Believe it or not, I haven’t fallen into a fiber-induced coma and vanished off the face of the earth. I’m still here trying to make time for spinning and fiber in a rapidly filling schedule. (While juggling a change of work, vacation plans, writing, and getting ready for a friend to come visit.)
Every single scrap of Iowa fleece I have left (except for one chunk that had lots of VM) has been pre-soaked twice. All of it. Excuse me while I go collapse.
I spent I don’t know how long outside in the backyard hauling pots of water, wrestling fleece, spinning out the excess water, and shooing away any curious insects. It wiped me out. I have this feeling that the neighbors think I’m some sort of odd person — constantly lugging pots out there, whirling around spraying water in every direction — yeah. Well, if they want some wool they can have it. I just want to get it all washed by the second of August.
Why the reason for this sudden haste? A certain special friend is coming to visit next month, and she’s bringing a toy with her. Something very beneficial for those who have lots of fiber to process. Any guesses?
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I finally got a chance to dye those last couple of yarns. The lace weight merino became a kettle-dyed cherry red. As it was cooking I kept peeking into the pot to see if it was the perfect tone. It took it a while, but we finally nailed it. I think it sums up the word “luscious.”
Then I was going to dye the superwash sock yarn with browns and greens the way I normally do (pouring the dye over the top), but I really wanted a softer look. 
I decided to kettle dye the yarn green, then hit it with the brown once it was done. Halfway through the cook time I pulled the yarn out and instantly decided that adding brown would be like adding garlic to an ice cream sundae. Both nice, but together—no. Thus, the superwash has remained a beautiful limey green.
The sock yarn arrived, and I’ve dyed two skeins of it. I’ve still got one lace weight skein and a superwash skein to dye. I wish I had a few dozen more of these to do. They’re so much fun!
It’s getting into birthday season!
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Okay, so that has a double meaning. I’ve made good progress on the fifty gram skein of sport weight. In fact, it’s done. 
And I’ve made really good progress on the tam. Just an inch and a half of ribbing to do. Someone remind me when I get around to trying socks to pick a pattern that’s more interesting than “knit until piece measures six inches.” Call me picky, but when you’re not good enough to knit without looking, it gets rather boring.
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Well, of course I have socks, but I’m referring to a very special pair. A gorgeous pair. Of the “thick-warm-squishy homespun” kind.
The Finished Gawain Socks
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I have worked with the alpaca and come out on top. I have conquered, and I’m loving it.
A Bobbin of Joy
It’s really weird how different it is from regular wool. I can’t think of how to describe it expect that it’s “buttery-er” than wool. It kind of slides along. I’ve been spinning it on the Walking Wheel.
The original idea was to try for a sport weight yarn, but I don’t know if that’s what this will turn out as. I spun a gazillion little samples to see what the best amount of twist would be. (And promptly forgot which sample went with which amount of twist.) But, the alpaca seems to be behaving, and I’m getting pretty good at separating out the coarser, slippery hairs. Wait, that sounds funny—how can something be slippery and coarse? . . . but that’s really the only way I can describe it.
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Once again I didn’t get this up last night. I have an excuse, though! I was busy plying this wonderful skein of sock yarn.
Four-Ply Sock Yarn
Gawain is done! I absolutely love it when the seemingly endless thread you’ve been working on for the past who-knows-how-long comes together and makes yarn. It’s amazing.
That makes three things checked off my list. No, four. Well, I guess three. Gawain sock yarn, the lumpy yarn, the sparkly black stuff, and if you want to count it separately, this little skein from the leftover turquoise.
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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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My aunt and I decided to dye some machine-spun sock yarn in lovely shades of turquiose, chestnut, and pink. (At some point those were really trendy colors, but I don’t keep track of those things.)
The Colors
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