Testing Three

Okay, so now I'm going to get really brave, and spin up some bright red/pink and see what that does. I don't have any. But I do have some orange/red mohair -- it will have to do. This is the skein I got:
And this is the knit swatch:
Quite different, isn't it? So much can change just by which colour is used as the background. Actually, I can't tell which is background and which is the main colour!

Now, that I've done this much, another idea strikes me. Okay, more spinning to do.

Testing Two

Since that last sample tended to produce a rather dull lack-luster over-all tone, I needed something that would pickup one of the colours in my original, without being too strong. I do have some dark blue and spun up a small bobbin, and plied with my purple/pink single. This is the skein I got.
I then knit a swatch to see what it looks like. You can never tell what will happen just by looking at the skein!
This is better. I notice a bit more brightness in the colours now.

Hmm... now I wonder what would happen if I used something a bit brighter. Okay, one more test.

Some testing

There hasn't been an update for some time on the spinning I've been doing. So much has been happening that I have neglected to tell you the latest. So here is a bit of what I've done.

When I was spinning this roving, with all these colours in it, I kept thinking of how to ply it. I didn't want to ply with itself, since I would lose some of the variation of colours. I felt it would all blend together. And, because I only had a limited quantity, I wanted to stretch it as far as I could. At first, I thought I would use another strand of the purple/pink colours, to use as one of the plys and to tie the whole together. But that is not quite a colour that I would use. I had no plans for this yarn either, so what colour it was really didn't matter much!

I did think that a darker neutral colour would work well, since it would not overpower the subtle colour changes in what I was spinning, and a darker colour would tend to let the colours stand out a bit more. A white would make it all quite pale, I felt.

So I was able to spin up a little bit of grey alpaca to ply a small bobbin. The results are below.
I did knit up a small swatch with that skein. I am not quite sure whether this has achieved what I intended. The gray does blend it all together, but the colours are not as bright as I would have liked.

Obviously, more testing is required!

Conference treats

In early June, the provincial conference was held here in the city on June 10-12. I am not a member (yet) but I always like to go to see the public displays and the vendors area. I had decided I needed to treat myself to a really nice spindle. I got a little extra money for my birthday, and I thought it was about time that I got myself something special. I love my CD spindle, but by now I deserve a real fancy tool.

I was holding a garage sale that day as well, and it was very cold and windy. Not a good day to be standing out on the street trying to push some yarn!!

By noon, I made my way to the venue, carrying my umbrella because it threatened rain. I finally found the place (they sure hid it well this year) and tried to find the display and the vendors. I ran into an old friend I haven't seen for a long time, so we had to catch up on what we've done for the last few years. And then there was another friend that I hadn't seen for awhile. I've been out of the weaving community for some time, so I have lost touch with many of these ladies.

The public display was rather disappointing. There were very few entries, the prizes were not very obvious -- they used tall wine glasses with fragments of woven material to signify the placement of a prize, but I had no idea which was first or second. There were many entries by the same person, and the others were the usual people who always enter these kind of shows.

The vendors were spread over four rooms. Which meant I had to stop into each one to get a general feel of what was available, and then spend time to find that exact thing I wanted. The first thing I noticed was that I could not find a single spindle in the whole place! In fact, one of the vendors actually asked if I had mine with me, since she wanted to try out some fibre. I was greatly disappointed -- it's not often that I am willing to spend money, and here no one wanted any of it!!

I did find some nice fibre. Okay, I found a lot of really nice fibre! So then I went around touching (we always have to touch) trying to decide which I wanted the most, and the second most. Not easy! And there was so much to choose from: merino, alpaca, bison, silk, angora... and blends of any of these as well! What's a poor person to do?!? It's been quite some time since I bought any fibre, I think I lost any skill I had in that area. I have been spinning up some wool that was sent to me, and also finding bags of nice fibre I got several conferences ago. Now I needed to replenish my stash!

I did end up getting some really great roving, and will be spinning that shortly. I spent all the money I took with me, and so had to leave. I also told myself that when this shopping bag is full, I'm done. But some nice merchant offered to get me a bigger bag!

But I just wanted to show you this. I agonized over this for so long, trying to visualize how I would spin it, and what would I make of it. She had two very similar colourways... of course I liked parts of both. I started spinning this as soon as I got home.. well, to see how it works, naturally, and maybe I would go back the next day and get more if I liked this batch.
Of course, it's so difficult to get the right lighting to show you the exact colours. This is the best I could do.

I'm spinning it quite fine... well, what else is new. That is what it wanted to be! honest! I tried hard to convince it to be a little softer and thicker... but it had other ideas. I am trying to keep the colours separated, but because of how the roving was dyed, I'm not being too successful there. I still haven't decided how to ply this. I had thought of plying it with itself, but I only got 227 gm and that is not enough to make anything substantial. I may want to ply it with one of the main colours in the roving... if I can find some. I still haven't decided which colour yet. I just may have to do that dreaded "s*****", but I didn't say that! I'm nearly finished spinning the whole batch... so I need to decide quickly.

Rainbows

Even on a bright sunny day with blue skies, life will throw you a few rain clouds.

That is what seems to happen to me most often. It’s really hard to say it’s a good day or a bad day – it seems to be a mixture of both, and then I don’t know what to feel!

It seems that for the last several weeks, it has been extremely busy for some reason. There seems to be more and more things that need my attention, and I have less and less time to do it all. Am I really getting involved in too many activities? Is time really getting shorter? Am I only getting older and can’t keep up any longer?

Last Saturday was the 20^th anniversary of the local knitting guild. There was a bit of a celebration with some displays of the past (we soon forget what we have accomplished in our own recent past) and some mini-workshops on a variety of knitting techniques, and a big dinner in the evening. I just didn’t want to get up on Saturday, and it took a very long time to get myself ready and to get to the hall where it was all held.

The guild had arranged for some door prizes to be given away – always nice. I wasn’t there for the 2 o’clock drawing, so didn’t get anything then. I hadn’t yet arrived for the 3 o’clock drawing, and didn’t get a prize then as well.

At the 4 o’clock drawing, my name wasn’t in the basket either, since I hadn’t quite made it to the venue by then. It is a long ride on public transit to get there, plus a long walk, and I was a bit late. I kept thinking to myself that I will NEVER go to another event that is so far from home! By the time I got there, the mini-workshops had nearly all completed, and the prize drawing was done, so I missed all of that. But since I had already purchased a ticket to the dinner, I felt I had to go; otherwise, I’m sure I would have just stayed in bed for most of the day.

It was great to get a chance to talk to some people that I don’t see very often. Almost everyone was knitting on something, so of course, everyone was in a great mood! The dinner was excellent. Everything was very fresh and tasty and well-prepared. They used a well-known caterer and everyone was very pleased. After the dinner, there were a few speeches from long-time members about their memories of some outstanding events, and we also remembered many members that are no longer among us. They did the final drawings for prizes since there were a few things left. I really would have liked the book by Franklin Habit “It Itches”, but it went to someone else. And as I sat there, hoping they would call my name eventually for anything, it seemed doubtful they would find my one piece of paper with MY name on it.

Then suddenly, when I wasn’t paying attention, they did call out my name! I had given up hope by then. And I got a book by Lucy Neatby called “Cool Knitters Finish in Style”. This is all about finishing techniques for your knitting. I never learned how to do seams, so all of my knitting was either flat or in the round. Several years ago, I took a class from Lucy on finishing methods, and learned so much! She is a great teacher. This book is based on those classes, with more details, and I will treasure and use it a lot.

I got home early enough to be able to run over to a friend’s house who was having some people over that I wanted to meet. So I was able to be there for a couple hours. When I finally got home and checked on some internet things, and this and that, I was still wound up that I didn’t get to sleep until about 6:30 am! It was a very long day.

I was so pleased with how the day ended finally, that I didn’t mind all the inconveniences of getting there. So even though there may have been a few storm clouds, there also are some rainbows, and that is alright too.

Morning Sickness

This happens every year at about this time. It's not the thing you might be thinking of. And no, it's not that I hate to get up every morning and go to work -- which is beside the point.

Every year, in the spring (usually a little earlier than this), I suffer through this morning sickness for a couple of weeks. I still don't know what causes it. I am fine at home, I get dressed, but as soon as I get outside, it strikes me about half a block from home. I get really nauseous, kind'a upset stomach. It might last nearly the whole day. I am fine by the time I get home in the evening, and the next morning, it starts all over again. Odd thing is, if I stay home all weekend, nothing happens. It's only when I step outside. There must be something in the air.

Man, I can understand why pregnancies are not fun!

This has been going on for quite a number of years, and now I just come to expect it. It happened quite late this year... and is going on now. It's not as severe as it has other years, but still bothersome. There really is nothing to do but wait it out. And this spring is really dragging itself out!

Oh, how I hate mornings!!

Shadows

For over the past three years now there has been destruction and construction going on in the block next to the building where I work. I've been watching with much interest how it was all taken apart, how that huge hole was dug, and then filled in with different construction.

Rather than build another high tower in that space, they have opted to just have underground parking, and then make a small park in that spot. There was all kinds of talk about what they were going to create there, and something about mountains, and it wasn't to be used by the public -- well, you know how people like to create and embellish stories.

They seem to nearly complete now, or at least there aren't many workmen around anymore. Of course, the weather hasn't decided what it wants to do. Last week, the last of the snow was gone, and then the other day, we got more! It was at least 10 cm (4 inches) of wet snow. All I can say is that it does make everything nice and clean and white. For a day, and then people start walking and driving on it, and make a horrible mess of it all.

In this park, there are some interesting sculptures. From my vantage point, all I can see are a thin dark line against the white snow, so I know there is something. When on the ground, I can see them. Honestly, I think they are more interesting from up above! LOL

Today, at noon, with the sun shining nicely on these sculptures, and silhoutted against the white snow, I could clearly make out what they were!! They looked just so awesome!! Well, okay, so maybe I'm easily impressed. But I thought I would show them to you, and see what you think. I tried to rotate the pic horizontally, to make it easier for you to see them, and it just seems to have set my whole world upside down! Rather than give any of you vertigo, I will leave it just as I see it from high above.
I do think this presents a most unique perspective of these very common sculptures, to say the least.

Off the Wall

As you have seen in the previous post, I have been working on some lace. I got tired of spinning, spinning, spinning. Not that I don't enjoy it, but it gets tedious if you do it all the time. Not that lace knitting is not tedious as well, but it is a different kind of tedious.

I did get tired of this scarf. It was not very interesting to do. It was soooo predictable! The decreases all followed a set pattern, and the YOs were all in the same place. I know -- that is what makes lace lace! And it is the repetitiveness of it all that is impressive. I got that. It's still very boring and tedious to do!

I have been working on the Three Sisters Scarves #3. There are two other designs (see her previous posts), and I think I will do at least another one -- maybe all three. They are very simple designs, but because of the repetiveness of the motifs, they are very attractive.

I didn't arrange my scarf as nicely as Monika did hers. I was in a rush to take pics! I completed this on Thursday night. I ran home at noon on Friday, washed it, and took it back to the office to pin it up on my cubicle wall. They are made of some sort of fibre-covered foamboard, and I can stick pins into it. And they are large enough!

Here you can see a pic of my scarf pinned out on the wall. It was dry by the time I left for home.
Because it is stocking stitch based, it does want to curl. I did 2 stitches on the edge in garter, but that didn't seem to be enough to prevent that curl. I might have to block it once more.... or maybe I'll just leave it. When a person is wearing it, no looks to see if it is curling or not.

I used some kind of yarn that I found somewhere. It is very fine, and I used two strands together to knit this scarf. I am assuming it is a wool. I think I used about a 4mm needle -- I never check, I just grab a circular that seems to be about the right size, and just cast on! The knitting went very smoothly, there was hardly a slip-up -- except when I would fall asleep, and just keep on knitting, not watching for the next decrease! So I had to tink only a couple of times and just a few stitches at that. As I said, it was boring to do. It seemed it was never going to end! So eventually, when I thought it was plenty long enough, I came to the end of a pattern repeat, and cast-off.

It's a nice wine colour, and I have no idea what I am going to do with it. Perhaps I'll just put it into my "gift box" so that when I need something quick, I will have something ready to go. Here is a detail of the scarf.
Now, I should get back to my spinning. I have a lot of cops here waiting to be plied. Then I can have more things to show you.

Bumping Along

On Friday night, there was this strange weather with sort of rain/snow coming down. It had been quite warm, and we were warned about a snow storm for Saturday. And it did come, but at first, it was quite wet and wasn't sure what it wanted to be.

That was alright. I had nothing to do on Saturday, and planned to just stay inside, and looking out at the weather rather than be in it. When I got up Saturday morning, I looked out, saw nothing but white, and turned around and went back to bed. Perfect.

It remained white all day. I mean, there was nothing to see so there is no pic here. I didn't even want to take a photo! I couldn't see any buildings in the next block, there was no ground below me, there was no sun... it was just.. well, white. The whole day was just white. I didn't care.

I was working away comfy and cozy in my high tower. I have a lot of spinning to do, as you can imagine. And I've been spinning up a storm. No pics just yet, because you've seen them all before. Some neat colours, but I don't quite know what I am going to do with it just yet. It will come.

Here is some knitting I'm working on. It's a really nice deep wine colour, but that is so very hard to photograph! I've tried it every way, and this is about the best I can get. I hope it shows up on your monitor. Of course, this is an "in progress" pic of lace, and you know there is nothing much to see of the design yet but I'll let you look anyway.
This is of the front on the left, and the back side on the right -- I love those ridges and bumps it creates. I know too that these will be worked out when it is blocked, but is interesting to see the texture it produces right now. It's a scarf, not for anyone in particular, except I was bored from spinning all the time. Now I'm bored of all this knitting!! It's all the same: YO, K2tog, SSK, repeat. Well, lace is like that, I know. I think I'm about ready for something more challenging... now let's see....

The Wonderment Continues

I have just been so pleased with my good fortune that arrived in a little box last week.

Today, I'm even more thrilled -- and dumbfounded -- when ANOTHER package arrived. With this inside:
I was content with getting about three skeins of the purple. And now... What can I say??

Thanks Doc!

First skein

I had to laugh when WillyG commented that I chose the purple to spin first! How could he tell? But that is what I did. There was only one roll of it, and it was on top, so that is what I grabbed first.

Here is a pic of the first skein:
It's really quite nice to work with. It is wool, not very fine, but acceptable. I put in quite a lot of twist, and did a 2-ply with it. I like them that way! It would work quite well for a pair of socks, I think, since it is fine enough, and it is strong enough. I'm not sure what I will do with it.

There are two more skeins possible with this colour. I will decide later what they will become. I spin first, then let them sit for a while, and then they have time to think about what they want to become.
The colour is quite nice, a little deeper than these pics, I think. I am anxious to finish this one, and then start with the pale blue... or the green, or... well, one of them!

Kindness of others

It still amazes me that there are people in this world that are really good people. You may not find it very strange, but you need to understand where I am coming from.

I work with criminals all the time. All day long, all the people I deal with are accused with some crime or are convicted of some crime. I never see any innocent people. Oh, yes, they all claim they are innocent victims, but in the end, we learn they are not. They are in fact the perpetrators of a crime.

So my view of the rest of humanity is tainted. Everyone I see or meet is painted with the same brush. But now and then, I am reminded that this is not so. Most people are good, and kind, and thoughtful. Really.

Last night, there was a note on my door when I got home that the post office attempted to deliver a parcel to me but I was not at home. No, because I have this stupid thing called a job!! But this morning, I ran out to the postal outlet and picked up the package.

I had been informed a few days ago that I was being sent some wool rovings, since I have expressed an interest in them. I didn't think it would arrive so soon!! Cudos to the Post Office!

And I was so anxious to open it!! Here are the contents of the box:
I'm thrilled!! This will keep me busy for a little while. I've run out of wool to play with... oh, yes, I do have many skeins waiting to be washed and put away, and many more that are waiting to be made into something, but I don't have much more that needs to be twisted into yarns! So this will do for a while. I've already started. Guess which colour!

Thank you, my friend, for sending these to me! I'm amazed. And humbled.

The Great Lull

We have had the strangest weather this winter. It started too early, very cold, and more snow than we normally get. We were in the deep freeze for many weeks, in the -30 most of the time, and it was not fun! Just getting dressed before going out was a struggle, for even a few minutes was enough to really freeze your ... skin. Of course, wearing a scarf over your face is only good as far as it goes, but you need to see! Wearing glasses didn't help-- as soon as you took your first breath, they fogged up, and you were blind anyway!

Here is a pic of the cold. You can actually SEE how cold it was!!
Then this week, it suddenly changed. Quite drastically, in fact. Well, living here in the foothills of the Rockies, we should be used to the Chinooks (I've written about them before). They come every winter, some years have more than others. It is a welcome relief from the bitter cold we can get here too. There is a wall of warm air that comes in. We can see the effect in the sky -- there is a definite clear line where the clouds end. What a welcome sight!! And if you happen to out on the road (in a vehicle), you can actually notice a big change as you drive through this wall. Very amazing phenomena.

This week we were up into +13, and +4 overnight. Since last Saturday, I've had my windows open in the apartment -- it was just too uncomfortably hot. And they have been open ever since! Even at night, it doesn't cool down enough to need more than a light sheet as covers in bed. And this is only January! I'm afraid to think what will happen in spring, when it really warms up.

The mountains were magnificent this week. Some days, I can't even see them. And other days, they stand out sharp and clear, and brilliantly bright in the sunshine with all that white snow on them. Here is a pic:
Of course, that was Thursday. Then yesterday, it all changed. It was cooler in the morning, and by early afternoon, the snow started. It was light at first, there was a light skiff on the cars, but the streets were only wet. However, by 9 pm, up in the hills to the north, there was a nice white covering on everything. I closed my windows; it was a bit cool.

This morning, when I awoke and looked out, we had the white down in the valley as well. It was cold. I was NOT going out! Here is a pic out my window --notice the snow on the windowsill.
I am working on a special project; I may show some pics later. It's interesting, a little boring, and not sure what I would do with it! And I've been watching skins from England. I find it a little disturbing, and yet compelling to watch! Knitting while it is on is a little harder to do. Even spinning has to stop so that I don't miss something important! LOL

In all the glory

A couple of years ago, someone was moving and had given me a couple of potted Amaryllis. They grew nicely, had huge bulbs, and I was expecting to see some great blooms. Nothing happened. They grew... they died back, and rested, and then grew more leaves, and kept on growing! But no flower stalk or blooms.

Many long years ago, an old lady I knew gave me some seeds from her amaryllis. I planted them. And I have two bulbs from them. They are many years old now, a good size, but still haven't bloomed for me. Of course, I don't put them into the cold rest they prefer... I just don't have the basement which they would love.

I have a great window sill in my office. It faces south, and I get light in the afternoon. I took one of my larger Amaryllis bulb to work and set it on my window. It grew great big leaves. And then in the fall, the leaves died back one by one. That is a sign that it wants to go into the resting phase. I covered the pot and placed it into the corner on the window ledge, where it was fairly cold, and left it there for a couple of weeks. Then it decided it wanted to grow new leaves... and I pulled it back out into the sunlight. There was no flower stalk.

This year, when the leaves died back, I was determined to get it to bloom! I covered it with a plastic bag, and stuck the whole pot into the bottom drawer of my filing cabinet. It would not be very cold there, but cooler than anywhere else. And it would be left undisturbed. Every 2 weeks or so, I would check on it. And as time went by, I eventually noticed a tiny leaf coming out. I could see it was not a flower stalk. This was not good. The flower should come out first, and then the leaves later. So I put it back into the drawer and left it for another week. I was not too pleased with it.

One Friday, I remembered it. I wondered what it was doing. When I opened the drawer, I could see there was some growth... there was something protruding and pushing the bag to one side. I opened it up and saw it was a flower stalk!! Iit was about 25 cm (10") and had to lay horizontally! The poor thing! And it was white, because of the lack of sunlight.

I put it on my desk, and left it for the weekend. When I got back Monday morning, it was all green and standing straight upright! Gotta love the way nature works.

I put it back on the window sill, and let it have some water and sunlight. That flower stalk kept on growing steadily upwards. I was anxious to see what colour it was, because since I've had it, it never bloomed and I was not told what colours they might be. This is so very exciting!!

Finally, the bud was quite full and opened slightly showing me the innards. I could detect deep red. That was going to be great!
Last week, the bud opened, and revealed four blossom buds. They were a deep red, not maroon, not orange, but a really nice red. By Friday, the bud had fully opened, and revealed four great big flower buds! Oh, and it was going to open up on the weekend! I will have to come in on my days off to see it!

I came in on Monday morning to be greeted by the most beautiful gorgeous gigantic blood red blossoms!! Four perfectly and fully formed blossoms in the most vibrant red I have ever seen!

Oh I am so happy! This is such a marvel! I feel reallly blessed to be rewarded with such a miracle of the formation of this intricate and beautiful flower from a simple bulb. I never cease to be amazed at how incomprehensible our world is.

Here is one pic of the blossoms. Red is such a hard colour to capture with the digital cameras, but this one is close. I was not able to show you the majesty of all four flowers, so only one will have to do. I could not be more pleased.

May I extend to you all a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in the New Year.

More loaves

The weather has been strange around here, hasn't it? Just a few days ago, it is -32C going to work in the morning. By evening, it had gone up to about -9C. The next day, it was +4C -- so the snow we had earlier was melting and we had slush. That's the Chinook, you know. It's nice to see, although a lot of people get bad headaches from it, and there is quite a strong wind. Oh, well, it does break up our winter.

It was very cold in my apartment. I had the oven on for over a week. That didn't seem to help much -- it was still very chilly inside. We had a fire alarm in our building one day, and I happened to talk to one man who told me it was very cold in his place too! Apparently, they forgot to turn on the heat!

But right the next day, when it finally warmed up outside, it was hot inside! That was a pleasant relief. In fact, I had to open a window! It's been open for the last two days and nights ... I may close it tonight...maybe tomorrow. What odd weather! Mind you, we are used to having it change this quickly in this part of the country. Still is a little hard to take.

I baked more bread yesterday. I had so much to do, and instead just stayed in, had a nap, and baked some bread.

I put in some chopped apple, some dried apricots, a handful of dried cranberries, and the rest of the canned. It's quite good! I made four small round loaves. One has already disappeared -- I think it's our dry climate that makes them just dry up and vanish. (well, it works for me!)

I think I may put in some seeds next time. Just to add something different to it. No matter -- it all seems to disappear just as quickly. Sorry, no pics this time. They don't seem to sit around long enough! :-)

So Much Better

This is much better in real life than in photos, but this is the best I can do. While I wrote the post previous to this one, my bread was baking in the oven. I have just taken it out, and had to show you what I did this time! I'm so excited! This is about the best it's been.

The last several times I've baked bread, they have turned out great. Almost perfect! I had a lot of trouble a couple of months ago in that it would not rise evenly for me. But I think I've discovered the secret now -- although I really don't know what I'm doing differently -- and the last few have been just wonderful.

I usually just make a round loaf and let it sit on the pan that way, but today, I decided to place this one in a loaf pan. It rose beautifully, no more cracks in the surface, and baked just right. Sometimes they get a little darker than this one, but I was careful to watch the timing.

It's still warm over there -- that first slice has already vanished -- and I have to try a few slices, just to be sure it's done all the way through! Sometimes the centre might not be baked as nicely as the rest, you know! :-)

This one was made with a little bit of cranberry, and I always add a little bit of sauerkraut to my breads. You can't really taste it at all -- it sort of disappears -- but I think it helps in the rising. At least, since I've started adding it to my breads, I've never had an failures! So I'm sticking with this method.

I only baked one loaf, because that will do for me for a few days. I like it fresh. I will bake another early next week... not sure what I will add to it then. I like to try different things. I may throw in some fruits in the next one.. just for some variety, and because I have some.

But right now, I have to go and test another slice... maybe with some of my real strawberry jam this time. You know, you have to try it all different ways to see what works and what doesn't!

Enjoy!!


PS: I should add that this cloth was woven by me several years ago. It was meant for a sale, but I made a treadling error about a quarter from the end... so I kept it. It sat in a drawer for many years, but I have started using it the last couple years. I really like it, and am planning on making another one. I am afraid I am going to stain this one, so I need to be careful what I do with it! It is a regular waffle weave in cotton.

Merino-Silk

What fibres could be any nicer to play wtih than Merino and Silk. And having both together is even double the pleasure!

Here is some that I had for quite a long time... just waiting for the right time, you know... and I have now spun it up. I did it all on the spindle, of course, as my spinning tool of choice. I really love my spindle!

Here is a pic of the roving, the spindle and the cops I've done. I still have to ply, and that will be done soon.

But in the meantime, I got distracted by some regular wool in rich brown and some navy blue. I do have some black that needs to be twisted a bit too, but with there not being much daylight these days (only 9 hours today), I think it will wait a bit longer. I will process these skeins that have been plied, maybe complete this grey, and then I'll post more pics.

I've been looking at all kinds of patterns for the next kntting project. Some lace, some scarves, some vests, some hats. We'lll see if anything ever gets completed! I seem to be distracted so easily... by more fibre!

More BFL

For the past couple months, I've been spinning some Blue Faced Leceister (http://www.bflsheep.com/images/breed.htm). I've heard many others squealing with delight about this fleece, and when I had a chance to see some it, I knew why. It's beautifully soft, and has a nice lustre to it. What I have is natural brown -- it's a rich brown, but with a few white hairs in it, which softens the colour to this gorgeous soft brown colour.

Of course, I am spinning this on my trusty CD spindle. I find it so portable, and it's always beside me when on the computer, and I take it with me if I am going to have some waiting to do. While watching some movies (and I've seen some wonderful marathons lately), I pick up the spindle to keep me awake. And I can't just sit doing nothing -- I have to account for every minute in the day! While the spindle is slightly slower in producing yarn, it sure has done a lot more than my three wheels. I haven't touched my wheels for many months now, so they are essentially useless to me at the moment. Perhaps one day I will get some time to sit down at them, but for now, yarn is being produced without them.

It's been miserably cold for the last week or so, and raining (or pretending to rain) so there is no good reason to go anywhere. I will stay home, inside, comfortable, and spin. I really should be knitting or weaving up warm winter clothing, because I will need it sooner than expected!

I have included a pic here showing you (cc from top right) the roving, the spindle, the little cocoons I make with the quills I use, and the plied yarn.
I only have 227 gm. I did this as a 2-ply -- I usually prefer a 3-ply -- and it will become some lace I think one day. The pattern hasn't been chosen just yet. I haven't measured the grist of the yarn, but it's pretty fine. But that is how it wanted to be spun! I am using the long-draw with this, and it goes very quickly, and so very easy to form smooth even yarn. I'm having the best time of my life with this BFL. Give it a try.

BFL Skeined

As I wrote last time, I have some gorgeous BFL which I have been spinning. Whenever I have some time, I grab the spindle that is always beside me and spin a little of it. I have taken it with me on trips and spin a little when I have the time. And little by little, these little cops of singles are accumulating.

This weekend, I decided it is time to ply some of it and see if I have put the right amount of twist in the singles. After all, I need to know that before continuing! I should have done that right at the start... making my twist swatch, so to speak.

But I needn't have worried -- the singles plied just right. Well, they had to. I mean, no matter if I don't have the right amount of twist, whatever I have is what I am going to get. The 2-ply yarn meets my requirements for the moment, and I quite like the way it looks. I had thought that perhaps I had put too much twist into the yarn, but after plying, I think it will work quite well.

I yet don't know what it wants to be, and so have no idea where it will end up. It is very fine, so it may become some lace. We haven't found the right pattern just yet, but there are a few that are being eyed and have some potential.

I may have to try doing some with less twist and get a softer yarn. While they have their place, I find they don't hold up to handling that well. It all depends on the gauge of the knitting, or the sett of the weave, but for my purposes, I feel it needs to be a firmer yarn. So what I have will serve me well.

Here is a pic of a skein that I have plied.
The colours are more accurate this time. I have about 780 metres (about 850 yards) now, and only about half of it is spun. So I should be able to get something fairly good sized when I knit whatever it will be. In the meantime, I'm really enjoying the spinning of this fibre. And after all, it's the process that matters, right?

Basic Brown

So as I said, I really enjoyed spinning that black alpaca, and was very disappointed when it came to an end. I went into a slight depression -- nothing really seemed to measure up!

But as I was moving something one day, I spotted a bag of a nice brown roving, and remembered that I bought a pound of a nice rusty alpaca about a year (maybe two?) ago from a local producer. I set it aside and promptly forgot about it. I was so happy to see it.

However, I didn't want to start right into it. I had some rich brown wool waiting as well, so I thought I would spin it up. Oh, what a difference! It' s just not very nice at all! It felt coarse and harsh and didn't draft easily, and over all very disappointing. But I persevered and spun up two cops so I could ply it. They are still sitting here waiting to be plied. Just not that enthused about it.

So last night I decided it was just time to do some fun stuff for myself, and forget all this unpleasant wool. I dug out that bag, and pulled out the bag of alpaca... and it's not alpaca!!

It's a lovely cool brown shade, and looks nice through the plastic bag. The label says Blue Faced Leicester in natural dark. I have half a pound. I opened the bag, and Oh, ah, Nice!!! It's great stuff. Very very soft, and so light. Better than alpaca even!!

I couldn't wait to show you what I have. I spun this up last night:
(the colours aren't very accurate)
It said it wanted to be spun very fine, and I was glad to accommodate. And what a pleasure it was to spin! It just flowed so easily, it is beautifully prepared, all combed top, no neps in it... just the best thing I've seen!

I have heard many people raving about how lovely BFL is, and I thought they would go on about anything with just as great a gusto. But they are right! It is very fine, so very soft, and drafts without any effort at all. I love it!!

Oh dear -- do you think I am turning into a yarn snob?!