Burt says...

Burt says, Momma you should show some of the knitting you've been doing. People will think you don't knit anything anymore. Oh and Momma? We could kickstart my knitwear model career again.

Your Momma is going to love these new socks you made for her.

And Daddy will love his socks too. Those are some great tweedy socks Momma.

Oh Momma this new Imperfect Produce does not seem so imperfect to me. Does this mean we have to start eating more veggies?! Oh just you and Daddy have to eat them? That's good, but then again that beef stew smells kinda good.

And speaking of spinning...

I don't just buy fiber, I spin yarn too.

Meet my batch of lovelies.

I see several Christmas ornaments coming from these. I've got to start knitting with them so I can understand the yarn I'm making, or rope.

My class at OFFF started off asking if any of us had made rope. My hand went right up and I said I just made some last week. No pictures yet as I've been having fun washing the skeins that I like instead. My little success stories first then I'll go back and take some pictures of my learning experiments, maybe.

First up a Polwarth Tussah Silk blend by BJS Fiber Creations. I had just found out that my first wheel was not going to be my spinning friend. But I had faith and bought fiber anyways. I thought I could spin it by spindle if nothing else. Now I don't think of myself as a silk kind of girl anymore but man was this fun to spin. I thought I would have to fight it because silk is slippery but nope. I blinked and the bobbin was full. Love the blue green color!

Ahh fiber that almost stayed in the stash... When you're new to doing something the worry is that you will ruin something with your inexperience. I stayed away from spinning because I thought it would be too technical to pick up easily. As with many things in life spinning is as difficult as you make it. If you want to learn the technical words and stats, you can. If you just want to spin a wheel around and watch fiber changes to yarn, if you're lucky and rope if you're not, you can do that too.

I had held onto this fiber for a couple of years because it was bought from the shepherd and such a beautiful natural silver/gray. Then I opened the bag and touched it. If I want to learn how to spin I've got to spin.

 This yarn just makes me happy. The fiber was bought at one of my last fiber festivals before the East to West move. I thought I should be learning on all the natural fibers first. Then BI urt reminded me that I only have to do what I want. I am the boss of my spinning... he's a smart cat!

This yarn is round, bouncy, elastic and sproingy. I just love the feel of it. It is a three ply that makes me want to spin more.

Burt? He's ok with my new hobby. 

As least Momma is not bringing home any more sisters. 

Oregon Flock and Fiber 2018

It is amazing how your focus can change from one year to the next. I am a sock knitter... I buy mostly sock yarn. Every once in a while I will buy for a sweater or shawl, but my true love is socks. 

And then I got a spinning wheel!

Don't worry too much I'm still knitting socks and most likely will till I can knit no longer but spinning? It is a whole new world of fun.

So for the record I bought four braids from Greenwood Fiberworks. All different breeds and colors. I bought two braids of superwash Merino, one orange and one purple from Hanks in the Hood.

I expanded my breed study of Shaggy Bear's flock by six more. And was talked into trying Soay locks. By talked into I mean that she showed it to me and I said yes please. She said "You don't have to buy it I just wanted to make sure you saw it since we just washed some." To which I replied yes but I want to try locks now too.

I needed more Eucalan wool wash since I've been washing more wool. Funny how that works when you spend more time in the yarn room.

I found four issues of Ply magazine to bring home too. There were more but I thought I could start with these. I've never see one in a bookstore or yarn shop. Of course I've only been spinning for a short while now and have never needed to look for them before.

I stared out the morning taking a spinning class. I attempted spinning woolen and man is that going to take some practice. A got to be the target of wheel envy. I was walking Oldwyn, yes that is her name, back to the car after class and a lady walking by said "Beautiful Wheel". Which is really nice since many of the spinners I talk to say Ashfords are beginner wheels. Well, we're pretty darn happy together.

My cute picture there? It was bought for my Rhinebeck room. It says "Go away I'm introverting." Rhinebeck is slowly evolving into the room I want it to be, a wooly place of joy.

Oh and Miss Melissa is training up to be a wool inspector. Right now it is mostly just giving things a really good sniff over. But one day she is going to pick a fleece for me.

Sisters

Our Melissa is ever so curious of the outside, I wonder why.

Oh yeah our Burt is out in the back forty grazing!

Having a sister is not terrible...most of the time.

Did I ever show you my Rhinebeck room door poster?

Good thing I bought a calendar from Crazy Sheep Lady back in 2016. I get to enjoy sheepie inspiration when I walk in my room.

So my life is still hectic at times but boy am I enjoying living it.

The Good Life

Having a sister is not horrible.

Kitten food tastes way better than my food.

Little Sis has started pulling her cuddle with Momma time weight.

Fine you can take a picture of my toe beans.

Why would you want to take a picture of your handspun yarn when you have this cute kitten asking for your attention?

Ta Da!

We had a little family addition. Burt decided he would like some feline company. Momma is way during the day and it sure gets lonely in the house all by your lonesome.

So we added this little girl to our house. She is only 3 months old, and tiny comparatively.

Burt the world's most interesting cat is taking her in stride. 

She is busy with new toys and figuring out where laps should be, kinda.

 The cuteness factor is high but she is made of energy and does not sit still. She would not let me touch her again the first night. But after settling in she was ready for some petting the next day.

I've even managed to spin some for Tour de Fleece. I'm still figuring out spinning so I've plenty to hold my attention. 

Coming together

Slowly my Rhinebeck room is coming together. It has a comfy chair and ottoman and plenty of places to put yarn and books. I've even converted an old cup rack to hold yarn and lights. Not a bad selection if I do say so myself. I just love my yarn collection.

I found a great picture that remind us what the room is for, it says Go Away I'm Introverting. The wary stripy grey kitty just sums it up without the words though.

I forgot to show you the great sign that I found at Black Sheep Gathering. It made me smile right off. I circled a few times then decided it was indeed a sign I needed for Rhinebeck.

The yarn is some hand spun I spun a while ago from an odds and ends bag from Into the Whirled. Come to think of it I bought that bag at my last Rhinebeck trip. You never know how the yarn you spin will be used. 

Yeah this is a room I am becoming comfortable with. I can spin and knit in here all right.