Bunny Royalty

Photographing the rabbit is kind of like trying to get a headshot of someone in the Royal Family when they don't want to be photographed.

He quickly turns around and looks like a big fluffy mushroom........... with ears.

He is hard to resist with these beautiful markings. I took him out this morning into the yard so he could eat grass and weeds and be a semi wild bunny for a few minutes instead of a house rabbit.

His Royal Bunnyness is about ready to be sheared.

The ball on the left was today's spinning on the Turkish spindle.

 Plied on the Lendrum. 5 HOURS to spin on the Turkish spindle. 10 MINUTES to ply on the Lendrum.

This is why spinning wheels were invented. Because soon there will be bunny fur to spin.....

I get easily distracted. This is a lace spindle and I just had to try spinning some fine merino/silk blend roving on it.

Which is why it took me forever (it seemed like) to finish this spindle.

This was how it looked plied and this picture is way more blue than the yarn really is. It is more of a dusky purple.

Here is the spinning from today. Raspberry colored NM wool. Corriedale mainly.

August 8

We actually had rain last night. I am so used to the drought around here that rain is a huge surprise.

This is the ball from yesterday.

Off the spindle.

Time flies and life changes. Five years ago today my father died suddenly of a heart attack. It is strange to find yourself without any of the people you grew up with and knew. The people who knew you when you were young and foolish. The people who knew exactly how you liked your toast and tea. My father was a strong combination of opposites. He was terrible with money but the most generous person I have known. He had a wicked sense of humor but was often depressed. He was a great cook but disliked almost all healthy food. Ours was never an easy relationship although I do miss him. I am sorry my sister did not have more time with him and he with her. They were more alike than not. 

My advice for you today is to hug the people you love and tell them you are glad they are in your life because one day they won't be. 

pink and blue

The new ball of yarn plied with the one from yesterday. Sorry about the short post!

How it started out.

Underside of the spindle when full.

Two skeins plied and the spindle ready for the next ball!

shade wall update

Earlier in the summer we decided to try a shadewall to help with the heat that radiates from the west facing walls of the house. There are no trees to shade this area and so we put up a wire fence kind of a thing to grow plants on. These plants are passionfruit vines.

They have these large purple flowers that smell very sweet and attract hummingbirds. So far no fruit.

This is the skein from last night. It weighed in at 1.2 ounces.

Of Skeins and Cats in Baskets

Cats are such wonderful curious creatures. This is not the first one to check out a basket but he surely must be one of the most beautiful. His name is Raffles and he is a Ragdoll who belongs to my friend Pam. I actually picked the basket to go with her living room rug and decor but it fits the cat nicely too.

I'm learning a lot even just at this beginning end of the Turkish spindle exploration. One of my goals is to eventually learn to navajo ply on one. For now I am pretty happy just spinning away and getting better at that.











This is the previous day's ball along with the current one.

The two pull balls ready to ply.

It is currently taking me 2 1/2 hours to spin one ounce. That is five hours total to spin the two ounces to make one plied skein. I'm cheating and plying on a spinning wheel and it take all of about 10 minutes. The reason I am not plying on the spindle is that it would not hold the entire skein and I don't want to cut it.

This is the latest skein and it weighed in at 2.3 ounces and was 81 yards.

August 3

Here is the plied yarn from days one and two. I like the blues of this with just a little bit of saffron.

Today's ball was slightly larger and came in at 1.3 ounces.

This is the batt before it was spun. 

On the spindle.

1.3 ounces!

Here is tomorrow's batt.

So all of this is well and good and I am getting better at spinning on the Turkish spindle but I had a thought. What if we put all these little skeins up for sale at the shop during this month as they are made, up until the middle of September. Then the proceeds will be donated to our local chapter of SNAP which is the Spay and Neuter Action Program here in Las Cruces. Some of the other Turkish spinners here asked if they could join in and I think that is a great idea. Hopefully we can raise some money for this very worthwhile charity this month. Come join me at the shop and spin some or email me pictures of what you are currently working on. You can also follow us on Facebook Here