Priceless Yarn!

As if being obsessed with knitting socks wasn't strange enough, I have wandered farther afield into the wonderful world of spinning fiber---into yarn.  Eventually I may even get good enough to make yarn for socks!--someday.

So, I have the spinning wheel, and all of the "stuff"--whorls, bobbins, knitty-notty, flyers, a mother of all, and other parts and pieces, all marvelously coordinated and selected for their "old world" beauty.  This is part of my multi-year,  pre-retirement acquisition program of "toys" I want to spend time with when I have the time!   I intentionally selected this wheel (Kromski Ministrel) for its "old world" look.  And have color coordinated baskets to keep all these oddments organized and handy.  Although not its permanent home, the wheel is temporarily set up in the living room next to the fireplace....which seems appropriate for now. (Not permanent, as I am finding that spinning is a little messy, and I will probably prefer that the lint not be everywhere in the living room all the time!)

Of course, in addition to the investment in the wheel itself, and the accessories, you must have fiber.  I have spun several singles with drop spindles working up to owning a wheel.   So, once I  experimented with some "practice" un-dyed wool, I started on some "real stuff" 

And....ta-da!! I have spun my first skein of yarn!  It is a 2-ply/DK weight wool in a luscious Burgundy/pink color.   It is not perfect, but considering I have no idea what I am doing, and have only a book and the Internet as teachers, I think it is pretty good for a first try.  I have seen worse on sale in "boutique" yarn shops for what I think is an outrageous price.  I may have to rethink the value of one-of-a kind yarn based on my calculations though.......

 I don't know what I will make from it yet, but have enough for a scarf or a small shawlette.  And it only cost about $1,200 for me to make this little skein of yarn!!  

The next one will be cheaper---as I can depreciate the wheel over more product.   The next one will only cost around $600.00!

Daisies

The daisies are in full bloom.  I was not originally a Daisy person, but they are perennials, and low maintenance, so added a few to the front landscaping at our prior house.  Little did I know that they were my mothers "favorite" flower.  Her birthday is this time of the year (she would have been 103 next week), and she told me that she thought that the daisies bloomed just for her birthday.  Being raised in a poor mining community, I suppose that you looked for beauty wherever you could find it.  Or maybe it was that her sisters had March birthdays, when there were no flowers abloom!  

As her dementia progressed, she found it frustrating that the names of flowers long familiar had left her--petunias, geraniums, etc.  But the daisy was always "there".   I planted large stands of daises outside her window for her to enjoy.  When we could no longer care for her, and she moved to "the home", I marked her door with a wreath of daisies--so she could always find it. 

Now, when the daisies bloom, I think of her.   They are still outside her window, although she is long gone.  Enjoyed now by her great grandson, who thinks they are interesting.  They bloom around my yard, immune to deer nibbling, and a reminder of the time we spend gardening (I gardened, mom sat in a chair and watched).  They remind me of the birthdays of my two DIL, both sharing June as a birthday month with my mother, and each in her own way a characteristic or two (could that have influenced why they were selected?). 

This year, her 103 year of daisies, they remind me that although she has been gone for years, she is still with me.  In the sewing she taught me; the recipes that we occasionally pull out for special occasions; in the eyes of 4, who looks most like her and has her love of new recipes; in the people we are because she enriched our lives; in the memories we share of her "quirks"; and in ways our lives were better because she was here.

The daisies are blooming....a sweet reminder of a great mother and grandmother.  And although she never got to meet them, she would have loved having great grandsons!

Fiber Festival

My Friend, GZR, saw a television "spot", and asked a few weeks ago if I was interested in going to a fiber festival today---what the heck!!  Sounded like fun, and since I have a new spinning wheel (Kromski Ministrel), I figured maybe I could use some fiber (To the uninformed, people who engage in fiber arts develop "stashes"---sewers/quilters have fabrics; knitters, yarn, and spinners, various types of fiber in various forms).  Or more accurately, maybe I could begin to build a fiber stash to rival my fabric and yarn collection (pre-retirement acquisition program---my story and I am sticking to it!!). 

So we met there--to see the lamas (so ugly they are cute), rabbits, sheep, etc. all of whom provide a renewable source of fiber (so you can also be ecological as a spinner--and there is always more fiber to acquire!).  There were fleeces, baskets of washed fibers, dyed fibers, fiber processing tools, spinners spinning, knitting tools, tote bags of various types, and a lot of other fiber related things.  We discovered that fiber people seem to more or less wander in to set up their booths somewhere "around" the time the festival was to begin---laid back these people.  Maybe spinning does that for you??  So we had to zig and zag between those ready and those not, be eventually saw what everyone had brought to show, share, and sell.  Next time we can wander in....no rush to be there when it opens, it seems.

You never know what you might find at a fiber fest.....I found an adorable children's book about sheep in a jeep (bought two for the GS's), a silk "hankie" (to spin some silk thread), some shredded suri silk, for blending to make a novelty yarn, a marino/silk top in a great green color , a Blue Faced Lanchester (I think that is spelled right--it is a type of sheep) roving that is a superwash (you can machine wash the product) hand dyed in deep beautiful colors, an alpaca/tancel roll--very soft, and two learn to spin kits (because they were cute, inexpensive, and you never know when someone might ask  you to teach them to spin!--yeah right!).  So, I guess I sort of have a spinners "stash" now--I have no particular plans for any of this--it was just pretty, spoke to me, and felt great.  Am anxious to get good enough at my wheel to begin whipping up interesting novelty yarn---to transfer from one stash to another......

I talked to spinners with my type of wheel about hemp vs poly drives, scotch tension, and whorls.  I chatted with drop spindlers about technique, lots of people about their fiber, and yes, even the Lama--his name was George.  My friend, not a knitter or a spinner, wandered about the looms, gave the wool rug people more than a passing glance, fingered the buttons and also talked to George.

We also found a former colleague.....who now runs a fiber/yarn farm/business with a friend.  And later, as we went into town for lunch--we ran into another former co-worker (from a different job) and had a nice chat!  You never know what you are going to find at the fiber festival in the middle of nowhere (although technically, J was at the antique store looking for a table, not at the fiber festival).

It was fun to meet the people who do this as a "living"--I can't imagine it.  It was fun to be able to carry on a semi intelligent conversation about spinning (I have read 2 books and watched U-tube).  It was fun to fondle the fluff!  It will be fun to read the silly book about the sheep in the jeep to the boys.  Maybe I will go again to one nearer me in October.....because you can always add to your "stash"!