the process

i've dyed some beautiful rovings that spun up just okay looking-nothing to write home about. i remember thinking that i wanted to dye a really ugly roving and see how the finished project would turn out. i will show you this process. i chose a bright fuscia(in honor of cyndi lauper 's 80's hair dye) and a rust. i dyed or rather painted the merino roving. the wool turned out like this:

my water is very high in iron so the rust color had a lavender bleed to it. interesting. i spun it on "bozenna" my Polish spinning wheel. i think she liked it! then plied it on "henri" my wheel from Holland.

next i wound it into a skein:

then i let it sit in a bag in my studio(closet) for months on end....maturing, ripening-or maybe till i totally forgot about it and came across it while looking for the perfect retro apron to match my outfit that was shoved into the closet(studio) at amazing speed-avalanche prevention.

i decided something "baby" would be the perfect item for this skein. i needed to wind my skein into a ball for the knitting process. i use my umbrella swift for this job. it's a wooden devise you attach to your table that aids you in effortlessly winding your skein into a ball.

or not. argh! see previous post for more photos of this escapade. then, i got to spend the rest of my morning untangling this mess. deep breathing did help with this; along with a long colorful string of specially chosen cuss words. but finally...i did achieve "ball" status.


then i parouzed ravelry and found the perfect pattern- got my knitting mojo on, added some cute buttons from meadow farm and wa-laa! the project is complete. okay i lied-rowan parouzed ravelry for me this time!

okay-so i lied again, the buttons aren't really sewn on yet. but you get the point anyway, right? maybe i need to dye more ugly rovings:)


as they say it's not the destination but the journey.

whose got a bigger head?

okay- i guess i've tortured you enough with the suspense. a couple weeks ago our fiber guild(the coolest guild EVAR!) had a spindle retreat or "camp" you might say. we gathered for a 3 day weekend at a nearby resort for camping and drop spindling. the guild has been on fire lately with the use of these ancient devices.

sara brought a gorgeous bag she wove many years ago- everyone gushed over it. turns out it was originally suppose to be a hat. but as you see.......

the hat just wasn't going to work for sara. so she turned it into a bag. in walks barbara sue-and wah-la

it fits!!! a regular "spinderella" i'd say.

unfortunately, i could only attend friday nite. but what a ball. we had a mexican potluck, lot's of spinning action and lots of rain!!! my camera batteries were nearly dead so my pictures got progressively worse as the evening wore on. i took many pics-but boy o boy-i won't post them. you know how your camera slows down when batteries start to fail. you all would totally hate me if i posted them. you look like a bunch of half lidded, opened mouth drooling.....well i better not go any further. it's not politically correct to use that word anymore. trust me. i was going to delete them but hey -you never know when you might need a good black mail photo.(insert evil laugh) here's a few that are safe to post. sorry they are so dark. amy had an amazing aray of spindles:


i was a rebel and refused to drop spindle. i hate it. i've tried it many many times. no pleasure what so ever. so why waste my time right? so i brought my wheel-"bozenna." she is a Kromski sonata from poland. i named her "bozenna" because it is the polish named for happy. my wheel make me happy. it is also a czech name for happy as well. i am part czech so i thought the named fit perfectly.

i was spinning a merino/silk blend from sweetgrass wool of montana.

many other guild members blogged about spindle camp and have great pictures. here's the list i know of so far. birdsong, sharon, heidi and amy. check their blogs out!