The bitter truth

is that I didn't meet my Tour de Fleece goal of spinning 20 minutes a day. I let the time crunch of getting those socks finished push that morning spinning time out for a day or two. However-on the other days I spun more than 20 minutes, so the end result is that I have more finished yarn than I would have if I had been a strict adherent to my original goal. So all is not lost.

For instance, let's see what's left in the ziploc big bag...

Now see. I wouldn't have finished this! And it's been sitting in that closet for years, folks. What kept me from it, I don't know-it spun up quickly and was a nice change from my super fine Corriedale project. (Still underway and coming along nicely once again thanks to the Tour)

Here's the lineup of finished yarn. And, no-I have no plans for this. So, now it will languish in the closet as yarn for a while!

Still spinning

on-not a lot of noticeable progress. So, I'll show you the socks instead! They are ready to head out the door today. What a relief! Knitting for others is very enjoyable, but-the pressure! Now I can knit on my shawl for a little while. I had made some mistakes in the pattern somehow and fixing it took some time. Notice that I did not say that I had frogged it and reknit. I took the cheater's way out, I confess, and "fixed" it. Put in gobs of stitch markers and then made things right in each repeat. Hopefully it won't be too visible in the finished item! Now whether I will stick with this project until it is completed remains to be seen. I'd sure like to have it this fall when the weather cools, but other UFO's are beginning to call as well.

A new fiber

Here's the Romney lineup.



And now that I'm short a bobbin, I needed to pick the gray Corriedale back up. Apparently, all the lanolin did not wash out so I am heating a few locks in the microwave in order to comb and spin them. Of course it is spinning finer due to the grease factor, which I am glad of at this point. Let's hope it stays that way!
I've been knitting a good bit in order to finish the socks. They should be done sometime tomorrow. Plus, I've picked my Faroe shawl back up. Those pics will have to wait until my next post!

On three

Today I started the third bobbin. Worked on it for a while and then did some pre-drafting for tomorrow. I expect to finish this last bobbin then and start the plying. All this spinning activity has rekindled C's interest and she treadled some for me. She's eager to try the wheel once I have a bobbin free. She's acquainted enough with the spindle that some practice treadling is all she needed. Then she can try combining the two!
I finished the first alpaca/wool sock and have the toe finished on the second. I was for the package to be mailed out this weekend, but I'm starting to wonder if I'll make it. All the spinning/lessons are cutting into my knitting time :~)
While our regular homeschool is done for the year, I have started working with T. (He will be 6 tomorrow) He's doing great so far-it's amazing what chiropractic has done for him. He's always been my more quiet one, stubborn yet ultra sensitive. Kinda like DH :~) I was not sure how things were going to work out once he got to school age. We started taking him to the chiro around the first of the year and saw an immediate change in him. I've since done some reading about sensory integration and found some activities to help him develop in the areas he struggles in. So, I'm very encouraged about this next year! Once we are done with our little "summer school" I think I can bring him into our school day fairly easily. This is a huge relief to me! Just as an example...Six months ago, he had zero interest in a picture book and would completely zone out during any read-aloud. Now he is making tremendous strides. While our read-alouds are still a little beyond him, I can see him listening and trying to follow the story, and he now hurries over to the children's books on our library trips and chooses at least two for himself. He is enjoying new activities and places now and talking more and asking questions. A dear friend actually asked me (a few weeks after he began chiropractic care) what had happened to turn him into such a chatterbox. We had originally started care to see if his asthma might be improved, not realizing just how much might change. And I've learned not to think that "chiropractic is only helpful for lower back pain"!

As promised

here is the photo of the finished "Bree" yarn. I made a smallish skein, because my patience with long draw ran out. I know, I know-and it is indeed perfect for this lovely springy wool. I don't know what my problem is. I'm in a rut, I guess.

Here's what's on the wheel now. I spin this Romney off and on as the mood strikes. Super easy to spin, and fairly fast, even for me, and I am not a fast spinner by anyone's standards. I zone out at the wheel and speed is not foremost in my mind, let me tell you! I just enjoy the fiber :~)
I have two of those monstrous ziploc big bags of this wool-wanna see one? I snapped a picture of the one that's now out next to the wheel. Uh huh, I heard that snicker. Don't worry, I have no delusional goals for this Tour. Didn't ya read my last post? I won't let it happen friends. This little spinning bout is all about the fun factor, and I'm letting it stay that way.

I found the missing socks for my step-father. Yes, they were missing. I took them on our family vacation back in May and they got jammed unceremoniously into a Callaway Gardens bag in my mad packing rush. On our return, I stuck this bag in plain view on the sewing machine cabinet in my bedroom-however, there were a bunch of folded papers on top of the knitting so...the bag languished there until this morning. Now what does that say about my housekeeping??? Sigh. What's worse, is that that bag might have stayed there for even longer if I had not been in a fever to find this project and torn the house apart looking for it. At some point, I remembered that I had packed them for the trip(although they never saw daylight. I only worked on my stole) and I rushed over and pulled them out. I felt like the woman with the lost coin, except that I'm pretty sure she didn't have as much clutter as I do. Or as many knitting bags to look through.
Anyway, here's how they look after today's little knitting session. Heading up to the cuff! I really like them. You can't tell in the picture, but they are just a teensy bit too long for me-good thing, too :~)

Touring!

Hey! I'm in! It wasn't too late! I'm sticking with my goal of spinning 20 minutes in the AM(that is what I said, right?). As much I would love to be super optimistic and set some outrageous goal-I think that would be setting myself up for a fall :~) I'm feeling the heady adrenalin rush right now and have actually spun more than 20 minutes the last 2 days. Nah-I never was much good at pacing myself. But if I slow down early next week, my goal is still very doable.
I finished the brown Corriedale singles and navajo plied it today-I think that was Bree from Cary's flock. That yarn will make some nice mittens for one of the kids! I've moved on to some positively ancient Romney batts that I dyed with cherry Kool-Aid. I'm going for a "real" three ply with this fiber. No pics today-I'll add them to tomorrow's post, 'k?

Let's pretend

that this immense lapse in blogging never happened, okay? That I've been posting at least once a week for the last three months and I've told you all about how the garden is doing,(pretty fantastic considering the drought we are in) what new beds I've planted(way too many), the sewing I've done, that I've picked up the cross-stitch picture I was working on this time last year, etc. etc.
Okay. I feel better. We can move on now.
So, even though the weather is not conducive to knitting or spinning-I'm getting the urge to pick it back up again. (Yep. The reason it's not in the above list of what I've been doing, is 'cause...well...I haven't been. It's been way too hot and dry here. But I no longer care :~)) Apparently, my renewed desire came a little late-I missed the start of the Tour de Fleece! Drat! I'll just set my own goal of spinning in the AM right after my quiet time. That's more than I'm doing now! Here's some colored Corriedale that's been aging gracefully in the stash.


And I need to choose a new knitting project 'cause I just heard from a dear friend that she is having TWINS!!! Identical even! Boys! Yeah, I'm really excited for them :~) I saw a super cute hat and sweater pic in the new Knitpicks catalog that came today. I am seriously considering it although I may talk myself in to complementary BSJ sweaters. I'll have some time to think it over while I spin.