Monday, June 06, 2011

So much better

Last week was a rough one for me - not feeling well and things (like the boat motor) not working. It's over, though and I feel much better. We had a great weekend despite spending a lot of it working on the boat motor. Thank goodness it is now in the driveway at the house - makes things much easier to do and allows me to tend to other things between motor testing.

My spinning wheel has been loaned out - I plan on a month or so, so I am limited to spindle spinning. I like the limitation, though, as I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that I am trying to do. I did some thinking yesterday and have come up with a Plan. ; )    I am going to concentrate on spinning my Icelandic fiber into (I hope) a lace weight yarn. This project is spindle spinning, though once I get the wheel back I'll ply it on the wheel, I think. I am nowhere near being ready to ply, so all is well.  When I feel the need for a change, I will work on the silk spinning, also spindle work and also a WIP.

Knitting project wise, I've been working hard on Saroyan, which will be finished by the end of the week. I plan to get back to work on my sweater knitting once Saroyan is finished, and to finish up the two socks on the needles (finally). I have registered for the Season of Lace Summer this year and plan to participate in the KAL shawl project, plus make use of the Project Resurrection KAL to get me back on track with one of the three lace shawls I have on the needles. I am really excited about this! If all goes well, I'll have 2 or 3 finished lace shawls by the fall.

I am going to observe and encourage the spinning testing and challenge events going on at Ravelry in the spinning groups that I belong to but not participate (with the exception of the Tour de fleece) - I want to get caught up and have some finished projects to feel good about. I've gotten too scattered and right now it's not feeling good.  I hope to finish, by the fall, the Icelandic spinning, maybe half of the remaining silk spinning, the cardigan knitting and two shawls. That would be awesome, and that's my goal.

If I ever get my camera back from younger son, I plan to post pictures of where things are now and then progress pictures one a month. Lace just doesn't grow fast enough to post photos more often than that. LOL. It's the same with spinning - one spindle full looks pretty much like the previous one, though I do have two colors of Icelandic to spin.

Some times I want to work on fiber but don't feel like knitting or spinning, so that's when I pull out the tools and work on prepping fiber that I've washed. Right now I am working on the Jacob, and will work on that until it's done.  The fiber prep really has to be done outside - I don't want all of that vm to float around the house or get ground into my carpet. When the weather is pleasant, I really enjoy sitting out on the deck combing or carding or whatever. It's a different zone to get into but therapeutic in it's own way. The Jacob is less therapeutic and more frustrating than the BFL because of the quality of the fleece, but it's still fiber. : )
I am determined to finish this and use what I can from the fleece. Lesson learned.  Next up will be at least some of the Black Welsh Mountain because I want to see what type of fiber I can get from it and figure out what I want to do with it. I hope it's going to work for a vest (outdoor type) if not a sweater. Then I'll move on to the BFL. I am not even menitoning the Scottish Blackface (unwashed at this point) or the Gulf Coast Native (will be arriving on Thursday) that I haven't touched. Oh, yes, and the Romney that I am getting from Melanie in exchange for some of my BFL. NO MORE FIBER, LINDA. (not until Rhinebeck, anyway. giggle)

1 comment:

EGunn said...

I have never gotten so much spindling done as the 5 months that I spent without a wheel. I love both ways of spinning, but the wheel does tend to take precedence when it's around. Hopefully you'll enjoy your spindle time!

And I sympathize on the fleece processing. I also have one that really has to be done outside, and let's just say that progress is...very slow. It will happen eventually, though. I just need to make sure that I don't buy any more before it's finished!