Lilacs, and fiber, and stuff!

I love the smell of Lilacs and also how they look. They are just starting to bloom. I'm glad we have them in our garden.

You know what's coming don't you! ;o) I did me some spinning over the weekend, actually, I try do spin every day. I've got 14 samples, dyed by Amy/Spunky Eclectic, so don't blame me for the colors! I've introduced the neon green already. Here it is all spun up. All the samples are just about 1 oz. I've decided to ply the samples with the same yarn, so they have something in common, other than being spun poorly. At least the ones I'll use for the hat.

It's spun more evenly, but still so thick. Sigh.

Here it's plied with the merino yarn. I took off the coopworth from the Forrester spindle, so I could ply the yarn. I actually was working with hands and feet, well I held the "Little Si" with my toes. This time there was way less tangled mess to deal with, but several phone calls didn't get answered, and the dogs, ringing the door bell to get outside for THEIR important business, went unanswered as well! My first reaction was to throw everything on the table and run, but I came to my senses real fast. So be it. It didn't take that long anyway. A little wrestling with the Niddy-Noddy and - voila! Spun and plied yarn, ready to take a bath.

Actually, I just found out that I did the setting of the yarn wrong, what else is new? Priscilloa A. Gibson-Roberts told me so. That's what good books are for. Shall I tell you where, other than pumping you experienced spinners for information, I get my info? By the way, how DO you set the twist in YOUR yarn?

Here are my all new and shiny books listed, which will be my bed time lecture for a while:

1. "Spindle Spinning from Novice to Expert" by Connie Delaney

2."Spinning the old Way" by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts

3."Hands On Spinning" by Lee Raven

4. "Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning" by Judith MacKenzie McCuin

Neat - no?

They all come highly recommended and even though it's the same subject, I find interesting tips and tricks in all of them. Since I don't know anybody who could show me how to spin, these books will be my teachers.

All right then, here's my 3rd skein (sorry couldn't help myself). It's 37 yds! It's more than last time. Does this mean I'm spinning a little thinner yarn here?

And a shot with evening sun ...

I couldn't just do nothing with the little I've spun with the coopworth on the Forrester spindle. I plied it as well, 7 yds. Everything counts towards my hat (will look real funny, I'm sure).

click on pic to see this fuzzy little baby skein

And since nothing goes to waste here, I plied my first and second spun together. At least, the rest of the tangled mess of the second yarn. It looks nice, but oh so bulky. Just something nice to look at, if nothing else. And boy, do these yarns "bloom" after their bath or what?!

Sunday morning found me doing this: taking apart roving sample # 4 - red - woolen blend. I like this color sample, it's kind of raspberrish.

Naturally there's some knitting going on as well. Shawls do take longer, and I almost fall asleep every time I knit - that boring! But what keeps me going is the fun I'll have while painting it (or so I think). Second try knitting it. It's looking good, even after tinking back a row and a half because of a major mistake. Oh well! Maybe I could/should have used larger needles still, but addi lace don't come larger than 4mm, it's a pity! The yarn is Knit Picks Merino/Silk fingering weight. I've used up one skein already.

Several of you asked about the spinning wheel. I'll be posting about it, of course, as soon as I'll get it, hopefully this coming week. It's an Ashford! (Little kid in me couldn't keep her mouth shut, jumping up and down with thrilled anticipation.)

Midday sun, very hot. Biko is laughing at me as usual, and Sam, poor creature is resting. He's doing fine, when you think he had so many surgeries (7) in his life (he'll be 5 years on May 30th), but it just came to me, that running outside, all excited as he always is, is enough for him. After that he's looking for his big red ball, and for a place to ly down. While Biko is running after the tennis ball, and swimming, he's just watching most of the time. Sometimes he runs around as well, but never for long. But I'm glad he can do that. He's enjoying every minute of his life. Yesterday, we went outside, and he couldn't find his ball. We both forgot, that he brought it inside with him, the evening before. Frenzied searching, all over the backyard. Suddenly you could see a light bulb coming on over my head. I told him where the ball probably is, and we went inside. He was running around inside, yapping, not finding anything. The thing is, he's always "hiding" his toys. Well, we found it, ran outside again, and that's when I took this picture. Happy Sammy!