The University was Closed

Every now and then, we get an ice storm where everyone is stuck at home. Today was such a day.

So I had plenty of time to spin, though one can only spin so much.

First things first. I took some pictures of the outside. It's so pretty!

This is the canopy of our patio. It's just rows and 

rows of these little icicles.

This was in our front yard. This is a case of where winter is ready to push 

fall out of the way. Though it was about 70 degrees a couple days ago. 

So maybe winter is trying to hurry both summer and fall away in one go.

This is both of the Kelp Forest roving. I'm going to let it sit

for one more week before I ply.

Shipwreck from SweetGeorgia Yarns I bought from Woolie Ewe.

It's 60% merino, 30% bamboo, 10% nylon. I think I'll make socks

with them for Joey, because I like him and stuff.

I finished one bobbin today. 

 Here is the other half. I'm about to start it probably 

in a week because...

I want to do this next!

I've spun so much though I've yet to actually use any. My yarn is quickly accumulating now that I'm also spinning. My plan is to get a floor loom someday and I'll weave out a huge tapestry with all this yarn. It'll be the most epic destashing project ever.

It started with good intentions

This blog was meant to be beautiful prose accompanied by stunning visuals, but let's be honest, I didn't get my degrees based on my writing style.

So here they are in some kind of order!

Some New Acquisitions

"Singing the Blues" from Broken Pattern

"Kelp Forest" from Broken Pattern

"Sea Foam" from KnittersGonnaKnitCOM

"Sun Flowers" from KnittersGonnaKnitCOM

Yellow Roving

3 oz of Buttercup roving from Ashland Bay Colonial Wool Top from Mohair and More.

I'm going to ply it with 3 oz of yellow roving I bought from White Rock Weaving Center. All I know is that it's wool with a higher micron count. But hopefully plying the two will even out the smoothness. (These things work out great in my head)

I want to do no thicker than fingering weight.

More Spinning

200 yards

200ish yards

200ish yards

Will combine with 4 oz. of white. Watermelon yarn

Yellow and Gray

I bought a yellow and gray mix from chimera on Etsy.

It looked like this:

I took the picture from her shop.

It ended like this:

The roving was really soft, though I had some trouble drafting it toward the end. Probably because I'm still learning.

I think I'll make socks.

I got 290ish yards out of it.

Spinning Yarn

I tried spinning with a drop spindle years and years ago. However, because I was relying on YouTube for all the instructions, the first attempt went badly and I gave up. About a week ago, I suddenly felt the urge to do it again. This time, I took a lesson at Woolie Ewe with Laurie and everything just kind of fell into place. Sometimes, you really just need someone to give immediate feedback and to break things down for you. Instructors... I will never doubt you again.

Because it was so fun, I fell into this cycle again. We'll call it the "Ukulele Incident". Years back I got an incredible urge to play the Ukulele. I wanted to play it so badly I was dreaming about it every night and talking about it every day. I ordered one off Amazon because I was looking for a bargain but could barely wait for it to come in in the meantime. So I borrowed a friend's daughter's ukulele, much to her chagrin, and played with a toy ukulele for a couple days. It was terrible because it was just a toy. Then I thought about driving to Mesquite to meet the delivery truck, and eventually gave in and bought on at Guitar Center. I ended up returning the one from Amazon.

It was a really nice ukulele.

What that told me was that I have no patience. If I want something, I'm going to go crazy until I get it. However, common sense is still part of the equation, and I eventually tired myself out of a four to five thousand dollar loom. 

But spinning wheels were a different situation.

I got one this Saturday. 

I went to White Rock Weaving Center and Anna helped me choose a wheel. She's the best! She helped me pick a table loom when I went through the loom phase.

I got this.

I love it so much! It's a Schacht Matchless, and as far as I know, it will be good for me for the rest of my spinning days as long as I don't body slam it.

Here are some I'm working on right now. The one in the center I have four oz of it. I think that will definitely be my first finished project. I don't actually know how to ply yet, but I've never let those kind of things get in the way.

I can't wait to start blending colors.

Drawing Class

I'm into lighthouses, boats and stuff.

I'm currently taking Drawing II with Barry Benton for Continuing Education because deep down inside, I'm 60 years old.

This is using the grid method.

Overshot Weaving

I started weaving!

Pattern is done with a pick up stick. It's actually going faster than I thought.

2013 is the Year of Colorwork

I say this every year, but this year I super mean it.

I'm going to bust into my stash of yarn. It's really going to happen this year.

I discovered color work! Stranded color work is actually a lot easier than I thought. Looks like practicing all those years finally paid off.

This will become a cowl.

And this will be a really long scarf.

This will be a good year.