Rain, Rain Don't Go Away

I washed lots of alpaca this weekend and I was excited to have it ready to process. But alas it was not to be so. So far we have gotten at least one rain shower each day and it fails to get dry. I am truly excited about the rain as it is badly needed but my fiber won't dry. I suppose it does give an excuse to let mt poor dried out hands have a rest. All I need is a few hours of good sun...I may be waiting for a while but at least I am not wasting time watering plants. Maybe I can get some projects finished. Well I can dream, can't I?

Bug Bites

Well, I have to admit that I have been bitten by a new "bug" or really a new craft. In my defense, it does go along with the knitting. I am now a budding spinner. I had an Ashford Country Spinner that a lady gave me and another homemade wheel my Mom got at auction some time ago. That one needs a bit of work.

I had gotten the Ashford in working shape but it is really for bulky yarn and I needed to start elsewhere.  My main focus is spinning cotton so, after some research, I ordered a Tahkli spindle and Charkha wheel from India. I am getting pretty good with these.

Of course as usual the exotic called and I had to collect strange fibers. I have hoarded several types of sheep wool, alpaca in many colors, some mohair, and even a llama or two. You can guess that I have been driving the family crazy with sinks full of hair and drying wool everywhere.

The spindles I got are great but a bit slow so I started drooling over wheels. I am having trouble with leg pain from the treadle so my eyes focused on electric. I bought a little Kissell and it is really fun. It has limitations though. It is configured opposite of the Ashford so I was awkward with it at first.

I had a birthday recently so it must have been meant for me. That day I found a used Ertoel Roberta at an excellent price. I had longed for one but they are quite pricey if new. It arrived this week and I am in love. It drives like the Ashford with the drive on the bobbin. There are terms for that but I get them confused so I will skip them.

The llama is going well as I figure out how to do the adjustments. Not only is she beautiful but Roberta is so quiet. My husband even noticed the difference.

I don't know where it will end up but I got some lovely Angelina fiber this week. Stay tuned to see what happens next. Anything with long hair is now fair game. The sky is the limit.

I am back!

I can't believe my last post was in 2011. Here it is 2013. I finally got my own computer and it should have made this much easier but I got busy and it fell by the wayside. Lately I have been thinking about all of the things I have been doing and I realized that I really should get back to my chronicle. So here I am after a long pause.

What have you been up to? Or I guess I should tell you all about what I have been up to. Oodles and oodles of things since 2011. Lately I am working on learning to spin. I am proud of my first efforts. I will try to share them with you soon. I have also been reading and knitting and crocheting and all kinds of other crafts. I hope you will stick around and listen to my tales. See ya!