Well well

well well well........

Just where the heck did April go?

I AM still here, just not getting round to blogging. Too much stuff, mostly good.

Started off by, having moved in to the studio, buggering off for a week. But it was a pre-arranged trip to New York, so not sorry, and worth it. I will do a blog post about it, but I haven't even uploaded the photographs yet, so when I have..........

Been doing lots of other stuff, too, but bedding in to to studio has been the main thing. I do have wireless access down there, but I am trying hard not to spend time on the internet for the moment, as I don't want my addiction to get in the way of fibre stuff! So I want to get the good, solid work habit established first.

I spent a while sampling some fibres. First up was a very nice blend of Jacob and bamboo from Adelaide Walker. Not a soft fibre, but very characterful, and should be hard wearing. Socks, definitely, but I have a great pattern for a jacket that would look great in it. Unfortunately, I think that to get the look of yarn that I want, I will probably have to do a three ply.

Then I spent a little while sampling the first of the DSM's new batts for Woolfest.



This one is called "Smaug", and is gorgeously bright. I did make a request for some for me, but was told I would have to wait. Not exactly a hardship, as I have, shall we say, a more than adequate stash. Have been excavating it, and am at present spinning some rather lovely Pygora I got at SOAR a couple of years ago. It has started to compact, as that kind of fine fibre is prone to do, so I decided to save its life. It fits in to the plan for shawl(ettes) for studio activity.

As does the stuff I am spinning at home (and, yes, I do seem to have my spinning mojo back). I was given some lovely merino and silk by a friend in California last autumn, always intended to be a shawl. Going through stash sorting, I found a silk brick that I at first thought was another hank of the merino/silk, but wasn't. Just almost exactly the same colourway, amazingly.



Merino/silk on the left, silk brick on the right. One from the US, one from the UK!

So, the body will be the one, and the other will enable me to try out the idea I had for a shawl with a free form crochet edging in lieu of lace or fringe. Might be quite cool, eh?

Quite a bit coming up including a workshop down south. The DSM has prep to do for Woolfest mainly, and we have stuff on order/in transit. Should be some great Greensleeves spindles arriving soon. MIT to mention that as the weather is finally improving, there is gardening and outside work to be done!

I'll do me best!