Travel spindle, single treadle and end of the red wool

What a crafty weekend I had!

Saturday morning, I got up bright and early and used a spare piece of oak I had kept for just this purpose to create my own version of a Rakestraw spinner. INstead of $35, it cost me about 50 cents :) Sure, it's not as beautiful and it's a bit uneven, but it works just fine :) I used one of my son's tinker toys for the handle and voila! a sitting travel spinner :) I'm quite proud of myself for making what I want when I couldn't afford to buy a fancy one :)

Saturday night, I stayed up a bit late watching the series finale of Will & Grace that was on my TiVo and spun the last of my red wool that I got with my first spindle on eBay. I was trekkin, let me tell you! I have it off the spindle and on my PVC niddy noddy and I have around 85 yards of it...yay! I keep creeping up in yardage with each skein :P It's actually really pretty. I'm trying to decide what to make with it. Something for myself, definately, since it was on my first spindle and my first fiber, even if it wasn't the first skein I finished. The fiber was atually sort of slippery and very long, so it was difficult to work with. But it's done! mwahahaha.

I actually have NOTHING on any of my four spindles right now : It's shocking and mildly unsettling, let me tell you....but I decided that I needed to put in a good amount of time on my shrug so I can move onto one of the GAGILLION other things I have to knit. I also just want to wear it soon :P It's so perdy *swoony*

At my spinning guild meeting this weekend, we dyed yarn with indigo. It was really interesting and fun. I didn't have anything spun in a light color to dye, so I bought some lamma/wool yarn at a local yarn shop and dyed that. It's a really pretty medium blue, well saturated and I can't wait to rinse it tonight and see what the final color will be :)

I also got the chance to try a single treadle Ashford Joy spinning wheel and I FELL IN LOVE with it! The single treadle is so much easier to work than the double treadle and I love the look and shape of it, the easy portability, the way it folds up and just how it spun in general. A woman sitting next to me let me spin on hers for a bit to try it out. Now I want one. Of course, I have to fall in love with the most expensive spinning wheel, lol...$500. Oy.

A friend in the guild lent me some carders, so I am going to attempt to card up some of the bags and bags and bags of free fiber I got a few weeks ago. It's quite a process...but it's taught me a few things. The main one being that at this stage in my life, I am too busy to process my own fiber and I need to buy fiber so I can spend my time spinning it, instead of processing it :) The other is that I am going to enjoy being able to take the fleece cut directly off the sheep (I saw it sheared, even!), wash it, pick the stuff out, card it, spin it and then knit something with it. I heard they have competitions at state fairs called "sheep to Shawl" and stuff like that and I kind of feel like I'm doing my own competition. I know I will cherish that yarn so much more because I did ever step of making it along the way ;)

But yes, after that, buying the fiber is going to be my modus operandi :)

I got my possum fiber in last week. I need to wash it, because it's quite sticky, but then I am going to blend it with some dark wool and spin it up to make slippers for my sweetie. Possum is an in-joke with us, so what better to make for his birthday present, I say.

I lead a crafty life and I love it :)