Practicing my spinning

I am practicing my spinning. I am trying to learn to spin thinner so that I can eventually make a 2-3 ply sock weight yarn. I think I am starting to get the hang of it. What do you think?

Look what I purchased

I purchased this gorgeous fiber from Creatively Dyed.

It is a Superwash Merino/Sea Cell blend. I have read some wonderful information about the benefits of Sea Cell. I am going to spin this into sock yarn to knit myself some socks. I am hoping that the Sea Cell with work its magic. I have Fibromyalgia (as I may have mentioned before in this blog). It causes terrible problems in MANY different ways. One of those problems is inflammation. The inflammation in my feet has caused Morton's Neuromas in both of my feet. The cortizone shots have not had any effect in reducing the swelling or pain.

Well, according to the research, Sea Cell is supposed to have anti-inflammatory properties. Here is a link to the research information.

http://www.louet.com/downloads/seacellinfosheet.pdf

New Zealand Romney

This weeken I cleaned some New Zealand Romney that I am going to dye and blend with my just recently cleaned Alpaca. My plan is to use the yarn that I make from this blend to knit a Danish shawl.

Here is a Romney before I cleaned it

Here is a picture of my cleaned Romney

My clean Alpaca fleece

Well, it is all done. My fleece is all picked clean and washed.

Here it is

DIY spinning tools

I decided I needed a few items to make my fiber and spinning preparation easier. But I don't have the funds to pay the higher prices for the items I wanted. So I decided to head to my local hardware store (dad's basement, hehe) and see what I could do about a DIY project.

The first project I made was a Kniddy Knoddy. I purchases 3 pieces of PVC and 2 "t" connectors.
I then cut one of the pieces of PVC to measure 16". I then cut the other PVC into 4 pieces each measuring 6". I sanded the cut ends, placed the "T" connectors on each end, placed a 6" piece in each end of the "T" connectors and there you go. Your own Kniddy Knoddy. And it is water proof.

The other item I made was a screen to hold my wet fiber on for drying. I used some left over window screen and scrap wood. I used some metal braces to hold the corners together and provide some added support. I then stapled the screen to the wood frame. Voila... fiber screen.

What a day!

Good thing I had planned on being home from work today. I had originally planned on taking the day off of work to stay home with my son because the summer daycare program won't start until June 16. Well, as I am writing this, the plummer is working under the house to fix a nasty little leak in our pipes. YIKES!!! There goes all my fiber money. :(

Well, my little guy ended up going to grandma's house for the weekend so I have the whole day to myself (besides the plummer). What do I do... I spend the entire day cleaning my Alpaca fleece.

I spent the whole day cleaning and getting no where. At least that is how is feels. So thanks to many helpful folks on my favorite website, Ravelry, I hopped into the car and drove to the pet store. Pet store you say. Why go there? Well, I found some great dog combs (more like rakes) that I can you like fiber combs. Just a LOT cheaper. I researched on the web and found that a pair of combs for combing fiber cost a minimum of about $90. Well, I purchased my combs for $7 each. Much better.

Here is a picture of my dog combs.

Father's Day cards

As you can see from these two cards I created for my dad and husband, I am yearning for the ocean. I so need a vacation.

Here is the card I made for my dad.

The orignial intent was for this card to look like a Lighthouse engulfed by a misty fog. The finished look didn't quite match the vision in my head. So, I had to take apart the card and relayer the images.

This is the card I made for my husband. I have been wanting to try this technique for a while. I love the look of a bright sunset. The idea was to use a brayer to spread the 3 layers of color. However, my brayer spread absolutely nothing. So I compromised with the ink pad and just turned the ink pad upside down and wiped it around the paper. I then did some touch ups with a sponge.

My first handspun yarn

This is my first handspun yarn created on my Louet spinning wheel.

My plans for this weekend

This weekend I will be spending my entire time cleaning this Alpaca fleece.

Over a year ago, I purchased some raw Alpaca fleece from a farm. Unfortunately, the fleece that arrive at my home did not meet the description in the ad. This fleece had HEAVY VM and dirt. Can we say lesson learned. This was my very first fiber of any kind that I purchased to spin. This before I had actually learned to spin (I was signed up for a class, then the class got cancelled). So chalk it up to being a newbie.

Well here is a picture of the fiber I will be cleaning.

Lighthouse Quilted wall hanging

I made this card for my co-worker to congratulate her on becoming a grandma, and a quilted wall hanging for her daughter and the new baby boy. The theme for his nursery is the ocean.