FLEECE PROCESSING MACHINE!

The system worked like a machine.   Here is what I mean:

Pre-soak

Wash

Rinse 

Spin

Dryer

Card into batts

Batts into Roving

Spin into yarn!

Lest you think I worked on this 24 hours a day all weekend, this is the tally.   All the fiber has been washed from Thursday through tonight.   The last batch of 3 mesh bags is drying outside overnight and a total of 9 bags altogether..    About 3-4 oz. has been carded into batts and 1 1/2 oz.  has been spun into single ply yarn.   Believe me, I have a long way to go to finish this fleece, but at least I have a record and sampling of how long it took me and what the yarn is like.    It is not really as soft as it may look, so it will be suitable to outerwear, felting and accessories.   I may even give dying a try since there will be so much of it and it is such a neutral color.   My plan at this point is to 2-ply it to a worsted weight and then measure and weigh the final product before deciding what it will become.

With the three day weekend, I even managed two walks, 2 loads of laundry, a couple of movies, some reading, and more general relaxing.   I guess what they say is true: you get more done when you have lots to do.  Or something like that.

Back to normal

The political messages are over and we can get back to the real business of the day......knitting and spinning! It is good to know if the economy totally tanks and if I can no longer afford to leave the house, or heat the house I can make my own warmth from my wool stash and once I run out of yarn, I can spin up from my stash and make some more. That is a warm thought for this chilly day.......

I finished my last skein of homespun from my Louet Northern Lights. It is washed skeined and now I have 4 skeins which I estimate to be at least 600 yards. I plan to begin a clapotis by Ruth Gilbert once I have some room in my current project bag. This was such a nice yarn to spin and I would definitely recommend it to beginner spindlers. Very little drafting necessary and the random color spotches blend very nicely when plying.
I began the lace scarf from Misti alpaca, and it has been a bit frustrating to get going. There are only 51 stitches in the scarf as designed and 3 border stitches at the beginning and the end. The problem is that there is one extra stitch in addition to the 11 stitch repeat of the pattern and this extra stitch is gonna kill me. What this means is that I cannot use stitch markers to keep my place in the row because everything moves this one extra stitch every other row. I have started and frogged at least 6 times so far until I "got" it. So now I count at the end of each row to make sure I have 51 stitches and I count each 11 stitch repeat with out markers! Ughhh... this is gonna take a long time and I may use a "life-line" for the first time in case I get off in my count and have to rip back. The yarn is so fine that each time I frogged it, I tossed the yarn previously knitted because it got too fuzzy. I am trying to be very diligent to count as I go along. I forgot to mention that I started this on addis, but then ran out and got some bamboo straight needles which aren't nearly as slippery. I may end up ordering knitpicks harmony tips in this size because using a lifeline with those is much easier because of the little tightening hole.
This second photo is after steam blocking what I had so far and the pattern is starting to show up. A nice surprise came in the mail today: my blog prize of 2 oz of fiber from Spinknitandlife and it is so soft and pretty. I look forward to spinning this and maybe doing a two color hat with some natural colored BFL fiber I have in my stash. Thanks, Phyllis!! I love it!