Drive-by Blogging

Oh man, the weekend sure got away from me! I guess that's what happens when you work all day on Saturday. The significant other had to go in, and I hung out and did a major stack of work in solidarity and/or on the principle of misery loving company. And on Friday, when I typically start my blog posts, I had a few one-time important meetings to attend, so the blog just slipped away from me. So today you get the quickest of updates while I bolt down my breakfast before work.

Last weekend we went to see the Yarn Harlot, and her talk was absolutely fabulous as usual. The ladies who run the Knitmore Girls Podcast were there collecting audio from folks standing in line, and we each gave a little blurb. I knit on the Rivendell socks while we were there, but had to put them down when I got to rearranging the stitches for the heel flap- there was just too much counting for me to be able to hear Stephanie at the same time. They're coming along nicely now, I just need to figure out the length of the recipient's foot so I know when to start the toe.

I've been spinning some pin-drafted roving I bought at Boonville from Merry Meadows Farms this week (4 ounces each in white and naturally brown colored), trying to work on getting more even singles. The brown is finished (a nice fat 245 yards, 2-ply), and I'm about a third of the way through spinning the singles for the white. My goal is to get a more consistent yarn instead of just letting the fiber go through the wheel willy-nilly, to get some practice for spinning my fleece. If I really want to do a sweater, I'll need to be able to make a consistent yarn.

Ah, the fleece. Through some strange alignment of fate, I managed to wash a double batch this weekend (hmm no wonder I didn't have time to blog) and now it's almost finished! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. For some reason I was sure I wouldn't have the entire thing washed for months, but I only have one more washing batch before it's all done. Last night after everything was dry I poured out all the locks to look at the colors and just squish huge handfuls of sheepy fluff in my hands. Yum! I also prepped some locks in a few different ways with my handcards to see what I like and what I'm willing to live with. I like getting all the little neps out of the fiber before spinning, and even though I'm getting better and better at making rolags with the cards, I don't think that's the way I want to go with this fleece. It's a pretty fine wool, and I think the neps will make the yarn too lumpy for my tastes. Which brings us to upcoming events: this coming Saturday is Color! I'm so excited to see my favorite local vendors and fiber friends all in one place. I'll be there all day, and I'm only taking two classes this time. Last time I did three, and it was a little ridiculous. I'm registered for the Fiber Prep class and Spinning from the Lock. Can you tell I'm getting ready to spin this fleece?

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but the camera has been stranded and hasn't been hooked up to a computer for a week! I'll take pictures at Color for y'all, and next time tell you about my new project (I know, I'm weak).