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DSC_0239 i hadn’t been spinning much because the boy moved in, then i realized that i needed to get going with selling stuff because i’m broke, so in early july i picked up this fiber i’d had sitting around forever and got to work on it. from the get-go, my wheel was fighting me. it was super stiff (the wheel itself), and the flyer was hardly making a whole revolution before it would come to a really tight stop. the treadles were grinding and would shift positions without even turning the wheel. i tried everything. i adjusted the drive band, the tension band, the position of the flyer. we removed the wheel and the treadles and greased them up and put it all back together. still could barely get the thing to go. it was a workout just to get the treadles to move! so frustrating. i just gave up.

so i thought perhaps it was an issue of how thin i was spinning with the regular bobbin and flyer, and that maybe i should switch to the lace flyer. i had that thought like a month ago and just today decided to check it out. still no improvement. just as i was getting ready to stand up to go to my computer to email majacraft, the wheel loosened up, the treadling became effortless again, and the flyer started turning with no problems. how weird is that?? i finished the bobbin i had started so long ago and churned out the second one this evening, and have already moved on to plying. i don’t know what it was, but i’m so glad it’s over.

if you were wondering why i stopped spinning for so long, that was it. i’m excited to get back into it. my whole office is (still) carpeted with unspun fiber, so i’ll have plenty to keep me busy. today when i was sitting around feeling lonely and miserable, i remembered why i started spinning in the first place: to keep from feeling lonely and miserable. so i’m going to embrace it again and be productive and hope everything else falls into place, as it always does.

i wish things were like they used to be, a few years ago, when we all seemed to have so much less to worry about, we were crafting and posting about stupid, silly things, and (seemed to me, anyway) were so much less stressed. it’s so weird where you end up without even realizing it.

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DSC_1091, originally uploaded by kittenlogic.

it’s been a while since i’ve posted any awesome yarn since i’ve been busy hating my job and dealing with life drama. i started this one a while back but JUST NOW finished it because my bulky bobbin was acting funny. i don’t know what the issue was, but the tension was all crazy and i couldn’t get it to spin properly, so i kept sitting down to ply, plying a few yards, then would get so frustrated that i just stopped.

anyway, this is my superwash BFL in “an honest prairie life.” i loved the fiber like crazy, i LOVED spinning the singles (the fiber handles wonderfully), and i love the yarn even more despite the annoyance during the plying stage. it’s 2-ply, and about 306 yards. i guess it’s a lace-fingering weight but i haven’t checked it yet. soft, but not as soft as a merino would be. either way, i’m definitely pleased by the outcome!

it’s pretty thrilling when i realize that school is out in just a couple of weeks, and i have no obligations this summer other than trying to find a new job. i really want to get on the fiber train … i feel like i’ve missed so much time being so miserable for so long! i miss kittenlogic :(

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DSC_0976

DSC_0976,
originally uploaded by kittenlogic.

as usual, i made my way down to maryland this year for the s&w, and found it even more packed than last year. it’s really getting totally ridiculous. we sat in traffic for an hour and 20 minutes trying to go the last half mile to the fairgrounds. people had bailed out of their cars and were walking! it was literally like, crazytown.

in addition to the completely unreasonable traffic, it was about 90 degrees yesterday, the hottest i ever remember it being for this festival. after meeting with my dad and stepmom real quick, we went directly into the main exhibition barn where i pillaged littlebarn’s booth like a fiber hungry she-viking, then returned promptly to the car to deposit my lewt since it was super heavy and i felt my death approaching. i got no pictures of the actual fest except for a couple of alpaca loaves i snapped on my phone, because it was so damn hot i had to abandon my purse.

so in addition to eating nonstop and drinking a gallon of liquid (literally a gallon; i had 2 lime fizzes which were in 32oz containers, and one huge travel cup of lemonade, and my thermos of koolaid), my travel partner grabbed some really pretty sparkly yarn and a shawl pin, and i located creativelydyed so i could snatch up more of her amazing merino/seacell blend.

it was a day well spent, and i think i may have enticed another person into the joyous world of spinning, since my travel partner wanted to borrow my old wheel for a while! she was really checking out the hitchhiker while we were there, but couldn’t drop $300 on something she might not be into. so i gave her my old one til she makes up her mind, and figured hey, come october, you can commit if you’re really into it. so in a few months, we’ll have another awesome fiber adventure ahead of us.

anyone else go, or was it just jessica and me? how’d you do?

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IMG_1151
Originally uploaded by kittenlogic

i dyed a ton of fiber on sunday, then finished up the last batches last night. i like to do two of each, because if i dye something i love, i have a hard time putting it up for sale. this way, i know that there’s at least one left for me :-)

i wish i had more time. i really want to spin, but i have so much school stuff to worry about that i’m having a hard time scheduling it in. i DO have a 3 day weekend this week, though, so i guess i’ll take advantage of it.

anyway, those ridiculous pink/purple/orange batts are made from some of that fiber that holly sent me a while ago. 75% wool and 25% alpaca. i love love love the way it spins. so hairy and wonderful, like romney. the hard-to-see lime/purple/teal batts underneath those are 50/50 wool/alpaca. i’m excited to work on those!

i need a longer dayyyyyyyy. oh, and more money. because i don’t have ANY.

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100_2172
Originally uploaded by kittenlogic.

on a lighter note, here’s the yarn that came from my dyed batts. there was absolutely no problem spinning them except for a few spots that weren’t carded as smoothly as i’d liked, but other than that, this yarn came out fabulous. nice and super thin, and i haven’t yet measured the yardage yet, but i know that it’s at least 500 yards – probably a good 550.

the color isn’t quite what i had expected, even though i still like it a lot. i expected it to be a lot lighter, but it was so thin that it darkened up quite a bit. also, since i was spinning from a batt, i tended to start spinning from the fold because it’s quicker and easier and requires less concentration, but that made really weird color blends that weren’t so great.

the third thing for next time is to make smaller skeins. this took forever from start to finish, just like pink elephant did. next time i’ll either spin two smaller skeins or just sell one set of the batts, or something. i was literally in pain after finishing plying this beast. NEVER AGAIN!

the other photos are on flickr but there’s no info yet. i’ll do that later. sometime i’ll post a little process post, because i know some people are interested in/curious about the whole batt dyeing thing.

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