Just a quick Hi

This will be a quick hello tonight. But I just wanted to do some "Show & Tell". Yesterday I posted pics of the wool I've spun up and a few were dyed using Kool-Aid. Today, I sat down with a couple of the skeins I spun and one commercial one (brown colour) and knit another meathead hat using my own handspun wool. A rather exciting day for me overall! It worked! It worked! And nothing has fallen apart!!! :) Happy happy joy joy!

Well, I need to bolt. Need to finish cleaning up and zip over the floors with the sweeper before getting baby girl to bed. Today was her first day back to school after the Spring Break. Glad to report she had a fun day. Student teachers are now at the school for the next 5-6 weeks so she's excited Miss P. has joined her class.

Night Everyone!

Kool-Aid Fun

Warning: this post may be picture-heavy...

I've finished spinning the fibre I got from my spinning class. I received a bag full of washed Arcott fibre from my class. I finished plying the last bit last night so I decided to venture into dyeing. So yesterday, I bought a bunch of packets of Kool-Aid to give it a try. My hubby was a bit disappointed the aforementioned Kool-Aid was to be sacrificed to the dyeing gods instead of for him...but I must say the results were kind of neat.

A basket full of woolery-goodness!!!

The first skein I tried was the handspun Finn top roving I bought for my b'day.Before picture

It was spun and plied using my drop spindle. It turned out to be kind of a brick-merlot kind of colour.

After picture #1

So there is approx. 53 yds (50 g) of that colour.

After picture #2: In the sunshine

The next two smaller skeins I did turned out to be like an icy-blue varigated with bits of green and cream and a darker blue.After picture #1 (icy blue)

That was with the Arcott fibre spun on the wheel.

Before picture (Arcott fibre)

In total I have about 57 yds (approx 50 g) of that colour.

After picture #2 (icy blue): In the sun

I have bought dye from the wool shop, but need separate cooking pots for that. So I decided to try the Kool-Aid method first. I'm pretty pleased with the results and I am now trying to figure out what to make with it all. I want to knit up a simple project using the home-spun wool that I can take for "Show & Tell" for my next Spinners Guild meeting (last Monday of March). Any suggestions???

Da-lovely!

Well, that is all for tonight. I have to get a few things done before bedtime. Tomorrow my baby girl is back at school, so that means my holiday from cleaning is now over. :( It's back to the grind for this Cinderella. See you again tomorrow.

Spinning So Totally Rocks!

That was the best day ever! I had a great time at my spinning class -- I learned a lot. I am glad, though, that I've been playing with my drop spindle for the last couple of weeks. It really helped understanding how to draft the wool, etc. The first thing I learned was "teasing" the wool. It had been cleaned, but you still have to pick out all the little bits and pieces of straw/grass. Then I learned how to use the hand carders to work the fibre into workable pieces of roving. Boy, as a knitter, do I ever appreciate the work that goes into spinning workable yarn!!!

I rented a Louet S10 wheel until the end of June. It cost $20.00 to rent the wheel, three bobbins, and a set of handcarders until the end of June. Pretty reasonable...plus it will let me know if, down the road, I would like to invest in my own wheel. I can tell you right now...it's most likely a, "you better believe I will" kinda response.

While there, I spun two bobbins of singles and then learned how to ply them together. I got about 23 yards of that skein. Tonight I finished plying another 26 yards. I'm kinda really most definitely loving the spinning! I think tonight I will be working a treadle in my sleep!! :)

I am pretty tired after today's exciting events. My baby girl woke up at 6 a.m. this morning with a bad nightmare and didn't want to go back to sleep. I was too excited about my class to even think about sleeping, so I stayed up with her. Suffice it to say, I'm beat. I usually stay up and watch Saturday Night Live, but I don't know if I'll make it tonight. Eyes are getting droopy as we speak...

Well, time to tuck my girl into bed for the night. Good night loverly peoples...

Oh Yeah...The Girl's Got Skillzz

Hello Beautiful Peoples,



Well, tonight I finished plying my first attempt at yarn.

Roving in the foreground,

newly plied skein of wool,

and how to book

After plying, I soaked it, gently squeezed it, blotted it with towel gently, and then set it out to admire.

Book with

skein of Finn Top wool

Not bad for my first attempt with the drop spindle. I am greatly pleased. I can't stop looking at the skein or touching it. It even smells loverly!!! :

Close-up of skein

Tomorrow is my spinning class in the city. It's an all day affair which I am so excited about, I'm actually salivating. I will be learning how to spin on the wheel (*squeals*). I have wanted to learn how to do this for the last nine years. Tomorrow, I will be the idiot with a smile pasted all over her face. But I won't care. I will be full of bliss...I might even do a little chair dance of joy.

On the knitting front, I quickly snapped a couple of pics of the shawl I'm working on for my mom.

Mom's Shawl

Not the best lighting...

The pictures would have looked better in natural sunlight, but you get the drift. As I make further progress, I will snap some more piccys and post them.

Mom's Shawl on needle,

Wool skein drying in the background

That's all for tonight. It's getting late and I need to phone my sister to wish her a happy birthday (was last night, but they were out). Then, I'm off to bed. I needs my beauty sleep for tomorrow.

Tah Tah!