Spinning Update

As promised, I'm going to show off a few items today so that there's something interesting to look at around here! :-) I have been doing much more spinning than knitting lately, so I'll give you a few of my yarns to look at, plus a few new fiber acquisitions (who am I kidding. A lot of new fiber!).

First, I joined the Spunky Eclectic fiber club in July, and I spun the first shipment, 4 oz. of Romney in Eclipse:

Worsted-bulky singles. I love it, and wish I had had a double dose of it. I thought I had tracked down a second lot of it from another club member, but the deal seems to have fallen through. Waiting to see if I can still snag some before I decide what it's becoming!

I was so impressed with how much fun it was to spin that first Spunky fiber that I started in on some more Spunky goodness....merino-tencel in Toronto:

Fingering-sport weight, 2-ply.

Last month I finished off a spinning project started during the Tour de Fleece, my laceweight blue merino. It sat a while waiting to be skeined, because it was fine and rather tangly, but the job is finally done:

It is super sproingy and squishy, I can't wait to knit something with it. And there is plenty to knit with....if I did the math right, there's over 700 yds of it, so I should be able to do a shawl or something similar.

Now, for the fiber. I'm not sure if I should unveil it all at once...it's rather a lot. Remember, I haven't really blogged in almost 2 months, so there's been a lot of stash acquisition that's gone unshared. I guess I'll start with the early stuff and see how far I get before I run out of steam!

In August I visited my mother, and had lots of fun doing fibery things with family. My cousin's youngest daughter (she's....11, I think??) came over for the day and I let her spin on my wheel (she was a natural!), and then we dyed some fiber. I let her pick all the colours, and just helped her with the process. This is what she came up with:

Merino/tussah silk.

Brown Sheep Superwash wool.

Didn't she do a fabulous job picking out colours? I think she has a future career as a dyer if she wants it! Perhaps we can go into business together....

There's lots more fiber, quite a bit of it from Spunky Eclectic. In fact, I'm realizing that I haven't even photographed my last order. So I'll hold off on that for later. But one last little bit of fibery goodness to share today....from the Spunky Swap! My swap package from my amazing partner, Patty, came yesterday, and I have been truly spoiled:


There is delicious handspun Falkland from Patty, plus the most luscious fiber....optim fiber, a processed merino that has a silky lustre and the softness of cashmere! And several other goodies....a wpi tool, some stitch markers, a PVC niddy noddy, and some firestar. Lots of fun will be had by me!

Hoping for a Calm October

As expected, things have been extremely hectic lately. I don't have time for a full update now--I have lots of pictures of all kinds of things to share, but tonight isn't the night for it. We're leaving tomorrow morning for a 3 day "middle school retreat" at an outdoor education center. It should be a good trip, but it means I really need my sleep tonight! :-)

But I keep putting off blogging until I have time to do a "proper" post, and at that rate I'll never post at all. So here's a quick update on life. We haven't made any permanent decisions about where we're going, but Stephen has taken a temporary position in Kitchener. This could turn into a longer time position if things work out the way he thinks they will. However, it's not certain yet, so I'm staying put in the meantime. I'm still really enjoying my job (most days!), so I'm not in a hurry to head someplace else just yet.

I've been doing some spinning, but not that much knitting lately. I am signing up to take a beginning weaving course offered by the London Spinners and Weavers Guild starting in 2 weeks, so I'm excited to give that a try.

What else is there? Well, lots of little things, but I can't think of anything else you just have to know right now. Hopefully next time I'm here I'll post some pictures of a few things or maybe even say something insightful. Who knows! :-) As for when that will be....well, although I'm hopeful for October, I'm not confident. We will probably go ahead and finish getting the house ready to go on the market, plus there are a lot of field trips, a group of students visiting our school for the whole month, Thanksgiving, and the commuter marriage that I'm currently living in! Add in yoga & weaving classes, everyday life, and some time for spinning and knitting, and the blog falls pretty far down the list. So I'll see you when I see you!