Things to come, a teaser post

A quick view at Ravelry shows that I have been knitting for 10 years come this fall.

A decade of fiber and creating.
One hundred and twenty months of making things and sharing them.

Some of that time includes spinning.
Some of that time includes designing my own patterns.

Most of that time has been making things and not writing down how I did what I did to make what I made.

The good news is that a new pattern will be written up soon! The first prototype was finished and soon a second test will be done. And then a document and some photos put together. Finally, the results will be published.

The Hoodie Scarf. Coming soon!

In other news I finally went to a local fiber event. I got to attend the Back to Back Wool Challenge.
An annual get together of spinners and knitters to see if they can beat last year's record of time from raw wool to sweater.


The participants used spinning wheels and supporters had drop spindles, wheels, looms, hooks and needles in use all around.



Watching them go has reminded me of my own spinning wheel, terribly neglected as it has been. Soon, it will come back out for use. I will make a new attempt at using all those rovings and batts that I have been collecting.

Sooooon.....

New Skills

Yesterday I had my first in person lesson about spinning yarn.

This is another fiber related interest that I can blame on Franklin.

I have to say, it was not as challenging as I thought it would be. My first bit, a single ply at this time, varies in width from worsted weight to oh-my-it-will-snap-at-any-second. I am fine with this as I know people who buy that kind of yarn on purpose.

I got the wool and drop spindle from a nice little Learn to Spin Kit. It includes a DVD which I did watch, but I managed to hold myself back from getting into the fiber until I could attend a group event.

Our local Meetup group, Yarn for Breakfast, made plans for a get together to learn spinning. Queue, the wonderful lady giving the lessons, was brutally honest. She told us how she worked a full day then drove nine hours to pick up her spinning wheel, rather than have it shipped, and then stayed up into the wee hours playing with her new wheel. Her spinning wheel looks like this, but is a single treadle (or pedal). It is compact and folds for easy traveling. I got to pedal it a few times and it was very nice.

For now I will stick to my drop spindle. Goodness knows I can't afford a spinning wheel at this time, but someday... oh yes, someday it will be mine.
Honestly I don't know which wheel I will get, but I do rather like the center style design so far.

When I can, I will post pictures of my 'yarn'. In the meantime, I have much practicing to do.