The Naked Fiber Club has arrived

Today's mail brought a fluffy package and I tore into it as soon as I got home. It is the first shipment of the Naked Fiber Club and inside were three plastic bags. The largest was 8 oz of raw fiber in rich shades of brown and bronze with distinct locks and the greasy lanolin feel of sheep.

But no tag was present, so I didn't know what variety it was. Checking into Ravelry I went to the forum thread to sleuth out what I could find out. Turns out it is a Rambouillet/Teeswater cross, but I am not sure what that actually means as to softness.

I guess I will find out soon enough: It is already soaking in a large plastic bucket in the garage. I figure a good cold water soak first should loosen most of the dirt and stinkiness, before I do the hot water wash to remove rest of the dirt and the lanolin. I understand from my reading that lawns and gardens LOVE the sheepy water left behind. If it sounds like I know what I am doing here, have I got you fooled, because this will be my first try at raw sheep's wool!!! I'm learning all I can from books, Ravelry, you tube!!! To be continued....

In a second small package is 2 oz of BFL, dyed in deep rich jewel tones.

And in the third was a real surprise, and I am not going to do anything with this until someone else tries it first. Guess what it is............

Give up???

And another thing.....

From the comments so far, it looks like I have good reason to continue! I wasn't going to quit, but it is nice to be validated to continue! Keep those comments coming!

I looked at my blog as well, in this time of reflection and I ask you......Am I fighting middle age still, or am I fending off old age? I am referring to my banner at the top of the blog and now that this is the year I turn 60 ( I only feel 30.....of course, I use to say I felt 19) does my banner need a new subtitle????

Update on the bench and vanity from Mom's house: After all the research, I realized what we had in our possession, so I took the bench to be reupholstered, and talked to the gentleman there about the possibility of stripping the paint off the vanity and refinishing it as well. The bottom line was that the vanity would cost about $2400 to strip and refinish and there would be NO guarantee that he could restore it to the original beautiful mahogany finish since he had no way to determine how the piece was prepared for the paint back in the 60's. So I had to let it go for a pittance, but it is now sold to a nice young family who knows the treasure they may have if they put a little sweat equity into it.

As for the bench, this is fabric I purchased:

and since I am not paying to refinish the vanity, I decided to have the wood restored and finished as well as the upholstery replaced. Not cheap, but as my brother told me, it is a significant family keepsake.

I knit a second pair of mittens from the handspun alpaca

and now have started on a simple watch cap.

Maybe I'll add a stripe to the top of the hat for interest. I could use black or ivory for contrast. I'll have to see how that develops as it is knit up. So from 10 oz of raw fiber, at least 3 project sprang forth. Not bad....

And I am spinning. I finished a beautiful Merino from JulieSpins in the color: Canada (Photo courtesy of Julie)

which I navajo plied into a nice worsted weight

and I am now working on a Finn fiber from Bride Flight Studios

in the color: Oracle of Delphi. (Photo from her Etsy site) It is so soft and inviting. At spinning group last Sunday I was told that since Finn has a long staple, it makes a nice single ply yarn, so that is my goal so far.

Every time I checked her shop, it was empty, but I lucked into this one.
Timing is everything, and I will be checking again often, as all the sold colors were gorgeous.

There's more, but I don't want to spill it all out at once.

oh boy, oh, boy, oh boy.....More fiber to spin!

When I first started spinning over a year ago, it was the pure fascination of it all. I started slowly with a drop spindle and I thought the process was so leisurely that my stash would grow at the same rate as knitted finished objects (FOs)! How could I ever have been so wrong??? Look at me now, with 5 drop spindles and a wheel, lots of handspun yarn and only two handspun FOs to show for a year of spinning. Over the last several months, I have no knitted FOs to show and lots more fiber on hand to spin, as well as many, many skeins of ready to knit yarn. I started this blog at about the same time, and read back to the beginning for this history of a new addiction! Below is just my most recent wheel spinning. I do have lots of spindle spun yarn in my stash box upstairs. It is a little frightening to see how the stash grows, and grows, and grows.

Here are two new fibers I received in the last couple of weeks. This first from Dragonfibers is a blend of Superwash Merino, Bamboo, and Nylon in the Mountain Majesty colorway.

I divided it into thirds lengthwise and rolled each into its own ball.

I have set it up on the wheel, and it is demanding to be spun super-fine for three ply socks. It has such a lovely shimmer. My goal is for striped socks which will probably end up coordinating but not matching.

The second fiber is another purchase from JulieSpins. This one is Merino 64s in the color called Brilliant Hibiscus.

This roving is not superwash and so soft and fluffy/thick that I need to really try to make a heavier weight yarn for a hat/mitts set. This fiber is going into the stash box for now......

I have been a spinning fool, lately, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. At least I have something to show for all that time spent with my new wheel. Believe it or not, this is all from the same 17 oz ball of roving: Briar Rose BFL that I purchased at Rhinebeck last October.You can see that there is a definite difference in the overall results. These are soaked, thwacked, and hung in the closet to dry.

The two skeins with the pink ties, as seen below a little clearer, are spindle spun and navajo plyed on the spindle and lovely, if I do say so myself. The other three were done on the wheel. The 1st and 4th are three ply and so tightly plyed that you can still see the kinking even after its nice hot bath. I hope it settles down after knitting it up. The second skein is my favorite- two ply, but not as tightly spun. A shawl perhaps. Isn't it interesting how different the colors came out after plying, especially the 4th from the left.

Here is another example of how plying can really affect the final yarn achieved. These all came from the same ball of roving from JulieSpins. The greens really are pronounced in the third skein and this is the one I will start with for socks. It was suggested to me at my spinning group that I should have rewound one of the singles to spread the green out, but did I listen?? What do you think????

I think I need to restrict my spinning to one or two days a week. I am bound and determined to have some knitting to show here on the blog and I need to finish some of the UFO's that are lingering.

Or maybe I should rename this blog: Lizzzspins!

Yarn Barf and other Musings

Today was the 5th of 6 days working this week, between both of my part time jobs. One requires my brain full time, and the other requires nothing but my presence and I don't know really which is more exhausting. This has been the second week of this 6 day a week schedule and so far, I am holding up well.

I have been relaxing when I can between studying, with my spinning wheel and I finished the last of my natural BFL fiber. I figured out how to set up the scotch tension with the help of the Ravelry boards, but probably made a mistake by switching in the middle of the bobbin. I am too new at this to have known which way the bobbin was actually turning in double drive and whether that changed when I switched to the scotch tension. From what I have read, they spin in the opposite direction, so the plied yarn is probably unspun and under spun. I had two bobbins, one fuller than the other, so I wound each into a ball with my ball winder.
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I then plied from the inside and outside of the first ball with success and no issues, except that parts of the plied yarn are now a bit under spun.


The second ball, I plied part way through the ball and developed what is affectionately known as yarn barf as it twisted and felted on itself as I was trying to ply. I was unable to untangle it, so I grabbed a scissors and quickly cut the offending tangles, before I could think more sanely.

I found the ends again and continued to ply this ball on the wheel, and each time I arrived at a cut end, I found the other end and spit felted it and continued plying. This happened about a half dozen times, and eventually, I arrived at the end of the ball. What I learned is that one needs to be very careful with plying with the inside and outside of a center pull ball to keep yarn barf under control. I would have plied from the 2 separate bobbins, if they had been closer in size to each other, saving myself this step.

They say if you want something done well, ask a very busy person to do it. I have accomplished so much this week, in spite of my 46 hour work week. I went to the dentist early one morning and began catching up on long overdue mouth maintenance. Not my favorite thing, but I have found that the entire staff at the office I had been going to has changed and they are much better and nicer and more competent than the last time I was there. That's why it has been such a long time. A pleasant surprise.

Last Sunday, I took my spinning wheel on its first field trip to a newly formed spinning meetup for those of us south of Denver. She traveled well and I enjoyed the camaraderie of the group and the uninterrupted "me" time. We are meeting again this Sunday, and I will bring my camera to record the action.

Wednesday was Book Club and this month we read (I got through 1/2 of each) two books. The first was Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, which is a compilation of essays about dining and eating alone by assorted authors and foodies. It was amazing that some chose such elaborate meals and some resorted to repetitive simple meals. I fall somewhere in between. Over the last 6 months, I have rediscovered spaghetti! And dirty dishes. In the book, several used only one dish per meal. How did they do it??When I actually cook a meal, instead of my usual grazing through the Fridge, I tend to saute up some onions, chicken, and whatever veggies I might have on hand with either a teryaki sauce or Italian red sauce, or even just some olive oil and Parmesan and chicken broth, but I always prepare a large enough portion to allow at least two more meals of leftovers. This particular meal tonight was on brown rice instead of spaghetti.I add to the mixture as the days go by until it is gone and then I might do it all over again.

Of course, there is always a glass of Red wine handy. Cheap box wine, but I save the budget for the good stuff for when I have company. Can you blame me?
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The second book was I Feel Bad About MY Neck by Nora Ephron which is a book of humorous essays about middle age women and our many quirks. Some of it is sarcastic and snarky, but oh so true in so many ways.

Bye-Bye to late nights and later mornings.

I was up this morning for an early Dentist's appointment at 7 am. I guess I better get used to these early morning hours since one of my jobs will be starting at 7:30 or 8:00 am. Driving to the dentist, the full moon was large and bright in the western sky and I wish I had my camera to capture the beauty above the snowcapped mountains west of Denver brightly lit by the rising sun. Take a moment to imagine the sight. la la la. Wasn't that nice? I haven't been up this early in a long long time.

Over the last 6 months, my bedtime has gotten later and later, and my malingering in bed got later and later as well. My morning routine has been an hour or more of NPR's Morning Edition to catch up on the news, and to make sure the world didn't blow up while I was asleep. This started on 9/11 when I became a news junkie and began to linger in bed with the radio to get myself ready to start the day. On weekends, it is Scott Simon and Liane Hanson who keep me in bed.

I am usually a night owl, and breaking that habit will prove difficult for me. The house is quiet, the dog is sleeping, the leather chair is so comfy. I will miss knitting with Jay Leno and Conan. I will miss Ravelry at midnight and catching up with my beloved forums. I am planning to spin as a last activity of the evenings, just before retiring and I am finding that it is a zen-like meditative activity which relaxes me enough to make bedtime easier. And I will miss my mornings with NPR, since I will now have to pop out of bed and get my day started without lingering.

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Tomorrow I start my new job (the 2nd part time job), even though I feel like I have been doing it for a week now. Each night, I spend 2-3 hours with the books, trying to absorb material that sometimes feels like it is written in a foreign language. The series 7 prep books are dry and full of concepts, formulas, rules and regulations, and at the end of each chapter, is an exam. So far, I haven't been doing too well, but with more review and memorization, it should start making sense soon, I hope. I have 4 months from tomorrow to pass the test.

Here is my first finished skein of my wheel spun yarn. It is Louet natural BFL, two ply. The weight is 82g and it is about 115 yards. The yarn fluffed up quite nicely after the soaking and thwacking.

I am feeling so much more productive with fiber than with the prep books. I have to get my brain back in shape to work and think. My fingers are very fit and active.

On to a New Blogging Year

All through the past several weeks, I have spindling more than knitting and I am getting pretty itchy for a Wheel. A Kromski Sonata wheel to be exact.

This is the exact wheel that my knitting buddy, Stacy, purchased before the holidays and I had a chance to try it out at her home. I am thinking about the same wheel in the Walnut stain for myself to match some woods in my home and after reading many of the review both on the net and in Ravelry. I like this wheel's classic looks without taking up too much room when set up. The best part is that it breaks down and folds into a padded carrying bag so that it can easily travel to spin-ins or nearly anywhere. From what I have read, it can do nearly everything a spinner would want to do: from laceweight to heavy worsted weight. The itch is getting bad, but I am waiting for career enhancement to take place......

So I continue to spindle spin with my three favorite spindles: Golding, Bosworth, and Eichheim. I am almost to the end of the Creatively Dyed Sea Wool fiber from Rhinebeck, and I believe I will have enough for socks after plying the last bits. I am making a regular 3 ply for this yarn, and putting quite a lot of spin into it to make it better wearing socks. Might have to do 2-at-a-time toe up socks, in case I run short. Oh Boy, another technique to learn!

This is all that is left to spin:These are my singles already spun for the second skein:

I don't seem to be making much of a dent in the Briar Rose BFL fiber, also purchased at Rhinebeck in October. One skein is finished of worsted weight, which I used the Navajo ply on the fly technique. For this next skein, I am using the same technique, but spinning finer, so the plyed yarn is much thinner. I should probably be using my wraps per inch tool to determine the actual weight of the yarn, but until I have lots of it finished, I am too lazy. I am winding it onto a TP roll as the spindle gets too heavy and I have about 40 grams in weight done on the TP roll. The skein on the left is the worsted weight which should make a nice hat. Since the roving was over a pound when I purchased it, I better make friends with it. It will be occupying my home for a long time! This is the roving ball still left of 17 oz purchased:

And this is what the scale reads.........

Spinning WIP's

I think it is time to show some of the spindle spinning that I have been doing. What has been taking a lot of my spare time are these two fibers that I bought at the Sheep and Wool festival at Rhinebeck last month.

Here is the Briar Rose fiber which is BFL in lovely shades of green. The purple which is visible in the roving just blends to dull the brightness in some areas and the final result which I am planning to do a regular 3 ply should be nicely variegated in brightness, but not necessarily in different colors. I have been trying to spin a little thicker so the 3-ply is about worsted or heavier weight to use for hats, cowls, or even a vest since I have so much of it (17 oz total).

This is the pretty rose/copper fiber from Creatively Dyed in wool/seacell. It is so soft, but the frustration is that the seacell prevents me from spit-joining when the single breaks during spinning. I think that the wool portion is superwash, which doesn't felt either. The colors are so pretty individually that I decided to Navajo ply the singles instead of regular plying three singles together. It kept the colors more distinct in the final yarn.

After skeining, washing and winding into a ball on my ball winder, I began knitting a neckwarmer that I found on Peaceful Knitter's website. I am using size 8 needles, but the yarn is heavier than regular worsted weight, so I am going to frog it to get closer to her gauge. I will use size 7 needles and reduce the cast on by 2 pattern repeats to see how that does. What I knit, before frogging, is next to the skin soft, so it will be a nice use for this yarn.