Tuesday, April 28, 2009

insert spinning pun here

I completely fail at being monogamous. In craft, I mean - sorry, no salacious confessions forthcoming here. I have been trying, really I have, to commit to Reese's sweater, but the endless stockinette just puts me to sleep. Literally, sometimes. 

So I've cheated. I've played around with felt and embroidery, which has been a lot of fun. Some of the results of that are in the shop, and some of it ended up as gifts. I've especially liked cutting up cashmere sweaters and turning them into scarves:


I've also gotten back behind the wheel, so to speak. I started working on this merino top forever ago. The original plan was to spin half the singles on the wheel and the other half on a drop spindle, then ply them together, the intent being to keep from forgetting how to use the drop spindle, I suppose. What I did forget, apparently, is that drop spindling is a slow process. After over a year of spinning a little at a time on the spindle, with the pile of fiber not getting appreciably smaller (or so it seemed), I gave up. I am, perhaps, a slow learner. I finished it all on the wheel and oh boy is it pretty and squishtastic.


I'm debating putting it in the shop; I have no idea what I'd ever use it for. But I might have trouble giving it up. 

Having launched a bit of a spinning kick, I've started this too:


That's a 50/50 soy wool blend that's also been marinating in the stash quite a while. I'm trying to end up with chunky singles, though I'm not great at that. I like this fiber a lot, though. It's very soft, and a little shiny. I can certainly see why the soy fiber is sometimes called "soysilk." Mmm.

Oh, and one last thing! I have somehow ended up with two copies of At Knit's End by the esteemed Yarn Harlot. If there is any knitter left who does not have a copy of this book (!), leave a comment and it could be yours!