Year of the Dragon!

It's 2012 already!!!!  Wow!  I totally can't believe how fast time flies and with the year of the dragon upon us, let us hope that everything will turn out great for everyone!  I haven't been updating anything around here in a while, primarily because I spent the last month and a half just hanging out with my little one, and enjoying the time off from teaching.

Here he is in his favorite toy of all - the box from a jogging stroller I purchased (see why below) - from which I cut out a square for him and padded it inside to make him his very own space ship/race car/hideaway.



Here he is hiding inside his box with his iPad, which I purchased from a fellow Raveller (it was an excellent, can't-say-no price, too)



Speaking about vacations, I totally get the summer vacations for teachers, and though I'm a year round kind of teacher working as an independent contractor for the community education area of a community college, it feels like a full time job - just without any benefits.  Boo.  And some students can make you batty.  And since I have adult students, it's a different vibe, too.  Some are there because they really want to be there (second career, life change, bucket list, etc) and some, well, just want to kill time or mom or dad are paying for the education so no loss there if they don't put in any effort.  So this year, I finally failed my first student in Pathology and how I wish I could have failed a few more last year.

Anyway, I hardly had any time to do any spinning during my time off.  The little one demanded most of my free time and he is growing up so fast!  He is now 27 pounds and is climbing over everything.  As one of my friends said, "The water level has risen" - pertaining to the height which we have to move everything we don't want him to get higher each time.

When I did get time to spin, it was mostly simple vanilla type yarns - navajo plied or andean plied worsted to bulky hands puns that will probably be destined for small projects like cowls or hand warmers.  But even knitting has been difficult to do as the little one again seems to have a radar set for knitting needles and promptly demands I let go of them and play with him instead.

Oh well...spinning and knitting can be set aside anytime.  I want to watch my little one grow and be there for him as much as possible.

My hobbies have been also left in the wayside because it turns out that I'm really really unhealthy - like, really.  My cholesterol is up, triglycerides are up, and I'm pre-diabetic as well.  And my liver enzymes were also elevated.  My doctor wrote on her note, "Cut down on alcoholic drinks," and I thought to myself, "gee, I haven't drank anything since 2006 - not even wine."  I looked it up and saw that one of the causes, if not alcohol, is obesity, and I'm definitely on the obese side now.

The days of telling myself that I can lose the weight quickly are gone.  Age makes all that a bit more difficult. I guess it's true when people say that everything seems to slow down as we age, and most everything that lasts a minute on the lips, ends up on the hips :)

So I made the decision to stop the hobbies for a while and concentrate on my health.  Instead of spinning or knitting, I now place Lucas in the stroller and we take a long brisk walk.  When I drop him off at the in-laws before class time, I try to make it to the gym and do 30 minutes of circuit training and cardio (yup, Curves, here I am!) instead of using that time to spin, knit or process fiber.  Which means that I'm also in destashing mode right now - destashing fleece that I don't see myself processing this year, especially since I didn't have the time to do it last year.

It does feel good to make new priorities for the year, especially when it comes to putting my health first.  Without my health, I wouldn't be able to do much of anything, much less spinning, knitting, and most of all, being there for my little prince.

I still find the time to do the hobbies, of course, after all the working out and caring for the little prince are done.  Sometimes you may find me spinning or knitting or crocheting in semi darkness though.  Spinning still does make me feel so calm and collected, and I get to meditate a bit as well.

The first handspun for 2012 is pretty vibrant.  Here's how it looked on a Louet Victoria bobbin, all 4 ounces of it.  The Victoria is such a sweet wheel, by the way, and I am renting it from Nancy of Nancy's Custom Handweaving.



Here is it all navajo-plied:



Here's another one from the same fiber dyer but the colors are so muted and terrible that even spinning it became such a drag and I had a hard time plying it.  I ended up having to re-ply it on the wheel but it didn't change how awful the colors were to begin with.



I still have 4 more rovings, I think, in the box that it all came in but I'm not so thrilled to spin them as the dye job is splotchy.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed though that maybe if I let it sit awhile, I might forget all that and like the end result of the rovings.

And here's a crocheted hat I made from one of my handspun yarns spun from a Loop self-striping roving:



And as if I didn't have enough fiber and have been destashing some of them (only the ones that require more processing than long locks!), here's a few "Kitchen Sink Bags" from Natalie of Namaste Farms.  The bags are filled with an assortment of dyed mohair, wensleydale and other wool - and even a feather!

And Now We're Weaving!

Yup, I just added a new item on my list of hobbies - weaving!  Specifically triangle loom weaving, that is.

Last Sunday I attended a triloom weaving class with Gale of Weaver's Cupboard and after weaving 2 samples on a 16" loom or so, I decided to get a 48" walnut loom from Gale and upon arriving home, immediately set out to weave my first official shawl.

I picked a handspun yarn from my first forays in spinning.  I think it's from a Crosspatch Creations batt and it has such a lovely luster!  After 2 hours of weaving, and another hour of attaching the fringe, I ended up with this, which I've worn twice already even though it needs a soak:

The following day I started weaving my second shawl using some handspun using Pumpkinhaus fibers as well as another handspun that I carded from Studioloo.  This one probably took me a total of 3 - 4 hours to do and I love it!

I am officially addicted to this!

Have A Wonderful Day!

It's rainy (or is overcast) today in SoCal and while the daddy and kidlet are out and about (tumbling class and who knows where else the grown up will take him?), I'm enjoying some quiet time at home with a cup o' joe and this awesome pic:

Good Bye Wheels...Oh Wait, Here's Another One!

So I said good-bye to two wheels this past weekend and though I had second thoughts in selling them at first, meeting their new owners made me feel so much better about my decision.  The Clemes went to a young mom of 2 beautiful girls who now has 3 wheels in her stable.

Fricke went to a wonderful man who had never spun on a spinning wheel before - like, ever!  But he sure had a lot of fleece!  He said that he started knitting a year ago and just loved it.  Then he started buying raw fleece on Etsy and he's hooked.  It's like taking the red pill...

Anyway, I found myself really having major second thoughts as I showed him how to spin on the Fricke, but I had to remind myself again and again that I didn't have enough time in the day to spin anything.  Much less on 4 wheels in the house.  So off the Fricke went and I know they will be well-loved and at best, used a whole lot more than I ever have in the past year and a half.

Then I found myself with a Louet Victoria in tow, on loan for a month as I decide what wheel to complement my Matchless which is too darn heavy for me to take outside the house.  I've spun on the Vicky once so far and so far I am liking it.  I do have to change the brake band and spring with fishing nylon string and a rubber band, respectively because its current set up is driving me batty.

I am currently spinning some lincoln roving on it from Sandy of Homestead Wool and Gift Farm.  If you haven't heard of Sandy and her wonderful sheepies, do stop by and check her farm out.  She makes awesome tailspun yarn and has wonderful sheepies who love fruit loops!

Some Handspun!

I have actually found some time to spin and although it's not a lot, it's pretty much enough for me right now with a full schedule!  I recently bought a Cricket loom and I'm hoping to find some time to warp my first ever project on it and weave something awesome using my own handspun!

So what yarns did I finish and actually get to take pictures of?  Well, I finally got to spin Pumpkinhaus' awesome "What's your fairy name SAL" complete with feathers and here it is!

 Pumpkinhaus' Fairy Name SAL corespun with feathers!

 A close up of the corespun with feathers

 Hobbledehoy corespun yarn

Even dyed up some colorful wensleydale!

Even managed to knit up a pair of Monkey socks!

Yup, you could say I got to steal a few hours here and there!  And it sure felt good!  I did have one week off from teaching but never got to dye any fibers since I was so busy making up my student manuals for the upcoming class instead.  I can't wait till holiday break!

I did end up selling 2 of my wheels just recently - the need to make more room is getting more dire with each passing day as my little prince needs the room to run around and just play.  With all my fleece and wool and spinning wheels sitting around, or hiding in the closets or in the garage, I had to make a choice and so 1 wheel left for its new home today, and another wheel goes to someone who's never spun on a wheel tomorrow!  I'm very happy that they will be with new owners who can spend time with them and spin tons of yarn with them!

So what wheel do I have left for myself?  Why, it's the Matchless DT - although I just realized I did not put the possessive 'my' in that sentence so it means that it's probably destined to go, too.  I have been considering getting a Fricke DT 160 instead, as I kept the bulky flyer and bobbin for it, and really love that everything I need ratio-wise and portability and bobbin capacity can be found in one wheel without having to change this whorl or that flyer - except for the bulky flyer, that is.  

But for now, it'll be the matchless for awhile.  We both need some spinning to do and besides, I'd rather get myself a new macbook anyway.  The little prince has taken over my iPad.

 At the pumpkin patch having a blast!

 Looking over my shoulder

 A recent pic that's as close to a formal pose as we'll ever get these days!

Remembering Pam

Yesterday last year my best friend lost her battle with ovarian cancer.  I kept thinking it was the 7th, but as I read through my blog tonight, I realized that I had been notified 2 days after - so the 4th was the day my dearest Pam crossed over to the other side. 

I still think of Pam a lot, and just today, as I was cleaning out my garage office, sorting books into boxes destined for the library or Salvation Army, I pulled out a book and thought, "Wow, Pam sure tolerated me with my whimsies - whether it be writing or spinning yarn."

That's Pam.  She was always ready to listen to my latest story, waiting to hear when I was done writing my great fantasy novel (which, I just realized, is still sitting in the far reaches of my brain), or hear about my latest spinning wool adventure.  She always made that call whenever I forgot because, well, I was just too forgetful. 

I was always happy she remembered.  Every month, she'd call to catch up and let me know how she was doing, and even when she was not doing well, you'd never know it.  She always kept herself busy, raising money at the L.A. Marathon to benefit her favorite place to heal in the South Bay. 

When I last saw Pam, I had gone to her house to pick up our old massage school manual which she had saved.  She was lending it to me, but when I got there, she said that she wouldn't be around anyway, and she wanted me to have it.  She was so happy to hear that I was teaching massage at the local college, and she hoped that by her saving the manual (she said she saved everything - though seeing her house, you wouldn't know it, like, say, my house, where you see remnants of last week's dinner, probably saved by accident under the couch) it would benefit me and my students.

Pam and Michael

I remember I trimmed some beautiful flowers that had wilted in the heat of the Southern California sun (yes, even in October!) as she guided me through which flowers to throw and which ones to keep for she loved to look at them.  I wanted to hold her forever, but she had to take her nap.  Her husband, Michael, came in to remind her that she had to rest (she had to breathe with the help of oxygen so the tube trailed around the house behind her), and so I left, promising to see her again soon.

Four weeks later, Pam was gone.  And less than a year later, Michael followed and I hope they are together now, watching over me as I think about both of them and wondering what she'd say of my latest efforts at cleaning up the messy house, or setting aside books and stuff to give away to charity.  Or about my latest Duffers, knitted felted slippers that I made 3 pairs of which one of them I thought would be perfect for her - before I caught myself and realized that she is no longer around to wear them.

But I'm sure she would have liked them.

Tiny Tots on the Firing Line

Every Friday morning I try my darndest to get my little tyke to the local library for Tiny Tots reading and play time. Some days are more successful than others, but each time we walk through the library doors, my teacup human heads straight to the playroom - where he then stands just outside the door debating whether he's going in or not. He eventually does and plays.

Today the woman who supervises the reading and playtime announced that the city has decided to no longer fund the program at the local library. Maybe the "oil money" may pay for it, but only if the city or council decide to give some of that to the library.

It makes me sad to see libraries hit the hardest during these trying times. Libraries are an integral part of a society and I don't give a shit what you say about there being the internet, Google, and Wikipedia. Oh, and Facebook. Seeing a child look through books in the children's section at the library will tell anyone that the benefits of having a library can be viewed on that child's face. The wonder of counting butterflies on the page, or reading about Elmer, the fish's adventures in and out of the coral reef, or pointing to the letter "W" and knowing how it sounds like - if you're still reading this, have you ever thought how we ever started reading "back in the day?"

It's That Time of the Year Again

I'm back teaching and it's going to be a hectic quarter for me as I teach a total of 3 classes.  Two are ongoing and one starts in November.  This means that I do not have the time to spin my yarns or scour or dye my fibers.  So add another year for my fibers to sit around in their bins.  Oh well...

Which brings me to the issue of spinning wheels.  If I don't have the time to spin, what am I to do with 4 wheels?  And of course there's the issue of a toddler who needs more space to move around.

So if you're looking for a wheel, check in on me, will you?  I just may have a wheel (or two) for you!  Up for consideration may just be a Fricke single treadle folding and a Clemes modern wheel - both of these wheels have their corresponding bulky/jumbo flyer/bobbin, too!

So what do I do in the sparest of times that I do have?  Besides blogging at 3:43 am?

Playing with my teacup Darth Vader!

Home Again

We've been home about 3 weeks now and in hindsight, that 5 day vacation was S.H.O.R.T.  Even though I had originally planned on being away for 7 straight days, things just happened that prevented us from doing so.  But isn't that how life is?

I can't keep regretting this and that.  It gets tiresome after some time.

Anyway, I do have some yarns to show off.  These are just some yarns that I finished a few months ago but never got around to show since I've been too busy to even blog sometimes.  Not that it's intentional, mind you.

Here's some fiber batts I got in the mail as well.  One from Hobbledehoy and another one from Dani of Pumpkinhaus, a fairy name spin along, which, unfortunately, missed the whole SAL thing...

Hobbledehoy Batt

What's Your Fairy Name SAL

Anyway, I do have lots of fiber to keep me busy spinning in years to come.  I just need to find some time do it!

Well, remember when I wrote about us being new owners of timeshares when we were back in Vegas?  Well, now we're former owners.  Instead of being saddled with an 18k loan that would have ended up to be 32k after the loan was paid off, I whisked off a cancellation letter, crossed my fingers, and as of a week and a half ago, we are officially 'former' owners.  And boy does it feel good. 

But that doesn't mean I'm totally turned off by timeshares, mind you.  We both loved this one, and we've seen others as well since my good friend owns one and I've stayed in them.  However as my friend suggested I do before we sat through the presentation, we had better wait for the perfect 'resale' price to come along as there seems to be a thriving resale market online.  And you bet I'm keeping an eye out for the perfect one!

Viva Las Vegas, Baby!

My, this place is huge! And not a single skein of yarn or fiber fleece in sight!

We're on our first ever family vacation with the infant in tow. Las Vegas in the summer can be miserable but this week even though temps are in the 100's there is slight breeze blowing (albeit hot) which makes the heat a bit more bearable than the last time I was in Vegas in the summer. That was years and years ago but no one in the party could ever forget the uncomfortable temps of 116. Yuck.
Anyway, this time we are also staying at a timeshare hotel on las Vegas boulevard about 4 miles south of the strip. I love that we don't have to breathe in cigarette smoke in the lobbies and hallways. There are 3 pools, including a "slow river" that looks mighty fun to jump into. Or float along as you lounge on your personal inner tube.

We have got 2 more days before we drive back to L.A. and today we are going to hit the Strip and maybe check out the cool hotels. Maybe have some crepes at Paris. And some gelato at the Venetian. And before we make the trek back home, I'm going back to the Woolly Wonders, the LYS I discovered yesterday.

Yup, I'm not about to miss out on the local LYS experience. Now I've been to Vegas more than I can count but each time I've been here in the past, it's been to drive friends and family around the hotels, see the sights, take pictures, indulge in the buffets and...well, the list went on ad on. There was always an Itinerary to entertain everybody.
This time, however, there is no itinerary other than to relax and have fun.

This is an update since it's been almost 3 weeks since I last wrote the above post...and I was still on vacation!  Sigh, the wonders of running and keeping up after toddlers...

I found Wooly Wonders along Pecos and Tropicana Avenue and it is located in a small strip mall on the south east corner. There were three wonderful ladies there who helped me find some coordinating yarn for an unnamed merino silk yarn I was knitting to make Isolda's Liesl and I was running out just as I cleared the arm holes. Each woman cntributed to the pile of yarns that looked like a great match but in the end I had to pick only one. However, thank you, ladies!

I also found some other fabulous yarns as the store is a treasure trove of pattern magazines, yarns of just about every weight and in the back room, 2 spinning wheels and a weaving loom - and some fiber! I ended up purchasing 2 more skeins of yarn and 2 1-ounce bags of rust and gold angelina type fiber.
Besides having some time to knit, we spent a lot of time in the pool and just hanging around in the 3-bedroom suite all by ourselves!

On our last day we decided to attend a presentation at the timeshare and as much as I had warned Leo not to say yes (I wanted to learn how timeshares work as this suite we are in is pretty sweet and with Lucas just having a blast being here, I thought it was worth looking into), we left that presentation as the new owners of a "perpetual deed". Uh oh is what I said, too.

Ice Queen Scarf

I posted this pattern awhile back in another blog but am posting it here as well.  It's my Ice Queen scarf knit from my own handspun yarns.  The base was corespun from a Loop cloud called "Black Tie Affair" (or something like that) and the locks are from Namaste Farms and they are just heavenly!

Now I'm not a pro when it comes to pattern writing but this is a simple enough pattern and if you have any questions, just holler.

Here's the pattern:

ICE QUEEN SCARF

You will need:
100 yards of bulky weight corespun yarn, or any lofty bulky yarn - This will be "A"
About 8 - 10 yards of tailspun yarn (the longer the locks, the more oomph! for your project!)  - This will be "B"
Size 15 circular needles

With A, CO 125 sts
Row 1:  K1 *YO K1, repeat from * to end of row
Row 2:  K1 and *slip EVERY YO that you did on the previous row, K1 - repeat from * till the end of row
Repeat row 1 & 2 about 3 to 4 more times, depending on how wide you want your scarf.  Cut yarn, leaving a 6" tail for weaving in later.

Next Row:  With B, knit the tailspun yarn onto every stitch to the end of row, taking care to pull out any locks that are trapped between the stitches to they hand freely.
Next Row: Loosely BO with A.

Weave in the ends. 

Be Careful What You Wish For

So Tour de Fleece is here and I've managed to spin a bit each day.  Many of the yarns are currently waiting for wash day and then they're off to dry and maybe then, I can find the battery charger to my new camera and take pics of them.  However, until I find it, blurry phone photos will have to do.

About a year and a half ago, I was busy taking care of my little munchkin and wondering what the heck I was going to do with my life?  I wanted to spend as much time with Lucas and didn't like the idea of sending him off to daycare so I could make an hour trek to my office, see clients, then drive another hour back home.  Some days I would have to drive to my studio for only one client, and that didn't sound practical.

So I decided I'd work one day a week at the studio (or maybe two days, depending on in-laws' availability) and spend the rest of the time working with fiber.  So I started stocking up.  Rovings here, fiber there, lots of locks and fleece as well.  Two drum carders - one 46 tpi and the other 21 tpi - and 4 spinning wheels.  Looked like I was good to go and my little craft room was all stocked up.

Then one day in January, my son returned home after losing his job in November and he promptly moved into the craft room and my craft supplies, well, had to move out.  In August, I was asked to take over some classes at the college which were scheduled at night and weekends, and I accepted the offer.  When they later offered me the main instructor position for the massage program, I accepted that, too.

So now our little cottage is full.  Books and student papers lie about, boxes of fiber and yarn are tucked in the corner but they manage to creep into the main living space now and then.  And the closet - well, at least my closet houses 2 spinning wheels besides my clothes.  The kitchen table is now a mini-office, with a laser printer sitting on top of it and tons of books and papers as I try to design the curriculum for ongoing and upcoming classes.

I look back at the time when I wondered what I needed to do with my life and earn a decent income being self-employed, and well, I got my wish - though not the way I planned it.  Fiber has to take a back seat and even though I'd love to wash, dye, card and spin some lovely fleece and yarn, there just isn't enough hours in the day (or night) for me to do that. 

Am I busy? You bet.  Am I exhausted?  You betcha.  Does that leave me with no time for fiber?  Well, to be honest, it doesn't.  But that doesn't mean I don't sneak it in here and there.

So, I could post pictures of the house in its present state with all my boxes and bins of fiber, and books lying about, but if you're a crafter, a mother, a wife,  a teacher, and a massage therapist, you'd probably understand why I wouldn't need to :)

Has It Been, Like, Forever???

Wow! It's been a long time between blog posts and I can't believe time has just flown by sooooo fast!

Ever since my last post I started teaching more at the college and for my first class I ended up with 23 students which also included tons of stress. Needless to say, most of my spare time has been spent raising my little munchkin of a a baby who is now 17 months old and is climbing everywhere.

>My fiber has been sitting idle although now and the when I actually find some spare time I will find myself spinning a little bit or knitting a little bit. However I haven't been too busy to ignore the stash building aspect of my fiber addiction. I have been stocking up with some fiber from Namaste farms, Funhouse Fibers and Studioloo - to name a few. I even got to attend a few hours of Jacey Boggs' Insubordiknit class during memorial day weekend.

I also got to finally finish a few pieces, most of all my Legolas kerchief that had been destined for a dear friend who passes away from ovarian cancer. I just finished blocking it and will take pictures before I send it on it's way to my dear friend's mother.

I'm in the midst of a crazy teaching schedule in addition to maintaining a private practice and so I've been stocking up on my fiber more than actually spinning it down but I'm optimistic. I may have some down time in the near future and actually get to spin a bit :)

Here's an awesomely soft teeswater tailspun yarn that I spun while back. Love the colors and can't wait to spin some more!

A handspun hand knit shawl I finished from washed Cotswold locks from Sandy of Homestead Wool And Gift Farm.

One of my extreme tailspin yarns that's currently waiting for the right project...

And, oh yes! A new-to-me Schacht Matchless wheel that has come to live at my house. Were currently trying to establish a working relationship at the moment and so far were doing okay :)

One Year Ago...

One year ago today, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.

Now he just turned 1 and his grandparents gave him a big party where family and friends came to celebrate his special day with him.  It was an overwhelming day for the little guy, with so many people coming to say hello and all the chatting about that goes with a gathering.

My little prince is now 1.  Hard to believe that a year ago, he was like this:

I am truly blessed.  And I am forever grateful...

A First!

In a few days, my baby officially becomes a toddler and I'm feeling a little sad.

So much has happened in the year that's past and although I'm enjoying every minute of him crawling and cruising around the house, I'm going to miss the time when he was just a little wee bundle in my arms, always sleeping and pooping and nursing.

But I'm loving every minute of being with him and I wouldn't trade anything for the world right now.  I love being a mom!

Lil Sunshine wearing his handspun handknit hat!

New Year, New Shop!

For the new year, I'm opening my Artfire shop!  Please do stop by and check out the fiber and yarns!

Gypsy Caravan Fibers on Artfire

The grand opening isn't till January but you're more than welcome to take a look around. 

As a matter of fact, here's just a sampling of the latest batts in the shop right now!

Merry Fiber-y Christmas!

It's my baby's first Christmas!  It's so hard to believe that almost a year ago, he was born and now it's his first Christmas and in two and a half weeks, he turns 1! 

We're pretty low key this Christmas though.  I had such grand plans - a real tree, lots of lights and ornaments, and in the end, after 5 days of straight downpour (which is quite rare in Southern California), by the time I got to the tree lot yesterday, the only ones left were the giant trees, which were not a god fit for our little cottage.  So, this year, even though I've got the ornaments and the lights and the tinsel, there's no tree.  But we're having a great time anyway!  And that's what matters, right?

This year, for Christmas I decided to get Leo a cheap imitation ipad, the Maylong M-150, which was sold through Walgreens but I bought it from an Ebay seller and when it arrived, I opened it so I could check it and make sure it worked fine.  He walked in just as I was powering it up and asked what it was.  When I told him it was his Christmas present, he said, "Hmmm...I really wanted a leaf/twig mulcher for the yard."

So now I have a cheap ipad-killer and he's getting the leaf mulcher.

So what did Leo get me?  Remember that Fricke coarse drum carder I had wanted to buy?  Well, after finding out that I was 'waffling' over buying it because it wasn't in my fiber budget, he said if I wanted it, "it's your Christmas present from me."

That settled it.  In a week, I was the new owner of a vintage Fricke coarse drum carder from someone whose grandmother used it to card batts for her quilts.  I've carded 2 batts on it and so far it works great!  Now I just need to incorporate locks in it and see if the carder can retain its lock structure and not straighten the crap out of it.

 My first coarse carded batt predrafted

Speaking of locks, I've also been washing my first fleece.  Well, it's not exactly my first time washing fleece so maybe saying "first" isn't exactly true.  I did receive a small box of mystery locks last year which I promptly washed and then almost gagged after seeing all that brown water - in my washing machine!

So what's made me brave enough to try it again?  I've fallen in love with long wools like wensleydale, that's why.  I got 2 ounces of awesome wensleydale locks from Namaste Farms two weeks ago and I've been too scared to dye or spin it.  I want to try out other locks first before I tackle such awesome locks as these:

So I took the plunge during a moment of weakness and ordered my first fleece.  I think it's about 5 to 7 pounds of raw wensleydale fleece that's supposed to be averaging at 10".  When I first received the box this is what I saw peeking as I flipped the box open.

So I started washing the locks in medium bunches.  I've done it twice now and each time I tried a different method.  The first time was done in the tub, however I used 2 Costco sized detergent buckets filled with hot water and then dunk the locks in to soak.  The water wasn't as hot as I would have wanted though and I ended up doing more than 4 washes and more soaks than I wanted.  I was also very stingy with the Dawn, which was one mistake since Dawn, along with really really hot water, is what pulls the lanolin from the locks.

Today Leo pulled out 2 of my roasters dedicated to dyeing  out of storage, and after heating the water at 350 degrees F and a generous amount of Dawn, I placed another bunch of locks (probably 2/3 so I've got one more 'bunch' to scour tomorrow) in a laundry netting bag and dunked it in.  After about 10 minutes or so with the water soooo brown, I pulled it out, let it drain and then dunked it into the second wash in the second roaster with hot water.  Empty out the first roaster and heat some water in it for the rinse and after 10 minutes of second-time soaking with a huge glug of Dawn, I pulled the net bag out, drained it and then dunked the bag of locks in the first roaster for its first rinse.

I ended up doing 2 more rinses in the washing machine this time and then spinning it dry.  The locks from both attempts are not greasy at all.  The locks are matted in some areas, but what can you do, right?  I guess now I've got to do some handpicking vegetable matter (or vm, as fiber lingo goes) to do during the Christmas break.

In the meantime, here's the fleece drying inside the house.

Boy, it sure feels like I've gotten much deeper in the rabbit hole now...

Well, Merry Christmas everyone and have a safe holiday!  You'll find me next to the Madd Hatter saying, "it's pretty crowded in here, too!"

Finding the Time

Today I got to sneak in a few minutes of carding some fibers and got 2 batts carded in half an hour or so.  Although it could have been longer - sometimes time just flies when we deal with fiber and yarn, right?

Anyway, here are my Autumn Sunshine Batts just carded.

 
 I love these!  They're carded using some farm fiber - merino cross, cotswold locks and some romney thrown in, as well as angelina, firestar, and soysilk for bling.  They are such textured batts, too, as I tried to maintain some of the lock formation as I carded.

I have a few more batts but they need to be photographed again since the previous shots didn't turn out too well.

I love carding and spinning but even with myclass over for the year, I've found that it's difficult to find any free time with DH working long hours and not exactly that enthusiastic to give me 2 - 3 hours to myself after he comes home from work.  And weekends aren't any better either. 

Here's hoping that I'll find more time to do fiber stuff in 2011!

Batts! and More Batts.

I've been on a secret shopping spree lately - buying batts online from wonderful fiberistas like Pumpkinhaus, Bohoknitterchic, Loop and Pluckyfluff (I'm sooo late to her party - people have been buying her batts for ages and now she doesn't offer them from her website anymore - at least after I bought mine!).

I am still waiting for a few of them but here are two so far.

Bohoknitterchic - for a SAL that ends in January with a FO to go with the project bag made by Craftpuppylover

And the next one from Pluckyfluff's Lexi Boeger!  It's a crazy carded batt and so far it looks amazing!

Of course even with all the batts that arrived this week, I barely had any time to spin.  I did finish a fingering weight single on Monday night, after it was languishing on my wheel for weeks.  I had started spinning it short draw but by the third week, I'd had it and spun the rest of it (about 1/3)
long draw, so my finished yarn will seem different in places.

Holidays Already?

That's definitely how I feel these days - constantly behind on everything and wondering where I can find time to do things I want to do.

This morning I woke up at 3 am because I kept dreaming I was drum carding some colorful luscious fiber.  Each time I went back to sleep, the same dream would start again and I was always carding, carding and carding.  Come to think of it - how I wished I could card last night.

Plus, I'm totally drooling over some guy's grandmother's carder with 21 tpi (really coarse cloth!) and wondering if I'm willing to pay $350 to get it.  Unfortunately, since I am not teaching the pregnancy class I was scheduled to teach today and next Saturday, there is no extra drum carder budget. 

Fiber just makes me smile, and I don't mind dreaming about it one bit - even if I can't go back to sleep because really, all I want to do is go into the freezing garage and card and spin me some lovely yarn!

Like this one:

Or knit myself a really cool neck warmer like this one:

Or card some funky batts:

Anyway, about the holidays - we haven't gotten any decorations up yet.  We'd like to get a real tree this year but I have to get my butt to the store to buy some decorations and then a small table to put the tree on since Lil Sunshine is now so mobile it's so hard to catch up with him - and he's still crawling, not even walking yet.  However he is standing on his own for a few milliseconds so I know walking's coming soon, in like, two weeks or so.

I hope your holiday plans are going as planned.  I guess I'm just an airhead these days, with so much to do constantly and finding no time to do it.  But it will be a wonderful holiday no matter what!