A different eye candy

Looks just like my Runty (sniff!)

http://www.wimp.com/catdolphins/

Earthquake!

It was weird.

It was 5.8 on the Reichter scale -- the biggest one ever on the East Coast. We were all sent home afterwards. At first we were told not to come back to work until further notice because there may have been structural damages to the building. Anyway about seven we got words the building was okay and we should report to work as usual.

Well this is on the wall of the stairwell right next to my office:

People on the West Coast might think we are wimps, but it is pretty scary!

The engineers say the building is structurally sound. I hope they are right!

Feling fun

When you wash fleece, you take time to make sure that you don't accidentally felt the darned thing.

Deliberately shrinking your wooly knitted thing is entirely different, and so much fun!

Last year I made myself a pair of Felted Clogs. I felted them at my friend Ann's house since I don't have the top-loading washing machine needed for felting. She liked them so much I decided to make her a pair for her birthday this year.

Here's the "before" picture:

And just to give you a perspective. That's my foot in it:
After two cycles in the washing machine on hot wash and cold rinse, with a tennis shoe thrown in to help with the agitation:

Presto!

Magic!

Just don't try this with a sweater!.

A labor of love

But once was enough.

I just finished washing about 3.5 pounds of raw Cormo fleece.

This was a beautiful, half fleece that I got from a Cormo farm in California. The fleece was very clean since the animal is covered year-round. Still it was a tedious, labor-intensive process of picking out the veggie matter, dirt, then soaking in very hot water, then rinsing, and finally setting out to dry.

Cormo is hard to get commercially because the fleece is so soft it usually does not fare well through commercial processors. But if you wash it yourself the result is very rewarding.

Fluffy white cormo ready for you:

I tried putting it through the drum carder but did not like the result so I will be hand flicking this (all 3 pounds of it!) with a dog brush!

Yep. A labor of love.

On a totally unrelated matter my Vietnamese neighbor brought us a flower last night. I have no idea what it is but it only blooms once a year and it opens at nine p.m. And at nine p.m. on the dot it opened.

Very pretty. Very fragrant. She gives me one every year.

More spindle eye candy

This is my latest acquisition: a Bosworth mini. She is made from Red Cedar and weighs in at 17 oz.



The tomatoes are from my garden. They make a lovely background, don't day?

I am in love

Or you can say I am in trouble.

Most people learn to spin by starting on a drop spindle.

I thought I had no patience for the drop spindle, so I jumped directly onto the wheel.

However, I have always wanted to get a hand on a spindle. With this Tour de Fleece, I was determined to master the spindle. I did pretty well with the Golding and even though the little ebony/lapis wobbles a bit it spins quite nicely.

But I have always wanted a Bosworth. But they say you might have to wait forever to get one. I figured I could try my luck. I placed an order Monday asking for a Midi in any wood, figuring if I was not choosey I might not have to wait too long.

An hour later I got an email back saying my Midi was on its way!

Yesterday this baby showed up on my doorstep:
She is Walnut with a birch shaft and weighs 29 grams.
And she spins.
I must say I love her even more than the Golding.

I love her so much I ordered a Mini this morning.

Yes I am in trouble.

How many spindles can one have?

Tour de Fleece

More like dragging my feet...

The tour has been on more than two weeks now yet I don't have much to show at all. I got one braid spun and plied. This is a BFL/silk mix from Fat Cat Knits. Light fingering weight, two-ply. 360 yards out of 5 ounces.

There are two main reasons I am not as prolific during this year's tour. One is the crazy workload but I really should not complain since it supports my fiber habit.

More importantly is that I am bound and determined to spindle

And with a Golding, I must say I got off on the right foot.

Here is my first spindle-spun skein. I plied it on the wheel though.

Two ounces of merino/silk from Pigeonroof Studios. About 90 yards of two-ply, DK weight.

I liked it so much I bought another spindle!

This tiny beauty came from Autumn Hollow Spindles. It is ebony with lapis inlaid on the ring and weighs less than an ounce, making it perfect for lace-weight spinning.

At first I ws strugging a little bit with its light weight compared to the Golding which weighs almost twice as much. But after a while I got a hang of it and am now able to get it going.

I am spindling this 50/50 merino/silk from Spirit Trails Fiber Work:

Yes it is like watching molasses drop. But I am trudging along.

We are going to Omaha tomorrow. Guess what I am taking..

You know it's summer when..

There are tomatoes on the vines.



Yes!

The ugly duckling revealed

It did turn into a swan.


I remember the first time I tried to wash a fleece several years ago when I first started spinning and wanted to do it from start to finish. I did not quite know what I was doing and what I got then was a blob of matted, felted mess.

I told myself I would never again wash raw fleece.

Well, that was until I made a commitment at my LYS, Uniquities, to wash a portion of the Romney fleece for the fleece-to-scarf-demonstration and the competition in the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival in September. I won't be able to participate due to family commitment but I promised to wash the fleece. So I brought the fleece home.

The is the Romney we got from Solitude Wool. I got just about over a pound which made it very manageable. I laid out the fleece in two big heavy duty aluminum roasting pans.

First a plain hot water soak:

Followed by a hot soapy soak. Then a hot rinse, and another rinse and another rinse.

I put the washed fleece in the washing machine to spin out the excess water.

Look at the transformation.
The ungly duckling has turned into a swan.

How pretty!

Saturday was also the start of the Tour de Fleece. And guess what?

I am not only spinning; I am spindling!

Action!

Now this is what I call a jump! In the meantime outside my office in Washington, DC, it's spring cleaning in full force. That's the Smithsonian's Museum of Native American History being cleaned. And I thought Carl climbing the ladder to install the squirrel house was high! Whew!

Nutty and Nibbler

I feel like a voyeur... But who can resist...

They ask for so little

A cake of suet...

A corn cob or two..

and the joy is endless...

YES!

If you built it... They will come!

YES!

Extreme Home Improvement Makeover

Squirrel Edition

We have a big back yard with lots of trees. Right outside our breakfast room window is a big maple tree. A few days ago I noticed some twigs and branches in the fork of the tree trunk.

A pair of squirrels was trying to build a nest there. As with most young parents, they don't exactly know what they are doing. The next morning most of their work ended up on the ground.

They brought the twigs and leaves back up again only to have them back on the ground. This went on for three days. At that rate they weren't going to have their nest any time soon.

Schauer/Vercio to the rescue!

I found information on how to build a squirrel nesting box on the web, and Carl set out to work:

Building the box wasn't so hard. It was getting it up there.

One...

...Two...

..and three!

Success!

You'd better move in now, Scampers!

A Fabulous Fiber Market

Fiber Frolics!

This past Saturday my local yanr store Uniquities held its semi-annual Fiber's Farmer Market at the Vienna Community Center in Vienna, Virginia.

It was their fourth fiber fest, the biggest to date. And it was big. Loads of fleece, yarn and roving from local farms and dyers such as Wild Hare Fiber Studio from Front Royal and Spirit Trail Fiber Works, to name a few.

Lawrie's Laine had a table where you can custom order your project bags and needle holders.

Uniquities showcased their latest fibers and yarns:

There was a table for bake sale goodies where all the proceeds went to support one of Uniquities' employee who will be participating the the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Walk this fall. Check out the "Sheep Pops."

Or the "yarny" cup cakes.

But the highlight of the afternoon was the "From Sheep to Scarf" demonstration. Six spinners and a weaver sat down and carded raw Romney fleece, donated by Solitude Wool, and weaved a scarf, all in just over two hours!

Jasmine donated the fleece:

We carded and spun.

Robin weaved.

Two and a half hours later:

Go Team Uniquities!

Hey we might not be up to entering in the Maryland Sheep and Wool competition yet, we we're mighty proud!