This winter has been quite unusual, for me at least. While I know that many of you have had far too much snow and cold this year, it has been incredibly mild here. Yes, there were a few days here and there where the temperature has dipped quite low, and we did have a little more snowfall than we have had in the last couple years, but it hasn’t stayed around for long. Whatever we did get has all disappeared by early March, and there have been many bright sunny days! There has been no run-off – the snow just has evaporated!
I don’t blog here that much, as Kenny has pointed out. When I started the blog a little over 3 years ago (has it been that long?), I had intended to post very regularly. But I found I didn’t have that much to say, and so a few days would go by, then a few weeks! That’s just how it is.
I’ve tried to stick to fibre items when I do post, but there have been times that I felt very strongly about another topic and have stated my views. That’s partly why I chose the name of my blog as I did – to allow me to go in any direction I wanted. After all, it is MY blog!
I had a blog previous to this one, and that was on a different theme. I have lost interest -- or it lost interest in me -- and there has been nothing posted there for many long months now. This one I still try to keep alive, but I won’t make any promise as to how often I post!
It’s not as if I’ve been sitting around, or lying around, doing nothing! Even on the beautiful sunny days, I have been inside looking out, and spinning. I had a large bag of some fine wool that I purchased last year sometime (part of that 12 lb package). This came in the most unusual form; I’ve never seen anything like it.
I have used silk caps before. In fact, in my last class, we made our own silk hankies and silk bells (from silk cocoons no less). I’ll try and get some pics for you next time. But this was a wool cap! And it was gigantic! I was tempted to put it on, and post a pic for you, but that would have been too silly. Instead, I have spun it all up and it’s now in about 6 hanks. It is a very fine wool,
perhaps Merino with some mohair blended in with it, I’m sure. I got almost 500 gms of it. I was a little disappointed in that I wasn’t very consistent throughout; I have a few looser areas, and some thinner ones. Overall, I’m quite happy with them, and it was such fun to spin it.
I had intended to knit a lace shawl with it. We have a family reunion this summer, and they wanted some handmade items for an auction. Our family is quite diverse in the kinds of crafts we do, so there should be quite a variety of items. I thought I would knit something, and then why not spin the yarn as well, as my grandmother did. She did a lot of weaving with her yarns, which were usually wool and her own hemp.
However, when I tried to find some beads that I wanted to incorporate into the lace, and when I looked at my skeins, I decided it was a little too thick for the lace I wanted to knit. So I have set out to spin more! I have time! This time I’m using some Punta that I have, and am loving it even more than the wool caps. Because I’ve been spinning so much lately, and because this roving is so well prepared, I have been working on my long draw technique. I’m finding it such a joy to do, and really have to force myself to take a break for supper, or to go to bed. This isn’t the first time I’ve stayed up all night to spin, but I haven’t done this for a couple years. If only that job didn’t interfere with my life so much!
The new job is working out quite well, and overall I’m enjoying it there. I can walk to work in about 12 minutes, which is great since I don’t leave the house some days until 8 am. I have a great view of the mountains from the office, and the people are really nice to work with. This past week was just a mess, and things just went wrong one after another. I sure don’t want any more like that!
But the sun is shining, the days are much longer now, the air is warm and I have my spinning. What more do I want? This weekend, there has been a marathon of pre-Easter shows on http://www.radiooutofthepast.org/ -- go to the Old Time Radio conference room and sign in (no password required). Tomorrow, Sunday March 16, is another 12 hours of fantastic shows from when radio was king. They start at 9 am Pacific/1 pm
3 comments:
I think your handspun is beautiful. We finally had real winter this winter in Michigan, but it's finally giving way to spring.
Your spinning pictures are beautiful - all we are missing is the touch and smell of it.
What ever happened to that room full of fiber you had? Can you walk into it yet?
:-)
I think the weather has been weird for everyone on the continent. We in Portland got more snow than expected but it was all in the hills and none in the main part of the city.
I try to blog once a week, usually on Sunday, with occasional extra posts during the week. I come back here to see what you're up to.
Post a Comment