SPINNING FOR....

If after spending a week at GGFI this past summer did not confirm what a fun person this woman is, the video seals the deal. Cat Bordhi you are a my idol!

Tour de fleece

Tour de fleece
Originally uploaded by theresart

So far behind in posting that I can't remember where I left off. But maybe it was with the Tour de Fleece madness that caught me and would not let go. I set an original goal of 1000 yards for the 14 day period. Very doable in that amount of time. When I finally stopped at about the 12 day mark there was almost 8000 yards of string and a big dent in the fiber stash at my house. I spun every moment I could fit it in while still managing work, eating and a bit of sleeping. My speed has become very fast on the upside, but quality has diminished on the down. I am working very hard to keep some of the speed but improve the quality. I spun, Polwarth, silk/merino,Falkland, Optum and BFL

A side effect of all of this is the partial group shot is the realization that I seem to be caught in a color warp. Have to work on that.

NEXT BIG SPINNING CRAZE?

This came from the S & B list today and it's real. This is a rare breed of pig that they are trying to save in the UK. It's a Mangalitza and until 1972 when it became extinct in Britian was a common sight. The fleece was sheared, spun and knit.

In my other life as a children's librarian my love of pig stories is well-known. Now there is twice the reason. I want one!

Click here to read the story.

GOLDEN GATE FIBER INSTITUTE

I just got home from one of those fabu life altering weeks at the Golden Gate Fiber Institute (Carolina Homespun's Morgaine Wilder and Judith the spinning goddess).

Of course I did not remember to take my camera out at all and have lifted these photos. The scenic shot is the one seen each morning on the way to class and of unknown origin. The Institute is held at a YMCA camp on the Marin headlands and lovely. This photo does not show the actuality of the weather though as it was cloudy and wet the
entire week--a lovely respite from the heat of the San Gabriel basin where the temperatures have been in the 100 degree range.

The second picture is me laying out wool for my felted vest project, my afternoon class and the third is the assembled work in progress. These photos I purloined from Lori Lawson's Capistrano Fiber Arts site--thanks Lori for taking pictures of my work. However this one is still a work in progress as it is still too large. I tried it on again when I got home and am not happy with the size but with felt that is not a
problem.

My other class was spinning for weaving and I spun the warp and weft threads for a project which is finished with the exception of the fringe. Hopefully there will be photos by the end of the week. This was a great experience--wonderful classes, wonderful people, lovely location. I'm putting it on my calendar and saving my pennies and vacation days for next year!

ALWAYS A CAMPER AT HEART

Camp photos purloined from other locales as I forgot the camera, per usual. This event was sponsored by the Griffin Dyeworks and is an annual happening that I have been attending for several years. Basically, for me anyway, it is a three-day spin in. This year I did venture away from the wheel and spend some time mastering ram's horn on the inkle loom--I am hooked and want to do more--mud painting, not so successful--tie dyeing cute dresses for the babies. It was a great weekend.

GREEN SPINNING

Check out this article on producing electricity while spinning. http://www.igovernment.in/site/spin-sing-and-power-the-e-charkha-way/

OLYMPIC SPIN FOR PEACE

Finished! Met my goal and spun the Sandalwood, twelve ounce and also spun up seven ounces of my Columbia fleece. Not sure what is next in the line-up as I have this month's Chameleon Colorworks and the lovely camel merino blend that I bought at Village Handweavers on the trip to Monterey.

Used the new drumcarder to card the leavings from my combing efforts and have felted up some fabric that I plan to try some dye experiments next weekend. I also want to get started dyeing up the balance singles for my conference project. I am having dental surgery on Thursday and hope that it won't get in the way of my plans.

Total August spinning = 19 ounces

SPINNING FOR SANITY

This is the first batch of 28 ounces of Crosspatch Lemon and Lime that I am spinning up for a weaving project. I have some tencel in colors from this yarn to warp the loom with and plan to do a three panel ruana. Right now it's still in my head and needs to progress to sketching and planning the warp. I would like to use the week that I will have off between Christmas and New Year's to get this on the loom but good intentions...

This is also my project to get used to the Joy which I am liking with the exception of the hooks. My Fricke, which I really have to try and sell this year, has a Wooly Winder and the Lendrum a slider bar both of which are much nicer to use than the hook system. All I need is some more practice and time and I am sure that I will get used to them.

CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY

After almost reducing the Lendrum to kindling this summer while traveling I decided that a wheel that could travel was a must. When I saw the ad on Ravelry for an Ashford DT knew that the time was right. I can't take pictures of the actual beauty due to some camera battery issues, but the likeness is the same. She arrived in perfect condition due to the excellent packing of her previous owner "Bluejinx" and spins nicely. I had never spun on a Joy before and was a bit nervous but the transition is very smooth. I managed to fill a bobbin with the pictured crosspatch lemon and lime colorway that I purchased from Nancy at the Handweaver's sale last Sunday. The big problem now is that all I want to do is sit and spin and there are things such as work, chores, and Christmas knitting that require my attention. Oh to be retired and have time that is actually my own! I can hardly wait until the One City/One Glendale program is finally over next week and there is more time to breathe.

TWO WAY SPIN

Chameleon Colorworks BFL that I got at conference finally spun up. The yarn on the top is a fingering weight and the bottom much heavier. I haven't measured the WPI nor set the twist yet so not sure how it will all turn out.

There isn't enough for a knitting project so this will probably end up on the loom. I have some green pearl cotton and some blue tencel that might work for a warp but I still have some thinking to do. I want my next weaving project to be more complex but since I am still very early in the learning process not sure which direction to go.

The bowl is something I rediscovered cleaning out a cupboard and is one that my grandmother made in a crafts class. It is very rustic but also very dear.

NEW BOOKS

Three new titles arrived in Saturday's mail. I always have loved the kimono shape and there are several interesting variations in the Knit Kimono book that might be fun to try. Twisted sisters has some good ideas for making handspun yarn translate to a commercial pattern that specifies a certain yarn. Last the feltmaking--just wanted it for the library. I did not own one of hers and this one sounded like a good one and it is. Now all I need is enough time to sit and browse.

I am taking a class with Judith Mackenzie this weekend on spinning for knitters and hope to get lots of good pointers. I really enjoyed the class that I had with her this past spring at the ASCH conference.

The Spindlicity cruise is coming up fast, just a little over a week and I need to spend sometime getting ready for that as well.

AN EXPERIMENT

The only thing that I was able to do when I was sick was spin. It was torture to sit upright but I knew that if I was going to get better that I had better get my body out of the prone position. I can't blame the colors on my illness or my poor photography skills the former happened way before. Will have to wait and see when the inspiration hits how it knits up or even if it knits up.

CATCH UP TIME

It's not that I haven't been working since Christmas, just way too busy to figure out the new camera. These photos are a real testament on how much more work I need to do to master the beast. The socks are one of this month's products. They were knit on my lovely needles made from recycled music instruments and with yarn from a Secret Pal, Kay.

I finally found the time to set the twist in the many spinning projects. These include some fiber I got at Torrance from Lorie Lawson and which I plan to use in a scarf pattern which is primarily short rows and will show off the yarn to the best advantage. Also included here is some merino and merino alpace that I got from Dizzy Ewe (sorry no web page yet), some Optim from Cameleon Color works (it's the pink in the middle) that I plan to knit into a poncho for the baby. The rest of the fiber will just have to wait for me to get inspired and to hopefully finish those two Noro sweaters that are hanging around.

The shawl was knit up with some merino/silk that I handpainted the roving and spun up last year. I am really happy with the way the short row pattern (short rows seem to be my new fascination--this one is from Knitty, "Lizard Ridge") and is going to the Handweaver's conference in March.

The yellow is my first ever woven project and was done on the new Kromski Harp ridgid heddle loom that I brought myself for Christmas. The weft was handspun using Crosspatch "Let's Party." I am busy spinning up some more Chameleon Colorworks that I want to weave using some tencel that I got at the Torrance Fiber event as the warp.