Every project I’m working on now has a huge learning curve, EVERY ONE.  So, in order to give myself a breather, a small break to mend my frazzled nerves, I’m spinning.  Nothing marathon, but a few minutes here and there to regroup my thoughts, let my mind wander and perk up my imagination.  It works.  Sitting around, has been a bag a of stuff I picked up from Zeilinger’s booth at NH S&W last spring.  It is a beautiful, Jacoby looking blend of equal amounts of alpaca, wool and mohair.  The alpaca and mohair spin smoothly.   The wool, that is the heavy black stuff, must have been floor sweepings, third cuts or something short and wiry.  Mean stuff.  I spun up a skein last spring, liked the way it looked and planned to continue.  But, every time I went back to it, I’d stop.  There wasn’t any pleasure in spinning it and I didn’t HAVE to spin it, so why.  Thursday, as I stood looking at it again, I decided to re-card the stuff and try it that way.  Although the black still makes little nubs, it’s okay.  The yarn feels good, the pleasure is there.  It certainly isn’t my favorite, not something I’d choose again, but I’m satisfied with the results. I’ve got more than a usable yarn.

Friday was a dye day.  I promise pictures soon.  I managed three new colors, all lace wt. singles. 

Saturday was the best.  Kim, Julia, and I met in Lowell at the American Textile History Museum.  Beautiful place, full of all kinds of wonderful spinnerly tools.  The museum store has closed, too bad, it was a great little place.  But the cafe is open and we had a nice lunch while we visited.  Make sure you don’t miss out on Julia’s newest sweater and her article on the back page of the new IK. 

 

   

 

 

The two S&^*&%s are haunting me.  One of them kept me up well after midnight.  I wanted to try a puzzle from the "hard" level.  Darn, it’s fun.   Then I find a free sudoku program that installs onto my pda.  I went there.  I may never be free again. 

The other, shibori, has invaded my mind.  The possibilities are there.  My technical skills need to be worked on.  Yesterday, I made sample #2. 

   

I stuck with shades of blue, I had some dye left in the pot and didn’t want to waste it.  The tones and shade changed with the addition of more water and a bit more dye.

A quick note: 
This book is amazing.   Amazing in a coffee table book sort of way.  It’s not the kind of book that I expect to learn much from directly.  Rather, I will use it as a stepping stone, a jumping off place, a spot from which my imagination can wander.  It is written, or perhaps edited in the same way my mind thinks.  Textures are pulled from nature; then juxtaposed to the textures of knitted fabrics.