dealing

I really did not think that I would be writing about yarn in yarn form again today.  But the thing is that there is a sick person in the house and I am trying to be near and quiet.  My spinning wheel is very quiet and I put an audio book on very low.  I could have even go the head phones out.  It does mean that I have two balls of yarn made and am working on the third in this color scheme.  This roving will be done then and I can work on the rest.  I am thinking it might go very nice with a brown yak/silk that I spun a while back.

There are just not enough hours in the day really.

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. 

cleaning a fleece

Last weekend I decided to start processing this fleece.  It is an awarding winning fleece that I purchased at SAFF in North Carolina.  Getting to touch all the fiber is always so lovely.  I really do not need anymore, because I have so much to process, but I am off to the Taos Wool Festival this weekend.  More fiber.  More animals.  More mountains.  Possibly some restraint when it comes to purchasing fiber.  Maybe not.

I spent hours picking through the fleece.  Getting straw and dirt clumps out of it.  Because it was such a well kept sheep, there really was not a lot of there crap to clean out.

I washed it in the bathtub with a very gentle soap.

And now it is drying.  Soon it will be dry enough for carding and spinning.  It is another of those meditative tasks.  The problem with this fleece is trying to decide what I want to do with it.  It is just a lovely color and softness that I have too many ideas.  I do have more fleeces to process, even some I can dye.

More experimentation!

red yarn

I have been enjoying spinning my Christmas materials into yarn.  This is the red fiber that I took a picture of when I was moving logs.  I am pretty sure that are more balls of yarn in an alpaca bag someplace around here but I cannot find that bag of alpaca fiber!  That is my life.

I was thinking I might make some mitts with a pattern I picked up at my favorite local yarn store.  They would be for me.  I am working on the orange colored yarn now.  The Small Mister is getting a hat for Christmas whether he thinks he wants one or not!  Just saying. 

I keep pondering other Christmas preparations I need to do.  It is mostly getting supplies currently but that is all part of it.  I am even going to have to track down some new address. 

the mitts that match the hat

I made some mitts out of the yarn from Sunshine as well.  I wished I had them at work today!  I was wearing my Sunshine sweater and still a bit cold.  July and wearing more wool in the office then I normal do in the winter.  That is air conditioning for you!

The funny thing about these mitts, is that when I put them on they are actually the same length.  The bottom has a bit of curve to it.  I think they will be fairly easy to type in.  I do think they need to end up at work.  Cold hands are just not a fun thing to have to work with.