My weekend with silk--dyed, reeled, made silk hankies, spun silk hankies, caps and so many different types of silk. So much to take in and learn that my stuffy head is still reeling. This was a fantastic experience thanks to Janel for persevering and getting this workshop for us!

The thick yarn was spun from the silk hankie and the thin from the cap. I bought some hankies to work with here at home and some silk/cashmere blend also to try and spin some lace weight--we'll see.

SPINACH AND PEAS

Another UFO crossed off the list. This bag has been hanging around since last August. I knit the bag out of a green Casacade wool intending to use the mohair that I made in John Pitblado's mohair spinning class as a knit overlay on the felt. Never happened as there was no inspiration and so there it sat for months like so many of my other projects. At Christmas I bought the felting needles (see purple hat) and last Sunday while enjoying the company at Francesca's started doodling with the mohair and there it was. Made the beads with the Cascade. Have stopped at this point trying to decide if I should add some glass beads but since I am happy with it at this point, may quit.

My pal Una is a master felter--check her out--and a great felting teacher. She has just completed the most wonderful blue shoes!

Now if I could just take better pictures.

SATURDAY SPIINING AND TREASURES

Last Saturday was warm and lovely and spent a nice afternoon spinning with one of my favorite groups the Dizzy Ewe Flock in the meeting room of the Claremont Quaker House. The company is always nice, the location lovely (cork floor!) and got lots spun.

Dizzy Ruth (ruth@dizzyewe.net) was there with her lovely wares and I came home with these two bags of coordinated fiber. I bought these to use as accents on a shawl but have changed my mind about the original pattern and now it will be a shawl/shrug that doesn't require color accents. Lots of possiblities for these bags though, and anyway I love just looking at the colors--fiber as decorative household ornaments!

BASKET FAMILY

Basket saga, Chapter Two.
Meet Small, Medium and Large, though none of them is too big as the base for this picture was the top of a wooden kitchen stool. I am getting better--practice, practice, practice. The small one was done the day of the workshop with Nadine Spier (see Basket Workshop) and then about a week later I attempted the medium-sized one and found that I had forgotten everything. In addition I was using some local needles whose gauge is much finer. Finishing was a struggle. The larger one is much more on track with my memory restored. It was done with some pine needles that I purchased whose gauge was much larger. In comparison, now that I know better what I am doing, I do like the thinner needles better but do need more experience. On to Chapter Three.

FEBRUARY SOCKS

This month's sock was knit in the last of the gift yarns from my SP Kay. The yarn is Lana Grossa and was knit on my fantastic Holz and Stein dp's that she also sent and are the most fabulous needles. Unfortunately I have lost track of which pattern I used--once memorized I put it away.

My goal is to knit a pair of socks every month and to keep me going I have joined two sock clubs, one from Chameleon Colorworks and the other Socks that Rock. Guess you know what I will be doing.

CROSS ANOTHER UFO OFF THE LIST

This was the first yarn that I spun. It was all done on an Ashford top whorl drop spindle, knit and felted in the washer. It has set along with a green companion on my worktable for a couple of years as I always thought that it needed some embelishment. A Christmas treat was a mult-needle felter and one of those very handy brushes you use instead of foam. I put this project off because I was afraid of stabbing myself through the foam, but this gadget works great. The beads were made from a scrap of Noro that was also lying around the table and the white felt was the first straight from fiber felt that I ever made. A project of firsts that finally got finished!