The alpaca socks are done! And, amazingly enough, I discovered that it’s been over a year since I began them. Yep. I started them in January of last year. If you want to follow along with the knitting saga take a look a these posts from February 19th, 2010 and January 19th, 2011.
Oh, and to make things even better, somehow, someway I ended up knitting one sock on size ones, and the other on size twos. No, I’m not ripping it back and starting over. They both stay on my feet, and the difference isn’t too huge unless you notice that one is an inch or so shorter than the other. A good reason to not repeat the “it takes a year to finish these” method.
About the same time I finished those up, I finished spinning the singles for my “Violet, You’re Turning Violet.” Hurrah! A lovely bluefaced leicester and silk blend. I’m thinking it will turn out as a DK or light worsted weight. Two ply.
While I was photographing the singles, I started playing around with a clock key and wound up with this photo. (No pun intended.) The colors are slightly off, but I like the feel of the picture.
Ta-da! All two pounds of fiber dyed blue and dry. Now we come to fun part. Spinning them. And spinning them ASAP.
At the time, I wanted to have all this yarn spun up by mid-October, and I still do— (I hear the rustle of calendars as you look at the date. I can dream, can’t I?) It didn’t seem so difficult at the time, but the trouble was that my usual loyal, supportive G. P. Adams & Co wheel was full of silk. And I did not have time to finish spinning that project before I began the indigo. Therefore it was time to try out the two antique spinning wheels that my father bought. Scary scary. Two unknown wheels and a deadline. I started with the one that treadled best. 
This poor wheel had literally come to us in pieces and had been put back together by my grandpa. On its maiden voyage (ha ha) it behaved well for a while, then began throwing a fit. And throwing its drive band.
When that didn’t deter me, it decided to snap the single at any and every opportunity, and if it could snap the single about two inches after I had rejoined it, that was even better! Well, I couldn’t sit around and deal with it so I put it in the corner to think over its attitude and got out the other wheel.
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Yes, you read that right. A very good friend (and fellow spinner!) sent me some fur from her dog for my birthday present. 
That stuff is so soft! It’s unwashed at the moment, which is driving my dog nuts. I can hardly wait to get started with it. I think I’ll spin it first, then wash it. That will help keep the fibers from felting or getting tangled. Which is pretty much the same thing, now that I think about it. (Unless you want to get into the molecular structure of felted fibers.)
I’m going to spin it on the Great Wheel as soon as I finish up the fall colored fleece. Talk about motivation! Let’s get that fleece done! She also sent some rescued cotton bits from pill bottles. I’m very curious to see how they will behave on the wheel.
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Waves of Fiber
I’ve been having lots of fun spinning up the Gawain batt. The colors are turning out gorgeously!
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