The yarn had been sitting in the stash waiting to become a shawl (so I thought), but as I went through the stash searching for baby sweater yarn I changed my mind, thinking that it was the precise amount of girl-y I was looking for.

The hat is my modified version of Simple Newborn Hat with a Touch of Lace by Ginny Foreman and the sweater is the Top Down Raglan Baby Sweater by Carole Barenys (both links go to their free patterns). I really enjoyed both of these patterns but I have to say that the sweater pattern is fast becoming my favorite for utilizing handspun in baby knits. It's a very easy knit and it showcases handspun yarns beautifully. So beautifully that I had to knit two...

This one was knit from Funky Carolina merino handspun by Laurs of Bee Mice Elf and gifted to me during the summer round of the Funky Junkies handspun swap. I fell so hard for this yarn when I opened the package that I wound it up immediately and began knitting. It worked out perfectly combined with this pattern.

Lastly, I just finished this hat last week. It's the Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap (pattern also free) and I knit it with leftover handspun sock yarn. It's a great pattern and it looks so cute on Allie. It's also great for using up those leftover scraps of yarn.

So, that's all I have finished for now. I'm still knitting and spinning as I get things cleaned, organized and packed for moving. I should have more to share soon.

Catching Up

This has been one of the longest and shortest summers of my life. So much has happened but it feels as if only a couple of weeks have passed. My 7-year-old is headed back to school at the end of this week and I realized that the whole summer is almost gone and I haven't updated the blog once. It's disappointing whenever I let that happen, though this year I've had much better reasons for letting it slide than usual. Among the less important reasons is spinning. I've done a lot of spinning this year and here are just a few pictures of progress.

All Spun Up BFL/Silk

All Spun Up Merino

Freckle Face Fibers BFL

I have an embarrassing amount of yarn that has been done for weeks and never photographed. There's also a lot of knitting that I've finished, only some of which has been photographed but there's no room for the pictures in this post. Those will have to wait for another day.

The last several months we've been adjusting to the new town, which has been especially difficult for our daughter, Paige. She had a lot of challenging experiences this year. She had to move out of the only home she'd ever lived in, and into a new home in a new town. She had to change schools in the middle of the year (not an easy thing for any first grader) and make new friends while trying to hobble around in a cast on account of breaking her leg during the same week we moved. It has taken her a long time to adjust and even though a lot of time has passed since the move, she still misses her old school.

Thankfully, living in a small town isn't all bad. A week or so before school was out, her class had a field trip to the fire department. Unfortunately, the morning of the field trip Paige woke up sick and ended up not being able to go. A day or two later my husband was talking to a lady he works with (who also happens to be the wife of the fire chief) and he told her about Paige not being able to go on the field trip. She told him she'd talk to her husband and see if he could do anything. My husband figured they might be able to arrange a time when we could take her to the fire department to see the trucks and talk to the firemen. The fire department ended up going out of their way to give her an unforgettable experience. They brought a fire engine to our house to pick her up, took her and her dad for a ride around town and then to the fire department where they showed her around and talked to her about fire safety and then (again in the fire engine) brought her home. You don't often find that sort of kindness in a larger community.

They made a fairly crummy year much, much better...

As did this little angel.

This is Allie. Allie is the reason I've taken this year off from dyeing fiber and doing Etsy. (I'm glad I made that choice early on in the pregnancy because it saved me from a lot of unnecessary stress.) The pregnancy was long and complicated and I'm glad it's done with and that she's here now and healthy. I'm really enjoying having a baby in the house again and I'm currently trying to find where the new balance is now with two children instead of one. It's not as easy as some people make it look.

Now that we've had a little time to adjust to having a baby in the house again, we're looking at our next big project (and hopefully the last one for this year) which is buying our next home. We finally found a home we really like in the right price range and if all goes well, it should close near the end of September. I've been going through everything we have and giving away or throwing out everything that we don't want to take to the new house, as well as organizing everything so that packing and unpacking should be much easier this time around. I'm looking forward to this next move so much. Once we're in the new house and all settled, I'm going to return my focus to the dye pots (which I have missed very much) and re-opening my Etsy shop, hopefully as a full time endeavor.

I'm excited about re-opening the shop and have been brainstorming a lot. There are things which I'd like to do a little differently and new things I'd like to try. I'm looking forward to the next few months of work and will keep updating the blog on any new progress.

New books!

This last Tuesday, my family and I had to take a day trip to Seattle from the peninsula, and one of the great perks of day trips is that we get to go shopping. Our idea of shopping out of town doesn't often involve shopping for clothing but almost always involves stopping to shop for books.

This trip we stopped at a Barnes and Noble so my husband could pick up the latest book in The Dresden Files series (we've both come to love this series), which we haven't been able to find in any of the closer, local bookstores. We all came away from the store with new treasures. Here's what I ended up choosing...

I originally went into the store with the intention of picking up Cookie A.'s Sock Innovation, but after looking through several books that I've also had my eye on for a long time, I decided to add to my spinning library rather than my knitting. I have a lot of books on knitting (not as many as a lot of people but my collection is far from shabby) and have so far had only one lonely book on spinning- Essentials of Yarn Design for Handspinners by Mabel Ross.

So, instead of another knitting book, I picked out two on spinning: The Intentional Spinner by Judith MacKenzie McCuin and Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont.

A number of weeks back I had the opportunity to go to one of Judith's beginning spinner's classes. It was sort of like an introduction to spinning using drop spindles. I've never attended a spinning class like that before and I really enjoyed it. Judith is such a wealth of information (and a super-nice lady too). Up to this point I've worked a lot at developing skills for spinning the sort of sock yarns I like to knit with, but I hardly have any other spinning skills. I tend to go through slow times where I almost become bored with my spinning and I can't think of a better way to keep things fresh and interesting than learning and developing new skills to create yarns that are new and different. This book should (I hope) help me in this endeavor.

The other book, Respect the Spindle, is one that I've just really been wanting to be able to pick up and browse through since it came out. Even though the majority of my spinning time is dominated by my wheel(s), I still do enjoy spindling and I hope to get better at it. I have already started reading this book and am finding it very interesting.

It doesn't surprise me that the spinning books called to me the most. Although I haven't been spinning every day, I've still been averaging 4-6oz a week of fine singles for plied fingering weight yarns. I have more finished yarn (which I'm too lazy to share pictures of today) and a few bobbins spun which are still waiting to be plied. I'm getting ready for both the next ASU SAL which is just around the corner as well as the Tour de Fleece. I just need to pick out what I'll be spinning. Yay! -another opportunity to stash bust.

Stash busting...

It doesn't feel like it's been so long since my last post. There's been so much going on, I don't even know where to begin -so I wont.

I have been spending a lot of time spinning, and I feel like I'm making pretty good progress. I don't have a lot to show for it yet (I've been really bad about taking pictures lately), but I have two lovely 4oz rovings spun and waiting to be plied, as well as the first half of a handspun swap project spun, that I will be finishing up in the next couple of days.



Both of the rovings that are waiting to be plied are All Spun Up rovings. One is the Ice Cave BFL/silk from the current spin-a-long and the other is a nice earthy-colored merino that I've had in the stash for a long time. I've been spending a little more time going through my stash and making an effort to use it. I think the stash has grown to the point where I get confused when I look at it because there's just too much pretty stuff to choose from. I was having such a hard time trying to decide what to spin the last time I picked, that I had to just close my eyes, plunge my hand into the bin and go with whatever it happened to get.

The lovely skein pictured in the photos is one I finished about a week ago. It's BFL from All Spun Up. For this one I decided to split the roving in half down its length and then pre-draft it before spinning. I like the way the color progression turned out and it's very soft and fluffy. I didn't quite get the yardage I was hoping for (especially considering it was on the heavier side at 4.5oz to begin with) but I'm still pleased with the finished project.

The knitting has come to a stand still. I was busting out with the baby knitting, but then I took a break to knit a birthday shawl for one of my best friends. As much as I love my friend this may have been a poor choice on my part...

I recently bought some very lovely yarn and I decided to knit an Akimbo shawl. I love the way this shawl looks, and so far I think the pattern has been very well written (I sort of despise working from charts), but I'm so bored with this shawl right now that I struggle to stay awake while I'm working on it. I can handle about 4 rows a day and that is all I can tolerate. I've been asking myself why I've been having such a hard time with it (after all I did knit a Simple Yet Effective Shawl without getting this bored and that one has even less going on with it than the Akimbo) and I think I have my answer: it's the combination of pattern & yarn. The yarn I'm knitting with is lovely and soft and perfect... but it's not handspun. The Akimbo Shawl is largely garter stitch, and while I'm confident that it will be beautiful upon completion I have to admit that as boring as garter stitch is for me, handspun yarn with it's lovely, wonderfully unpredictable color changes makes garter stitch tolerable for me. At least I only have about 12 more rows to go at this point.



For now I'm allowing my attention to drift from the knitting and I'm enjoying my time at the spinning wheel. I've ordered a couple more bobbins for my woolee winder and I'm gearing up for the Tour de Fleece. My (considerably more reasonable) goal this year is to spin at least one pound of fiber from the stash. I may end up doing more, but I'd rather not be disappointed in myself if it doesn't happen.

Be Not Afraid...

Over the last few weeks I've been going through my stash and digging through a lot of fiber that I forgot I had. I've managed to collect around five large rubbermaid bins full of fiber in a variety of fiber blends. Mostly, these are combed tops. Mostly. This last week I turned my attention to the handful of batts I've bought.

Batts are my spinning nemesis. Up to this point, my only positive experience with spinning batts has been in core-spinning. I love using batts for that purpose. However, every time I've tried to spin a batt into a standard two or three ply yarn, my best efforts have ended in disappointment. I'd never even attempted spinning a fine single like I usually would for a fingering weight yarn. Seeing another spinner's beautiful, even handspun created from batts, usually causes me a sharp pang of jealousy.

Recently I decided to do something about it. A short while ago I bought a pair of batts from a fellow Raveler's destash and decided to try my first sock weight yarn.

After untwisting and laying out the batt,

I tore off a strip and just tried spinning straight from it. This method didn't work well for me. Even after tearing that strip into a few much thinner strips I had a very difficult time drafting it out evenly as I was spinning.

Next, I tore off another thicker strip and pre-drafted it out as evenly as possible. This second effort (along with spinning a bit more slowly than usual) worked beautifully.

I don't really like spinning from pre-drafted fiber, but I'm usually using fiber that I've pre-drafted out from combed top. The fiber I drafted out from the batts was actually much nicer to spin, though I'm not sure why. My best guess would be that it's because batts are not as compacted and dense as combed top, so perhaps it's easier to draft them out evenly. Whatever the reason, the second try worked.

Here is the final yarn, spun from a sw merino Funky Carolina Batt in the Oak colorway.

chain plied ~ fingering weight

approx 3.7oz and 356yards

I still prefer spinning from combed top, but now I think spinning the occasional batt will be an enjoyable experience too. Now I need to figure out what my next growing experience as a spinner will be. Longdraw perhaps?

Birthday

Yesterday I celebrated my 30th birthday. It turned out to be a very nice day. In the morning my husband took our daughter to school so I could have a relaxing morning for myself. Throughout the day I received several phone calls and messages from friends and family wishing me a good birthday. Then last night my husband took me out to dinner (just the two of us -which rarely ever happens).

And even though it didn't come by my birthday, my birthday present finally came in the mail today...

Mmmmmm.... Mama Blue. It's a rare and special treat for me. I'm really loving this order, too. I managed to finally get a hold of a skein of Kale (the rich green one at the top), a gorgeous skein of Palomino (the color is the most lovely, buttery shade of yellow) and... a beautiful and coveted skein of Corset (not exactly blue, not exactly purple, but something in between with possible hints of grey). They're all Smart Merino Sock and they're all very nice. I'm thinking that at least two of them will become baby sweaters, but only time will tell.

I'm excited that my birthday has passed. For me it usually signifies the beginning of warmer weather on the Olympic Peninsula. I miss blue skies, warm breezes and long summer days. Since we've moved I've felt lucky to see even 1 or 2 sunny days out of every week we've had. I'm even starting to daydream about getting in a short camping trip before my due date (and before it gets too hot).

Speaking of pregnancy and how it's been affecting life, I'm trying to get in both as much spinning and knitting as I can -while I still can.

The spinning has sort of hit a slow patch. While I have a few different spinning projects in the works right now, I've been working exclusively on one of them, pushing myself to get it done. It's approx. 20-24oz of baby llama. I agreed to spin it for a friend and at this point I've had it (still unspun) in my possession for way too long. It's taken me forever to get going on this project because the preparation of this llama is very rustic and to be honest I really just don't like working with it. Even so, I've been working on it whenever I feel up to spinning over the last week and I'm currently about halfway through it right now. I'm hoping that I'll have a very pro-spinning sort of weekend and that I'll manage to get through the rest of it by Monday. I really want to finish this project because I have such an exciting line-up of other things to spin when I'm done.

The knitting isn't super exciting, but I have been making progress. Right now all non-baby projects have been put on hold and stashed away in the closet. I'm somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the way done with baby blanket #1. It's a pattern called Lullaby and I've already knit it twice before. I love it because it's girly, without being too lacy (which for me equals not being durable enough for daily baby wear and tear). I also like the pattern because it's very intuitive and simple to memorize. After that, I think I might take a break with a baby sweater before I jump into knitting baby blanket #2. My only hold-up is finding the right pattern. Mama Blue is to precious to waste on a plain, unremarkable pattern.

In a word...

...inconsistent. I spun this yarn from a lovely braid of Pigeonroof Studios sw merino in the Circus colorway -over a period of 2 months. This yarn is proof that spacing out a spinning project over two months (with little to no practice in between) isn't a great idea. At least not for me. This is by far the most inconsistent yarn I've spun in a long, long time.

Pigeonroof Studios sw merino

approx. 4oz and 392yds

circus colorway

Though I wouldn't want to list this yarn in my shop, I know it will still be perfectly knit-able, so I'm going to turn it into a pair of socks as soon as I get my new needles in the mail. (I've ordered a pair of US1 24" circular needles to try two toe-up socks at once. I'm very excited about trying out that method of sock knitting.)

As for the fiber, this one was nice to spin. This was the first time I've spun Pigeonroof sw merino, and it was very silky-feeling. It's amazing how much the fibers vary from seller to seller. Some feel silky, others waxy and some have a much more fuzzy quality. I'm sure it has a lot to do with where the sellers are purchasing their materials from, but I also wonder how much of it has to do with the way each seller handles and processes the fiber as they dye it.

Now that our move is over I've begun discussing with my husband the possibility of getting a second wheel. I've been thinking that since there is very little to do here in the new town I may want to get involved with a guild after all, and while the Minstrel has been a very good wheel for me, I would love to have something that travels better. He really surprised me by telling me to just go ahead and "go for it". I think I've narrowed it down to getting a Lendrum DT (probably with a woolee winder, too).

Back when I bough my Minstrel, I was trying to get away from the travel wheels. I wanted something that looked more traditional, spun nicely and was within a certain price range. This time around, I'm not as concerned about traditional appearances, but much more in performance (and cost, too). From what I've read, it seems that the Lendrum DT will probably be my best choice for a second wheel. I'm going to keep reading and considering for a while before making my final decision, though I'm looking forward to ordering that second wheel soon. =)

Lioness

I finally finished spinning the Pigeonroof Studios South African fine in Lazy Daisy. This one really surprised me. I chain plied it and it did end up plying as I had thought it would: just like bfl. While I don't think I would do another chain plied yarn with the South African fine wool, I wouldn't be opposed to doing another fingering weight yarn with it. It's surprisingly soft.

"lioness" handspun sock yarn

approx. 4oz and 500 yards

chain plied

The name came to me upon finishing it and putting it in the bath. It reminded me much more of an African Lioness napping in the shade than a daisy. I don't name all of my handspun yarns, but this yarn seemed to want one.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this one yet. I might keep it, then again I might not. At least I don't have to decide on it today.

As far as my being cut off goes, I've been extremely good. I am still planning on joining the next SAL round for All Spun UP (it would feel wrong not to), but I haven't let myself buy anything else. I'm going to keep spinning and spinning on the stash and try to get as far through it as possible. We'll see how long it takes before I break. ;)

Cut off.

The other night I was able to sneak in another kettle-dyeing practice session and I ended up with this one. It is a grey Shetland wool, over-dyed in an autumnal combination of rust, gold, brown, deep green, navy and even a few hints of black.

I imagine this one spun into a nice worsted weight 2 ply and becoming a pair of Mitered mittens (E. Zimmerman). I think they would look nice. I've also considered spinning for a knitted hat, and although I see several patterns which would be lovely in these colors, I have a very sensitive noggin and I think my head would resent the Shetland. (My forehead -so far- seems to be the most picky when it comes to itchy wool -I could completely tolerate this wool as a sweater. While admittedly rustic, it's still quite soft.)

I've finally finished spinning my PRS Lazy Daisy roving and I'm going to let it rest on the bobbin over the weekend while I spin a lovely braid of sw merino/alpaca from All Spun UP. I bought it because A: it's one of my favorite blends and B: because the colorings remind me exactly of the ASU May/June SAL coloring. It's a rich blend of greens and dark blue/greens with little shocks of golden rust running through it.

Actually, I've noticed that I've been on a severe green-binge lately. I buy many different colors of handpainted rovings and I tend to have a month or two where I'll really be drawn to specific colors. I didn't notice this until I was looking through my past purchases on Etsy. For a whole month I'll buy nothing but blue -or gold -or green -or brown -or... you get the idea, and as I look at my purchase pages I see big blocks of just one or two colors. So, anyways, right now I'm really into greens and blues.

I also gave myself another shock when I started going through my fiber stash, photographing things I hadn't taken pictures of yet so I could add them to my stash on Ravelry. I think (at least for me) I almost have too much fiber. As much as it pains me to say it, I think I need to be cut off for a while. =(

P.S. Spin-A-Longs don't count.

Weekend

My weekend went by way too fast. It didn't help that I had to pull an extra shift at work. At least I was still able to get stuff done, laundry in particular (I was able to get everything washed but some sheets and wool-things, which is a win in my world). Yesterday, my daughter and I made some chocolate mint marshmallows. They are very yummy and should be excellent on cocoa.

Also, my kettle dying experiment came out with great results. Now I know that less water in the pot is a good thing. I am thinking of spinning it into a 2-ply fingering to use in another February Baby Sweater. I have a friend who's expecting a baby girl in just a couple of months and this lovely, soft shetland might be just the ticket.

I'm also still plugging along at my PRS south african fine. I'm getting close to the end of it. Once it's done I'm going to let it rest for a week or so while I decide whether to go 2-ply or chain-ply. I think a chain-ply would be beautiful, though I have my doubts whether or not I've spun it evenly enough to have it look nice. I think it would probably react to chain-plying a lot like BFL. It feels like it will. Then again, it could be a very nice 2-ply, too. Maybe for a small shawl? We'll see...

Still alive...

I feel like I have been doing, doing and going, going for about a week too long... I did finish my Aug/Sept All Spun UP spin-a-long fiber, though...

3 ply handspun sock yarn

chain plied fingering weight

approx. 4oz and 515 yards

ASU Aug/Sept SAL fiber - merino/bamboo/silk

I really like this yarn. It's very soft, it has a beautiful shine and the colors are perfect to welcome in the fall. I've decided to knit a Clothilde shawl with it. I think it's gonna be great. =)

I hope to get started on the shawl by October. I'm really (for once) being diligent about finishing up all of my UFO's. Tomorrow I'm going to be picking up Paige's waffles sweater again. (I'm currently about 1/3 of the way done, though I had a slight hiccup with it before putting it down. There's a slight chance I may rip it and start over, so we'll see.)

Also, I finished knitting a pair of handspun socks from the handspun I shared back here. I love the way these turned out and I can't believe I'm giving them away (though I know my sister-in-law will enjoy them and I can't think of a harder-working, more deserving person to give them to). But I'm saving that for next time. They really deserve their own post.

I've been working 4+ days a week now and though I am feeling it, my body is starting to adjust to the change. I've been getting a lot more done around here lately and I've even pulled out my dye pots 2 times within the last week. I'm hoping to have a fiber update by this weekend (early next week at the latest). I've been a bit non-commital in my dyeing lately, so a lot of the rovings I've dyed have been OOAK's. I'm really enjoying the spontaneity.

Handspun Socks

Finally, after poking along on these for several weeks I've finished a pair of handspun socks. It frustrates me when I drag a project out like this, especially when it was such a simple one.

These sock were knit from the handspun I finished back in May. I had cast on for socks with it as soon as the yarn was dry and knocked out the first sock in a matter of a few days. The second sock sat around (needing only a couple of inches on the foot and a toe) for the last month or so until I picked it up the other day and finished it so I could start on something new:

Approx. 4oz and 400yds

chain-plied fingering weight

SW merino from All Spun Up

This yarn turned out very pretty and is currently becoming socks for my sister-in-law (if she wants them -lucky for me, we have the same size foot if she doesn't). I really can't wait to post about these when they're all done. They are knitting up so beautifully and this is some of the nicest (of my own) handspun that I've ever knitted with. The weight of the yarn is just right. My favorite commercial sock yarn is Lorna's Laces Sheperd Sock, and that's usually about the thickness I aim for when I'm spinning a 3-ply sock yarn (not that I usually meet that goal, it's just what I try for). This yarn has probably been the closest I've come so far to meeting my goal.

Beyond being happy with the spinning job, the colors in this one make me weak in the knees. There is a lot of pink and yellow, but there are also some beautifully deep reds, golds and greens and the way they're all coming together is lovely. Handspun socks are the best.

This last week was my first week back at work and today was the first of 3 days off. Over the weekend I'm going to try to get the last pound of fiber I have in my closet dyed up. Then maybe I'll be able to proceed with my plans to do a weekend update the following weekend. I think I might be able to make this new schedule work afterall.

For any of those lucky enough to be going to Sock Summit, I hope you'll have a chance to drop by the Sweet Sheep booth where you can find Michelle's awesome goods and snuggle some of my handspun! =)

Unrealistic

So it turns out my goal for Tour de Fleece was highly unrealistic. It might have worked, had I already been done with my Summer project spinning. That first week, I was plugging along on track (expecting to get started on my TdF spinning by week 2 at the latest) and then my husband anounced that we were going to have company for a few days. Actually, he managed to keep me away from my wheel for most of that week.

So, eventually I did finish spinning up the Summer project yarn, and was able to crank out the first bump of sw merino/alpaca in about 3 1/2 days.

All Spun Up sw merino/alpaca

chain plied - fingering weight

approx. 4.3oz and 464 yards

And seeing how unlikely it was going to be for me to finish a second bump before the end of the tour, I decided to finish spinning the last half or so of my May/June SAL fiber from All Spun Up.

All Spun Up sw merino

chain plied - fingering weight

Approx. 4oz and 450 yards

I'm pleased with how both of these turned out. The sw merino is going to become socks for my husband (he absolutely promised me that he did like the color and that he would wear them if I made them -this was my condition for knitting him socks out of my handspun).

I'm glad I joined in on the Tour de Fleece this year and I know I'll be among the first to jump headlong into it next year -though I'll have a better understanding of what sort of goals I should make.

I'm also glad to have gotten in all the extra spinning time, especially as my life is about to take another turn this week. Tomorrow I go back to work...

Work has been very unpredictable this year. Since about January I'd been working two days (sometimes more) a week and then about a month ago the coffee shop had to close down for a while. This week the coffee shop is going to be opening back up and it looks as though I'll be working at least twice as much as I was before. As much pressure as this is going to put on me for keeping the house perfect for potential buyers, I'm looking at it as a blessing because I know how much easier it will be for us to pay the bills. I'm excited about getting out of the house, too.

I'll still try to get fiber dyed up and put in the shop when I have the time. It would be nice if I could get into a routine of having one dyeing day every week. Friday would be excellent, as I will be working Mon-Thurs every week. It would give me time to get all the fibery stuff done on the weekend. I'm hoping that once I get going on it everything will fall into place.