new projects

okay, so it's not like i don't have a house full of crap planned projects and for some crazy reason i'm onto something new.

first, the yarn. yes.... it's decorative yarn. when i was in maryland, several of the gals were knitting with this yarn (sashay, from joann's) making these fun scarves. it reminds me of the swirling peel that you can get when you pare an apple. long and curly. so while in the store today (getting supplies for the next project) i found the yarn and was requested to knit a scarf.
i found out that it is a bit harder than it looks.

the yarn must be pulled apart to find the selvage edge to knit into. so you knit (slowly), open the yarn, knit a bit more, open yarn..... you get my drift. it's the perfect project to do while watching the olympics.
the next hole that i've fallen into.... needle punching. it was another trip to a fiber festival with those folks i call enablers friends that i saw this for the first time. i thought you only used wool fabric, but guess what you can use yarn. and i have lots of that. amythefibergoddess set me up with a practice piece and sent me home with a punch and monk's clothe to keep going. i needed to make the pattern my own, so i've been playing around with different designs and i think i've got one.

i'm keeping with the star theme, adding a few design elements that will hopefully make this work. i've got the backing fabric and pillow form so i better get this going. perfect indoor projects as the temperatures climb into the nineties today!

nails in the road

midway through the actual tour, several riders were hampered by this unexpected event. equipment was compromised causing many to lose time and some to leave the race. sadly, i did not complete my tour this year. a series of unexpected life twists not only slowed me down, but knocked me out. nothing tragic or horrible, just small things that kept adding up to slow me down. when i finally admitted to myself that there was not a snow ball's chance in shortsville that i would complete it, i was okay with that. i still learned something about my fiber and my spinning and my equipment .... and really that is what the tour is all about for me. to stretch myself, get pushed out of my comfort zone and discover.
so, i discovered that....
1) i really love the merino roving. it's soft and springy and fun to spin. even though i'm spinning it super fine, it is still meeting all those characteristics.
2) spinning it super fine is taking f o r e v e r! and that's okay because i'll get what i want.
3) my wheel is a wonderful, quirky piece of equipment. it needs to be tended and pampered. it developed a wicked bad squeak after the foot-pedal adjustment that required research and care. not hard, just necessary.

so i'll keep on going and try to finish this project.

back and ready for the tour

just returning from a fabulous week of vacation. it is becoming an annual event to meet my family (and their families) at the shore. we each rent a house for the week and have all the fun that we can possibly have.

i take my wheel for some early morning spinning, and my knitting for the car ride and beach time. yes, i take wool to the beach. this year as i was strolling along in the surf i spotted cross-stitch being done in the sun. i'm not sure what it means, but in my mind it decreases my weirdness. the days were hot and sunny so we did lots of this..

the water was warm (by ocean standards) at a balmy 72. it was a perfect match for the 90+ heat of the day and the golden ball of fire in the sky. we shopped, ate lots of shore food, sipped sangria's and totally relaxed.   the sunrises were awesome, except that they arrived at 5:35....am.

still, it was worth dragging out of bed to see dolphin tales and scenes like this.
as i was coming home, i realized that i needed to get my plan in place for the 'tour defleece'. the tour runs from the 1-22 of july, and dang-it if it isn't july first! i decided to go with my definition of exotics this year. i have several unique to my spinning story fibers and will focus on those.

the bright pink, blue and multi rovings on the right are merino pindrafted roving, next is a braid of targhee combed top, then bfl & tussah silk top and finally superwash merino and bamboo. in all about 27 ounces of fun.
so i'm off..... riding kind of slow today as i'm still recovering from all that vacation fun!

summer's here...

and i'm back to my summer spinning routine. watching the water (and water inhabitants) and spinning on the break wall.

it was hot. really really hot. so hot i had to put myself into the lake to cool down enough to keep spinning. i'm working on one of the bags that i got from ~stash stew~
i was explaining the concept to the sweet neighbor, and when she got that glazed look on her face, i finished the explanation quickly by saying it was from my fiber group. which really is true. i'm spinning a bit of everyone that contributed to the project, and that is pretty cool.
i wasn't sure if i liked it when i started. in the bag the fiber was lovely, but as i started spinning it just didn't grab me until i hit the second bobbin. when i ply it the yarn will be great.

catch up

there has been lots of fiber and lots of life going on in my world. i'll stick with the fiber, it's the most fun. i was asked to join some fiber-friends to visit a new festival in the area. by "in the area" i really mean 'you can drive there, do the festival, drive home, in a day'. sadly the day we went the rain would not stop falling from the sky. we chose the scenic route (we got lost) and arrived later than we had anticipated. the festival was on a campgrounds in large (think circus) tents. there were about 15 vendors in a tent and the rain just kept coming. i just got one picture of the day and it was this fine fellow and his charge. there were lots of animals at this festival, and some unique vendors. i purchased icelandic roving to try, organic merino hand-paint yarn, and ordered a spinning basket. i  also got lots of knitting done on the afternoon tea shawl. in fact, that is all i've been knitting on. i'm really ready to be finished with it so i just keep knitting on it every where i go.

early summer

i have been on a shawl knitting frenzy. i was late to the party with the lala knit-a-long, finally jumping on board and completing one in no time.
then amythefibergoddess pushed my off the bridge into shawl-wrap insanity! first, 198 yds of heaven, which turned into way more than 198 yds. then it was the traveling woman, then the afternoon tea shawl,  color affection, wingspan..... the list is growing.
i found yarn that was from my first spinners basket. the plan was to knit a sunrise circle sweater. big plans, not happening. I thought that the traveling woman shawl would be a perfect fit for this yarn. as i was blocking it, i noticed that bind off edge was very tight. so tight, that it snapped. i ripped it out and went several rows in, then re knit ending with a much nicer cast off. i re-blocked and couldn't be happier.

just perfect! i'm glad i found that yarn.

repaired

when i got home from my maryland adventure, i was anxious to get spinning. life was frantic and demanded all of my attention, so it just didn't happen. i looked forward to having relatively undisturbed spinning at the shepard's market. i took my wheel, got some great fiber, started spinning and felt my wheel clunking. i had several spinners look at my wheel and decided to contact majacraft for advice. they were amazing! i received three responses and one of the suggestions resolved my problem. they even offered to send me the piece i needed. the challenge was keeping my patience as it traveled from new zealand...... by canoe!
the piece arrived today, and i'm back in spinning bliss! the biggest challenge is deciding what to do.

my poor wheel. it seems that it had suffered an injury while i was away. no one living in my house had any knowledge of the accident. no one. the most likely culprit just isn't talking. but i love her still