More Saturday Spinning

I'm a day late, but not a dime short in the spinning world. I continue to spin the Kona Ashland Bay fiber into a bulky yarn.

My spin buds also had much to show.

Paula used her woolee winder to ply some commercial camel and wool.
Carol M displays her lovely blue wool.

Sue displays her own handpainted sock yarn.









Out and About:

Elizabeth got the blue silk wound off her spindle. Lovely sheen..................

Sylvia's hit the jackpot with her "Pretend Saturday." Go see the wonderful fiber she got from Carol Lee.

Judy's sporting "more tools in her belt." She's spinning some textured silk.

Cathy caught the spinning everyday attitude from Sylvia.


Check out Margaret's spindling efforts and her wonderful Wisteria Shawl.....another Evelyn Clark shawl.

Sock Dyeing Experiment

A little sock dyeing goes a long way. After perusing the Internet, I discovered some sites to help me make some striped sock yarn. It's a bit bright. The blue color you see is not accurate. It's really a teal color. Thanks, DD, for buying me some sock yarn to dye as a holiday gift. I used the Ringwood pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks to break up the monotony of the stripes.

Knitty. com has a wonderful sock made from koolaid dyeing . Check out the tutorial there as well.

Glorious Weekend to Garden, Knit and Spin

What a spectacular weather weekend. I just had to get outside and work in the garden. Much to my supreme happiness I spied my Poppy plant. Readers you need to know that I have been trying for years to grow Poppies!!! I also am thrilled to see my Mallow plant has returned. The English Thyme has appeared only in small clusters, but that gives me an opportunity to try a new plant. My Siberian Iris looks very good ;I divided it nicely to transplant it further down the driveway garden. DH bought me some mulch so I better get the weeding and new plant selections done in the near future......

I realize I forgot to post my Saturday Spin In, but it's just more of the same merino and mohair that you saw here. Of course,I did spin some Montedale on my Spanish Peacock spindle. Carol R on the other hand did skein her wonderful dark purple yarn here. Judy started washing her fleece which reminds me I'd better get going with my fleece as well. She's reminding us that the hummers are coming. Elizabeth skeined up her spinning; she spun a lovely rag yarn.

You have to know I finished the Tasha, but with an alteration to the pattern. I crocheted a look alike edging to the two sides after the long drawn out knitted edge along the top. I used Jamieson and Smith's DK Shetland wool. I only needed 6 skeins to complete the shawl for my height. I added a lovely sterling silver pin from Celtic Swan Forge. You'll want to check out their wonderful knitting needles and spinning hooks.

Today's another lovely day....perhaps I'll dye some yarn and wash some fleece....................

Birdsong

The birdsong struck me this morning while I quietly woke from a restful sleep. Peering through the lace curtained window I saw one of the small birds that often grace the front yard shrubbery. Twittering away with its piercing song it raised my dampened spirits.

For too long the dismal forecast created a brooding atmosphere when springtime should have emancipated my mood.

Homage must be paid to such a bird.

The picture above is of a wren taken from Wikipedia.

Saturday Spin In Meeting

I have the great fortune to be a member of the RI Spinning Guild. This Saturday we met for our monthly meeting. We had a great time spinning, socializing and, of course , eating the many goodies that we bring.

At this meeting Judy gave us a challenge. See the raw Border Leicester fleece in the picture above? We have the task of deciding how to process, comb and spin the two colors. I need your collective wisdom. Any ideas about what you would do with my bounty? The usual thoughts come to mind.....wash preserving the lock structure and spin from the lock, spin in the grease using the wheel, wash then card and spin on a spindle. Then there are all the color questions such as blending the two colors using hand cards or spinning each color separately and to make a rag yarn. By the way, the fleece comes from Barbara T at Seldom Seen Farm.

Give me your thoughts.......................

Out and About:
Cathy's mixing roving that look interesting.

Laurie's got 1700 feet of sweater-worthy Coopworth spun on one bobbin.

ELizabeth's working on spinning silk on her spindle and pale beast on the bobbin.

Margene's whipping up a War of the Whorls

Low Tech Always Delights Me

I am so fortunate to revel in simple pleasures! One of the challenges of modern mankind is the cost of entertainment. Give me my knitting and spinning and I'm awash in delight.

How to Dress a Branch and Bracelet Distaff

Cyndy asked how I dress my distaffs. Here are some pictures of the process of dressing a y- shaped tree branch. First I draft the fiber or roving until it is the appropriate size for the size of singles I wish to create. This predrafting is essential for creating somewhat uniform singles. After predrafting I wrap the singles around the lowest portion of the V shape of the branch. I then continue wrapping in a figure eight fashion. I hold the distaff with the predrafted roving in my right hand, get the spindle spinning then draft out the fiber with my right hand and I use my left hand to hold the singles in order to allow the twist into the drafting triangle slowly.

I love the bracelet distaff my friend Sue made me. When I use the string bracelet distaff I wrap the fiber differently. I just wrap the predrafted roving around and around the vertical portion of the distaff which is hanging from my wrist. What is wonderful about the bracelet distaff is that the bracelet stays on your wrist holding the fiber while the Y-shaped branch distaff has to be held in your hand.

Springtime Blooms & Easter Baking

Saturday Spin In

Wow.....I've been remiss in posting this week. Guess I've been busier with this and that. I did manage to eek out some spinning this week and on three different spindles no less.

The first.............my Forrester is used here to spin mohair and wool. I love this spindle because it is very lightweight and spins like a dream. I also enjoy using a y-shaped tree branch as a distaff. I learned this technique from Rita Buchanan at The Gathering last year. What a wonderful use of a natural item to hold fiber. Of course...Rita took the bark off her distaff unlike me!

The second.........my Spanish Peacock is used here to spin Montedale. Now that I've got one small skein done I want to spin more.

The third...........my Turkish spindle purchased years ago used to spin merino/mohair I purchased at Rhinebeck several years ago. I resurrected my Turkish spindle because Judy and Sue have been spinning with them; ahhhh....the inspiration of friends. I must admit I prefer the other two spindles due to the speed with which I can churn out the singles. The Turkish slows me down....but there is the center pull ball that it produces which can save time as well. Perhaps it's a wash time wise.

Out and About:
Woolapalooza at Laurie's blog.

Grace made some CD spindles and has been spinning short fiber.

Kathy's knit a wonderful Forest Canopy Shawl!

Judy's dying some wool silk in beautiful colors...............

Margene's finished plying a lovely springtime skein that she plans to knit into baby clothing.

Marcy's Song of Spring is a must see..............

Sue brought this to my attention; it's a must see. She says it illustrates how people appear when they can't figure out some small computer task.

Happy Springtime all!!!

OK Go - Here It Goes Again

Here's a Monday Morning Laugh!

Saturday Spin In

This Saturday our spinning friends met at RI Handspun to spin our Saturday away. Starting at the top you can see Sandy's spinning followed by Carol R's, my spinning, Marva's spinning and beautiful dress she made for her granddaughter. Last but not least is Judy plying singles on her Turkish spindle.

Missing is a pic of Sue knitting her Koigu socks and Muriel spinning her brown wool. Also missed are Carol M( furniture delivery) and Paula.

Spin In's Out and About:

Laurie is spinning silk.............
Kathy has spun some merino /tencel...... and some fiber from Lisa Souza in bright springtime colors.

Margene is the Roving Reporter who tells all about who's spinning what. Check out her finished handspun socks.