Wild thing
You make my heart sing
You make everything
Come on, wild thing
Wild thing, I think you move me
But I gotta know for sure
Come on and hold me tight
Oh you move me
Yes! I finally broke down and signed up for a Flickr account. I only have a few pictures up, but hope to transfer nearly all of my images there. I signed up for Ravelry too, but have yet to hear about getting started there. Really, the reason I signed up for the Flickr account was because I heard that it interfaced with Ravelry so well.
Anyway! Yesterday in the mail was a nice surprise...beautiful hand crafted sock blockers from Chappy. Hubby likes them too and knew what they were the moment he saw them. Tomorrow I will post some pictures with them with socks on them.
For spinning news: I am almost finished with the third bobbin of the Lapis Sheep 2 Shoe kit. Hopefully my extra bobbins and lazy kate arrive soon so that I can get on with the plying! This will be my first three ply, so I am extra anxious to see how it turns out.
I had bought the kit from The Fold at Maryland Sheep and Wool, and I wanted more! So, I contacted Toni and she was just great. We chatted a bit about what I was looking for, and she mailed me an order! So, I got another Sheep 2 Shoe kit in Little Bunny Foo Foo, 10 ounces of Extra Fine Merino in the Carbon colorway, and 8.5 ounces of the same in the Highway 30 colorway. The Extra Fine Merino is WONDERFUL. I have to check but I am pretty sure the micron count was something like 19 -- almost as soft as cashmere! I am so very excited to spin this!
OK, I am making a resolution. Who cares if it is the middle of May! I am determined not to buy anymore yarn until Stitches East.
I have come to the conclusion that all obsessions with yarn and spinning fibers originate in the lust for color. I LOVE color.
Well, I did not post over the weekend...mainly because I was busy -- Spinning!
Friday I took the beginning spinning class at The Mannings. Tom, the instructor was awesome. All the ladies in the class were great, we had a good time, we learned A LOT.
After the class was over...I went ahead and purchased a wheel. Tom had assigned me the Ashford Joy for class. He said because I am small it would be a good fit. Plus its very simple and easy for a beginner. I fell in love during the first few seconds of using it. So, that is the wheel that I purchased. The fact that it folds and is light to carry is a big selling point - especially now with my limit on space in the apartment.
I am glad that I had spent money at Maryland Sheep and Wool on some rovings. Immediately I began spinning the red colonial. This was my "practice" roving. And it went quite well. A little lumpy and bumpy, but not too bad. Overall, I think I have picked up spinning pretty easily. Something that I tend to be able to do: read about something for months, lust after it even, and then, because I have read so much about it...be able to just pick it up and do it.
Spinning is this way with me. I not only finished the 8oz. colonial red, but then did the 4oz. Merino/Tencel, and started the Sheep to Shoe kit!
For the first two I divided the fiber by weight into two equal parts. Then spun two bobbins and plied. Both times I had more on one bobbin, and so after skiening the two ply, I would try to split the left overs by spinning half onto a new bobbin, and then plying those two for a mini skien.
The Sheep to Shoe kit is a different story. Here I split the roving lengthwise into three sections. Sadly, I couldn't get the weight to work out evenly without messing up the color progression, so I just left it a bit uneven. I figure that I will work from heaviest to lightest, knowing that in the beginning I am going to have trouble keeping the ply light enough anyway. Hopefully by the end I will be very good at keeping a very thin single.
One problem with the Ashford Joy: its built in lazy kate. It is very nice and convenient to have it built in, however, it only holds two bobbins. Therefore, in order to do a three ply yarn, one needs to buy a separate lazy kate. I decided on the Ashford precision. It takes three bobbins. Technically I guess I could do up to a five ply now, three on the precision and two on the wheel itself.
I also had to purchase a few more bobbins as I only have three, which leaves no bobbin empty for plying. Another drawback of the Joy, only one flyer available. Now, as a beginner, I would expect that this standard flyer would be plenty for me for many years. However, after plying my first two spinning projects, I realized that having a bigger bobbin for plying, and therefore a bigger flyer to go around, would be very advantageous. Looking at the catalog, maybe I should have opted for the Traveler instead. That way I would not only have a built in three-bobbin lazy kate, but also the opportunity to have other flyer attachments, including the jumbo (perfect for plying).
But no worries! I am still VERY pleased with my purchase. I love my wheel, and I love spinning.
OK, so last night I went home, and took all the pictures for my MS&W post. But then I got busy trying not to sneeze and cough, so needless to say...no pictures are posted yet. It is allergy season here in Lancaster, and yesterday was the first day that I have had trouble with them.
As I was taking pictures I realized just how much yarn I have...a lot -- too much! Much of it is for specific projects, or socks. I also have many many projects started, on the needles, ready to be worked on. (See the list on the right) So here is my plan:
1. mitered square blanket for Mom -- Due Date: June 10th
2. Second Pomatomus Sock
3. Rusted Root
4. Second Waving Lace Sock
5. Farmhouse Socks - this is a continuous project, a traveling sock
6. Whiskey Sweater
7. Second Tofutsies Sock
8. Hubby Blanket - this is a continuous project too
9. Sapporo
10. Scarves - I might rip out the spiral one
11. Something New!
It is a good mix of socks and other big projects. Hopefully I can keep on track and really decrease my ufo's before I am tempted to cast on for something new. We will see!
Yeah, so...I didn't put pictures up. Really I wanted to, but I got busy and so again I will promise to tonight. It is a shame really because I was only playing a video game...Guitar Hero II on the 360. Totally love that game!
This year was my first visit to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. It truly was an unforgettable experience. There was so much going on, and so many people, I quickly became separated from my party. It was a beautiful day, we did not arrive until 10:30-11ish. As we approached the fairgrounds it became very clear that all the traffic was headed for the festival. I wished I had brought my camera so that I could have taken a picture of the sea of cars both parked and trying to park.
We started to wander around, and after the first couple of venders I couldnt find my friends anymore. I continued to walk around, making sure to get into every barn and every building. At The Fold's booth, I bought some lovely Socks that Rock Seduction in some almost solid colors. They were so pretty. I am glad I got to see them in person, on the web page it is hard to imagine how beautiful it is. I also picked up a Sheep 2 Shoe kit in Lapis.
After that, I continued to wander and ended up buying some good priced top and a top whorl spindle to practice spinning. At the same time, I found that Visually learn Handspinning book that many bloggers are talking about.
I was very good and self restrained -- I passed up awesome deals at the Tilli Thomas booth and the only Handmaiden Sea Silk that I had spotted that day. Also passed on where many many lovely, beautiful, deliciously dyed rovings and fleeces.
Toward the end, I met back up with my party to relax. They got in line to get some tee-shirts, and I decided to go back to The Fold...This was my downfall. I saw that they had put out some Sock Candy! So I grabbed up two each of two colorways (you need two for a pair, I bought 4 skiens). I also grabbed a skien of Twisted in the Fire on the Mountain color. This is destined to become a scarf, I will probably get another skien online of something almost solid to pair with it.
I will post up pictures of everything when I get home!
Good news! I have two phone interviews scheduled for next week!! (happy dance)
Having one interview is exciting enough, but two?!? This is turning out to be a great day.
The problem with phone interviews is that I will be at work when they occur. For the most part this is OK. But it still makes me feel a bit uneasy. Unfortunately my interviewers are not willing to call me early enough to catch me at home - therefore I need to take the calls during business hours.
Also exciting is: Maryland Sheep and Wool is this weekend!!!! I am VERY VERY excited about going this year. On the 11th I am scheduled to take my first spinning class, so I am hoping to spend the weekend learning about and trying out different spinning techniques and equipment. (more happy dancing)
Sorry for the lack of posting over the weekend. I have been trying to find some time when I don't feel down about work. I don't want this blog to be a place where I come and complain about all the things that bother me in life. I want it to be a happy place, with good thoughts, funny stories, and lots of fiber related discussion.
Positive thoughts... Hubby and I are building a house! We have all our agreements signed, now we are waiting to approve the blue prints from the builder. It is very very exciting, and once they start building I will have lots of pictures to post.
Well, I know its not much, but I think that's all I have to say today without getting into the thick of work related ranting.
