spinning the last bit of sunshine

I am spinning the last bit of Sunshine's fleece.  The sweater I am making with it has one more sleeve to go and it is all done.  I am fairly excited because I think it has the best sleeves on it I have ever made.  I modeled it one sleeved for a lady at work and she loved it.  For her, it would be a little different.  For me, it will almost be a winter sweater that will need no coat.  

Spin yarn.  Crochet one sleeve.  Weave in three ends.  Add hooks.  That just does not seem that much farther to go.

I am hoping I will have just enough Sunshine left for mitts for me and a hat for Small Mister.  Then he will match Poppa a bit.  He had to talk to his Poppa twice today so I miss him even more then normal.  Google hangouts sure help.

fiber test

I used my drop spindle and spun the fiber I was given for my birthday.  Just little bits of fiber to see if we might be interested in the Karakul goats.  

The grey is softer then the white, but as my Beloved said, not as soft as we expected.  The search will continue.  I am hoping to buy a fleece or two of Shetland sheep.  I have heard that they are easy lambers and their wool is very soft. 

This experimentation is fun, but I admit that if I skip of day of spinning, either with my drop spindle or my spinning wheel, I feel like I do not catch up.  I do not mind because I find it very meditative but I do feel like I need more hours in the day.

one of those supposedly significant birthdays

Saturday, the boyos, Miss A, and I went to the beach.  There was waist high, fairly clean surf for Galveston.

Now, I have to admit that where my shoulders are, I do not paddle well.  If I can paddle, there is no strength and sometimes paddling causes pain I just have to breathe and be still until it recedes.  It was what I did on the mountain as well.  But I had fun.  My Beloved just floated and helped the Small Mister.  Small Mister rode a wave for the first time by himself.  He kept saying "more snow board!" after he got dunked and was blue.  Another boardhead in the famlly.

My Beloved got me some earrings but he also bought some rovings from different breeds of goats for me to try spinning.  I know it is an odd gift but it is so us.  I find the drop spinning such a meditation.  I am not sure that I wish to have these goats for fiber.  One is a Karakul and he is going to have to look up the other.  My Dad may pick me up some fleece to try, Cheviot.  I also wish to try Shetland.  I am a little late to be looking for fleeces but I can try.  I especially like the darker colors which are not so common.

I have started picking flowers from my garden which just makes me smile.

And the roses the boyos bought me for Valentine's day are trying to start.  It is exciting.

until I can crochet for more then minutes at a time

I am spending a lot of time with my spinning wheel.  Crocheting uses too many muscles that connect to my shoulder so I start to hurt very quickly when I am doing it.  Spinning does not hurt.  I have lots of fiber so this is not a problem.  The problem is when I need to start using fleeces that need cleaning.  I hope I am healed by then.  It is like wrangling a quilt.

I am currently spinning this alpaca silk roving.  I picked it up the last time were went to the mountain, which right now is a blessing.  I have not even tried to turn my carder.  Guess which shoulder I usually use with that tool.  My Beloved keeps telling me to rest the shoulder.  I will keep spinning.  I hope I am going to have enough yarn to crochet an old Interweave Knits pattern, a Chanel type jacket.  If not, I will make hats and hand warmers.  

When I am done with this roving, I am going to spin the Blue Face Leicester roving I dyed pink.  It will be sent to its home in Montana then.  Like I said, I can just keep spinning.

back from the mountain

We are back from the mountain.  It feels hard this time, especially since the weather here is bouncing between autumn and winter.  I like the colder weather.  I brought back greens for the season here.  Not as many as I would have wished but we had much too much stuff to bring back even though we left stuff on the mountain.  I would have really liked to have brought a whole tree back but there would have no way that I would have been allowed to strap a tree on top of the suburban and who knows what shape it would have been in.  Soon.  I have to keep thinking soon.  Especially when I have such a Monday Monday.

Since I went to a wedding instead of going to SAFF, I bought fiber.  I am spinning yak right now.  It is sooo soft.  It is a bit finiky after working with the last wool I worked with but that happens.  Each new fiber is a learning experience.  I will have to figure out what to crochet with it.  It is so soft I am definitely thinking some hand warmers and maybe a smoke ring but then I think sweater.  Decisions.  Decisions.  My thoughts just keep whirling.