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!

finally

Vacation pix -- about time to wrap it up!

I got sidetracked and have not had a chance to wrap up my pictorial post of our vacation in Thailand. Finally, here it is.

You really cannot go to Bangkok without visiting the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace. The temple itself is the most important Buddhist structure in Thailand and the Grand Palace is where the Kings of Thailand used to live. Even though there are no resident monks at the temple and the king has his residence eleswhere and the two places basically are for ceremonial functions, they still command a awesome presence in Bangkok.

They definitely are a showcase of traditional Thai architecture.

I particularly like the giants that stand guard throughout the compound.

These guys are characters from the Thai classical tale "Ramakien" which is a Thai version of the Indian epic Mahabharata which you can say is the Oriental version of the Iliad.

Now who do you think is better-looking?

Plenty of gold, colored glasses and tiles.

Adjacent to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is the Grand Palace. Built in 1782 by Rama I, the founder of Bangkok and the present ruling royal House of Chakri, the palace had been resident of Thai kings until the death of Rama VIII (the present king's elder brother) in 1946.

Today it is primarily used for ceremonial functions.

Buckingham Palace it is not, but there is the changing of the guards:

Not far from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is Wat Pho, better known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

A close-up of the face. I love how serene he looks.

Wat Pho is also the birthplace of the famous traditional Thai massage. In fact there is a shool there that attracts students from all over the world.

Well, I think that about wraps up our visit to Thailand. It was a wonderful visit. It seals our relationship, our commitment to each other. My mom cried when Carl told her and my dad, in Thai, that he loved me very much.

I am not alone anymore.

And I couldn't be happier.