WolfWeave

As Thomas Carlyle wrote, “Long stormy spring-time, wet contentious April, winter chilling the lap of very May; but at length the season of summer does come.” Maybe. Monday was Memorial Day and the morning started out at 38 degrees, even though it eventually climbed to 80. Tuesday was so cold all day (hovering around 43) that I froze my fingers trying to clean the barbecue grill. Sure, the season of summer is coming…eventually.

I have been working on the Juliet sweater which is quite an easy knit, as I began on May 13th and it is almost finished (see above post).

This is quite a feat for me—a finished object in approximately 3 weeks?! I had some trouble with the “maths” on the project but—thank goodness for my peeps on Ravelry—eventually got it all sorted out and was able to start knitting what turned out to be a comfortable, flowing knit (especially the lace section). While knitting this sweater, I listened to quite a few episodes of Brenda Dayne’s Cast On podcast on my iPod plugged into its little round JBL speaker. I’m really enjoying her podcasts immensely and still have quite a few to go, as I’m only up to episode 38 out of 63 or so. It’s fun to start way back at the birth of a “famous” podcast and work your way up to the present.

The past few weeks have also seen the arrival of way too much wool, both roving and fleece—a lot of it nice but some of it not so nice, filled with dirt and so much vegetable matter (VM) that you wonder there’s any hay left in the owner’s barn! I’ve kept most of it but am not going to like dealing with it, as it is going to mean combing it out bit by bit (and you’d think that, as I purchased washed fleece, the scouring would have done a better job of getting out the dirt). I like the feel of fleece, as opposed to mill-processed roving but if this is what it means to deal with fleece, then maybe I’ll have to stick to buying rovings from now on. Or else find a source of fleece from someone who has kept their sheep covered with cloth coats and done a decent job of skirting and scouring the fleece. The other problem I’ve universally found is that all the washed fleece has obviously been done in large batches so that there are few, if any, identifiable locks afterwards. This is so NOT how I remember carding (and not how Patsy Zawistoski shows it in her spinning DVD). I remember beautiful clean separate locks that you laid across the hand cards. I have none of those. I have a mess of wool that will have to go in the drum carder when it gets here (after I’ve shaken or flicked out the dirt) and hope for the best. Susan’s Fiber Shop is shipping me down a Louet drum carder that should arrive next week.

Speaking of equipment…my spinning wheel arrived! I ended up cancelling my order at The Woolery after they did not receive their May order from Gordon Lendrum (who apparently took his whole supply of wheels to Maryland Sheep and Wool to give to his vendors there). I didn’t want to wait another month (and had visions of being bumped from month to month), so I just cancelled. Following a tip from someone in the Lendrum group on Ravelry, I got on the phone and ordered one from Toni at The Fold in nearby Marengo, Illinois—where I should have bought my wheel in the first place. But I just couldn’t find the time to make the 90-minute drive out there and had felt funny ordering from a store that I could actually drive to, so ended up shopping online at The Woolery. It was stupid; I know that now. Toni was so nice and helpful, and I could have had my Lendrum 6 weeks ago! It did cost a little more, in that I had to pay more for a carry bag (something The Woolery was offering at half price) and there was no free shipping offer; but, hey, I have my wheel and it is an object of beauty:

It went together quite easily (following the YouTube video from Paradise Fibers and I even solved the problem of a squeak it developed over the weekend as I practiced my treadling. However, taking up spinning again after such a long time (22+ years) away was another experience altogether—oh my! I started with some inexpensive ($8/lb) natural brown roving, luckily; because this spinning business is a lot harder than I remember. It is going to take a lot of practice before I can form a consistent smooth yarn with the right amount of twist in it. This is what my first spinning product looks like:

Perhaps, at length the season of spinning does come!

Well, at least sheep fleece and fiber–boxes and boxes of it, some of the fleece nicer looking than others. All in preparation for the arrival of my new spinning wheel and drum carder. I bought some plastic bins and plan to keep it all organized and labeled, so I know what I’m spinning. I also ordered a kit of kitchen-safe dyes, just in case I feel like experimenting with dyeing some of the fleece or roving myself.

(There would be photos here but I want to take them outside and it’s cold and cloudy today! Be patient.)

I got the t-shirt!

Yes, the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival was held this past weekend and, although I once again did not make it to Maryland, I was able to experience it through a number of online blogs and the wonderfully thorough description in the Knitter’s Review newsletter. Apparently this year’s show was brimming with more than just the usual overload of the sights and sound of animals (sheep, goats, rabbits, alpacas, llamas); fiber, yarn and equipment vendors; great food (including lamb burgers); spinning and knitting workshops for kids; sheep herding and shearing trials; and the judging of fleeces. It was also jampacked with festival-goers, much more so than in previous years. And, apparently, this onslaught of attendees led to a first for the fair: theft and vandlism. This was a disturbing invasion of the previously safe world of fiber enthusiasts…but Joanne Seiff has written a far more eloquent explanation on her blog than I could ever hope to: Joanne Seiff’s blog about the show. Read it and weep.

No, read it and get angry. Take action. As she says, keep your eyes and ears open. Protect the other members of our community and make the fiber world as safe as it can be for all of us.