Spent Saturday with my parents, put in some veggies, relaxed. Always a good time. Didn’t do any fiber things.

I think I’m going to try retting some nettle, and some hyssop this summer, just because. I’m curious.

Also managed to check in on my horribly neglected garden at my parents’ place. The wisteria tree I grew from seed was in bloom. It’s large enough that there’s a cave underneath you can stand up in. Very fragrant. The wooden thing is my trellis with a Niobe and Autumn Clematis, which is falling over.

The toughest azalea ever (eaten to the ground two years in a row by the goat, eaten many years after, including this one, by deer) was blooming as well.

It was a good day. Got to talk to my parents about life and plans and such. As much as I could with so much still in the air, at least.

Sunday was fiber day again.

Here’s the skein I posted earlier, reskeined, set, whacked, and measured.

A Heady Brew – 250yds – 4oz – Polwarth

I’m keeping this one, since it’s the first off Strider. Debating whether to use it for a cabled hat, or for weaving. I like it. It’s very soft, with a lovely hand, and a soft shine. Mmm. I dyed this one, and love the color.

I got the other yarn I was doing on the wheel finished and plied, but it’s not dry yet, so photos forthcoming. The weight difference between superwash and nonsuperwash never ceases to amaze me.

And I got this guy plied and set. Little skein, but it’s the first full skein I’ve done on the spindle. And it’s small ’cause that’s what I had of the sparkly fiber. The alpaca is undyed, and the blue was hand blended just for me by Heather, yay!

Moon on the Water – 100yds – 0.95oz – 50% Alpaca – 50% Wool (Merino I think) + Angelina

Then I got my butt sat down and worked on a commissioned set of stitch markers (I’ve still got another set waiting, plus a request, whee!). I will note these are some of my poorest photos of stitch markers.

Aventurine – Sodalite – Amethyst
Master: Pewter – Sodalite – Amethyst

And a set of binary stitch markers 1-8, or technically 0-7 I guess.

Lapis and Blue Aventurine

And a set of markers that can be used for crochet…

Lapis – Copper – Malachite

And while I was at it, I figured I should make some for the store as well.

Lapis and White Howlite

And another set…

Rhodonite and Poppy (Brecciated) Jasper

As is the usual case these days, I also spent some time weaving. I’m loving it. So very much. I want a floor loom with treadles!

Noting that these are truly awful photos because I never take them other than at 11:00 at night, I think they’re coming out well.

Here’s the bottom end of a spindle bag…

And here are two spindle “holsters” that I’m working on. I’m not sure if the idea will work, but I hope to test one or more of them out this weekend. The second one isn’t done yet.

I’m going to be at MA Sheep and Wool this weekend. Exactly when and for how long will depend a lot on how my thesis meeting goes on Friday. If the weather is good and I’m in a good mood from the meeting, I’m hoping to bring Strider to meet people, and I’ll stay long to celebrate. If not… well then it’s hard to say.

Incidentally, it will be two days after my birthday, and the one year anniversary of my enablement by the wonderful Tsock Tsarina and Jennifer of Holiday Yarns.

In other news, I will be doing dyeing/spinning/etc. this week. I have to to keep sane. However, I don’t know how often, or if, I will be updating. I just got comments back on my paper draft, and I have a lot of work to do, and I have to make a presentation for the committee meeting, and finish and edit my thesis outline for my committee. So, yeah… hectic week.

Hope to see people at MASW if I don’t post more here before then.

~The Gnome

Mmm fiber.

Swiftly becoming a classic, I made a batch of Sapphire Surprise. I like this colorway.

Sapphire Surprise – 4oz x 4 – Combed BFL Top

Some more of the dorset, which I really like. Super duper soft? No. Durable? Hells yes. Near perfect memory? (No creasing, compaction, etc) Awww yeah. Feltable? No! Awesome. Great stitch definition.

A soft, ethereal flowering shrub, this is far more pastel than my usual, but I really like it anyway. Subtle.

Smoke Bush – 4oz – Carded Dorset Roving

One you’ve seen before that I’m fond of. Summer evening, as the dark creeps in, and you snuggle closer to your partner…

Summer Evening – 4oz – Carded Dorset Roving

A new fiber to me, Ramboulliet, or French Merino (It really is descended from Merinos, no cross breeding). Not quite as soft as some merino, but lofty and crimpy, a foundation breed of a lot of the crimpier finewools.

Come summer, we all should let our inner child play a little. And what better way with bright bold colors? Who doesn’t like fingerpaints?

Fingerpaints – 4oz – Carded Ramboulliet Roving

And ah, the lovely summer rose, so light, so airy… this one will spin into a semi-solid rose, though it looks fairly high contrast now, the dark spots are surface dyes, so will blend in to make semi-solid.

Provence Rose – 4oz – Carded Ramboulliet Roving

And because it’s spring, so clearly I’m already thinking about when it will get cold again…

Muted Autumn – 4oz – Carded Ramboulliet Roving

And apparently I was in that sort of mood because I did it again… Incidentally, things like these two rovings will be addressed in my upcoming dyeing posts, as you’ll notice though they contain the same colors, they look remarkably different, and that’s with a dye method that minimizes those differences.

Muted Autumn – 4oz – Carded Jacob Roving

My most requested colorway, in fact a request this time as well (and thus already claimed)…

War for the Oaks – 4oz – Combed Polwarth Top

And, because it IS spring, an actual spring inspired one. Last time I was home these were just beginning to bloom…

Spring Crocus – 4oz – Combed Corriedale Top

And then this. This is a beta test of a colorway. The final version will have a little less dark and much more gradiated mid-greys. For those unfamiliar, when I get the final version done, I’ll tell the story of this colorway.

Nekkid Cowboy Beta Test – 4oz – Combed Corriedale Top

In other news…

I realized I never mentioned dropping off 40lbs of fleece with the mill to be made into roving. Doh. I’ve still got the two best fleeces in my car waiting for me to try handprocessing them.

I also just received two more fleeces! They were supposed to arrive before NH, but the post office decided 2-9 days actually meant 13 days. ::sigh:: Jerks.

Targhee and Suffolk fleeces, 5lbs each

Lessee… oh right, mmm fiiiiiber.

New fiber arrived! This is what’s upcoming in the shop (among the other thigns i have on hand)

Wensleydale, 3lbs

Tussah Silk, 3lbs

Angora/Merino, 1lb (sooo very soft). Keeping a bit of this myself to spin

And…

….

Cashmere Silk, 8oz (zomg, that’s really all you can say). Also keeping a bit (half) this to spin myself

Aaaand some other things in the works, but that’s all to post about for now…

OH wait, except that I finally got the supplies to make the requested sock stitch markers.

And that’s it for now. Back to working on my thesis outline.

~The Gnome

So, like I mentioned, I suck and didn’t take any photos of the festival. Blah.

I also feel like I should add that not everyone was making incorrect comments about the spindle spinning. There were quite a few people who made perfectly accurate comments, or just asked questions, and such. And of course many mesmerized kids, and the usual panoply of, “ZOMG MAN DOING FIBER” which always makes me laugh. There are plenty of male spinners in the world, guys, really. Alden, anyone?

Anyway, I did get some cool things.

My friends spoil me, and apparently will spoil Strider too. He decided he didn’t like his drive band enough, so he worked a thread out and unraveled it. Doh.

However, friends to the rescue! Two new drive bands for Strider. I’m guessing he’s going to want to try the green one first, but who knows?

Also, Ash really loved it when Lynn let me use some of this, so I picked some up at Journey Wheels for both Ash and Strider. Apparently Ash wants me to spoil her and her big brother as well.

On of course, fiber. Mmm, fiber.

You saw the Cormo/Alpaca/Angora I posted yesterday, 4oz.

I also got this truly decadent blend… Polwarth/Mohair/Silk 4oz of it. You can’t see it in the picture, but it shines

And this, which is as airy and light as the previous one is sleek. It likes to spin fine, and once spun barely seems to exist. 5oz Charcoal Polwarth blended with Angora

And finally… this. I wish I had had more money by the end of the day when I discovered this.

2oz of brown cashmere. Wow. Just… amazing.

There’s also the world’s smallest update to the shop. One new item.

Fingerpaints! Who doesn’t like fingerpaints, if we just let ourselves admit it?

Fingerpaints: 4oz – Carded Ramboulliet Roving

More dyeing tonight. I seem to have misplaced my main notebook with fae and other important notes in it. This irritates me. I’m hoping it’s lost in the living room, which I need to straighten for photos anyway.

That’s all for now. Still planning a fiber/shop update on… probably Thursday to be realistic.

~The Gnome

Allo everyone.

Well, it wasn’t the original plan, but I ended up spending the whole weekend at NH Sheep and Wool. This wasn’t bad per se. But if I’d known that my other Sunday plans were going to fall through, I would have gone home to spend it with Mom.

However, all things said and done, it was a good weekend.

Sadly, I fail as a blogger and took zero photos of the festival. I do, however, have stuff to show you from the festival… but again, I’m a bad blogger, and left most of it at home.

So I’ll show you this teaser of it.

A new Bosworth Mini, in Bocote wood, 0.88 ounces, exactly what I was looking for, small but with a little heft.

That’s a cormo/alpaca/angora blend on it, in what will be a two-ply heavy laceweight to light fingering weight yarn. Very very soft, lovely to work with.

You’ll also notice it has something of a cop on there.

Let me tell you, I spent a remarkable amount of time this weekend preaching the Abby Gospel as I wandered around the fair spinning on my new spindle (which keeps up remarkably well in the wind, by the way). Repeatedly, people would be standing behind me as I looked at something while spinning and start telling their child or companion, “Oh yes, those are good for people learning to spin because they’re slower than a wheel.” or “Those aren’t as good for spinning, but they’re good for learning.”

Well…

It’s not a huge cop, especially considering how long I spent on it. Many of my friends could have done double or more that in the time I was at it. An Andean spinner could probably have had three times that spun and plied. But…

It’s spun.

The fact is, I’m still a fairly new spindle spinner, not very fast in the scheme of spindle spinning. I’ve only just learned the art of navigating crowds while spinning. And yet I managed to spin all that, while doing things with my hands, and looking at things, and talking to people.

Now imagine you’re out herding sheep, walking to and from fields or other houses or whatever, and that you spend a large portion of every day doing these things… see where I’m going?

Yeah, it’s no mystery why a lot of cultures and people see no need to move to a spinning wheel, is it? And when you’re trying to keep up with people who are weaving (which burns through yarn faaaaast, but also makes fabric faaaaaaast) you need every inch you can muster.

Now, I’m sure some people are saying, “But you can’t fit 4oz on it like you can on my wheel bobbin!” to which I say, no, I can’t. However, other people who are more skilled can. And I’m getting better at it. Even on this little guy.

The other thing, of course, which often led me to turn around with an, “Actually…” was that “slower” thing. For me, it’s slower no matter what I’m doing. But that’s because it’s a fairly new skill for me. The fact is, it’s catching up pretty quickly. And you’ll notice that’s a fairly fine yarn, no frog hair, but fine. To keep a fine yarn made of short fibers together (which that is), you need more twist. Ever seen a spindle whirl with a good thighroll? Those suckers FLY. You want a fine yarn with a metric ton of twist in it? Chances are, a good spindle spinner can put that twist in faster than a wheel will.

All that said, the big difference for me? I spun that cop of yarn. If I had only been wheel spinning, I wouldn’t have spun anything.

Some is always greater than none.

Now, with all that done and getting down off my little spindle soap box… oh right, still don’t have photos.

Um… look, up there, soft shiny fiber!

I’ll get a more complete update up soon. Also, I know the shop is getting empty… so…

Fiber that’s been weighed out and awaits dyeing. Hope to get a chunk of that dyed tomorrow night which means Wednesday night or Thursday there will be a fiber update. Yay! We like fiber.

Also, for those awaiting shipments…

A couple things that should have gone out Friday/Saturday didn’t, as I was up at stupid-o-clock and running around trying to get everything I needed up to the fiber festival. So anything that didn’t go out then is going out today. This includes the trade to Naomi and BeLinda’s yarn, sorry guys.

Work on the paper progresses. Work on the outline for my thesis progresses. Big mucka meeting next Friday. Cross your everythings for me. So far, things are looking good.

Lots of things in the works, never enough hours.

Hai, ceiling cat? it’s me, Gnome. plz 2 b makin moar hours in teh day? plzkthxbai.

Think that’s all for now. Will get more stuff done for the shop soon. Also need to get the stuff for trades done. Hope to get it done this week.

~The Gnome

So I got a line on some fleeces, and possibly some other stuff. And yesterday, I set out to see what there was to be seen…

When I came home, the back of my car looked like this:

Yeah… once I got them out they were this: (There are 10 if you’re curious)

I wasn’t planning on buying white. Or at least not MUCH white. But then there was this. A ewe by the name of “Vera Wang” border leicester…

And really, how could I resist?

Well I wasn’t disappointed. I turned out the fleece on my handy dandy sheet and…

Pretty huh? Well look at this…

Impressive huh? Yeah, my hands aren’t huge, but that’s still abut 7 inches. So, because I couldn’t wait, I gave it a quick rinse, not even full heat water or a soak…

Mmmmm…

The other best fleece there was this one, “Cocoa” by name. Another Border Leicester

Gorgeous, huh?

I also got a Cotswold, a breed I’m terribly unfamiliar with

And a greyer Border Leicester

Then I picked up some Romney, ’cause it was softer than most romney I’m familiar with, and quite pretty. Soft durable sweaters, ideal!

And everything else was dark Romney. Much of it has a small amount of sun damage, but I skirted out the worst of it, and what remains shouldn’t be too bad.

And one more of these I managed to not photograph.

Very shiny, huh? I’ll be sending these off for processing tomorrow. ::squee::

While I was there I also took a look at some fiber arts tools.

I picked up this:

A “click reel” which clicks every 40(?) turns of the winder. Cute! Needs cleaning, but works great.

And I found these!

Some very nice Meck combs, so I could make my own top if I wanted to… say out of that white Border Leicester…

Aaaand this liiittle guy. Isn’t he cute?

He’s a Hatchtown Spinimal, so I’ve been told.

And finally, I got this:

A warping board, with a built in stand. These photos don’t do these things justice, the light was terrible and it makes the wood look all gross. But it’s not.

Also, I’m dyeing a bunch. Yay. My new scale STILL hasn’t arrived, and I STILL haven’t heard from the company, so we’re dragging big companies into the fray, namely Paypal and Ebay. Want my scale!

That’s about it for now. More posts to come soon. Going to have some sock size stitch markers soon, and crochet functionable ones.

~The Gnome