Morning spinning

Sometimes before heading in to the shop I am able to get some spinning done. Usually I have the "help" of sleeping animals. 

Fiber before it was spun.

Murphy takes a power nap after breakfast. 

The ancient English Cocker sleeps on the couch. She will be 15 on her next birthday in May. 

Mermaid yarn

Just finishing up this cute two ply. It has hand dyed BFL, sari silk, angelina, and firestar plied with a turquoise sequin yarn.  The sequins remind me of little bubbles, they are iridescent. A good way to end the weekend. 

Happy new year

A new weaving project for the new year!

One of my hopes for the new year was to figure out how to update this blog from my phone. Being on the high side of 40 this was more of a challenge than it should have been. I finally gave up and asked someone who has teenagers and she told me what to do. Upload an app of course. 

Ordinary Things

I wait all year for October and it rushes by quicker than anything in the spring or summer. It is as though the last 90 days of the year are supercharged and travel at light speed while the first 3/4 of the year meanders along taking it's merry time. Probably that perception would be different if I were still in school or had rug rats in school to remind me that summer usually goes fastest. But now in my late middle years it is the fall that goes so fast that it makes my head swim. So today some ordinary things to slow things down.

The dogs waterbowls on the back porch.

Late summer coleus.

Climbing roses on the shade wall.

The cottonwood tree in the early morning sun.

New skeins from last week's dye pots.

Color everywhere this season. It is time to become a connoisseur of light. Drink it in like fine wine in this clear dry weather. Over at Windthread, Grace is appreciating the light in her modest home to the north of where I live.

The week that wasn't.....

Sometimes things get so hectic that I don't get small things done. Like this week having absolutely no post at all about the daily spinning for SNAP. We had a number of wonderful people contribute handspun skeins of yarn to the basket this week at the store. I did some spinning but won't lie and tell you it was all on the drop spindle. We are going to continue to sell the handspun skeins through the end of September and then donate the proceeds to SNAP. I will post here when it is possible.....

This is a two ply for the shop 

New spindle and a merino/mohair blend.

Hope you all have a great last week of August!

Can you believe next weekend is Labor Day already???

Polwarth & Sari Silk

We are just over half way through the month and I must admit that I am barely keeping up with the ounce a day on the Turkish spindle. These are great tools and are wonderful for taking places to spin that it would be impractical to take a spinning wheel along. The down side is that if you are trying to get other things done that require large amounts of time, spending 2.5 hours per day spinning in this way is just not as productive as other methods.




This is Organic Polwarth from the Falkland Islands mixed with Sari Silk waste. A nice color combination.

 It is slightly finer than the other skeins I've been doing and came out to 98 yards and weighs 2 ounces. 

We will continue to sell the skeins for SNAP through the end of September. There are several other local spinners who are contributing yarns for this donation drive. 

Have a great weekend!

Slowly Spinning through August

Yesterday I completely forgot to take a picture of the day's spinning before I had finished it and plied it with that pink from the day before. So here is the complete skein. It is about 72 yards and weighs about 2 ounces. What can you do with that amount of yarn? Fingerless gloves on size 9 knitting needles. Hat on size 11. Add it to something else......

This is the skein from today. It is an organic polwarth and sari silk mix. Nice to spin. The one for tomorrow is exactly the same.

One of the things I want to learn next is Navajo Plying directly on the Turkish spindle. Maybe if I get some time to practice this weekend I will have something new to show you next week. 

We received new spinning wheels at the store this afternoon and they will be assembled and ready for inspection (and trial) early next week. 

Also just a reminder that the Southwest Regional Spinners Spin-In is this Sunday at Susan Jewell's place on Wyatt from 1-4pm. Everyone is welcome. Email me if you need directions!