A few weekends ago I flew down to visit my friends in Maryland and go to the Ren Fest with them. A blast was had. I’m not gonna show all the photos, but here are a few.

There was drinking (mmm MEAD and mixed wine), good food, a ton of laughter, axe throwing, totally failed dunk-the-wench, and generally good friendship. Oh, and I did a reasonable amount of spinning.

Interestingly, you can see behind me there were people watching (we were waiting for someone in the bathroom at the time). I didn’t know they were there. I also didn’t realize it’s apparently so Zen I only have one expression.

I’m spinning Polwarth on my Bosworth Mini, after it had been glued together after an unfortunate meeting with the tarmac. (It was a very rough weekend for my spindles).

Photos courtesy of Spencer (the dark haird shorter one in the last photo).

Here’s the great guys I was with, Adam, Spencer, and Mike

Oh right, I also forgot to mention…

With axe throwing there were funny hats.

A very very good time! And then it was back to prepping for Rhinebeck and working on my thesis.

~The Gnome

Sorry for the delay, I was rather distracted last night by the fact my defense date is now official.

I will be defending my doctoral research on Monday, November 23rd, at 10:00 in the morning. First I will present 6.5 years of work in one hour to anyone who wishes to come (and fits in the room). Then I will go upstairs and *defend* my dissertation to a committee of professors who will make me look like an idiot for between one and three hours. Then, I will either get “pass” or “pass with revisions,” most likely the latter. I will make some changes to my dissertation, and graduate with my Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences, focus in Biochemistry.

And before you say anything about smarts…

“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.” ~Louis Pasteur.

Anyway, the shop has been updated.

Two more undyed natural grey 2oz samplers.

And a 2oz Longwool sampler with Gotland, Border Leicester, Wensleydale, and Finn. Not my best photo.

Deepest grapes make a wine that goes straight to your head, infecting you with the god of pleasure’s celebratory spirit…

Baccanal – 2oz each – Gotland, Wensleydale, BL, Finn

An entirely new fiber for Gnomespun, targhee. Like… extra bouncy, elastic, merino with better memory. I’d like to get some of this as roving too.

The scorching air cools and the colors of sand and sky meet in the middle in a glorious wash of luminous reds yellows and oranges.

Desert Sunset – 4oz – Combed Targhee Top

And a fiber that’s only appeared in samplers, Tunis. Tunis is a mid-fairly soft breed, with slighly less loft than some of the other down breeds like Clun or Dorset, but with a finer handle softer feel and drape. Little to no notable luster. Tunis still retains the memory of other downs breeds.

The summer is warm and dry when the storm rolls in. The lightning strikes the dry ground and thunder rolls… soon, all that’s left is smoke and ash, leaving the way open for new growth and new life…

Smoke and Ash – 4oz – Combed Tunis Top

And then fibers you’ve seen before at least once…

Roots stretch and grow over the ancient stones, forming ruts and striations where the water flows down the cracks, widening them…

Wood and Stone – 4oz – Combed Gotland Top

An old favorite… Oaken browns swirl with dark rich leafy greens in this fiber, named after the book of the same name by Emma Bull.

War for the Oaks – 4oz – Combed Superwash Merino top

Another popular colorway… as you travel down the brown dirt road you reach soft glowing gold, stretching into the distance.

Gold Road – 4oz – Carded Border Leicester Roving

Inside the brown and grey stone shine brilliant crystals of blue and purple, waiting to be discovered…

Geode – 4oz – Carded Romney Roving

Soft shiny blues and greens, like a mallard drake. This fiber could be spun either as a tweed or a striping yarn.

Mallard – 4oz – Carded Romney Roving

Delicate colors show when wings unfurl to flit about the yard, shining in the sun…

Sparrow – 4oz – Carded Border Leicester Roving

Brilliant orange-red and deep burgundy bloom in the yard, spreading the joy of summer! This is the second softest Romney I have ever felt.

Calla – 4oz – Carded Romney Roving

Bright blue-green and luminous yellow, with a beautiful almost iridescent, featherlike luster. Again, softest cotswold ever.

Conure – 4oz – Carded Cotswold Roving

And I think that’s all for now. Will try to get more done this weekend. Also need to gear up for Rhinebeck.

Oh, right! I spun something. I’ve been working on the batts that Tsocktsarina gave me for my birthday (in may) and finished a bobbin the other day.

This will (hopefully) be my first handspun sock yarn. AND I’m doing it longdraw, so it’s a challenge.

For now, back to thesis. Wheeeeeeeeee the light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming train!

~The Gnome

I have dyeing to put up, I have a surprise I want to put up, I have… stuff. But paper, thesis, etc. are swamping, so they come first.

So, a final report from Special Operative Gnome:

Goals met:
I did my mile, an even mile of singles and about a third of a mile plied 3-ply.
I spun my mile entirely in long draw, which I’d never done more than a few feet of before.
I spun every day, despite a trip, the paper, airplane flights, and no focus/energy.
I finished the polwarth silk bobbin
I got the hang of drafting tussah silk from the tip (on a spindle)
I managed a full 2oz spindle cop, twice the weight of the spindle, and larger around than the spindle.
I spun at 30-thousand feet
I spun on a boat
I spun walking around a Scottish festival.
I learned long draw well enough to (while still terrified I’ll fuck it up) actually start an important project with it.

I’m claiming this event a success for sucking less (the purpose of Team Suck Less). Especially considering what I had going on in the background.

Totals:
482yds 3-ply long draw BFL + 300+ yds longdraw BFL singles ~1 lb
1157 yds short backwards draw polwarth silk at 3700 ypp =5oz
Tussah Silk Spindle spun less than 1oz
BFL laceweight spindle spun less than 1oz
Cormo/Alpaca/Angora spindle spun =2oz
Tsock Batt longdraw less than 1oz

So somewhere over 2 miles. About a pound and a half of fiber. I actually dyed one of the skeins from my mile. It fluffs up beautifully but I didn’t take a photo before it got mailed out, so I may not have a photo of the dyed skein in time.

I’ve done a little more on the BFL (at the bottom) but I left it at my parents, so no photo. Doh.

On the last day, I got together with Marcy and Lynn for an excellent day of spinning and laughing and fiber… (image ganked from Lynn)

I’ll have more new content soon, I promise. Just have to get this paper out, get my dissertation started, clean the house, get the fruit fly infestation taken care of, and start applying for jobs. No problem.

::grins::

~The Gnome

Now, a break from hardcore chemistry…

When I wasn’t stuck in lab this weekend, I went home to visit my parents. I always enjoy visiting my parents, it’s relaxing and… good.

This weekend we went to the local Scottish Festival in Northampton. It was a lot of fun. I got to wear my kilt, eat bridie, listen to good music, and relax in the sun. Very nice.

I do admit that I laughed a little at what looked like a “historical reenactment” tent they had. There was woman making yarn on a colossal, unbalanced, rough as heck, top whorl spindle, and all I could think was, “That would be a lot easier if you flipped it over and used it as a bottom whorl.” I mean we’re talking a whorl that was 5 inches across and almost two inches deep, roughly hexagonal with a dowel the size of your thumb. But she was making yarn with it (albeit very slowly because as a top whorl she had to respin it every few seconds).

But that’s not actually what made me laugh. What mad me laugh was that next to this woman with the painfully “historic” spindle, was a woman… knitting. Um… no? Knitting is not that old. Later, the spindle spinner was weaving, on what looked to be a tapestry style loom. Which seemed an odd choice with the massive thick-thin yarn she was spinning, but… to each their own on that count, I don’t know enough about weaving to know if that was silly or not.

Anyway, it was a blast. We watched some of the highland games too. I like those. The smallest guy (not that much larger than me) came in second at the caber toss, and was one of only two guys who flipped the second caber. Only one flipped the third one. I like that the women compete with exactly the same cabers and weights as the guys. Watching them throw the weight up and over their head was fun too.

For most of the festival, I had my kilt and a normal t-shirt, and my cowboy hat to keep the sun off my head. Late in the festival, my parents bought me the totally awesome belt.

For those of you who object to the culture mixing there…

To go with the awesome belt, they also bought me this awesome gillie shirt, which fits well and is really comfy.

Yes, I realize all three are similar poses. I was tired, what can I say?

And for those wondering, here’s a closeup of the belt. They’re two separate pieces, and I picked them to coordinate. I’m really happy with them.

And of course, since I was walking around, I also spindle spun…

This is BFL top from a lovely fleece sampler from the Spinning Loft spun on my Greensleeves Damsel Monique. I’m not a huge fan of this plan as a walking spindle. I generally prefer to walk with a lighter yarn on a heavier longer spinning spindle. That said, I didn’t have any troubles at all, so I can’t complain.

Brief TDF update… I’ve managed the “spin every day” goal, but haven’t been making a lot of progress on that. Some progress on the knitting project. Brain has no focus.

The rest of the weekend was spent in lab, and this week has been constant lab…

But it’s been worth it. I finally have all of my figures done. And an abstract written (but unedited), the introduction and results are going through their last edits now. Whee! We’re actually getting there. I’ll probably be starting to write my thesis next week.

Yay.

~The Gnome

The challenge for team Suck Less, our equivalent of the mountain day in the “real” TDF, was to spin a mile.

Now, ideally, I would have spun a mile of completed yarn. But that wasn’t going to happen because the only projects I have for singles yarn are weaving, and I need to be more careful than I could be when speed spinning for those. And the chance of my spinning a mile of plied yarn, not so high.

Saturday, I set out to see how far I could get. I sat down at Strider with some lovely open BFL top that I had, and started to spin. Now, normally, most people don’t longdraw from a top prep, but I don’t currently have any roving or batts that I was willing to sacrifice for as speed spinning day. So… I worked from top, which was a learning experience. Especially so, since I’ve never spun much true longdraw before.

It took me one false start and 3:10 to get the first bobbin done. The second bobbin was 2:50, and the third 2:15. Which gave me three full bobbins, and some short breaks for eating, stretching, and drinking.

I started to ply and quickly realized I was having take-up problems with Strider. He just didn’t want to wind on the yarn. I had noticed a little during the initial spinning, but it hadn’t been a problem since doing longdraw I didn’t want much take-up. But I didn’t have time to mess around with it much, so I needed tension on my lazy kate.

So, being a budding Ph.D. as I am, I came up with a highly technical solution…

That’s a computer case. It worked pretty well, but didn’t catch all the bobbins, so the middle one still spun and caused me some issues (the singles from that one liked to make their own little supercoils that then plied in. Ugh).

So, 14 hours from start I had this…

482 yards of three-ply BFL (one of the small skeins is navajo plied).

I also spun an extra 320 yrd bobbin of singles yarn, putting me over the mile mark of singles. And if you include the plying, then I’m 500 yards more over. Woot.

So, I spun a mile of singles, and plied 500 yds of yarn in 14 hours. Not bad. I’m going to say that, at least for me, that qualifies as “Sucking Less.” Though I don’t think I’ll be putting up most of this yarn for sale, as I’m not terribly happy with it. I think I can now use longdraw to make salable yarn, so that’s also a success.

I’ve got some fiber to put up, will get that up tomorrow for everyone. Back to the paper.

~The Gnome