This should keep me busy for a while!

Today's mail brought a box.... a big box.  And inside is a whole shetland fleece from a sheep named Mary, from Flutterby Farms in the San Diego area.    This fleece was living happily on Mary until last Saturday, the 27th, when John Quimby from Roseburg, OR sheared her.   All this info came from Jeri, (Fluffysgarden on Ravelry) who offered to select and ship several fleeces at a really good price.  How could I turn down such an offer.  Talk about fresh!    It was too windy to unfold it onto the mesh picnic table outside, so I spread a twin size sheet in the basement and carefully spread it out.

 I removed the yucky poopy bits, the second cuts and the coarser parts around the edges.

What is left has a staple length of about 4-5 inches and I really look forward to processing it to see what results.    

The cut side of the fleece is a lovely oatmeal color, while the tip ends are more yellow.   

I did bundle up about 6 oz of it into mesh bags to soak and wash over the next couple of days and I will be interested to see what the final color will be.    

I finished the Romney silver that I started a few weeks ago and ended up with about 5 oz of worsted weight yarn.   It was a pleasure to card and spin.

As a break from all the neutral colors, I have also been spinning up Dark Cathedral, by JulieSpins.   I originally thought it would be for socks but I think I am spinning too thin for that.   As a two ply, it should make pretty dramatic lace weight yarn.  This yarn is superwash merino, bamboo, and nylon.

And the shopping bag is coming along nicely.    My hands are getting used to the coarseness of the hemp fiber and it is a simple enough pattern to carry along for portable knitting.

Another Pyramid o' Fiber!

I am loving having this drum carder at the ready....at least for the last week.  It goes home, or to the next lucky borrower this Sunday, so I was motivated to finish off the romney wool.

   It turned out so much better than the rambouillet/teeswater cross.   Not due the fiber itself, but to the fact that I think I slightly felted the dark brown wool in the scouring process.

The bottom skein was the first skein from the batch, and the top skein has the addition of some mohair and sari silk.   It looks softer in the photo than it actually is, though.   Feeling more like shetland type wool, its future is unknown.   I do have enough singles left to make another plain skein, so maybe a hat???.

 I was so much more hands off for the romney and the results are fluffy, soft and luscious. Here is a washed lock of fiber with its lovely crimp.

and its resulting pyramid o' fiber!

extreme closeup of a carded batt:

I am holding off starting to spin it until Sunday's Spinning Meetup where everyone can ooooh and ahhhhh!   I nearly bought a carder on Ravelry this week, but I had some concerns about its condition and the price.    Once I get the tax refund.........all bets are off.

Front Yard Glacier

I WANT SPRING TO COME!!!!!

This is 55 grams or about 1.7 oz of the handspun yarn from my Naked Fiber shipment.  It is two ply and light worsted weight, and I didn't measure the yardage.  Photographed on fresh snow in the front yard.

I am so ready for spring to arrive that I can taste it.  It seems to be snowing every few days and I am curious where our average of 300 days of sun have gone.   At least today, there was some melting and the streets are dry, but my infamous sidewalk has built up another thick layer of ice.   I bet it is there until June at this rate!   Send me some global warming for a little while......   and send some to the east coast, too, but the snow can keep falling in Vancouver for the finish of the games.

Here is the next shipment of the fiber club, silver Romney.   See how pretty the crimp is!    I am trying not to open the inner plastic yet, because I have a lot of fiber which has to come first.   I am so tempted though......