Catching Up

Life has been just TOO busy!

Wait, I always say that, don’t I?  Yeah, but I usually post at least once a month and this time it’s almost two months!  People are going to think I dropped off the planet!

I was taking an online programming class, but it was just too much to handle that along with everything else so I gave myself permission to drop the class and move on.  Now THAT is a huge step for me because “quit” is a four letter word!  But I wasn’t getting anything else done, either, and I really wanted to start participating in other events.

And I’m glad I did, because I finished plying my second skein of yarn!

I purchased a jumbo flyer and it worked out great.  I loved having that extra large bobbin because I didn’t have to tie off the yarn ends in the middle of a skein.  I’m hoping my regular size yarn winder will be sufficient when it comes time to actually make something with this skein.  It feels wonderful!  So squishy and soft, but I have no idea what to make out of it!

For Memorial Day weekend (US), I took a trip to Montana to visit my mom and I took my wheel along, too.  With the amount of visiting we do, I figured I could setup my wheel and I’d get a TON of spinning in.  Well, I started, anyway!  Mom helped me pick  a BFL / Silk combination, one of two roving options I brought along.  This one isn’t going so well, it’s like I’m not spinning tightly enough and the single strand is pulling apart.  I posted on Ravelry and someone suggested that the jumbo flyer isn’t rotating as fast as the regular sized flyer so I either need to speed up or change back to the other flyer.  I’m going to try increasing my speed first, that seems to be a little less hassle.

While I was in Montana I did several odd jobs around the house for Mom, including installing a lattice fence into a trellis and fixing a door knob.  But it wasn’t all work and no play!  We ate lots of ice cream, attended a backyard barbeque and we petted the cats a LOT!

We even saw a vintage sewing machine used in a store’s window display and we had to go in to talk to them about it.

I looked up the serial number for them, it was a Singer 66 from 1947.  I found out they have a whole basement full of old sewing machines left by the former owner.  I was itching to go down to see them, but I didn’t ask because it was almost closing time.  I told them how they could find the serial number on the ISMACS website so they could find out more about them later.

I’ve got quilt pictures and new vintage sewing machines to share, too, but this post is long enough for one day.  Thanks for stopping by!

Handspun Yarn!

Today I met with the Emmett Spinners at the Triangle Restaurant in Sweet, Idaho and my friend, Cheri, showed me how to ply singles.

The pink is from Fiber Train 2012 and the dark brown is from Fiber Train 2013, held over Memorial Day weekend in Nampa, Idaho.  The photo of the yarn on the bobbin looks black, but it’s really a wonderful color of  dark brown that has a tint of cherry to it.

I only have standard sized bobbins so I had to break it a part and ply them on 2 different bobbins to use up all of the brown singles.  That means I don’t have one long hank of yarn and I joined the ends with knots.  I chose knots for now, because I have no idea what this is going to become and I just want it held together all in one skein.  Oh, wait, I still have more of the pink to ply with brown before I will be completely finished.

I also got instruction from Rhonda on how to set the twist on the yarn.  I was so excited about having come this far I didn’t want to stop, so after I left the get together I went to Puffy Mondaes and bought a PVC pipe niddy noddy.

During the winding process some of the twist came out of the yarn.  Eventually I cut that part out and re-worked it and then added it back in with another knot.  Purposely adding knots isn’t ideal, but it was either that or lose out on precious yardage.  It only weighs in at 3.8 oz.

Also, I was on the phone with my brother and didn’t have the patience to wait until after the call to research the problem on YouTube or post to the forums.  I really don’t have any patience, despite what I hear when people look at my quilting!

And now I have yarn hanging in my bathroom!

I had planned to spin more of the brown roving tonight, as I didn’t have the same amount of brown singles as I did pink singles when I started today but I’d forgotten my bag of goodies at the restaurant that included the very item I needed to accomplish this task.  So, it’ll have to wait for another time because I have a lot of quilting to do tomorrow!

I can’t believe I finally plied something!