Spinning

Brag Book

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Brag Book front cover

Brag book inside shot

I went to another craft get together this month.  I chose to make this brag book.  I’m sending this one to my sister, but don’t tell her, she doesn’t know yet.  She became a grandmother and she is so excited!!!  So I figured this little brag book would be just the thing. 🙂

It was easy to make, but if you need the instructions I will let her tell you on her blog because she loves to pick things apart and show how they are made. 🙂  There are 6 double sided photo holders in this brag book so you can fit 12 almost 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 photos in it.  I had to cut the patterned paper just a tiny bit smaller than 3 1/2 by 2 1/2.  You can get the photo holders either wide or tall.  I chose the wide because I could get all the ribbon on the top that I wanted :).

I finished going through the fleece and picking out all the vm (vegetable matter), you know the straw, little twigs, weed seeds etc – getting it ready to pack up and mail to the fiber mill tomorrow.  They will be processing around the 15th, then I should get it back about 4 to 6 weeks later.  I will post a picture of the roving when I get it back.  I thought there might only be about 2 lbs, but I am wondering now if there is maybe 3 lbs.  It will all get spun up anyway. :).

I had to take Thor to the vet on Friday.  He’s had some IBS problems and was in some distress.  The vet put him on some antibiotics to see if that would help but they also put him on a steroid, because that had helped the last time – the last round of antibiotics were in case it was ulcers, but she said it probably wasn’t, it was more than likely IBS and the steroid would help, the antibiotic is a just in case thing.  He’ll be on a higher dose of steroids for 2 weeks and then we start weaning him down to the lowest level we can get that keeps the diarrhea away.  She said all in all he’s in pretty good health for a ferret his age.  His blood sugar was borderline low, but the steroid will also help with that.  She also said his potassium is also borderline low, so he will be happy to get his piece of banana everyday back again :), if I notice any muscle weakness, the vet said I will have to put him on potassium of some kind.  I’m just glad he’s feeling better and happy again ;).

1st Skein of the Teal Superwash Merino is DONE!

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1st Skein of Teal Superwash Merino

Ok, I finally have this skein done, between the “busyness” at work when I started it and re-organizing my time after early retirement, I have finally finished it.  I’m working with a new (old) program for fixing the pictures my digital camera takes and I’m not real sure about how to use it yet, but I’m sure as I mess around with it I will understand it better.  It’s very different than the one I was using and it has a little bit better control over what I want to do.  I’m sure my friend will be happy to get this so she can start on the shawl for the fair and I hope I haven’t stressed her out with how late I am getting this to her.  The next skein is already started  and I’m hopeful that I will have it done by this week end.  I will wind this into a center pull ball for her and get it in the mail to her tomorrow.

It’s General Conference weekend and I have thoroughly enjoyed conference so far.  One more session this afternoon.  We have General Conference 2 times a year and it is on both Saturday and Sunday, the beginning of April and the beginning of Oct and I look forward to them each time.  What a spiritual uplift they give. 🙂  Next Sunday I will be singing with the choir for Easter Sunday, and it’s a beautiful song.  The name of the song is Did You See Him in the Garden and you can hear it here by someone else on youtube.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, how could you not it’s SPRING!!!!

Better Late Than Never :)

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Polypay Lamb Roving

OK, I know I promised a picture of the lambs fleece a couple of weeks ago but I’m busy getting use to having nothing to do :P.  Actually, I’m adjusting to a new routine so I haven’t gotten to the things I usually do. I have been re-arranging my apt, and getting ready to go through boxes that should have been gone through so long ago.  One day this coming week I will put a box in the middle of the floor and just sit there going through pitching and re-boxing as needed until I have one box down and however many more to go, my goal is to get rid of at least half of my boxed stuff.  My bedroom is almost reorganized, just the stuff on the top of the bed I wasn’t sure what to do with, but I will have to make a decision this coming week on what to do with those things (mostly papers – that is what I have the most trouble sorting through) so I can sleep in it again – tho I have to admit my love seat is pretty darn comfortable :).

The roving is from a Polypay lamb.  Since I didnt have anything to put it on out there, to keep it from getting more vm (spinning term for vegetable matter – grass, weed seeds, etc, etc) in it for a good shot of the whole fleece,  I just left it in the plastic bag to get a picture.  I’m keeping it in my car as I’m not sure my neighbors wouldn’t appreciate the “delightful” smell of sheep coming from my apt :P.  I will make arrangements to get it out in the mail this week to the mill where they will be turning it into roving.  It should be very nice and I love that it is white so that I can play with dyes ;).  Then in a few months I will have some nice Polypay lamb’s roving to spin.  Maybe next year if I get another fleece I will try to scour and card it on my own. 🙂

My First Fleece – Polypay Lamb

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a small sample before washing

the same small sample after washing

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I can not even tell you how excited I am to have received this Polypay lamb fleece from a friend that I visit with every month.  She and her husband have a farm where they raise corn and sheep (Polypay and Suffolk) the sheep are raised for meat rather than fiber.  I asked her a couple of years ago if when they sheared if I could buy a lamb fleece from her.  Not much more was said.  When I went to Church this morning she had a tub with a Polypay lamb fleece in it and said she told her shearer to keep back a fleece for her friend and what it was for and he even skirted it.  The shearer told her he would do the Polypay for spinning because it was a softer fleece.  I am very grateful because the shearer takes the fleeces for his time and skill to shear her flock, since my friend and her husband don’t sell the fleece but they have to have the sheep sheared, it saves them the money of having to pay someone to shear for them so their Ewes can lamb and then again when they go to market.  I am sooooo excited!!!! 

I couldn’t keep my hands off of it after I got home.  I had to take a small sample and bring inside to play with.  I live in a small apt so I left the fleece in my trunk until I can either bring it in and scour it (when it’s warmer as it will need to dry outside) or find a small mill that will take a 2  lb fleece to make into roving.  I have never started with a fresh fleece or carded my own before, the lamb is not quite a year old and the fiber is about 2  1/2 inches long.  It has a bit of lanolin in it, which looks dirty but is quite soft.  The lambs fleece is soft and I have a before and after picture above of the small sample I brought inside.  When I put it in the hot soapy water to get the lanolin out (which it did rather quickly), I put my hand in the hot water to push it under and the second time I couldn’t see the small fiber in there and thought, oh my gosh what happened?  It cleaned quickly and is so white I couldn’t see it against the bottom of the bathroom sink.  Also it is as soft as a cloud in the water so I could hardly feel it in there.  I was trying to be VERY careful so I didn’t felt it.   You can see the crimpiness in the before picture and tho’ you can’t see the crimpiness in the after picture, as I play with it I can feel the elasticity in it.  I will make her a scarf with some of it. Life is good :).  I proimse to get a picture of the whole fleece sometime next week. 🙂

We also had more snow since the last picture I posted, about the same amount and then again on Friday, but not a lot.  This next week is suppose to be a bit warmer than this last week and I’m excited about that because I am semi retiring.  My last day at work is Tuesday 1/31.  The rest of the week will be spent (after sleeping in :P), deep cleaning my apt, you know shampooing carpets etc.  I know it’s not spring yet, but I still have the “spring is in the air” feeling :).   A friend asked me what I would do with my time and all I could see was pictures of me at the spinning wheel and behind some knitting needles clacking along :).  I do intend to spend some time doing Genealogy now that I will have some time to do that, I have a feeling that will be my new addiction.  😛

Happy New Year 2012

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Well, a new year has begun.  I see a lot of changes in my life this year, hopefully for the better.  I wish you all a wonderful new year filled with blessings, love and hope.

I am having to re-spin that first skein of yarn.  While plying I had some major mishaps and with sadness I tossed that start of the skein out.  Both of my spinning wheels were having issues with tension and I messed up when winding into a center pull ball and it ended up a tangled mess.  I don’t mess up very often and was very sad to lose that week and 1/2 of work and fiber.  Fortunately there is plenty of that fiber left.  I put spinning aside for a bit while I worked on the problems with my spinning wheels, but  I am getting ready to start the spinning again.  Hopefully with better results this time.

Started Spinning the Teal Superwash Merino

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Spinning start of the teal Merino superwash

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I’ve begun spinning the merino superwash.  Merino is such a delight to spin, it’s soft and handles easily, even when dyed.  I do tease it a bit (pull it gently until it slips in it’s roving form) to make sure it will come out of the roving easily as I spin.  I’m striving for a baby weight, we will see how consistant I am with a near pound of this roving.  I will be spinning on it everyday so the consistancy should be there, I have trouble when I let it sit a while before going back to it, :P.  It should make a lovely shawl.  I will post a picture when this skein is done, probably this week end.   I love having a week of vacation :).

I know It’s Been a Month…

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Kettle dyed superwash merino roving

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Yes, it has been almost a month since my last post.  My job has been very stressful (mortgage industry and with the lower mortgage rates it has been VERY busy) and overtime has been involved, I caught a very bad cold almost 3 weeks ago that went into bronchitis, the severe coughing has subsided but there is still some coughing and still an occational coughing spasm,  and still some congestion, but at least I don’t have to sit up all night to sleep anymore.  I have a long awaited for and much needed vacation starting Monday this week, so much rest will be the order of the day everyday this week :).

I got the dye I ordered to dye the merino superwash roving that I had on hand.  It is for a friend who will be knitting the Daisy Rectangular Shawl I designed.  She will be entering it in the state fair where she lives this coming year.  I will post a picture of the skeins when I finish spinning, and I will post a picture of her shawl when she is finished knitting it, as she does not have a blog.  :).  Now, tho it’s a beautiful teal color on my screen (and exactly what I was hoping for), this denotes my lack of expertise in the picture taking arena – the roving did not turn out as teal as I had hoped, it is more green than the picture shows, but hopefully the color will be loved by my friend.  If I had more experience with dying I could probably correct the color to what I had hoped for, but alas I do not have that expertise at this time.  Maybe she can correct the color after she knits it.

I will be doing some cleaning tomorrow morning as my kitchen sink has a leak in the pipes underneath (I found it when I went to get the kettle out to dye the roving on Friday) and my landlord will be coming tomorrow morning to fix the pipe (the trap) and most of the stuff that was under my sink is now on my counter, some stuff I had to toss.  Sigh.

Shawl Progress & Oh Yeah It’s My Birthday

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3rd skein of cria for shawl

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The 3rd skein is done and I’m about 1/2 way through knitting with it.  I will have the shawl finished this week and blocked and ready to give by this next week end. 😉  It’s been a pleasure spinning and knitting with this cria.

I have one more comfort shawl to knit and then my next project will be dying some superwash merino wool and spinning it.  🙂

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Christmas Cactus already budding

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I can not believe that my Christmas Cactus already has buds on it.  It’s a bit early this year, tho everything has been a bit early preparing for winter.  You wouldn’t know it with the wonderfully warm weather we have had this last week.  Tho it shows it will cool back down next week.  I’ll take the warm weather while it’s here because I know soon it will be all too cold, and snowy and icy.  sigh

And yes, today is my birthday.  I keep hoping it will go away each year, but it just comes anyway.  Guess I’m just stuck having it every year, cos you can’t seem to sneak around it. :P.

General Conference was last week end and what a wonderfully uplifting week end it was.  I love that peace that accompanies General Conference.  I also had to have my car repaired last week end, the cv axle went out and I was fortunate that my daughter knew someone who could fix it for about 1/2 the price of a car place.  It’s running well and I’m able to get around which is exactly what I need!!!  I also have a 3 day week end which I am enjoying immensely!!Have a great week end all!!

Wisp Shawl Update

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2nd Skein Done

.Shawl progressI got the 2nd skein of the cria done.  I love spinning that, it is soooo soft!!!  On the right is a picture of the size so far.  I have just started the 2nd skein (which because of a problem when I was plying is a little less yardage than the first skein).  I should have enough for a 3rd skein and I’m gonna need it, not sure how much the

yardage will be, I will just spin until the fiber is gone. 

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click picture for larger view

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Here is an up close picture of the lace design.  Instead of the way the Wisp shows in it’s pictures, I am just leaving it a retangular shawl that she can put around her shoulders.  It will be very warm and soft. 😉
It has sure cooled down, but then I knew it was going to be an early winter, my ferret and bird did their molting and sheding thing in early August when it was still hot.

Wisp Shawl Started

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click picture for larger image

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I’ve been working on comfort shawls this last year while starting this shawl languished, but I’ve finally got it started.  I decided on the Wisp shawl because it’s light and airy looking.  I’m not using the light weight yarn the pattern calls for tho, I’m using my hand spun which is about sport weight.  I’m also making it a little wider so it will cover more to keep her warmer in church or keep the chill of the fall and winter nights away.  I still have another skein or two to spin, part of one is on my wheel and I will try to finish it before I run out of the skein I am knitting from now because I knit during lunch at work for something to do.  This cria is sooooo soft, it is a pleasure to spin and knit with.   I’ll try to post another picture as I get more of it done.  You’ll notice the ball of yarn is not in a pull skein, because I forgot to wind it into a pull skein and took the long skein to work and ended up having to wind it by hand on my desk, but I didn’t mind because it’s so soft and squishy ;).