No worries!

First off, thanks to everyone for their kind support in the comments. I guess I didn't get this across very well, but I'm not too bummed out about the trip not happening. The whole thing felt very rushed and last-minute (which it would have been) and life had felt pretty hectic lately anyway. I'm actually glad that my spring break will be just that- a break. I won't have to come back to teach class on Monday morning still jet-lagged and half thinking in a foreign language. But I really appreciate the sympathy, guys! I'm still going to listen to my German language program.

Secondly, sorry I didn't blog again sooner! I was at a work-related conference this weekend (Friday & Saturday), which took up all my energy and knitting/spinning/blogging time. It was worth it, though. I feel really revitalized about my job, it's awesome.

All right, now that that's out of the way, let's get back to the fiber. I washed the Irish Spring corriedale yarn last week, and it does look a bit better than it did straight off the bobbin.



I think I might have been a little over-enthusiastic in setting the twist, because the yarn doesn't feel as lively as it did before, although the Soak wool wash did soften it up. In the photo I tried to capture a bit of the yarn at both its thickest and thinnest parts, so you get an idea of the variation. I got nearly 130 yards out of this, more than I thought I would, and I have no idea what I will knit with it.

I'm also still chugging away at the Fiddlehead mittens. I am now onto the lining of the second mitten; I will probably have these done this week, but it would have been a close thing having them done before leaving if Germany were still on. This evening, to celebrate the fact that I have finished my grading on time, I started spinning this:




into more singles on the highest ratio whorl. It's South African Fine wool dyed in the colorway "Bitter Orange" by Pigeonroof Studios. Bitter Orange is a fantastic name, but the colors also remind me of a pair of dark tortoiseshell kitties I knew growing up named Cocoa and Noodles. I'm thinking a 2-ply to get a larger yardage. I'm thinking gloves or mitten-flap-fingerless-gloves combo?