Thanks to everyone who came out to the Alger Holiday market today!
It was fun to see folks and talk wool, and I got some spinning done as well- took my little upright wheel, Sophie with and almost filled a bobbin
Been a long time since Sophie had gotten some exercise, so she seemed happy to be back in action.
And speaking of wool processing and spinning, the WSU Country Living Expo is back to in-person classes this year, and will be held Saturday, January 21 at Stanwood high school.
I’ll be teaching two two-hour classes, Basics of Wool Processing (sessions 115 and 200) and Yarn From Scratch: Handspinning on a Wheel (sessions 513 and 613).
If you have a wheel (or can acquire one) and need help getting started, come on down. I’ll have some time available ahead of the afternoon classes to do some basic wheel adjustments and troubleshooting.
I’m pretty pleased with the progress I’ve made recently with expanding my garden bed just east of the hoophouse-
My goal is to put about 80 more square feet under cultivation for next year’s veggie production. (Would eventually like the bed to extend the entire length of the hoophouse, but I’m taking it in stages.) The toughest bit is removing the turf, and trying to retain as much of the topsoil as possible. The digging is actually not too hard once the grass is up. And I do enjoy a bit of digging. One of my favorite forms of exercise.
I’ve got about 20 more square feet to go (that remaining green quadrant). Then it will be onwards to digging in compost and lime. Getting excited about next year’s garden planning already!
And on the spinning front, I’ve been playing around a little with that grey freebie fleece from the summer. Spun some fairly fine singles on Elsa, and decided to try something a little different with the ply- chaining a double strand (singles from two bobbins) in to a six ply yarn. No pictures of the setup or process, because I only have two hands, but it’s basically just using the two strands as one. Here is my result after a quick hot soak and drying on the pellet stove.
Not perfect, but not bad for a first attempt. It’s quite a round profile yarn, so I thought it might be really nice for cables- lots of pop! So I’m working my small skein into a headband- which may or may not turn into a hat. Will see how it goes
Also using the grey wool in some blends with dyed fibers in the stash- currently on Mighty Red I’ve got a grey-green-blue-purple kind of thing going
And waiting in the wings is the next little batch of colors
The grey wool is still a bit greasy, so the more fully scoured dyed wool lightens up the batts a bit. So nice to have a stash of dyed wool to draw upon when I feel the need to blend.
It’s kind of funny, a couple weeks ago I had this thought that maybe I should seek a new home for the Mighty Red wheel- somewhere that could take her to the next stage in restoration (new rear flyer bearing, upright end cap repair, perhaps some refinishing work). But then I sat down at her again and realized that I think I’m too attached. She’s such a good spinner. And has so much character.
I believe that this might be what animal rescue groups call a “foster failure”.
