Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Playing in the white stuff

No, I don't mean snow, thankfully. I have enough to take care of in this cold with Rick gone. This morning, even with the heat bulb in a closed chickenhouse, the girls' water was frozen again. So I thawed it and filled it with warm water from the house. They appreciated it:
The white stuff I'm playing in is MUCH warmer. There's this eight-ounce cake of white alpaca singles ready to be plied:
There is my very first skein of "spindle-spun":Hopefully four ounces (approx. 142 yards) is enough to make a warm barn hat for my farrier's wife. (She owns the long-wool ram who grew this fleece.) There is even a bit of laceweight from the same roving collecting on the laceweight spindle!I decided to "take it for a spin" on the same fiber I've been spinning on the heavier "Sara"spindle for comparison's sake. Now that we've gotten acquainted, I think it will soon be time to introduce this little spindle to some Shetland!

I'm still working on the same two gift knits; nearly done with one and not close enough to done on the other. Spinning less and knitting more would probably help, and that will start tonight. :-) Once they are complete and gifted, I'll show them to you. In the meantime, here is a pic of my mom wearing her September birthday gift knit (the tam, not the sweater!).
That's it for now from . . .

16 comments:

Kathy said...

Neat! :)

Tina T-P said...

Very very nice job on the yarn! T.

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

Nicely done Michelle! Going from a wheel to a spindle is challenging, not because of techniques sake but because it take so much longer to spin anything; personally, I get antsy and can't do it. But then I started on a spindle and was on it for a year and half before I tried a wheel.

Leigh said...

Your first skein is yummy! Well done!

It's funny, because I was just reading a post on Farm Folly about open air chicken housing. Not to sure what to think.

thecrazysheeplady said...

Beautiful spinning!

Kim said...

What luscious yarn... your friends are happy people, I am sure!

Candy said...

What a beautiful job on the spindle. I just can't get the hang of it, and always go back to my wheel. Nice hat too.

Michelle said...

Thanks, everyone!

Leigh, all I know is that on these cold days, my grey Easter Egger sits on the perch most of the day, trying to keep her feet warm. And the Rhodie hens with big combs (something I'd avoid if I were choosing) have gotten a bit of frostbite. My henhouse isn't "tight" enough to be "dank and airless;" but at least it provides some protection from the bitter cold and wind, which I think is important and necessary. After all, chickens don't have the option of flying south for the winter!

Barbara Tibbetts Chace said...

Hi Michelle....

The tam is really beautiful and looks great on your Mom.

Deborah Niemann said...

Love the hat! Is the pattern online by any chance? I've been wanting a hat like that!

Michelle said...

Deborah, that hat is adapted from the book "Homespun, Handknit." I picked it up on Amazon used because of a friend's recommendation; it's a good little book!

Deb W said...

Brrrrrrrr. This morning with the wind chill, it was 9 degrees here. It didn't get above the 20s all day, even though it was sunny in the afternoon.

Your new spindle looks familiar. Who makes that one? I'm glad you're enjoying spindling. It's great for sampling. uy T

Jamie said...

Very nice! See, this is where things are going to lead, spindles. Not all the time, mind you, but I have a few sitting around looking pretty. If I ever learn how to use them, I'm pretty sure they'll wind up as travel projects, etc.

I love your pics, though, nice and warm (while I'm so cold!).

Michelle said...

Deb, that spindle came from Michael on the Spinning list; he sells some on eBay under the seller's name "spinderscottage." Here's his link: http://myworld.ebay.com/spindlerscottage/

Sharon said...

Wow - you are rocking on that spindle. Becky is the spindle queen. I've never seen anything like her spindle yarn, but you might be queuing up to give her a run for her money.

Anonymous said...

Your spindle spun is beautiful! I can only hope to spin that nice someday...