I finally got to the Guatemalan indigo. It's plyed now, and I think I've probably earned my Merit Badge in "overplyed." Should wear like iron. I'm getting roughly 100 yards (hee -- I typed yarnds - a new measurement unit!) per ounce, ounce and a quarter.
That cochineal yarn is there to demonstrate how far my spinning has come, in just a little bit. The yellow isn't as even, and it's older. One of the things I'm most struck by is how harmonious the natural dyes are with one another. I'm looking forward to trying some more when the dyeing wool shows up from Susan's Fiber Shop shows up.
Little bits of yarn spun up are feeling frustrating for me. I'm just not a sock knitter. Know anyone who would love to knit socks from handspun in exchange for homemade bread or more handspun? That might give me sock spinning incentive. I do, however, have largish feet -- pushing a US size 10.
Lambtown -- well, it was fun. I found it a hair overwhelming, and since it was a smallish do, I bet that would really be something. Today was all about the soft. There were so many soft things to touch. And I may be in a color rut, as everything I dallied over was caramel, brown, green, tan. . . You get the picture! I saw local blogger and fiberista Kristine today, along with Michele from dyeing class. It was nice to see friendly faces.
I also tried wheels (with help) at the Carolina Homespun booth.
I liked the Lendrum a lot. So did Thing 4, but she didn't get what you'd call a real trial on it.
Oh, also a pattern for a beautiful leaf shawl leapt at me, in a triumph of fondness over experience. Thing 1 said, "Hey, look at this pretty shawl. I like it."
Maybe when she graduates from something adult, it will be done. She said her dyeing class was "okay."
Hot and grumpy by the end she was. My silk class wasn't what I expected. I kept gazing over at the drum carding class, thinking that what they were doing looked pretty fun. . .
One Suri baby fleece kept calling me back for more touching, as did a wickedly soft bag of baby camel and silk. Guess what came home with me?
Back to front: the alpaca (his name is "Espresso Dawn." Hee), a bag of silk cocoons for kid/me experiments, the camel/silk to the left of that, then some green silk hankies, some white silk hankies, some Bombyx top, and two balls of Corriedale. I still don't know if I'm going to ply the Corriedale with the alpaca for a sweater, or spin the alpaca straight from the locks and make a drapey. . . something. Suggestions?
13 comments:
Oh that's funny. I was at Carolina Homespun booth for quite a while, tried Kromski too... ended up with buying a Joy, although I had a feeling that I'd buy it :-) I think I saw T1 at the lemonade stand, but couldn't even ask "Are you Thing One?" Would be too weird...
Rats. I think she would have been flattered, and it was her! I'm sorry we didn't get to meet.
I like the Joy, but I think I'm going Lendrum.
Ah, Lendrum. Good choice! I'd like to go through my comments and prune out all your "you can spin--i'm in awe" posts and have you gaze at them. Look at you now!
If you're serious about the knitting socks for yarn/fibre thing, let's talk. We may be able to please each other. :)
I'm disappointed that I was unable to go to Lambtown but with the month I've been having it's probably a good thing.
Looks like you brought home some wonderful goodies!
What if you used your bits of handspun for a hat? You could make a gorgeous chullo.
Congrats on your new goodies. They're gorgeous!
I'm so jealous of your haul! And your spinning is beautiful. I've been trying to do some spinning, but I suck at it so wind up knitting instead LOL. Maybe if I practiced some more I wouldn't suck so bad!!
OMG....this is way too funny. Look at the picture with the green shawl...see the girl in the denim shorts with the hand on her hip?? That's me!!!! How weird is that? I kept going back to that booth and the green yarn I bought was from there. Looks like we were drawn to the same color yarns.
We do need to plan a meet up next time.
Hi S -- great to see you at L-Town. I am glad to see that you were able to try some wheels. And, maybe more importantly, that you bought the baby alpaca. oooooh, soooooft.
oh, and I forgot to say -- nice job on the indigo spinning. I actually like how the indigo rubs off on my hands as I spin and knit. It reminds me of gardening. By the way, how are your bees?
Your indigo spinning is lovely. I love the rich colors you tend to spin.
It looks like you had a great time and came away with some lovely stuff.
The shawl you saw is stunning.
You're spinning! And buying amazing fiber! I can't believe I missed it all. I'm just glad it's up here so I can go back and read what I missed. Everything looks wonderful, especially your spinning.
It looks like a great day! I agree with the hat comment...much less fidgety then socks.
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