Is it really Tuesday?

Yesterday was President's Day here. What kind of holiday is President's Day? The kids had no school, so I threw myself on the sword and stayed home with them. We had fun - no really. There were 2 fabulous TV marathons on Law and Order on TNT and The West Wing on Bravo. I spent much of the day switching between the 2 stations, and spinning. We made jewelry with the ton of beads I have. I promised them they didn't have to get dressed if they didn't want to and they didn't. Sassy said, "Don't you tell me to get dressed. You said I could wear jammies all day!"

On Saturday, I spent the day with my spinning friends at our annual Winter Fleece Fair. Imagine a middle school cafeteria with all the tables filled with pounds of wool - natural, colored, multi-colored. It's sensory overload. I did end up coming home with a Turkish spindle, a 1.5 yard niddy-noddy, 8 oz of amazing orange/yellow swirl roving, and a 2 oz ball of blue/yellow/green/white that Sassy couldn't live without. She's learning to drop spindle. I gave her the one I made at SOAR and bought her some light green roving a couple of weeks ago. It's very lumpy bumpy, but she keeps asking, "Why doesn't it look like yours? Why isn't mine smooth?" I have to dig out my very first handspun and give it to her. She doesn't quite believe that I was ever bad at spinning. I love the faith my 8-year-old has in me.

This is a Turkish spindle:


It's not mine (only because I was too lazy to take a picture of it this morning), but it gives you an idea of what one looks like. I'll try it out this week. I'm more partial to high-whorl spindles, but the Turkish spindle is great because you can push the shaft out from the 2 cross pieces and then pull out the cross pieces and you have a center pull ball. How cool is that?

I tried to restrain myself from buying and buying on Saturday because I really have more roving than I think I can handle right now. I saw some lovely roving from England and picked up several balls. Then remembered that I had a sampler pack at home that hasn't even been opened. I went home and dug through the fiber stash - found the bag (which has 7 different kinds of roving in it - in 2 oz balls). When I finished the gorgeous blue wool/tencel blend that I had, I pulled open the sampler bag. I started with the Black Welsh. It's coarse, but feels springy and wonderful. I think it would make a great coat - or rug, something that won't be worn close to the skin. I'll keep you posted on my progress. I have a goal to spin up a bunch of fiber by the time the Fall Fleece Fair rolls around. Maybe I'll sell the yarn or make something and sell that.

One more progress report, I finished seaming the Emerald Isle pullover and tired it on. It's a little form-fitting, but not unattractively so. I'm about 1/2 way done with the bottom band and have to do the neckline. Do I need a "finish by" date? Probably - I'll keep you posted on that too.