Anyway, among the various thoughts that were flying around in my head - those that are repeatable, anyway - was that if I had to be awake, maybe the best thing to do would be to get up and actually so something. And this time, instead of spinning, I could write a blog post. Just by way of a change........
I have been spinning. I have been knitting. I have even been dyeing. I have also been having a stupid but fortunately relatively mild case of labyrinthitis, which not only made me feel very seedy for a few days, but meant we had to cancel a trip to Cornwall to visit DMIL, as well as a workshop down in the South West. Deeply annoying in so many ways. Still, it does seem to be over. I saw our gp today, and he said - seriously - well, there is a lot of it about. I didn't know there could be a lot of labyrinthitis about, but apparently there can. The only small good thing that has come out if it is that the medication I was given can also be used to prevent seasickness, so that is me all set for the ferry to Shetland next week. Next Week!!! Wow.
So, I have been doing stuff. Two knitting projects are going well. The silly long thin strip if knitting to go around my neck that isn't a scarf is nearly finished, although I may well ornament it with some beads. The silver grey alpaca and silk sweater has a back completed and the front nearly ditto. The yarn is lovely to knit, and works up - obviously - quite fast.
Spinning. I labour on with some silk. I would abandon it, but it is a splendid match for another yarn I have spun and I need the silk to do the project I have in mind. But it is a horrible prep. I am very disappointed in it. I am pretty sure that it came from a very well know, well regarded and expensive supplier, a dyed brick, but the quality of the silk is poor. If it were wool, I would describe it as neppy. I keep having to stop and remove slugs of short stapled bits that won't draft out properly, and because of the, I find I can't do a satisfactory extended draw which would be my preference, so it is proving quite hard on my hands. Ah, we'll, nearly done. The end result is going to be far from my best spinning, but I will finish it!
This is a lot better, though. It is a three ply yarn intended for socks spun from a dyed Shetland top. It had been in my stash for a while, and had got a bit disheveled, but still drafted ok and I really like the yarn. It is going to be a travel project.
Then, I suddenly felt inspired to dye the white Polwarth and silk that I finished quite a while back. I have about a kilo of Aran weight, plenty for an oversized probably cabled waistcoat. The colour is slightly more towards a raspberry red than the photo might appear.
I do hope that these photos work. Flickr has been totally revamped, and I find myself struggling with it. Perhaps not too surprising at one in the morning!
