Even more spinning...

I haven't spent as much time spinning this weekend as I thought would, but yesterday I worked on this on the Production:

  

colonial wool roving

because I really really really want to start this:

merino

And I worked on this:

mill-end wool roving on the Bulky Pinkie

And then today I worked a tiny bit on this:

Coopworth on the Pedal Pusher + spindle

this:

Wensleydale lamb/yearling & kid mohair/tussah silk/silk noils

and this:

Corriedale cross on the Navajo spindle

But not enough to make obvious progress.  I'm hoping to do some more on the Navajo (I really need to shorten the shaft) tonight, plus some Spindolyn-spinning.

And maybe I'll do some weaving this week - anything is possible! :-)


In closing, a photo of Comfort Dog! :-D

Yet another spinning post!

But first - we had a bad storm a couple of weeks ago, and I lost my favorite willow tree. :-(

It also severely damaged the cotton plant, so I picked the largest bolls and put them on my dehydrator a la Spin-Off's latest issue:

One boll pretty much popped open on it's own, but the rest needed a lot of help - I don't know if they will be any good (and I forgot to take a picture of them opened).  But I'll probably plant the seeds from this year's 'crop' next year - it's a neat plant with beautiful flowers, and I have a better spot for them than where I planted this one.  And if I don't want to spin the cotton, I know a couple of people who would take it off my hands. :-)


Yesterday was a fun day - I went to the not-so-local fiber fair with a couple of spinning friends, and a great time was had by all. :-D  Though I was considerably lighter in the wallet by the time I got home, because I bought:

Some border leicester:

The white has that sparkly stuff already blended in ('angelique'?), and I bought a package of coppery sparkly stuff to blend with the reddish/brown BL.  I've not spun BL before, but one my friends just loves it, and these were softer than I expected.

BFL:

I've not spun BFL before either, though I did buy some cloud (I think) several years ago - it's still languishing in my fiber stash. :-/  This is plain ol' (sooft) roving.

Some merino (I'm itching to get to that purple!):

I've spun a merino blend before, but not straight merino.  The red isn't particularly soft, but it may be due to the dye.

Corriedale cross:

Not quite as soft (I'm noticing a theme here) as most of what I bought, but I loved the color. 

These wool blends are surprisingly soft:

I'm currently thinking of spinning the non-stripey ball on the Pinkie for bulky yarn.  Maybe. 

My almost-favorite purchase:

Black mohair.  Super soft and soo lustrous!  It's in lock form, so I'm probably crazy for not buying it with more prep, but it's such a beautiful black with a bit of silver-gray I couldn't resist. :-)  I have enough to try spinning it from the locks, and trying combing and carding it to see which way I like it (a friend said I could use her drum carder if I decided to go that route).  I've not spun straight mohair before so I'm not sure which prep to go with.  I would like to keep it 'lustrous', so it seems like that would mean combing, if not straight spinning from the locks.  I might spin this on the Tenor Spindolyn once I get the milk fiber finished.

But the neatest stuff I bought:

Silk top in coppery-sunny colors.  So outside my usual color choices but wow do I love how it looks.  I will probably spin this on the Liten Spindel.  I want to get spinning on this too (need lots of lotion on my hands first though :-/)!

This time I tried to stay away from my usual color picks, because I'm drawn to blues/blue-greens and darker browns.  The silk and the various reddish colors are definitely a departure for me (though I'm doing that red colonial on the Production these reds are quite different from what I would usually pick) - it will be interesting to see what they look like spun!  I really didn't need any more fiber, but what you see here is all of it, so I didn't buy pounds and pounds - I'd never get them spun if I did!  And I still have those awesome batts from Corgi Hill to do - I need to get to spinning!

I need to go shorten one of the Navajo spindles a smidgen, and put some Danish oil on the shaft, and then I will start matching fiber to wheels. :-D


Your parting nature shot:.

My hometown, last weekend: :-D

My, how the time flies!

I've been traveling a lot lately, and not crafting much.  But...

Here is the milk fiber on the Tenor Spindolyn:

I tried spinning it on the Pinkie, but the Pinkie has just too much pull-in even though this is a long-stapled fiber - it's really slippery and I don't move my hands fast enough.  I really like how soft it is, and how soft it stays once spun up.  I think I'll ply this with the super-soft black alpaca I spun on the other Spindolyn (I need more Spindy spindles!).  This probably isn't my favorite fiber of all time to spin, but I do like spinning it - especially on the Spindolyn! :-D

And I've done a tiny bit of knitting (last night) on the capelet:

I've almost finished the bottom edge ribbing, and then I need to pick up and knit the collar and button bands.


We've been doing a bit of woodworking - we made this for a spinning friend:

Didn't Hubby do a nice job on the walnut whorl?!

Here are our first and second Navajo spindles:

And the next two - the walnut one is for another spinning friend - but the cherry is MINE, all MINE. :-D

And I'm trying to make a knitting sheath: 

I'm actually going to try using it with the Spindolyn, for those times when the Spindy base isn't quite as easy to use. 


And I have a 'brilliant' idea regarding the Pedal Pusher and the spindle attachment, but I'm going to keep mum until I see if it works at all. :-)