I've been working on the Targhee (shades of blue fiber in the previous post) that I purchased from yarnchef on Etsy. The fiber is so easy to draft and spin and the colors are wonderful. I split the roving into thirds and will make a 3 ply.
I have also been experimenting with Icelandic fiber. I had purchased some at the NY Sheep and Wool festival and then didn't get around to spinning it. One of the Ravelry groups I joined recently is studying Icelandic wool. I decided that since I already had some fiber, that I would spin this month instead of knit. I tried spindle spinning it last night and that went pretty well. Icelandic fiber should be spun with very little twist, but I want to make a 2 ply yarn, so I had to put a bit more than "just enough to hold it together" so that it would hold together through the plying process. I want to try spinning some on the wheel to see which will make a better yarn. I'd like to make a shawl with it, or a shawlette if there's not much yardage. I have about 6-7 oz. so if I spin it thin enough, I should be able to get a small shawl from it. I have 4 oz. of a deep grey that I think is mostly tog (the outer coat) and 2-3 oz. of a lighter grey that seems to be mixed tog and thel (the downy inner coat). The mixed fiber is softer to touch and easier to draft and spin. Maybe the other one is slightly felted.
Knitting this week consisted of most of one spiral stole square at knit night at the LYS and a couple of rows on the shawl from Victorian Lace Today. Not much progress, I am afraid.
I was later coming home from work yesterday than I had planned, and when I got home, DH was very stressed. It seems that half of our electricity was off. He tested, and checked the circuit breakers and could not find a problem. He was worried that we would have to (try) find an electrician to come on the weekend to replace the circuit box and wiring. Big bucks, apparently. We called the utility company and requested a check. They told us that it would be about 10 PM before someone could come, but less than 30 minutes later the truck pulled up. The problem, very fortunately for us, is on their end. It will cost us nothing for the repair, and until they repair it, we have some sort of device hooked up to bypass the problem, so everything in the house works again. DH is muchly relieved and much easier to live with. ; )
Today I was able to catch up on the gardening chores, wash the clothes and dry them on the line and go for a nice bike ride. By nice I mean that I did not come back with legs trembling so hard that I had to stand still rather than walk the bike up the driveway (which is how I returned the first few times I rode). giggle. I've increased the distance again, by a little, so that's even better.
We are planning to head out on the boat for the day tomorrow. I hope the weather cooperates. I'm looking forward to my first day on the boat this season and a day relaxing with DH.
I'll close with some photos of some flowers in my garden. Iris
Peony
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