Color me Coral! (Or is it Begonia?)

For my Birthday last year, mum sent fiber. It is extraordinarly soft, and was a pleasure to spin. As it was coming up on Mother's Day, I got to work!

I had 2 oz of each color, and thought it would be fun to play with color changes. The darker color is Begonia and the lighter color is Coral. After much discussion with my fellow fiber enthusiasts, I am pretty sure that I was spinning Ashland Bay Merino. I'm in love with the stuff, that's for sure, and will be ordering more in the future.

So! I laid out the roving, and separated each color into 4 separate lengths, having 2 per bobbin. Then, I decided to alternate the color changes differently on each bobbin. One bobbin alternated light and dark, the next bobbin alternated dark and light. In the end, I had three main color changes. Most of the yarn is a ply of Coral and a ply of Begonia, but I have shorter lengths that are either all Coral or all Begonia. It was really fun to figure out how I was going to manage the colors, and it really got me interested in playing with single color commercially dyed roving.

Here's the finished product! There's about 270+ yards at 14 WPI - I'd say it's a DK weight, if not a light worsted in some areas.

Are you not as befuddled as I am in the color differences between the two photos? It drives me nuts, and you are lucky that I posted both photos. Photo one is just so squooshy, and lush looking. It is actually very much Begonia. The bottom one was kind of artsy (haha) and is very much Coral. Go figure. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I took the pictures in different locations in my house.

Lesson learned!

PS - Mum has picked out a yummy cowl to knit with her yarn. Hopefully she takes pictures when she is done! =)

Overload

Wool overload, work overload, knitting overload, you name it, I haz it.

Because I am mentally overloaded as well, here are some pictures to make you happy. They make me happy, so why not share right?

This super soft, super squooshy yarn was spun up from a batt from Zarzuela. It's superwash merino, and it was really fun to spin.

I got so focused on trying to spin consistent that I threw caution to the wind and let this do what it wanted. It was so enjoyable! There's a bit over 100 yards there, and I think it needs to be a cushy cowl for someone.




This pretty periwinkle was spun up from a few batts that I got from my friend Meg. I have touched the sheep it came from, which is cool, IMO.

I had fun with this too - I spun right off of a corner of the batt and just let it to it's thing!

There is a bit of pink in here, which I like. It picked up some remnants of the dye left over from the prior fleece. It gets an A+ in my book!


This is fun stuff. Merino, silk and some sparklies!! I've got a full bobbin, and am working on the second.

If you are a spinner and haven't checked out CJ Kopec's Spin-A-Long, run there now. Quickly. That way you can play too!

It's spinning up pretty thin, and I'm hoping to get something between fingering and lace weight out of it. I may have a plan if it turns out!


Lastly, I'd like to share what I wore yesterday. In May. In North Carolina. I made sure everyone knew I was wearing WOOL.


Yeah, it's a bit blurry, and I look a bit tired. It was 8am folks. Note the coffee in my hand.

Mini-Me snagged the pic right before we walked out the door. She wants you all to know that I wake her up too early and that she was tired, hence the blurry shot.

At any rate, I managed to keep it on until around noon. When Cabana Boy came over around 730pm, I had it back on.

CABANA BOY LIKES KNITTING.




(Now you know why keep him around :-P)

Before I forget, Daniele sent me a lovely box full of fiber last week. Some of which came from her very own sheepy friends!! Thank you so very much, Daniele - I cannot wait to sit down and play!!

I have been knitting, but I can't show you. Mum reads the blog and she can't know. Luckily, mum is not on Ravelry yet. Hah!

PS - Still no USB cord for camera. Purchasing card reader shortly.

PSS - there's more handspun on the camera. Yes, it's ok to be scared for my sanity now.

must.blog.now.

Considering that Cookie busted me out, I figure I'll blog about something today. Thank you for the nudge Cookie! =)

Before I forget, I want to thank Lori, Opal, Jen and Hattie for sending some goodies for my wheel! I came home one day to many pretties, and I am so grateful to these wonderful ladies for thinking of me. All of these women are amazing spinners and knitters in their own right, so please take a minute and visit their blogs and show some love.

Here's the long and short of what's been up in my neck of the woods:

1. I've been taking pictures of my experiments with with a camera that I can't find a USB cord for. It's made me kind of testy. Who wants to just read about stuff right? So Cabana Boy is going to help me out and do something magical to get them off of the memory card so you can see for yourself that I've been busy.

2. Cabana Boy exists. More details to follow. (Insert happy dance here)

3. I've been spinning like there is no tomorrow. I've spun this from Zarzuela and this from CJ Kopec, and I'm currently spinning this from CJ Kopec. I also had some fun with a batt from a local friend, Meg.

4. I started another FLS for Mini-Me. I let her pick out her own yarn. Surprisingly, it looks just like mine.

5. I decided to participate in a Summer of Socks.

6. In a fit of madness, I cast on a pair of cuff down socks! Madness I tell you, madness!!

7. I purchased a digital scale for my fiber. Now I weigh every little snippet of fiber I spin. Obsessively. I hope that this ends soon.

8. I've been watching the Tudors, enjoying another season of In Treatment, and waiting with baited breath for Weeds to start. Oh, and Deadliest Catch. Poor things. They are so angry this season!

I'm sure I could continue to ramble here, but I'll spare you the horror.

If you are going to do something adventurous and thrilling this weekend, be safe. If you are going to stay at home and be a hermit (like me), you know how to find me!