Fiber Friday - If you give a spinner some wool...

...She will get the crazy idea to make a sweater.



So not the best picture.  What I think it a Lincoln Cross.  It's a CVM cross of some sort.  You can't tell in the fleece photo above but it's a lovely mixed gray with dark gray and light gray. There is about 8 pounds of fiber.  I skirted it brutally. So after the skirting maybe only 6 pounds of wool.



A few of the locks.  About 4 inches or more long.

 I cut off the bleached tips on most of the fleece to make it easier to wash and card.  Sorting the fleece and washing it only took about 4 plus days.   I got about 3 pounds of really good usable wool.  I have another a pound of wool I washed although it had some vegetable matter in it. When I was finally finished washing the wool my husband asked, "Should I get you another fleece?"   I smartly responded, "Do you want anything else to get done?"  Now that the fleece is washed I have at least 3 pounds of fiber to spin up.  I may put the other pound in the compost.

"I thought you said you 6 pounds?"  tI lost some weight in washing out the lanolin and the dirt.  I lost more since I cut off the tips. Some I discarded as I was sorting because of excessive vegetable matter.   This fleece wasn't coated so it wasn't pretty dirty.  It's amazing how a good washing can show off the beauty underneath.



Upper left corner washed locks, in the middle flick carded locks ready for the drum carder, lower right some samples of  the fiber spun.  This is spinning up even better than I expected.  My longdraw spinning is getting better and better.

I better get to it. I've got lots to do.

Fiber Friday: I finished the shawl

Remember the shawl I started a few weeks ago? I finished it a few weeks ago and blocked it this week.  What a lovely shawl it is,  if  I do say so myself.




Made with 300 plus lace weight yards of Alpaca/silk purchased at Alapcas of Wildcat Hollow in Eskridge, KS.  It was lovely to spin. I love, love, love the natural color.

Wip Wednesday: Socks for the Man

Last year I started a pair of socks for my husband.  I felt it was time to knit him a pair because I know he will appreciate them and he does keep me in fiber and fiber tools.



 I started them at the end of September to be exact. The good news is I have turned the heel.



I have many reasons why they aren't done yet.  None of them are good reasons so I will spare you the details.  I predict they will be done by the end of the month.

Sunday Book Review: Book of Learning and Forgetting

I read, The Book of Learning and Forgetting by Frank Smitth,  about a month ago but it was on my  to read list for a while now.  Finally my local library purchased it.  Despite the fact that I have a radical view on learning I found myself thinking are you freakin' for real?

 We only really learn the things we learn when we learn it naturally and 

learning shouldn't be difficult. 

He does clarify that you might want to learn how to do something but you might not learn it easily because to learn something you need to have understanding.  So understanding may take time.  That was the best part of the book to me.  That understanding can take time.  

So maybe Smith is right. Learning isn't difficult we sometimes start from a place of  confusion then move to a state of understanding. Now that I think about it,  I do that all the time.  

Fiber Friday: A Groovy Fibonacci Poncho

I so wanted to show of this shawl with a lovely modeling shot. I just haven't managed it yet. This is how to goes and why I get into a blogging slump.

 

 I want to have modeled photos and perfect pictures. Not this Friday, this Friday I'm practicing Good Enough! I'm so happy this is done so I can get on to something new.  The girl kid likes it so all is good.

A last minute action shot.  The girl kid got dressed up today to be in a commercial for the teen zone at our local library.



She's so groovy! Go here if you want to see the specs.

Thankful Thursday: Snuggles on the Couch

When the kids were little I got lots of snuggling time.  Sometimes it felt like too much snuggling time. Now that they are older I cherish the times they want to hunker down with me.  Wednesday night it started with the girl kid, 16yrs, snuggling with me on the couch watching Serenity.  Then the boy kid, 13yrs, joined us.  .

TOTAL BLISS! 

When the movie was over the boy kid and I danced and jammed to some Ramones on the stereo.  

Awesomeness! 

WIP Wednesday: Another Shawl!

In 2010 I knit and crocheted 10 shawls. as a part of the 10 shawls in 2010 forum on Ravelry.  I had a blast doing too.  In 2011 I needed a break making shawls.  How many shawls does a gal need anyway?  I'm ready to make a few more.




Since I've finished up spinning the lovely Alpaca/Silk fiber I bought while at Yarn School last year.
415 yards of Lace Weight Yarn.




I decided I'd hook up another South Bay Shawlette by Lion Brand.  Out of character for me  I know but I'm not going to dye the yarn.  I want to let the natural color shine here and I could use a natural shawl.