Socks and Locks in a Box!

What a busy and productive week this has been!  I spent a great afternoon at Yarn Tree Studio (LYS) with some wonderful people.  I was able to finish spinning the first bobbin of the red/blue sock yarn that I have pictured below. 




I taught one of our group members how to spindle 2 weeks ago and she is already making a cowl with her very first hand spun yarn!  I'm so proud of her.  Pictures to follow!  I am hoping in June to be able to spend more time teaching others to spindle.  It's a great way to be introduced to hand spun yarn without the expense of a spinning wheel. 




As far as my latest projects go, I've been busy making sneaker socks for summer.  One pair is completed and one is in progress.  They are such a quick knit since I don't have to do a long cuff!  Now if I just had a shorter foot it would be even quicker!

And I am currently spinning up some red alpaca/wool blend with blue/purple/teal Vegan Wool blended in to add strength.  I was asked today what made the wool vegan and I told her that the sheep were vegetarians!  She believed that for a minute and then had that odd look on her face as she realized sheep ARE vegetarians!  Ok, Vegan Wool is really nylon.

This should be a very pretty yarn when I ply the blended colors to the dark red and I am very excited to finish this, wash it to set the twist and knit the next pair of socks!  There is nothing better than a pair of hand knit socks!  I'll post pictures when I finish these.




And then I have had fun with a Jacob and an unknown fleece I got this week.  I have flicked open several of the locks to prep them for spinning.  They are all oriented tip end (and butt end) together.  I then tied them with ribbon into little clouds that are ready for me to take out on the porch where I can sit and spin them while enjoying our beautiful Spring! The box has 50g of fleece. The Jacob is a beautiful fleece with it's tricolor very tight locks and tight crimp.  The white fleece is very lofty and soft.  It was not labeled when given to me so I am not sure what it is.  I did do a test spin and it spins very well into a fine yarn. I think that the Jacob spun along with the white fleece should make a very interesting yarn.

 I love these "Locks in a Box"

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Tonight I dyed some silk into a luscious deep purple to blend with some alpaca that I have.  It's still in the microwave oven cooling so I will rinse and lay it outside on the screen to dry in the morning.  I plan to do a 50/25/25 silk/alpaca/wool blend.  More pictures coming!

Next time I will be including pictures of the finished Hitchhiker that I completed this past week,  

Off to knitting.  Still have an hour of evening left!

Ready for Knit-along

I've been working on some light brown alpaca/wool mix.  It has a wonderful heathery look.  I took this in natural light but it really is not doing justice to the fiber.  Finally I have 800 yards finished bulky (7-8 wpi).  My sister and I are planning a knit-along with plans to do the Arrowhead Poncho http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/arrowhead-poncho .  We should have them finished for next fall.  I'm just hoping we will get some cooler weather next year so that I can enjoy some of my scarves, cowls, mittens and this poncho. 

I love the way the yarn turned out.  It is SO soft.  Tomorrow I will finish washing the 4 hanks and store it away until we start our project.

Meanwhile, I started the Hitchhiker Shawlette yesterday.  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hitchhiker  I am using Ella Rae Merino Lace out of my stash.  It is an easy knit and I love the clean decisive lines.   It's a great "take with" project. 

And...I finished carding the rest of the Gulf Coast fleece.  I ended up with 18.5 ounces out of the 2 pounds.  There was more waste than I anticipated, or maybe it was not a full 2 pounds when I received it.  Usually I lose about 25% through waste when processing a raw fleece.  At any rate, it is very lofty and I spun a bobbin full (long draw) while at Spinning Group this afternoon.  I don't have a project in mind for this yet, but anticipate I will have around 400-500 yards plyed.

So, I think this was a productive day!  I even managed to clean out litter boxes, vacuum and do laundry!  Too many days the chores seem to be pushed aside in favor of some current project!