Whatever happens to strike my fancy, but surely some sort of fiber content.
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| Like The Queen Whatever happens to strike my fancy, but surely some sort of fiber content. |
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2 Comments:Bess, you darling, LD may have been raised by dogs but the apple didn't fall far from the tree at all. People like you and BD could ONLY produce such a lovely being as LD.... LOL - don't know if the cleaning I did this week affected my answers, but I ranked Cinderella on the fairy princess quiz. of course, it's not the first time I've been called that.... Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Monday, February 20, 2006 What’s this! Snow? More snow!! There is a little dusting of it spread around the yard - and on the few things that didn’t dry yesterday on the clothes line. It’s started since I got up, since it wasn’t there when I let the pups in earlier. The weather dot com guys say it will only last through the morning, but it’s the perfect weather to ensure my last Monday holiday for waaaaaay too long will be cozy and snug and fiber filled. So. First a Corriedale handspun report. It knits up on #3 needles - not #5. And it is harder to knit with than I thought it would be. Such a soft yarn to touch in the skein, it’s too grabby on my needles and worse than that - it wants to unspin on me. I decided to knit this fingerless glove on circulars - though I’d seen a great idea for knitting them flat and I may knit the mate flat to make, not a matching pair, but a coordinating one. I also suspect I will need to spin more of this yarn and - truth? I don’t look forward to it. I would prefer this fiber to be spun thickly if it’s going to be knit into a solid fabric. I would so much more enjoy knitting it on big needles. I’ve spun heavy weight yarn with some of this fleece before, knitting it into a swatch on something like size 8’s. It was delicious. This thinner yarn, twisted more tightly, doesn’t seem to feel so good running along my fingers as it’s tucked and looped into small stitches. And knitting has to be a tactile pleasure first of all. You spend so much time handling it; touching, tucking, stroking and guiding. I think this yarn I’ve spun would make a fabulous lace shawl - even a warm one, given the ready-to-cling structure of the fiber itself. Oh my - what felt it would create too, though I have yet to open my heart up to the fabric of felt. I suspect there is another whole fiberish landscape out there, when it comes to felt. Well, it’s waiting up ahead for me. That is the way of it with a fine craft. There are always new fiberlands to visit - new things to learn, skills to acquire. I’ll finish up that first glove today though - and determine how much more yarn I have to spin. Thank heavens I have a little sample of the single left. I know, by now, I’ve forgotten what to spin first. On the Golding spindle is a very motley and colorful single spun up of all those mostly merino rovings. I’m suffering from clean plate syndrome because I want to spin up all the rovings I carded and the spindle is getting so full it’s wobbling as I twirl it. (a sure sign that it’s full) With care I might be able to use them all up on this single spinning, a desirable thing, since then one doesn't have the tiny short bit of yarn left over. But it requires a very tedious, fiddly sort of care. So then comes the determination which must be made: when does a production goal outweigh the pleasure principle in a hobby? And should it ever outweigh one’s pleasure? Ahh yes. The old Puritan rod, smiting a blow that is Good For You and making you Do Your Dooty by your yarns. Hmmmm. I like to think of myself as artistic, and skilled with my fingers, and creative and even (blush) inspiring to others. From time to time I toy with the idea of leaving my (for me) easy profession of library management, with it’s regular, if small, paycheck, the 14 legal holidays and VRS pension, for something with more flair, something that draws upon these stores of artistry, skill and creativity. So I teach some classes. I do a story program in a school or library. I share my knowledge with others. I contemplate A Change. It’s at that point a demon specter looms it’s ugly head: Production. I’ve knit some contract knitting before and what a shocker that was! Even a sweater I lusted to own myself, that was fun, easy, and gorgeous to touch and to look at, became ThatEvilThing once it assumed the mantel of responsibility to Another. Evidently even responsibility to Me is an issue, since I own more unfinished sweaters than finished ones. I have long since accepted my distractibility as a part of my ENFP charm. Whenever possible I try to call it flexibility and use it to good advantage; looking for doorways in brick walls, making lemonade out of lemons. But there are times when lemonade is not the beverage called for and times when production has priority rights. In work, though sometimes it almost kills me, I do finish tasks. I’m usually in such a fog of denial and dreamy fantasizing, I don’t actually comprehend that I’ve finished a task, much less take any pleasure in it. It was years before I could look behind me and see a Whole Complete Brick Library With Columns On The Porch. I had fled reality months before the building opened and I wept for months afterwards. Another arena where Coming To Completion and Dooty Doing are paramount is that three ring circus called Parenting. Whooee. Thank goodness the angels made my baby, so there were almost no occasions when I had to gird my loins and tackle the hard stuff. Once I heard LD say to a friend “Oh. I was practically raised by dogs.” and, though I am still laughing into my hand about that, the truth is - he could have been. I take little credit in what I did as a parent - all my reward comes from what I didn’t do - which was to Not Screw Up a really straight person. But when I have to answer to the Big Boss someday, at least I’ll be able to say I stayed the course when there were those few hard Mama-tasks to complete. So - all this is just a long meander into the labyrinth of my brain, as I dig up excuses for not completing craft projects - or is it to understand why I don’t try to elevate my fiber love into a profession - or is it just that I don’t have to go to work today so I have time to babble? Fortunately, I’m a knitter. I have a ball of yarn. We can follow the thread back to the beginning again and I will tell you that it doesn’t matter if I spin all those merino rolags on one spindle or two. Either way they’ll get spun, plyed, and wet set. Tomorrow there will be an interesting length of yarn that is at least 50% lime green to knit into swatches - those magnificent Finished Objects of the ENFP knitter. BSHP is languishing. It may languish for another week or two. Rats. It was supposed to be done by March 1. It could have been. It ought to be. I doubt it will. Ahh well. Spinning has rightful claims on my time this spring. And as I peek out the window, the snow is still falling. We have at least half an inch of it already. Pretty pretty pretty. May your snow fall lightly and melt swiftly and may your yarn be smooth and stitch evenly. posted by Bess | 7:22 AM |
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