Where does the time go?

It's been more than a month since I last posted?
Where does the time go?
Let's find out.

I did some spinning

crocheted a little

took a nap or two

enjoyed a little light reading

helped throw a "Free Loki" party

cleaned the frog tank

enjoyed the (very few) days of no rain

and some of the wet days as well

and was kept in very good company



How did your month go?

Phat Fiber Fun

I got my mixed box today.
The fluff

The yarn

The stuff

So much fun crammed into one little box. I had tried for a fluff box but couldn't get one so I'd thought I'd settled for a mixed box. Wrong. There was no settling. I love the mixed box. I'm spending too much on larger portions and some things that I didn't happen to get in this box. Next month I will have to hold back and not go nuts with the shopping because the month of June is science fiction and there will be no stopping me then.

Some of my favorites from this box are:
North star alpacas
Scarab color way. I didn't think I wanted yarn in this box but this sample is amazing.

There are more yarns I'd buy if I didn't spend all my money on fiber.

Bitsy Knits
Blue Morpho

And The Critter Ranch's
Monarch

There's lots more that I love in there but I've had to turn the light on to see it all and now the tree frogs are all upset. They thought they could take a quiet dip in their water dish by moonlight and now I've turned a spot light on them. They are very embarrassed and would prefer I turned the light back out, so you will just have believe me when I say HURRAY for phat fiber sampler box butterflies and flutterbys!

Fulfillment Friday

Things accomplished this week include:

Three more rows added to Fugly

I'm not looking forward to weaving in all those ends. It's gotten wide enough now that it gets used, so I only get to work on it on warmer evenings.

Combed llama (left), combed merino/targhee (center), and more mohair washed and awaiting picking


More merino/targhee goodness washed and waiting to be picked and combed


Samples spun, more fiber and yarn cataloged


Gee. When I look at it like this it looks like I actually got something accomplished!

What I'll be doing this weekend

I've been spring cleaning all week, and for the first time in several years I'm able to spring clean the basement. I'm not sure I'll be getting the walls painted anytime soon, sad really because they really need it, but I've been down there organizing, sweeping, and de-webbing.
I've bought shelves for my fiber stash, which has really helped.


It doesn't look like it, but it is now organized. That's four full shelf units plus a half unit off to the side. Two and a half units are full of raw (unwashed) fiber. Five mohair, three llama, and ten full sheep fleeces. The rest is made up of fiber samples, mostly between 4-8 ounces each. The remaining units are fiber ready to card, comb, and or spin, and tools of the trade.

Over the weekend I get to go behind that curtain on the right and drag everything out of that room to clean and organize. Then I scrub all the floors and walls down.

But, before that, I get to have some fun.



My fleece from Raspberry Hollow Farm arrived yesterday and boy it's it beautiful. My ever helpful Kenshin agrees.

This weeks accomplishments include

Combing lots of Coopworth, spinning a little Cheviot, working on the fugly afghan (no it's still not done), and this morning I managed to wash 2 oz of llama, .8 oz of suri alpaca (I really wish I had more of this), 7 oz merino/targhee cross, 3 oz mohair, and a 2oz sample of Ava from the above picture.

When I jumped into spinning I didn't care about fiber weight loss when washed and combed. I also didn't keep samples of the different kinds of fiber. Now I'm keeping records and samples. That's what these little bits of fiber washing today are for.

Note to self

I'm not someone who enjoys knitting. I tend to gravitate toward the practical so my projects are things like afghans. Big time consuming adventures that are something we will actually use. Because of this, I get bogged down and very bored before I can even master the skill.

So- note to self-
This years Christmas presents will be handmade advent calendars filled with teeny tiny knitted/crocheted decorations, using yarn I've spun and dyed myself.

There. Now I've made the decision and in plenty of time to get it finished. *cough*

Someone out there please remind me in a few months that this is what I want to be doing. PLEASE. I know I'll get bogged down with life and not even remember there IS a Christmas until around Dec 15th.

The linkiest post yet

In five days, this little beauty will be in my hands.

Oh how I love a good tax return!
In preparation, I've ordered a sampling of every raw fleece that the Spinning Loft has for sale on their site that I don't all ready have. Slowly but surely I'm building my fleece library.
I'm nearly as excited about Deborah Robson's new book 'The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook: More Than 200 Fibers, from Animal to Spun Yarn' that I've had on pre-order since January. I don't think I can wait until it comes out before I spin all this new fiber though. I'll just have to learn from my mistakes once I read it.
Until then I'll be counting down the days until my wheel arrives.

Cha Cha ChaCha Changes...queue Bowie

When I bought a bunch of

these, in different jewel tones, I had plans for a felting project.
Instead, those, became

colorful rug yarn to use as accent with the silvery coopworth.