I've been spinning so much in the past two months. I rented a wheel for a short time and spun up most of my fiber stash. I only have a bit of alpaca and various odds and ends right now. Here's some of the alpaca roving I had and how it looks after it was spun.



It was a tri-color roving and even though it's a spun single...it looks like it's been plied. It is so soft and luscious to touch.

I also spun up some pretty superwash wool from Zarzuela's Fibers in Cranberry Bog.


Oh and I've knit some stuff but I only have an in progress photo to show off. Here are some mittens that I knit up from some of the cashmere handspun that I bought in Scotland last summer.



They are so soft and toasty and Jen calls this yarn softer than puppy sneezes. Which is much better than my description of softer than angel farts.

I cast on for this sock and never even paused to take a photo until I ran out of yarn.



Love. Love. Love.

I have more than enough to make knee socks and at least another pair. I think for the knee socks I'll try to match them as much as I can. The Navajo plying is working so much better than I would have imagined. Maybe for the next pair of socks I'll blend the colors together a bit more and Andean ply instead. Who knows? For now, I'm in love with these and can't wait to spin some more so I can finish them.

Part 1 here

We took the kids to the Ren Fest today and had a blast. Spent too much money and didn't buy myself a thing. So when we got home, Sid and the kids watched movies and I secluded myself in my craft room. I started to ply the singles that I'd started for my BMFA Sheep to Shoe socks.

And can I just say that I'm thrilled with Navajo plying? I think I have found spinning nirvana. I spent a couple hours plying and was just so ecstatic that I had to share it with someone. So I showed my pretty results to Sid and he said, "Doesn't look as smooth as the yarn you buy".

Grrrr.

So. Not. The. Point.



It's pretty darn even actually. And even though I do love how barber poled yarn looks...check out that gradual progression of color! LOVE!

Funnily enough, just as I was about halfway through my single...I was thinking about how much I wanted to take some photos when the single broke. I wasn't even disappointed. Just thought, hooray! Can take photos now!



Oh and I so want to cast on right away. But I'm trying to decide if I should wash it first.

Who am I kidding? I'll probably cast on tomorrow while listening to the Yarn Harlot in Wichita.

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.

Sometimes I write journal entries in my head while in boring staff meetings and that title has been begging to have its post written so ere it goes...

If you've been paying much attention, I learned to spin recently. So of course that means I've been buying more and more fiber to play with just because it's so damn fun.

Not long ago, I bought this spinning batt. Check out the description because Miss Violet has a way with words that never fails to crack me up. Also note the tag that reads "beard stubble". Now at the time I bought this, I thought it was an oblique reference to my one-time all-encompassing lust-beyond-reason crush, George Michael, and his perfectly maintained three day beard. (I once had a crush on Boy George too, go figure)

Anyway, I spun this up and while I enjoyed doing so, every once in a while I came across teeny tiny little hard bits that kinda looked like mono filament about the length of a three day old beard. Hence the reason for the title. So what I've got to know is...Violet...did you do that on purpose just to fuck with me? Because I kept laughing my ass off while spinning and singing along to "Father Figure".

Oh and here's the yarn in case you were wondering.


It turned out very pretty with the bits of pink and white nestled in the slightly heather brown. There's not much of it but where there is looks pretty good (if I do say so myself).

Oh and I bought some other roving at the same time called "Hafta Get Away" and I've had some fun spinning that up too.

Right now, it feels more like a Blue Christmas than a Vacation...but once it's plied, I might change my mind. I think I might have enough for some socks so that would be groovy.


In other news, my husband bought me a new digital camera for my birthday so I can finally take some decent pictures again. Except now I have to learn how to use this one a bit before I feel proficient.

Well if by announce you mean that she's posted the new address on her website. I mean, I've only been checking her website every day or so this month to see where her new location will be. And hooray, this morning I see it!

Oh and also? She's having a Spin-In event on April 6th. Color me there, baby!

A few months ago, I bought a learn to spin kit complete with drop spindle, booklet and a bit of indigo-dyed wool. I tried it at the time, got discouraged and put it in the black hole that my craft room has become lately. Well, I came across it again a few weeks backs and somehow...well, it just clicked this time.

And so my first bit of handspun yarn...


Granted, it looks very primitive, but the whole process became very addicting. So I headed out to the local fiber shop for more. Cottage Fiber is a cute little shop. Unfortunately, her landlord it selling the building and she's closing the shop on February 28th. She will still be selling stuff and teaching classes until she finds another suitable brick and mortar...but until then she's hibernating the business.

Anyway, she told me a bunch of helpful information on plying and fibers and all sorts of groovy stuff. I bought some alpaca and merino. I absolutely loved the alpaca so much that I went back a few days later to buy more of the same colorway.

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