The process

This is what I like.  I have an idea for a project, in this case, a sweater.  I have a fibre stash so I go stash diving to find something likely to make a sweater.  I start spinning a lama/mohair blend, do a swatch (yes, occasionally I do have some kind of fit and actually swatch).  I settle on a gauge and go back to the wheel and spin masses more yarn, ply it and knit.  In a month or six weeks I will have a sweater, made absolutely from scratch (well maybe not, I have this fibre as roving, not raw fleece); but for the sake of my argument I'll say from scratch.  It takes a while to spin enough yarn for a good size sweater but I'm making excellent progress.  Have the back knit and the yarn spun for the front so far; a couple more bobbins and I should have the yarn for the sleeves spun up.

No, it is not cheaper and certainly not faster.  But it is great fun and immensely satisfying to someone endlessly fascinated by what she can do with fibre. And I never stop dreaming of the next thing and the one after that...gotta try that; wonder what that will do; can I make that work at this grist or that gauge. 

Next project: excavate the stash and find the Border Leicester fleece I bought last summer to see what I need to do to it in preparation for the natural dyefest planned for next month.  I need a good think about what I want to make with this fibre as it is very yummy to spin; what I decide to make may influence the colour I'd like to dye it or not.  I now have half of what I need to do basic alum mordanting; tomorrow I need to find cream of tartar somewhere, hopefully at the grocery store.

Some nights I can't sleep for all the projects dancing in my head.  Go figure....

We may have a problem...not!

This morning I got a copy of A Fine Fleece by Lisa Lloyd.  I have now had a quick flip through this beautiful book and I want to make everything in it.  Not only that, but I want to start right this minute, allocating fibre stash to projects and deciding what will be dyed with natural materials and what will get the Magic Carpet Dye for colour.  Then I want to spend the next three months spinning that up and getting going.  I want to do this without the least bit of personal restraint or consideration of things like meals and showers.  I want to dive in and play and play and play until I have everything knit up and wearable. Oh for heavens sake, how am I going to do that?

It isn't as though I don't have a rather extensive WIP (work in progress) knitting queue mounded on the end of my sofa already and in several baskets besides. I wonder how many socks I have on the go? Six? Eight? More?  Shawls? Only 5, not to worry. Nor am I lax in terms of spinning queue--I'm currently working on a dark lama/mohair blend for a sweater which I've begun to knit; laceweight mohair for shawl(s); qiviut laceweight for a scarf or small shawl; sock yarn; and Gotland for my first gansey.

Okay I see the problem.  I need several more lives and need to be able to live them concurrently. What? that's not possible? Why-ever not? Somebody should get on that--and hurry will you.

Just because I stopped weaving (oh, so many years ago) doesn't mean I've in anyway lost my passion for fibre. And weaving, you're on my list for when I, umm, retire.

I can't possibly wear, or use all of this stuff I'm making myself so being on my friends list may prove quite beneficial.  You can start a wish list in the comments, but I can't promise anything by a specific date--I'm much too fickle a spinner and knitter for any such thing. You've figured that out by now I suppose?

Early August

'Tis the first week of August already. There has been considerable work done on the wheel this long weekend. I've begun to do the V-neck shaping on the vest I'm knitting and have borrowed a vicious looking set of wool combs from my friend Sharon. The last of the fleece has been washed and is laying on a piece of screening in the yard draining and hopefully also drying.

I visited Sharon to drop off a bag of qiviut which a friend will deliver to the Belfast MiniMill in PEI sometime next week. The hope is that the fibre can be de-haired and blended with something into a roving I can spin. It is beautiful but also problematic to card when I do not have a fine specialty card cloth option. I have a good pound and a half plus of the qiviut in a raw state and that's enough to make something fine and lovely--if I can get it processed properly.

Here are some pictures of the wheels in Sharon's studio. Two of which I covet (she knows, she humours me). The top photo is a basket of Louet roving, the next is a Reeves Norwegian style flax wheel, then we have a Wee Peggy from New Zealand, and finally the Bosworth Journey wheel. Rare beauties all of them, the first two have the covet factor for me...it's good to have dreams, eh?

Spin, span, spun

What a glorious long (Canadian) weekend. I managed to wash another Cotswold fleece, beginning with a rain water soak or two and dumping the sludge onto plants and shrubs in my much neglected garden. The fleece then had a hot wash and a spin in the washer so it is now quite presentable. It still has enough 'eau de mouton' to be enjoyable but it ain't pissy rank.

Then there was spinning, many hours of it, while I listened to radio and the iPod depending on my mood. I've discovered the Putumayo genre recently and I'm definitely a fan. Knitting progress was made on the tank top as I watched the Rocky Horror Picture show (twice), Deepa Mehta's Fire and the first two discs of Season 1 of Arrested Development. Looking at that list I may have to worry about myself.

Spinning: I finished a bobbin of 'oatmeal' coloured Blue Faced Leiscester and am nearly done a bobbin of Louet's 'marmalade' colourway. I've quite a bit more to do as I'm spinning for a sweater project I plan to begin in the late summer.

Surprises: I have a textile book that I want to sell that is priced at over $400 on Abebooks & Amazon. How delicious is that? Then today I brought half a dozen books to a local book trader and sold 4 of them to him. I've just received an email asking me to pick up 3 of them because they are worth over $100 each and he thinks I should get that money. I take this as extraordinarly honourable and kind. So if you're in Nova Scotia, make a trip to The Biscuit Eater in Mahone Bay to enjoy this treasure as much as I do. Besides, he'll likely get the money I make on these books as I'll be able to afford more stops for coffee, biscuits, muffins and today's treat - carrot cake.

Time to hit the sofa and knit for the rest of the evening. Thinking I need to work on my shawl project (Bird's Nest pattern from Folk Shawls in silk and alpaca) or perhaps (dare I think it?) begin the Fiddlesticks shawl pattern I bought, I think it is a Feather & Fan, but then I'd have to use my hummm, profits (see above) to buy the yarn I want to make that in.

I finished my 'Artisan' vest (pattern from Green Mountain Spinnery) in handspun natural Wensleydale and I'm still considering if I like it. It needs buttons and maybe that will give it the lift I think it needs. It is perhaps a bit stark, except for the luscious cream coloured fibre. Sometimes it takes me a while to warm up to a thing I make because of course I have to be critical of things like tension issues in both spinning and knitting (and this poor baby was definitely tension challenged!). It is a beautiful wool to spin and I'm hoping to do another project with it. Currently I'm keen on some 'oatmeal' coloured Blue-faced Leiscester and a dyed colour way of unidentified wool called Marmalade. I'm postively twitchy any time I see it at Sharon's studio so I go stroke the fibre in the bags because I cannot yet afford to take it home. Another down side of being on pogie and having every penny accounted for weeks before it even arrives.

Spent a couple of hours knitting at Sharon's today, working on the Sakori vest (Folk Vests book) now that the Artisan is done. A lot of plain knitting in this project and then I'm done with winter woollens except for socks which I plan to go at with wild abandon (I can afford wool for socks!) until such time as real and considerable income arrives in my life. It was such a miserable soggy day that I decided I didn't want to haul my Little Gem wheel, basket with wool and snacks etc. anywhere. It was simpler to take a smaller bag with my knitting.

It was cool enough in the house this evening for me to light a fire in the woodstove. I love to sit and watch the fire. Too bad there's not enough space in this room for me to bring a wheel in here safely (it would sit too close to the stove, not a good idea). What I do in this room is write, knit, or pick wool. And at that I've got it packed with too many books and bags of projects. As I complete projects I think for at least a minute that will mean that the pile will go down somewhat. Hah, that's a good joke. I simply move projects in from other areas of the house, to keep the pile constant I guess and never have to face that terrible feeling that I have nothing to do. Now what will I spin next I wonder, or do I need another skein to be safe that I have enough for the Sakori vest. I know, I know, I should work out the number of yards per skein and check that against the pattern, but what's the fun in that?