Skeins, Skeins Everywhere


I finally wound off the yarn on my Indian Spinner. Although I didn't finish the bag of "lumps" I intended to spin for the Tour de Fleece, I did spin a respectable amount of yarn. I finally wound it off this morning & got 5 skeins of approximately 500 yards each. That's 2500 yards of fingering weight yarn! I have two or three larger skeins of the same stuff tucked in a basket and half a Safeway shopping bag of lumps yet to spin. I'm not absolutely sure but I think I have at least a full bobbin's worth yet to spin!

I'm rather surprised at how much is still in that bag! I have to spin it all up before I dye it so it's at least 'related' before I use it. I have too many odd skeins from dye experiments that won't work together unless I crochet them into Granny Squares! Remember these??? These were some of the sample skeins I dyed while experimenting with the set of Dyer's & Printer's primary colors I bought. I had a lot of fun but I ended up with a whole basket of skeins that had no relationship to each other other than being the same fibre. That's why I intend to spin up ALL the knots before I dye them. And, of course, I have that project in mind.

The Tour de Fleece

If I was actually in the Tour de France, you could say I fell off my bike about half way into the race. Oh, I started off with good intentions. And I was enjoying spinning in the cool mornings or evenings on the patio amidst the vines & flowers. I confess to plugging in the headset & swaying along with a mixed bag of country tunes one evening which caused the strolling neighbors to stop at the end of my drive & gawk. I just know they thought the Goree (white female devil in Punjabi) had finally lost her mind!! But - they also tend to gawk & whisper to each other when I'm thwacking wet skeins against the posts on the patio too. Let em gawk - time they saw an old time Canadian hobby, I say!! But, I digress . . . I fell off my bike.

I had good intentions. I dug out ALL THOSE BUMPS of wool, put em in a green Safeway shopping bag & really tried to spin them all up. But, two clients had to have year ends done NOW. We're talking almost three years behind but they need at least TWO done NOW. And then my part time - two day a week job with benefits - has become FOUR or FIVE days a week in an office with no air conditioning. Not a problem till 3:10 in the afternoon but not a happy place when it hits 90+ degrees! And my thumb is still sore - especially when I have to write all day in the office. Spinning became a luxury! I haven't had any time off to do it! I know, I know! Whining doesn't get the job done! Here's a shot of the bobbin on the final day of the race. Oh, did I mention this is a HUGE bobbin ?? It probably holds a pound of spun yarn when it's full.

I still intend to finish spinning those bumps but I guess it will be much slower than I expected. The worst job is winding all that yarn off onto the niddynoddy!!!! And, today, I finally got a day off from Langley to work in my home office.
Tonight, I will pour a big glass of wine, turn on my headset, tune in a murder & spin until the mozzies drive me in for the evening!

A Summer Mug Shot!

Obviously, no one thought about Sunscreen.

Spinning in the mornings

I've been having problems sleeping all night again. For some reason the sciatica that started when I slept on that hard wooden bunk at a Spinning Retreat has returned with a vengeance. I wake up with pain running down one leg which recedes after I move around & sit in a straight back chair for a while. If I sleep in 4 to 5 hour chunks, it doesn't seem to bother me but if I try to sleep for 8 hours, well, it gets bad. And I've been wearing thongs all week because I couldn't tie my own damned shoes!! For the last few days, I've been waking up around 4 AM, frisky & all ready to go. Crazy I know, but that's how it is. Sunday mornings, I open a business at 7 for one customer for a couple of hours before I do the books. This Sunday morning however, I was there at 6AM with coffee & egg mcmuffin to find my customer already there! We both woke up early & while I went early to read the paper & let the cool air in, he was hoping I'd show up early because he was awake with the birds too.

But, I digress . . . when I can't sleep I've been hauling my Indian Spinner outside onto the patio amidst the jungle of plants & spinning when it's fresh & cool. My project for the Tour de Fleece has been to finish all those Brown Sheep "lumps" that came from The Sheep Shed in the 15 pound grab bag so long ago. Yes I did share that bag with Gail, but I chose to take most of the "lumps" in my half while giving her more of the mohair/wool roving. I found the "lumps" to be more interesting than the roving which almost spins itself. The "lumps" are a little more rustic & that kind of appealed to me. I'm more the adobe, big baskets, bright colors & chunky wood furniture type anyway!
The big bobbin on my spinner is almost full again - I think I got 4 big fat skeins the last time I emptied it & expect to get the same again this time. I know, I know, I have the new Majacraft Suzie Pro but I started spinning these "lumps" on the Indian Spinner & have to finish them on the Indian Spinner so I don't have a change in the yarn on the new machine. Suzie spins differently & much faster too so my barely spun singles will certainly be different! I intend to dye all my skeins at the same time - when it's hot out there hopefully - I'm planning a Kimono style jacket - from the Knitted Kimono book I bought last year.

The Tour de Fleece

I really wanted to join the Tour de Fleece this year & almost missed the start yesterday! I'm still coughing up half a lung & need an afternoon nap but I think I can stand to spin a little every day, just for the exercise. All those Brown Sheep Lumps I've been meaning to finish spinning remain in the basket! I will finish spinning them over the next three weeks! I have a project in mind & intend to work on it this fall . . .

Remember that big bag of Brown Sheep Mill Ends??? Yeah, it was a long time ago - at least three years. I split it with my pal Gail - I wonder if she ever finished spinning hers??? Haven't heard. But, I intend to finish spinning mine. I started with the knots or lumps of wool. My intention is to spin a lump every day before I work on any other project. I've already spun up several lumps & had a whole huge bobbin of it on my Spinner before I started. The spinner was bare - well except for some pink superwash sock roving - last night before I spun a medium lump. I sat outside on the patio with my Jungle all around me - I turned my small carport into a covered patio with plants growing everywhere - and sipped a large hot NeoCitran with extra honey & lime while I spun. Four big fat skeins sit in the big basket I take to my spinning retreats & I hope to have a half dozen more in there by the end of the three weeks.