Sheep to Shoe - part 1
So it's been at least a month now since Stitches Midwest. I didn't get to go but in hindsight it was a good thing that I didn't register after all since I would have missed the entire thing due to my stepmom's funeral.

But thanks to Gwen, I reaped a few rewards anyway! The week before I slipped her some cash and told her I wanted two things. More of Tess' Super Sock and a Sheep to Sock Kit.

Here's the Super Sock:


Pretty, isn't it? I'm loving the colors. No idea what pattern I'll use or even when I'll knit it...but it's joining the rest of my sock yarn to ripen a bit first.

So, the Sheep to Sock Kit is handpainted fiber from Blue Moon Fiber Arts that I've heard about but haven't really seen much of and I can't find it anywhere online. Apparently BMFA doesn't sell these online? I think I read on someone's blog somewhere that The Fold carried these kits. And since I knew The Fold would be at SMW...ha, my chance had arrived. And Gwen certainly delivered!



The colors are beyond lovely. I had to keep taking photos in order to really capture how pretty this fiber is.



Now this kit comes with instructions of course. And it tells me to split the roving lengthwise into three equal sections. After the singles are spun, I'm supposed to ply three singles together. Well that sounds simple enough, I suppose. But I've never done that before and I don't have a wheel yet so it seems like that will be a tough thing to tackle. It's hard enough for me to ply two singles, let alone to attempt three. But I think I might try Navajo plying and see if I like the results. Otherwise I may have to wait til I get a wheel and ply it on the wheel.

But in the meantime, I split it into three parts and rolled each one up into balls.



And of course, I had to start spinning it, right?



It's so soft and fun to spin. I'm loving this stuff and it's going to take a long time at the rate I'm going...but I don't care really, it's just that much fun.