Madam Medusa Locks

I forget sometimes, when I spend too much time spinning Merino top, that there is more to my spinning life than that. MUCH more!

This bunch of fibery awesomeness came from WishFox Dyeworks. The sheep who produced the excellent fleece was a Wensleydale/Lincoln crossbreed. I fell in love the first time I saw the picture of the dyed locks, and when it arrived, I quickly discovered the stuff is even better than I thought it might be. Tabitha did a fantastic job maintaining the integrity of the locks, so it's a very simple matter to gently separate a few from the bunch and flick-card them. There is VERY little waste left in the flick-carder. Wonderful!

I have not flicked the whole lot yet. I'll do that as I go, and just spin each lock as it comes to hand, and I think it will end up being, ultimately, a 2-ply heavy sock-weight yarn.

What will I make with this? Not sure yet. Very likely, I will do socks. With a long, sturdy staple such as these locks have, I bet socks would be really sturdy and last me a long, long time.

Longwool sheep do not produce the softest fiber in the world, but I knew that before I started. I love the rustic wool they produce just the same. It has more character than the Merino I've been working with, and it's a really welcome change! Also, this batch of stuff is pretty soft, as Longwools go. I will not end up with Brillo Yarn, as I did with some gray Cotswold I overspun a few years ago. (Hubby got that pair of socks, and actually loves them because they are so springy underfoot!)

Oh, and because this particular color is a limited run? Of course, I ordered more today, and I am going to keep a close eye on Tabitha's shop.

What a perfect cure for Too Much Merino Syndrome!

Too Awesome Not To Share!

Fervently hoping it's OK to share this link, but it must be, since it was shared by the artist, on Facebook late last week.

I saw Timothy C. Holehouse play last year in Bethel, CT and Northampton, MA, respectively. He and my friend Malcolm were doing a little tour together, with Tim opening for Mal. I loved his rough acoustic blues, so when he posted his Soundcloud link this week, I was eager to check it out.

This is a total departure from what I heard him do in concert. It's all instrumental, with voice thrown in for a bit on a couple of tracks. Although there are words, the voice is just one little thread in the complex texture of the work. Each piece starts small, and builds...and builds.

The more I listen to it, the more I love it, and I rank it as high as my favorite Godspeed You! Black Emperor album, Yanqui U.X.O., and I am dying to listen to it in the dark, with headphones.

Tim intends to release this on vinyl as a double album, and is searching for a label. I mention this in case someone who might be able to help him happens to stumble on to this blog and read this post.

Everyone else, please settle back and relax for awhile, and treat yourself to a listen. I swear I hear something different every time I play it.

And I really have to plug in some headphones sometime tomorrow, and see what other details I might be missing by not listening that intimately...

Re My Long Absence

It has been hard to even think of anything to say here lately. So much has been happening that I don't even want to get into here, so I won't, except to say that it has been a total whirlwind since mid-February. During the weeks since then, my mother-in-law died, and my own mother finally lost her mind far enough to be placed in the nursing home. There are some health issues with my younger daughter, too, that have really sapped my energy and left me with little free time. At least the dust is finally settling -- or so it seems -- and I am turning my thoughts back to creating new stuff to put in my shop. I have also gotten back to contributing to the Phat Fiber sampler box.

The detail below is from my Delphic Oracle Scarf. 50 lucky people who happen to score Phat Fiber boxes over this weekend will receive a copy of the pattern, and just in case any of those 50 people feels inclined to knit the scarf, I custom-dyed some nice wool yarn to go with it. There are 7 skeins available, each containing 300 yards, which is a bit more than enough to knit the scarf if the pattern is knitted exactly as written.

I just washed the square and pinned it out, so the Bee depicted shows up better. I'm not usually into gold/yellow-orange, but I really love the way this yarn came out, and I like the way it works with the motif.

Business has been terribly slow, so I am contemplating a return to the work force at some point in the not-too-distant future. Where will I go? What will I do? Frankly, my dear, NOT into Retail, if I can possibly avoid it. Whatever I end up doing would, ideally, see me Making Something, and my boss would not turn out to be a psychopath.

Hmmm...I might be asking for too much...

A Song for Ewe

Rough mix of a silly new song!

OK, this one has been in the works for a long time, but it took me until yesterday to finally record a study copy. I now need to keep working on memorization and playing the guitar part better. There WILL be a more polished version eventually, but for now, enjoy a good chuckle over my knitting and spinning obsession.

Went to bed last night and I tried to get me some sleep

Kept a-tossin' and turnin' so I tried countin' sheep

But it didn't get no better 'cause all them sheep turned into sweaters

With thousands of twisted stitches

Look real fine with some Harris Tweed britches

Got knittin' on the brain and it's drivin' me insane

And as long as I'm countin' them sheep

I ain't gonna be gettin' me no sleep...

Knit four, purl four, moss stitch and cable

Oh, Lordy, gotta drink myself under the table

Before I feel better...no more sheep turnin' into sweaters...

Put away my knittin' needles...Tweedle deedle deedle...

And as long as I'm countin' them sheep

I ain't gonna be gettin' me no sleep

And I got them sheep-countin' sweater-knittin' blues

Now the hamster's on the wheel and he ain't bein' too genteel

And I'm dumb as a box of rocks

'Cause now I'm thinkin' 'bout knittin' socks

Oh, man, you may be a charmer

But I ain't gonna knit you no willie warmer

No, man, I do not care if you are cold down there

Damn! I'm still countin' them sheep

And I ain't gonna be gettin' me no sleep

'Cause I got them sheep-countin' sweater-knittin' blues...

Went to bed last night and I tried to get me some sleep

Kept a-tossin' and turnin' so I tried countin' sheep

Lord, I'm in the grip and posession

Of a mighty fierce wool obsession

With dreams of expandin' my stash if I only had me a little more cash

Got knittin' on the brain and it's drivin' me insane

I got them sheep-countin' sweater-knittin' blues...

Yeah, I know I got enough t keep me knittin' for several lifetimes

But passin' by sale bins, Lord, can't do that, what a crime

To walk out on such great deals

And man, just look at them spinnnin' wheels!

Get away with them spindles and silk, and...

Whatcha mean, you can even spin milk?

Now I got spinnin' on the brain and it's drivin' me insane

And I got them sheep-countin' wool spinnin' blues...

Went to bed last night and I tried to get me some sleep

Kept a-tossin' and turnin' so I tried countin' sheep...

But man, what's the deal? They're all turnin' into spinnin' wheels

And piles of wooly fiber, enough to bury Lady Godiva

Now I got spinnin' on the brain and it's drivin' me insane

And I got them wool-spinnin' yarn-makin' blues...

You realize there's no end to this, every day it's a new obsession...

Merino....Alpaca....Camel....Cashmere...

Oh, man, I'm in trouble

And I better get outta here on the double...

Got spinnin' on the brain and it's drivin' me insane

And I got them sheep-countin' sweater-knittin'

wool-spinnin' yarn-makin' blues...

Happy Birthday, Grant!

51 years beautiful!

God bless you, my friend!

These two songs are from Grant's forthcoming album,

"The Argument."

I have no idea exactly when it's forthcoming,

but maybe within the year?

Fingers crossed...

And please, if you can, help kickstart Every Everything.

Grant's story needs to be told.

Every little bit helps reach the goal!

Finally! Please help if you can!

I just got word on this excellent project this morning, and if there was ever a time when I wished I could WIN BIG in the lottery, this is it. Not for the perks I could get for being a big contributor. I wouldn't care if the director didn't give me a single extra thing for my contribution. Having the project completed would be enough, which is not to say I am ungrateful for the perks I'm being offered for my contribution. Au contraire. I think it's awfully nice that he is offering perks to folks who make a donation, but...

To quote immortal first words ever uttered to me by Grant Hart, albeit in an entirely different context, "It's about f*cking time!"

Director Gorman Bechard's next project is to a be a documentary about the life and times of Grant Hart. And it's about f*cking time the story got told, in my not-so-humble-opinion. A link to the fund-raising site is posted at the end of this entry; at least have a look at the promotional trailer, and if it moves you to part with a few bucks, great! Every little bit will help.

Every Everything

"Fiber Friday" Eye Candy

So much working on the business this week, I didn't accomplish a real lot of knitting or spinning, but at least there are a couple of things to show for another week's passing.

This is "Canyon Sunset," obtained from Heavenly Fiber. I lost the card with the fiber content info, so am waiting to hear back from the seller. I'm pretty sure there's wool (or maybe alpaca?) and some silk, and a couple of colors of glitzy stuff. I loooooove sparkle, and look at all the PURPLE!!!! 2 ply, 1.9 oz, 172 yards, and I still have another equal-size batt to spin and ply!

ETA -- And the fiber content is...Merino, Blue Faced Leicester, milk fiber, faux cashmere, silk, and carbonized bamboo! Yummmmmm...

On the designing front, I wrote up a pattern for this little scarf yesterday, and now am test-knitting it. One, this will give me pictures of a finished item to use in my pattern leaflet. Two, the knitting of it will reveal, and enable me to correct, any and all mistakes I may have made in the writing. So far, so good. I think I have now caught them all.
The roving came from The Knotty Ewe. It's hand dyed Blue Faced Leicester wool. I spun it into a 2 ply yarn a few months ago, and I have a total of 305 yards to use in this project. I don't know what that will translate into, as far as total length of the scarf goes. However, I'm aiming to market the pattern as a "use up your handspun" project. Use any gauge yarn you like, and whatever needles match up with it, and the fabric you hope to produce, and off you go. Knit 'til you a) run out of your chosen yarn, or b) your scarf reaches the desired total length (bearing in mind, of course, that it will stretch and lengthen after washing).
The yarn is really soft and has a nice halo. This is the first time I have tried to use any of my handspun BFL yarns. Needless to say, I'm in love, and think there will be a lot more of this sort of yarn in my future.
Not much else to report, beyond that I now have a singing gig every other week at a local RC parish. I signed up to cantor Mass at 7:30 AM every other Sunday. Am I mad? Well, no. I'm a morning person, and I enjoy the meditative quality of that early Mass. I have not done any solo singing in public for years, and have only been singing alone in my room when no one is home. So, I'm a bit nervous, but also excited. I just hope I do OK and don't get overcome by last-minute stage fright.

Go figure. I used to perform a LOT, semi-professionally, and I sang in choirs in Providence and Boston with no fear at all. But too much negative input and petty jealousy and the tangled web of group politics left me feeling like there was nothing in the world I could do right, so bit by bit, I gave up the whole business. Something that should have been beautiful and uplifting quickly became exhausting and depressing. Enough was enough.

Part of me thinks I'm out of my mind for even thinking about doing this. But it has, after all, been nearly 10 years since The Great Praise Band Debacle/Crucifixion. I would like to think that the sense of security I've been lulled into is not false this time.

Excited-scared-excited-scared-excited...oh, help!