a sucker for tools

I miss sleeping in a tent, even if it is in the garage loft.  I do have to say I did not help to fell one tree this time.  Or stack a log.  I am the champion log stacker.  No gravel moving or building a driveway by hand.  Yes, that is me.  No building building.  I was a slug.  I sat in my new rocking chair in the loft and spun.  Baked a couple loafs of bread.  Watched Koda Bear play in the dirt and swim in the lake.  Slug.

I spun on my new Turkish drop spindles.  There are actually two styles there.  The old and the new.  All handmade by Joel Grinstead.  The new style spins forever.  It is a joy.  Now, if I can just not feel the urge to buy more spindles!

Or fiber:  alpaca blended with silk and cashmere.  All so soft.  I am thinking about trying to make a forever shawl with a a shell pattern instead of single crochet.  I will just have to see what I think.  But I am tempted to make a sweater based on a store bought one I have.  I will just have to see because I cannot decide.

Tropical Storm Bill

Tropical Storm Bill has been blowing through today.  It has been a dark, dreary day with rain but not bad.  My work decided to close the office so I have been home all day.  I am such a good hermit.

It has been a blessing to be home.  My stomach has been off since Sunday night so it was nice to be able to lay down when I wished.  I read a book this afternoon. 

I also have been doing a lot for myself.  I am working on a new sweater, similar to the last I made.  I am making it a bit shorter and I will shorten the sleeves.  The colors are different so I am spinning more yarn.

Today I spent some time spinning and preparing fiber to spin.  It is nice to be able to walk away when I need a break.  I have a few days worth of spinning waiting for me now.  But I also have more fiber to clean and card waiting for me as well.  I was teased by a friend that my fiber habit was similar to his wife's bead habit but it kept both of us sane.  His conclusion was that it was all good.

More spinning with and audio book will go on tonight.  Work is supposed to be open tomorrow so back to normal tomorrow.

wrangling mattresses

I have been wrangling mattresses after work today and I am tired!  I have rub burns on my hands.  I had to clip my already short nails shorter because I tried to rip them off. 

You have to realize that I did not feel well today.  I took a quart of ginger tea to work in a mason jar.  One of the men I work with who is from Angola was "Can I have some?!?!"  He never asks so I said yes.  My plan for after work today was to curl up in my rocking chair with my crochet hook and disappear into the sweater I am making again.  At this rate, I will be lucky to finish my tea and finish this post!

I did get more fleece washed.  I am rewashing the fleece I had washed before.  This time in smaller batches and with Unicorn Fiber Scour.  It has made a huge difference!  So much cleaner!  So much softer!  But still smells like sheep. 

Up close with this very dark Corredale fleece I have, you can actually see different colors where you could not before.  I am hoping to get some carded so I can work with it on my drop spindle on the beach.  It may be a bit optimistic. 

My gallivanting gets closer and closer and I am excited!

quiet morning

It has been a quiet morning of carding fiber.  I have been spinning a bit each day.  I have a sweater I wish to make but I need the yarn.  Actually, I need to work with a bit of carding and spinning every day because I have so much fiber but the sweater is a nice piece of lagniappe.  I enjoy the spinning, especially in my current work environment.  Lots of change.  Possibility of layoffs.  Basic life.

I clipped a few flowers today.  I have not dug in a bed again but maybe tomorrow.  The vegetables are coming up well and soon my salads will be made with my home grown greens.  So exciting!

taos wool festival

I went off adventuring to the Taos Wool Festival this last weekend.  It was not what I had hoped.  I find that I look for different things anymore.  SAFF fits those needs more.  More fleeces.  More fiber.  I really do not buy actual yarn anymore unless I have a specific project or pattern.  But I got to feel a lot of churro fiber and I know that is a sheep I do not wish to raise.

I did find a yarn stores and a fabric stores that spoke to me.  All that fiber is dyed by an artisan Tibetan monk in Taos.  It is yak and silk and the colors are so nice.  Dying is on my list to learn but finding a dyer like this means it is not quite so urgent.

There are stories now being told around Taos about my Beloved.  He put all the bundles of fiber I was looking at on his arms so I could see their color.  No one could really believe it.  The dyer told the story to her friends and told us about the telling when we saw her again the next day.

I had taken my Turkish spindle with me and started spinning as soon as I had a chance to sit.  Just lovely.

I also found some ultra soft hand dyed cottons and hand dyed silk ribbons.  Not something I can easily find here.

The yarn I found has stories too.  The yarn on the right is dyed with walnut and onion skin.  It will become a hat or hats for the boyos.

The red yarn goes with sweater pattern that is a knitted pattern that I hope to convert to crochet.  The yarn store owner used to be a production weaver and does a lot of her own designs and writes patterns.  Her like my dresses felt like a huge compliment!  But, she asked if I do convert her pattern to crochet that a come a teach a class in her store in Santa Fe.  Everyone I showed my crochet too this weekend thought it was knit.  That is where my crocheting is going.  I hope I can do justice to her pattern and feel like I could teach a class.

We actually got home very late last night or very early this morning, however you wish to think about it.  I had started coughing a bit from allergies on the way home and my chest felt tight.  I had already scheduled the day off so decided to take it to rest and spend time with my spinning wheel.  It is strange not to have the Pirate King Malarkey helping.  I forgot like it was like not to have the Small Mister's "help" with my spinning wheel.  He is much less help with the spinning wheel then the sewing machine.  It has more potential with pretendings.

But today I got back at it.  It is adjusted and I am spinning.  I am listening to an audio book and drinking tea, resting.  My chest is feeling better and that was the goal.  Let alone the pretty yarn I have created.