Zeneedle...needleart as life

Shear Spirit

Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns & Miles of Yarn (Isn't that a great subtitle?)

Gale and Joan crisscrossed this country visiting farms, ranches and the people who have found their fibery passion and built their lives around it. The fruit of their collaboration is the book Shear Spirit, a beautiful book full of animals, people, projects and the places they live.

No matter your favorite fiber craft, whether knit, spin, weave or crochet, chances are you'll love this book and find it inspirational and usable.  Gale's photographs of animals and the countryside, in combination with Joan's stories of the artisans who tend them, will take you on a wonderful adventure. The book shares in depth stories of how the farms were started, the problems faced and overcome, and the daily lifestyle of fiber ranch/farm life.

If you love sheep (and other fiber animals), beautiful pictures, and fabulous projects (doesn't every knitter?!), you'll love this book.  Several projects from the book have been added to my queue.  The Luna Lace Scarf is on my short list, as is the Noho Boho hat.  Maybe I'll spin the yarn, too.  So many possibilities!

Speaking of spinning…I'm so far behind in the Tour de Fleece that I may as well drop out.  Together the fluff and spun fiber on the bobbin total 1 oz. and that means I've not even spun half an ounce!  It would take days of constant spinning to stay in the running and have any hope of finishing this by the end of the Tour.  I'll keep plugging away, as I love what's going on…it just seems races and alongs are no longer 'my thing'.

Miles to go before the end....sigh.

Several people wanted to know what I was holding in my hand yesterday. It's the eye glass case. When she pulled the case from the cupboard Smith got asked, "How did they know?"  There it was a pink eyeglass case!  The blue frames had called to me from across the room and I didn't look at anything else.   They glasses are Kate Spade, but I'd just as soon they were Sponge Bob like Teri's. The case is rather cute, however.

Since it is Flower Friday, how about a little pretty.

Poppies in Park City.

Happy Weekend!!

Touring

In an effort to spin up some of the gorgeous fiber that resides in my too large fiber stash, I joined the Tour de Fleece. (As an aside: If spinning up the stash was the goal you'd think I'd have had the sense to pick more than 2 oz. of fiber as my Tour goal. Oh well.) Also, in the effort to spin for the Ravelry groups, A Spinners Study (tussah silk) and Spinners Central (monochrome) monthly challenges AND in the effort to spin with the TdF Climbers (spinners who want a challenge), my chosen fiber is a baby camel/tussah from Foxfire Fibers (a gift from BethS.)  This soft, elegant, exquisite fluff is called Daybreak and it is aptly and beautifully named.  The baby camel fiber is downy fluff and only because it is mixed with silk can I hope to spin it into anything resembling yarn.  The plan is for a two ply lace weight and so far the samples show I'm doing well.  It's a devil to work with, but so worthy of the effort. Look at that halo!

It may take every minute of my tour spinning time, right up to the finish line, for this fiber to become yarn.  It is incredibly slow going as the needs to be tightly and  finely spun (yes the coin is a dime).  Two ounces should be enough for a nice shawl at this grist, but it will take forever to spin and ply.  The challenge may become sticking with it 'til the end. The picture below shows the results after one day....I've got a long way to go.

My wheel, Emmylou, was moved to the main floor as the upstairs rooms are very warm during the summer months. The living room is a good place to spin as there is good light from the big window (and a good view, too). The audience, Max and Moxie stay close by doing what they do best.  They make good company and entertain as they keep constant guard. I feel safe from every predator as they watch all doors and windows while pretending to sleep.

What more could a grrl ask for?

What Do You Think...

This week might be the slowest week in Blogland.  July 4th is the beginning of vacation time, but the slower days in Blogland start every year with Spring Break. Cara noted in her weekend post that Blogland, Knit Blogland, seems to be on the downturn, a shift in the universe may be happening when it comes to this on-line community.  Vacation time is one reason, changing priorities is another and with the number of things to do on-line things are certain to change. As this community grew to a proportion larger than any of us thought possible, it has become impossible to visit every blog (like we actually did in 2004, the old days of blogging), or even know of every blog.  We tend to stay in smaller groups of friends and not venture beyond our comfort zone (kinda like real life). Often the desire to blog ebbs away as lives, jobs and priorities change. Who knows what our place will be like, who will be here, and what will be popular one or two years from now.

On that note maybe it may not be the best time for a contest...or maybe it is, as there will be fewer of you vying to win.  In any case...here we go.

The week before last I blew right past post1200 and again last week, blew right past comment number 40,000 (which just happened to be Leah), with nary a mention. Yes, Leah will receive a little something to commemorate the silent contest. But, it's time to rectify both oversights and have a real contest.

It was Marcia who suggested I have a contest for you to guess how many yards ended up in this skien I plied this weekend. The yarn has been named Peaches in the Sun and I love it more than I should love a yarn. It started life as a superfine superwash from the Spirit Trail Fiber Club (well, it started life as a sheep but we won't go back that far). Spinning it has been a wonderful experience  but, I do need more practice at plying. It's a fairly nice yarn and should be enough to knit a pair of socks. It's a 3 ply, 19 wpi and weighs 3.5 oz.   Leave your yardage guess in the comments of this post. The person who comes closest, without going over, wins a prize. I'll post the prize later this week.  You have until July 6th to guess and on July 7 or 8th I'll announce the winner. Good luck!

Keeping Up With 10 Minutes a Day

Carole's 10 Minutes A Day has been a great jumping off point, but like many spinners who joined the ranks, I've been able to spin a little more than a mere 10 minutes. The spinning wheel has been moved to the living room as it's much cooler on the first floor than in my fiber studio on the second. The boys like it better as they can stay close while keeping watch out the front window and the back door.  They do their best to warn me of impending danger and keep me safe. 

There are many spinning groups on Ravelry with unlimited information about technique, wheels, spindles, fleece, supplies, etc.  It's been a good resource and I peruse the spinning boards more than any of the others. In the10 Mintues a Day Group Hillary asked if anyone had suggestions on how to keep fiber off your clothes and from spreading around the room. Let me tell you, fiber has a way of spreading around a room very quickly. Plus, the little bits of fluff that love to attach themselves to your clothes are very hard to remove. This is the bane of many a spinner.When first learning to spin I had a way of spreading fluff from one corner of my room to the other.  As a way to keep it in check I put a paper bag next to my chair. With a little more experience the fiber love isn't spread quiet as far, but it's nice to have a place for it to go and stay contained.

The problem of fluff covered clothes was solved by a simple, useful, lovely gift (how many days did I go to work with a thin layer of colored fluff all over my pants?). Katherine (Ravelry link), a blogfree Stitch 'n Bitch grrl, made a spinning apron and I've found it the perfect thing to throw over my legs while at the wheel.  It ties at the waist, but most often ends up laying in my lap, protecting my clothing from the fiber and the fiber from the buttons, bows and fabric of my clothes.

Even with spinning everyday it's taken a few weeks to spin three bobbins of the beautiful orange superwash.  The third bobbin, now on the wheel, should be finished up today with plying to happen this weekend.  Doesn't it look delish!?

Going Batty

When plans change and a grrl can't do what a grrl wants to do, a grrl should do what she can to ease the pain of disappointment.  The main reason I wanted to go to Estes Wool Market was to meet up with my grrls, my people. There isn't much that can be done about that (except hang out with friends here), but there is something that can be done about missing out on the shopping part of a wool market.  Tan tried to entice me with a link to some nice batts, but I decided to forge my own way and ended up on Etsy. To ease the pain of a fiberless weekend and came up with this beauty...

Meet Mojave Nights batts from exclusively linda lee. Linda knows how to treat a customer. Just look at how carefully she wrapped each batt.  Also, included in the package was a gift and a note for future discounts.  The batts are so soft, so beautifully carded that the spinning should be easy.  I can't wait to spin up a bit to find out how the finished yarn will look. But, first things first...

When my eyes were bigger than the amount of time I had to dedicate to spinning, I made the pronouncement that I would spin three different items for the month of June.  Common sense has now prevailed, I am only working on the superwash portion of the Ravelry Spinner Central challenge. The roving is Spirit Trail's gorgeous superwash merino from Jennifer's Fiber Club.  I do believe the beauty of this roving, and the resulting singles, has calmed my delusions of grandeur. At least I hope so.

Carole's 10 Minutes A Day has inspired me sit and spin every chance I get. It's easier to slip behind the wheel than it is to pick up the knitting needles if there are only minutes to spare.  A few minute a day have added up to quite a bit of spinning over the last three weeks.  When spinning a very fine single with superwash becomes too much and I want to have some spinning fun I put on a bobbin of this textured Signature Batt from Crosspatch Creations.

This batt was a custom blend for the 2006 Northwest Regional Spinners and it's a blend of Romney X with Merino and Romeldale, tussah silk, bombyx silk, faux fur (angora), cut bombyx silk and silk noil.  It's a riot of color and texture and a blast to spin...totally opposite of the fine, controlled spinning for the superwash.  Amy and Bellwether both have good posts on the best way to spin batts....which are always an adventure.

Maybe I will get through much of this fiber stash by spinning for 10 minutes (or more when I can) a day.

Goals?

You might find this a crazy notion, but I don't care for or make (many) goals.   Every time I've set a goal the course changes and the goal with it.  As often happens, the goal evaporates never to be seen again and I'm left wondering why. In the past this was cause for angst and self derision until the realization that…I do just fine without making a list and checking it twice.  This is especially true when it comes to knitting and spinning.

I'm not talking about the goal of knitting a project from beginning to end. That's not a goal, that's a commitment.  A goal is when you have an agenda…an order, a queue.  Not a wish list type of queue, but a queue of "musts".  I look at that list of items, the things I queued as "want to" knits, and not one of them looks enticing. Having a project in the queue means it will never get off the ground.  This does not mean I don't knit...it just means I knit what feels good at start time. 

The other day I made a pronouncement of spinning goals for June.  The first 2 oz. of lovely Wooly Wonka fiber spun up quickly and I was pleased to be on track and have a nearly full bobbin.  The blue alpaca/wool/silk put me to sleep, but the orange superwash was spinning up very nicely. The big problem was a small bump of Spunky Club roving.  Goblin Eyes seemed to be giving me the eye and out of the corner of my eye I could swear it was begging to be touched, to be spun, to be handled.  All those colors mixed up in one lovely roving…how could I turn a blind eye? 

Before I knew it the other spinning had been put aside and Goblin Eyes was on my wheel.  It was a completely happy moment of serendipity.  What would it be like to spin without prepping the fiber? How should I ply it? Oooh, chained singles would keep the lovely colors separate and maybe I could knit a scarf with it...what would it look like and how would it knit up?  All the questions kept me at it and a few days later I had a beautiful skein of handspun (and I'm spinning another bobbin full).

It was Cookie's blog that lead me to Ali's summer knitting goals contest.  I must admit I was tempted.  Look how cute that knitting bag is!  Fortunately my coloring would clash with the yarn and that's reason enough not to join.  The main reason I won't join is just as I stated….something else will come along and the goals will be thrown over.  If I don't make a pronouncement, just keep any knitting ideas to myself, maybe I will get the few things finished.  I don't have very high hopes for the Summer of Socks and don't wish to jinx myself by setting goals for anything else.  I think I'll fly by the seat of my pants instead.

Potential

Spinning techniques have finally been sorting themselves out in my head. When one first learns to spin it's difficult to see what a fibers potential can be.  Just loving the fiber isn't enough; one must know what its best qualities are and then gain an understanding of the necessary techniques to bring out said qualities. Experience, gained by trail and error, has been my teacher as I merrily play with fiber.

Experience was a big help when it came to plying Party Dresses as it wasn't the first time I'd made a 3-ply yarn. It was, however, a smoother process this time around.  The wool is a superwash Corriedale and it is one of the nicest superwash fibers I've spun. It's wasn't squeaky or slippery, and it acted more like normal wool, which made it easier to spin. Three separate bobbins were plied together to create a grand party of bright colors that melded together.  Sadly it's only about 150 yds, but it was enough to further my spinning education.

Success breeds success and that meant jumping right back on the wheel for more enjoyable spinning.  I really can't stop…having a great time - wish I could stay there!

After a long winters spinning drought, sitting at the wheel feels right, feels good, feels like the place to be.  My intent was to follow Terry's Spinning Mission Statement, but I might have already fallen off that wagon. In my defense it is the Spinner Central Group on Ravelry that has led me astray.  The June spinning challenge is Superwash/ Tweed/ Beach Vacation.  One can spin them all in one or separately. As it happens, three separate rovings that meet the criteria are in various states of spinning on Emmylou.  There is a bit more, about 2 oz., of the blue-tiful blue Indigo Moon roving left to spin.  It certainly looks like the sea on a beach vacation (Bahamas?).

The perfect roving for the tweed portion of the challenge is the coppery brown roving from Wooly Wonka.  Its mix of pink, red, gold, brown, and metallic will create a lovely tweed yarn.  Finding the right way to enhance this fiber has been a challenge, but I've settled on cabling the yarn as a way to show off the texture and its tweediness. Cabling means an investment of time, but it will be worth it in the end. The vision is for a yarn similar in texture to Rowan's Summer Tweed or Lavold's Silky Wool. This might take me the summer to do!
 

Two beautiful fibers in the works should be enough for any spinner, but the fiber that's really calling to me is this luscious, luxurious, super superwash from Spirit Trail.  Its nature is to be soft and fluffy, cushy and silky.  A sample skein (I couldn't stop myself from testing it out) told me it needs to be spun tightly and at a fine grist. If I want it to be sock weight that is. The color is like the summer sun and it's all I can do to not stop everything and start spinning this, and only this.

Sigh.

Even More Spinning

Many of you have asked how the dogs are doing - how everyone is getting along. Honestly, really and truly, it could not be better.  Max is the best dog we've ever had.  He is sweet, obedient, joyful, funny, and perfect.  Moxie has taken to him much as we have and, as you can see in this picture…all is well. Moxie seems to enjoy the company and there has been no territorial behavior or growling. We are a happy family of four.

Max follows me around the house, but when I sit (to knit or spin) he curls up near by in a tightly little ball.  Moxie follows along soon after and it's nice to have the company.

There must be something about spring/early summer that brings out the spinning bug. The virus spreads quickly and everywhere you look new skeins of handspun are popping up.  I've enjoyed spinning more than ever because the process has finally sunk in. I feel like a real spinner.

The bombyx silk/wool blend from Chasing Rainbows was a little intimidating. But, when I saw Cheryl's very nicely spun silk singles I asked her advice on the best way to spin and finish. With her helpful suggestions I was able to do an adequate job.  The wool content (50/50) made spinning a little easier than pure silk because wasn't as slippery. To finish the yarn it was soaked and the kinky nature of the singles melted away to produce a smooth, shiny, and beautiful yarn. The color is appropriately named Shellbox and this is another exciting potential shawl. Susan thought the yarn was very good, so I'm feeling quite proud of my ever growing skill. The spinning groove has proved a fun place to be. As with knitting, when a complicated project is finished, it's nice to have something simple and easy in contrast.

Amy's Party Dresses, the Spunky Club  offering from December, was the perfect contrast and compliment to the silk.  The roving is painted in three distinct eye-popping colors; pinky red, chartreuse green and aqua blue.  Separately they are bright and bold...together they create the best party, a joyful, exciting, merry group.  Each color will be spun onto a bobbin and then plied together into a springy, sproingy, happy dance, sock yarn.  Maybe this will bring back the Sock Mojo!

And, for Kim...Friday Flowers! Happy Friday!!

Putting a Spin on the Weekend

Last week, unbeknownst to either of us, Carole and I were on the same wave length, at least in regards to spinning.  Before the Snake River Festival I decided the only way to work through my burgeoning fiber stash was to actually spin every day.  While I feel no guilt over this amassed fiber (yet), I do feel that something unused has little value.  Fiber tucked away in the closet (for years on end) is not only "out of sight, out of mind"...it's a waste. 

Everyday for over a week I've sat with Emmylou and we've filled bobbin after bobbin with fiber. Minutes at the wheel add up to miles of spun fiber. All the Indigo Moon, sadly the one and only roving I had of theirs, has been spun into singles, steamed, wound, and now ready to knit. The yarn should knit up beautifully and I'm just a bit (too) excited about the shawl potential.

In my fiber stash was a bright and colorful braid from PippiKneeSocks. It had been sitting for some time and I decided it was perfect spring spinning.  The intent was to spin a prize for Claudia's MS Ride ...a nice fluffy 3 ply that would make a good winter hat. 

While spinning, I learned from Amy about Pippi's need for assistance from our fiber community.  How could I spin her fiber and not help her out?  The 3 ply, which Pippi named Wildflower Mayhem, is still going to Claudia as a prize, but this bright 2-ply, called Her Name is Rio (another creative name by Pippi), will go to Amy for an auction (starting later this week). All proceeds will go to Pippi and her children, so watch Amy's blog.

You now have a chance to knit with handspun even if you don't want to, need to or like to spin. Amy will have other skeins (Susan also sent a lovely skein) and hand knit items for auction, too. Get out there...donate, bid, do what you can to help our fiber sisters.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

There has been much more spinning going on, which I'll share later AND, guess what, I'm not just spinning and cleaning...I'm knittin', too!

As The Earth Spins

Don't you just love the texture of the ground in this photo? It's the time of year when the earth is reawakening and there is a feeling of new beginnings in the air.

 

Terry Tempest Williams is an author, a naturalist, a native of Utah and she writes of the landscape better than anyone I've read (except Edward Abbey, perhaps).  The last few weeks I've rereading her books Desert Quartet and An Unspoken Hunger.  The sensual language of the earth comes through strongly in her words.  Her stories create a hunger in me that can only be satisfied by walking on the land, feeling its warmth and texture.    

The landscape will take care of me. The open expanse of sky makes me realize how necessary it is to live without words, to be satisfied without answers, to simply be in a world where there is no wind, no drama. To find a place of rest and safety, no matter how fleeting it may be, no matter how illusory, is to regain composure and locate bearings. Terry Tempest Williams – Desert Quartet

 
By design, the project on my wheel is also perfect for PS Earth Edition. Last year at the Great Basin Fiber Festival this fluff, in Anne's Wooly Wonka booth, attracted my attention. Three bunches of this earthy color, a total of 6 oz., ended up in my stash. The blend of alpaca, angora, silk and flash create a mixture of textures that form a perfect combo, a perfect bouquet of pink, red, gold, copper and brown, the colors of fall leaves. It is being spun with intent, the intent of knitting Mohana by Monika. It's going to take awhile to do.

The lovely blue roving from Indigo Moon nearly finished. There's a bit more to spin but I already have around 800 yds of singles.  There were a few weakness found while winding it onto the niddy noddy, but overall it turned out nicely.  Handspun for yet, another shawl...this has become "my thing". 

This weekend is the Snake River Fiber Festival in Idaho Falls. Laurie and Anne will be vendors and I'll be meeting up with KimG.  Emmylou (my wheel) will come along in the hopes it will remind me I have plenty of fluff to spin already. However, it doesn't mean I will come home without purchasing something (as you well know).  I'd love to stay over night but AnneBis coming in from Calgary and we have plans to meet at Silver Fork. To top it all off, the weather should be heading for record warmth. We're not complaining...yet.