Causing a Stir

Questions fired in rapid succession from two nearby tables in a restaurant when I pulled out my Jenkins Turkish Delight:

Whatcha doin'?
Is that a toy?
Is that cotton or wool?
Can you repeat that?

The verdict? That's so cool! LOL

Spreading the fiber love. =-)

Progress...

Progress Blocked: I thought I'd be working on getting my classroom ready for next week. But... someone has decided to sleep on my supplies! I don't call him "box cat" for nothing.=-)So, here I am posting to the blog. There is a lot of spinning to catch up on. Serious progress.

Progress Success! First, this little beauty came to live with me for a few weeks. The lovely Gina lent me her Ashford Traditional. It is a sweet wheel.
I took to it quickly and spun some soy silk. See the two skeins below? The one on the left was spun on a spindle and the one on the right on the wheel. They are amazingly similar!Then, because I had to try something else I grabbed 4oz of Falkland Combed Top dyed by the amazing Heather of Sereknity in her Black Forrest Fudge colorway. Yummy!I'm really happy with both of these yarns. I wondered if I would be able to spin on a wheel, and now I know. Woot! A lot of the things I've read about spinning make more sense now that I've sat sat a wheel. Thanks Gina!

Progress? No. Learning? Yes. Then I had to try out my new Greensleeves Ethan Jakob spindle. I decided it might be just right for the one and only fiber batt I own. I had no idea that there were so many different ways to spin from a batt. I think I tried them all! Here is some on the Ethan Jakob and on a toy wheel spindle twice its weight.

Close up...In the end I gave up and threw all of the spun stuff away. I think there is just too much going on in this batt: 50% BFL, 40% Bamboo, and 10% fire star. The different fibers tended to separate as I spun so there would be stretches of almost pure BFL or Bamboo. Not my thing. That and they seemed to want to tangle.

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I'm sure much of this is my inexperience! I thought the BFL would balance the slippery bamboo. Nope. Not in my hands it didn't. I'm going to have to just let this one go and stick to top for a while.

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So, the rest of the batt is up for grabs. There is more than 3oz left... Interested?

Saturday Spinning

Cozie Complete

Well it wasn't done in the morning. It took until about 1:30 to finish 2,000 stitches and block this 30x30 cozie. However, I'm glad to say: mission accomplished! I love how it came out. This morning after a trip to the post office, it will be heading out to Sophie with the purple one.Moments after taking these photos I started the next project. I dug out the blue alpaca, found an appropriate hook, printed the pattern, and packaged stitch markers, a darning needle and a pair of folding scissors. One traveling kit complete!

Of course there was still the question of whether there would be enough time to finish the wrap before the High Holidays. So, off to the calendar I went. After a little counting and a little math, I know this can be done! Just 4 motifs a day will get me to the necessary 114 with time to spare. Let's hope I can keep the pace when school starts a week from now.
Here's yesterday's motifs: I realized quickly that leaving the end dangling from the center would ensure I placed each motif the same way up. Also it helps me orient as I join the points. No twisted motifs here! (Well, as long as I pay attention - LOL) So, the "Star of David" wrap is well begun. Woo Hoo!

Seeing Stars

There I was innocently surfing around Ravelry: reading forum posts, answering messages, catching up on my friends' projects when I was stopped dead in my tracks by this:

Queenies Clementine Crochet Lace Wrap (Ravelry)

It is pretty and lacy, but that is not what made me gasp. I was done in by the fact that each motif looks like a Star of David! It is very very difficult to find motifs of this shape that look really good. Yet, here there is an entire wrap's worth? Woo Hoo!

Then, I had a vision. Myself wearing this wrap during High Holiday services with the family. Snugly wrapped in a soft layer of alpaca to combat the always chilly air conditioning. What color would it be? Well, blue of course. I have the perfect yarn sitting in my stash.!

I thought maybe for next year. Not this year. The High Holidays are only a few weeks away. That plan is changing thanks to my sister the knitter with whom I shared the pattern link. Her reply?

WOW!!! Teach me, teach me, teach me, (jumps up and down)

She is so excited that she is planning to accost a friend to teach her to crochet the wrap since I am too far away. I cannot let the knitter wear this wrap before I do! No fair! So, this morning I am attempting to finish up the blanket I'm making for Sophie's Cozies so I can begin the shawl with a clear conscience.

Wish me luck! =-)

WIPs Running Wild

Have you ever been overrun with WIPs? Ever look around your home and realize that every available surface has some work in progress (or two or three) sitting upon it waiting for your attention? Yeah, me too.

A few weeks ago I decided I had to get the fiber WIPs in hand. Fiber-in-Waiting was stashed. Then, with a new box of zip top freezer bags, I managed to corral all eight or so projects into one Lantern Moon basket:Hooray for containment! Of course I promptly started a new project because my Jenkins Turkish Delight arrived in the mail and I just had to try it out...right? LOL Anyway, last night I came to the conclusion that projects near completion had to be cleared out.

First up to be emptied was the wagon wheel spindle I bought for my students to use. It can be dropped and survive nicely. On it was some red merino which has now been finished, plied, and is soaking as I type. The rest of this merino is going back in the stash for testing future spindles.
I think this yarn will be a light fingering. As I was skeining I realized there was more than enough to make a kippah. I look forward to my first FO with hand spun!

Next up will be more plying. My first attempt at creating a three ply from three singles from the Romney I finished a bit ago. Wish me luck!