This is just what I need to continue my coin spindling:
Archive for the ‘Spinning’ Category
Micro-Blogging
2008
09.05
09.05
Oops! I have not thought about this blog much lately. With 2 to 3 client projects running at any given time, all I’ve been doing is micro-blogging. You know, like twitter, Plurk, etc. It’s just so very easy to update with a quick sentence or two. I don’t even need to open a browser to do that. Just use AIM or text from my mobile phone.
I am getting the rhythm of my new BUSIER schedule. Not easy for an introvert to be switching hats frequently. But I am getting it. I must also apologize for forgetting to reply to emails. I am slowly learning to multi-task a little instead of diving into one thing and not wanting to get out until it’s done. You know, a Virgo thing maybe?
Anyway, I am still here. And here’s a little coin spindling with cotton to show you that I am still thinking about fiber, too! 
I Am So In Love…
2008
08.28
08.28
…with these spindles that I received in the mail today!
These are Coin Spindles from Dragonfly Farm (think Alden Amos, author of the “Big Book of Handspinning“, and Stephenie Gaustad). It’s really hard to describe the feeling I got when test-spinning each one of these. So well-balanced, so smooth, felt so right. I am so happy that I decided to get these instead of the other, more ordinary, takli spindles. And look, they are made of old, retired coins! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Thank you Stephenie and Alden. And thank you Sylvia for giving me that inspiration to contact Stephenie.
Now I can get my cotton spinning going. Next thing to figure out is a system to ply from these spindles.
More Photos of Kate’s English Garden Angel
2008
08.16
08.16
Yes, that’s the name I gave to the yarn that I am spinning now on Ravelry. It’s quite light and airy. I am pretty happy with the result. I just have to duplicate it for the other half of the fiber. Oy! There will be four more hours of plying. I must remember not to start the process too late in the evening.
Click on them to go to Flickr and see the photos in their original uploaded sizes. You can sort of see the sparks. But they don’t look anything like what you can see in real person. Full of colors and fires. Silver Hologram Angelina is quite amazing.
It Pays To Be On Ravelry
2008
08.15
08.15
Yes it does. Someone I know was contacted by Spin-Off about their knitted with hand-spun project. They wanted to feature it in an article in an upcoming issue. Sorry that I have to be very, very vague. Don’t think that Spin-Off would appreciate any info leaked out on issues not yet published. What I am saying is that get your projects listed on Ravelry. Give details. Lots of details. Take serious photos of your projects. Make them beautiful. Tag them smartly. Someone just might want to show off your items in their publications.
Did I give anything away? No? Good. In other news. I got a new toy!
I blame Chris for this. He got me to start text messaging seriously. (It’s great for an introvert. 
) I had to get a proper tool for that! Great timing though. I was up for a nice discount for phone upgrade. So I got this green LG Rumor. Apparently the green represents green earth, being green. I didn’t know that. What a nice surprise. I feel so connected!
Thanks for a giant box of tea and cotton fiber, Chris! I will make you proud!
I’ve been busy spinning, too. A couple of hours each day. I did plying last night. Man! It took 4 hours to finish the 774 yards of 2-ply Merino/Angelina. And it’s only half done. Got about 4 more oz left to do. I think it’s quite nice though. Here are a couple of pictures. I will take another one when it’s dry. Hopefully it will show the sparkles better.
GLASG Meeting July 2008
2008
07.30
07.30
July meeting was great! I didn’t do any knitting or spinning. As it turned out, I was high (or low) on paint fumes from helping our new roomy paint her room. (Love the new color!) I was just chilling and chatting with people the whole time.
There were a lot of donated items for guild raffles. The proceeds are going to the Heifer Project in honor of Twisted Ruth (Ruth Schooley). There were tons of fiber, yarn, books, magazines and other stuff. I donated a set of five Japanese ceramic bowls.
Lots of Show n’ Tells. Hand-spun yarns. Yarns made at the Pluckyfluff Workshop. Finished knitting projects (check out Jill’s lace shawl.) And Deb and Helene’s woven pieces!
Old friends and new friends.
New roomy (with her Loch Ness Monster knitting project)!
And I met Ercil who brought her tablet weaving to the meeting. I wanted to see her tablet weaving and maybe ask a few questions. But like I said, I was high (or low) on paint fumes, and let that chance slipped away. Hope to see her in the next meeting. I also couldn’t figure out why I knew of her. Later I realized that I had seen her in Ruth’s photos of their recent gathering that included Sylvia, Stephenie Gaustad, and Joy.
I’ve started a new spinning project. Well, maybe not totally new. I am spinning blue merino fiber that I carded with some silver hologram Angelina for sparkles. The goal is to knit a Ostrich Plumes Stole for Kate. I am also spinning this for Ruth’s Spin for Peace group on Ravelry. Yeah, I started early. 
Happenings
2008
07.04
07.04
Hi all! A few things to update you on. CB is in the hospital. Nothing to worry about at the moment. He hasn’t been feeling well for a couple of weeks. He started having difficulty breathing last week, causing headaches and fatigue. He finally was willing to go to the doctor yesterday morning. The doc immediately found the oxygen level in CB too low and sent him to the emergency room. They performed tests on him for the entire afternoon and could not find the cause. Finally in the evening after doing a CT scan, they found pneumonia in a hard to detect region of the lungs. So, now he’s in the hospital for a few days to get better. They are also performing extra tests to see there’s anything else. It’s a relief to have found the cause of his illness. Now we can focus on getting better.
Remember that yarn that I named Forest Jewels?
I am going to start knitting something with it. I’ve always had Drifting Pleats from the book Knitting New Scarves
I joined Katherine’s Le Tour de Fleece 2008.
I had so much fun spinning and knitting for Fibre to Scarf Exchange, I thought I’d join up another spinning challenge. Maybe I’ll do well again doing a project with time restraint? We’ll see. Now I have to find something in the stash to get going.
Happy Fourth of July! I’ll be spending the afternoon with CB.
OH! Almost forgot. Chris, here’s the cotton I have to work with:
I am not an experienced cotton person. Maybe it is usual to get cotton in this condition. (It was given to me.) I have at least 30 times more of this cotton. What do you think? Keep or let go?
