Mona Yarn

I knit up a special stash recently for my friend Gretchen. Her beloved Mona Dog passed away some time ago, and I'd had this bag of her fluff for a while. It was time to transform it into something easy to hold and love. Here is the photo Gretchen took of it.

Halcyon Yarn in Bath ME

The Halcyon Yarn store is just down the SAME street from where we are staying in Bath this time. Met some nice ladies at Knit Night of all ages and life experiences. Could easily slip into that social group in no time!

Purchased a couple of ounces of Black Welsh Mountain and Blue Faced Leicester (separately) roving to try spinning on a store wheel. Only just tapped the vast browsing selection at this destination fiber store.

Spun some of this guy's hair during Spin In night last week at Halcyon. (Isn't he handsome there, posed with the Bath bridge in the background?) I aligned the fibers first with his little grooming brush, then rolled them off into a mini rolag. It spun up rather well. I used a new Louet S10 double treadle that was shiny and quick! A nice group of Mainers attended and the conversation was fun.

Although this guy is shedding up a storm right now, I'd need to blend his hair with something else to spin it. Oh well, he's a looker, not a fiber provider.

And this guy, definitely a looker, but those white facial hairs won't be tested out on my wheel. I prefer them exactly where they are.

Snowy Day In MA (and just about everywhere else!)

Jeric and I made it out for our walk today before the snow really took over. We expect over a foot, maybe more here in Central MA. Jeric's long coat is just perfectly suited for the weather, which also makes it a great source of fiber for my projects. Speaking of which, this is what his fluff looks like as a Navajo-plyed hank, and as a partially completed scarf.(Note the little bit of black detail that came from Marsh . . . a little bit of her to accompany us whenever we will wear it.)




More about Jeric . . . have been lusting to learn to make needle felted animals, and here's my first pass at making a little Jeric with his fluff. I think I need to take a lesson.


Also caught up with the "art yarn" Maile and I experimented with and here it is, ready for knitting up into something small and cute. It was plyed with black Tencel.

Looking forward to an outing on the 24th to Greenwood Hill Farm in Hubbardston with Guild members to view the new Merino lambs and finally take some new PHOTOS. Love fiber projects, but need sheep contact.

Yikes, where does the time go?

Me in Florida, definitely not knitting.

I HAVE been spinning in spite of the silence on the blog . . . January was, well, a month, and ten days were spent trying to put it all behind me by kayaking the waterways of southwestern Florida with mom, the Kayak Queen of Windmill Village. Five knitting projects were packed in my suitcase, and guess how many were completed? One. Gee, paying the extra $20 to check my bag each way was REALLY worth it!



Nope, no knitting got done here, either.

Spinning has been really good for me during the start of the New Year. Almost done with the fall natural dyeing samples, and thinking about finishing up Jeric's fluff so that scarf can be finalized, once and for all. It is soooo warm and soft, at least the 1/2 I've completed.

Waiting to hear back from Storey about my book proposal. It just makes so much sense to me, so why shouldn't it to them?

Lots of great stuff going on with Wachusett Spinners Guild. We are really gearing up for the scheduled 2010 fiber season, and creating new events of our own.

If you haven't yet discovered it on your own, this is quite the little blog: http://www.fiberfarm.com/blog.

Christmas around the corner . . .

Slow start to this blog but there's no shortage of photo and fiber activities happening. Experiments with "wild wool" or spinning with a multitude of fibers, colors, and textures is underway with my friend Maile and it is VERY liberating. New books borrowed from the local library including spinning, Teva Durham designs, and sock patterns. Mailed off hand dyed and knitted socks for Mom -- in Florida colors of yellow and green -- today to arrive in lieu of "three French Hens" or whatever day of Christmas they get there. She too, has been eyeing fiber animals and sent this photo to me of a llama she spied in the Buffalo NY area.











And, back to dog hair . . . have been mourning and trying to move on after Marsh's death, and so found myself looking at her brother Jeric's spun fluff that was an early attempt at my spinning. Needless to say, it was a very fragile hank at that! So, gave it a whirl with Navajo plying to attempt to spin it up into something relatively bulky and strong. I think it worked.



Here's the boy himself (thank you, Erika Sidor, for the beautiful portrait).



Chow Chow fluff is softer, I think, than alpaca and I'm told extremely warm. I haven't finished my first dog yarn scarf yet, so can't confirm on the heat factor.




Hope to shoot some sheep and horses next week at Sara R.'s farm. Cameras and the cold are a tricky mix!