Focused (mostly) on fiber

The best laid plans of shepherds and skirters . . . .

Yesterday I wanted to get Bramble scissor-sheared, and Bing's and Marta's fleeces skirted. Since it was cool and cloudy, I decided to start with skirting. I pulled Bing's fleece out first. Jet-black and crimpy-crimpy (SO hard to photograph); mmm-MMM!

But then smoke from the fire Rick lit to burn up the firewood debris started blowing towards my work area, and it started to mist a little. Back into the bag the fleece went to wait for more suitable conditions.

I turned my attention to another project. Now that my Textiles students are spinning, the need for looms on which to weave their yarn is, well, looming.

Last year I made looms out of mattboard. They work, but are tedious to use; I had to do a lot of after-hours weaving so the students' projects would be done by the end of the term. When I spotted a little Harrisville peg loom in a Ravelry destash, I thought, "How hard could it be to make those?" Brian and I went to Lowe's and bought all the materials to make ten looms for under $20 (the budget for my class). My little wannabe carpenter was all, "I can make those for you, Mom." But when I started asking Brian when he was going to make them, he said he needed his dad's help to make the first one . . . and Rick wasn't stepping up to the plate.

So yesterday I kickstarted the project by hauling the wood and a calculator to Brian's workbench, calculating my lengths and marking. That got Brian cutting, and Rick drilling, and by the end of the afternoon, we had ten frames made with glue drying, and approximately 230 little pegs cut and ready to tap in. I think these will be sooo much easier than cardboard looms for the students to weave on!

I'm itching to weave up a sample on the little Harrisville loom, but that would mean turning away from another itch I've been scratching:

Yes, my inner spider has awakened; I'm filling a second spindle with grey Shetland I drum-carded.

The other day I noticed that the spot where albino maple leaves have sprouted the last few years is coming to life again.

Regular maple leaves:

Albino maple leaves:

Just one of life's fun little mysteries!

That's it for now from . . .