Like The Queen
Whatever happens to strike my fancy, but surely some sort of fiber content.

1 Comments:

Yeah, it's just spittin' "sleeze" here in Richmond, but it's 32 degrees, so the roads are "iffy", no doubt.

I'm also excited for Sedalia -- I'll be staying w/ my sister's family in Lynchburg, although not sure if any are interested in coming with me to the SFF. Here's hoping the weather is good! I'll look for you in costume, holding your drop spindle!

:-)

By Blogger Mary, at 1:20 PM  

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Tuesday, March 21, 2006  

So the weather dot com geeks have screwed up my Tuesday and it hasn't even started to rain yet, much less tangle the highways with sleet'n'snow! And I changed all my happyday plans into do-my-taxes plans, so what? Will it all be for naught! No! It will all be for drought.

Last year it rained so much 25% of the corn never germinated. Evidently this year we are to be over-compensated for that. rats.

But other than messin' with my day ThePalace is doing just fine and so is TheQueen.

I've been very industrious in fiberland. (less so in the world of Important $ Numbers) I started a sock on Friday afternoon - a stitch sampler sock, since it's knit in Opal, which I think tends to look pretty dull when it's knit up in plain stitch. Every time the color changes I changed my stitch pattern. I cast on 56 stitches and so far, all the patterns are repeats of 8 stitches. I suspect I could have knit this in 48 and have it fit my foot just fine, but then when I was working my way down the cuff I put in a quilted stitch and man I'm glad I had those extra stitches. Quilted stitches look so pretty and textured but they are a little tighter than many other stitches. I'm motoring down to the toe right now - maybe 5 more rounds of actual foot left to do . Happily, the decreases will come at a color change. Nice, huh?

I also am still experimenting with that corriedale fleece - at this rate I will soon have swatched the whole thing away. I am still trying to find exactly the perfect yarn I want this fiber to become. I didn't like the tight worsted yarn I got when I spun it up on the drop spindle. It wasn't a horrible yarn, but it didn't give the fiber a chance to show off it's delicious springiness. I thought I'd try to spin a thicker yarn in a woolen long draw and I've knit up a swatch (photo to come later today) but I used #8 needles and think it looks cramped. I've blocked the swatch and after I scan it up here, I'm going to rip it out and try knitting it on #9's. But I've also spun up a finer woolen, about 10 yards. I'll knit that - thinking #6 needles - and we shall see if this is better.

The fleece was so delicately soft and springy it's the absolute nicest corriedale I've ever felt - among many nice corriedales. La - I hope I dont use it all up on swatches and samples before I ever get to wear it.

Dear J gave me some superwash merino top she'd handpainted - but accidently agitated in the washing machine a brief moment, ending up with a very ... delinquent looking top. Well, it may look a little rough around the edges, but my goodness - it's been taught to behave by the treatement. Normally superwash merino top is just way too slippery for me. I end up with tight worsted thick 'n' thin, mean 'n' nasty yarn - that is - when I'm not grabbing for the escaping end that slipped apart and back up through the wheel's oriface, burrying its fuzzy ends into the yarn on the bobbin. Not this stuff. It spins evenly, tidily, nicely, prettily and stays where I put it. I'm using my gussied up Louet spindle , which is every bit of 2 oz, but still getting a lovely single that will ply into sock weight yarn.

I would call this superwash merino top that has been tough loved and is all the better for it.

I finally really counted up the days till the Sedalia Spring Fiber Festival - and realized that it is less than 3 weeks away! (the picture on the sidebar is just a capture, not an active image) I'm so looking forwad to this event, and not just beacuse it means teaching new spinners. I have Cousins in Bedford - not just any old cousins, either, but Hoskins Reunion Favorite Cousins from the August archives. I'll be staying with them and there will be so much hugging going on you wouldn't believe there could be so much hugging in the world.

And after that - it's Maryland and everything that means. Whew. Spring really does come upon us with a rush.

Now - since I've changed all my plans - let us Think Snow.

posted by Bess | 7:33 AM
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