Spin me a tale...

Three weeks ago I had a great opportunity presented to me. Was I able to go to a spinner's retreat with a friend who's mom couldn't make it due to health issues? Yes I was! It was in Summerside, PEI, the Maritime Spinners Retreat.

I had never spun around "mundane" people before, only within the SCA at events, so I was nervous about what to expect, but it was a very good time and reignited my love for spinning, both on my Schacht Ladybug wheel which I took along, and on my many spindles, drop and supported. I was able to learn, and teach, and show and tell, including being talked into participating in their fashion show with my shirt I had brought along. I had knit it from Jaggerspun Zephyr wool/silk laceweight around 2008, I think, and about 5 years ago accidentally shrunk it in the wash, but it somehow still fit! A bit cropped, however. 

I took the opportunity to get back to spinning some laceweight brown Shetland I had started on my wheel several years ago, and got through almost the whole second ply over the weekend. I had never spun so much within 3 days! Unfortunately when I got home, I realized I had spun the 2 bobbins in opposite directions! Thankfully I have some black Shetland that I will use as the second ply for both, the colors are so close I'm not worried about it.

Fiber was also bought, because of course I had to, gotta support the vendors! From the upper left, 2 bags of unknown wool bits and bobs from Red Island Fibre, a Polworth/llama/tussah silk braid from Shades of Ewe, a merino Autumn Leaves pack from Good Fibrations, Rideau Arcott wool and a pin that I won as my door prize, and Manx Loaghtan and Zwartbles wool from Shades of Ewe again.

I was also inspired when I got home to get back to spinning the Jacob fleece that I bought back in 2010. Apparently projects need to age appropriately or something for me. But I wound off the first cop onto a toilet paper roll, and have gotten started on a second spindle. The first was around 26 g, if I remember, so will aim for around the same. Eventually I also have the brown part of the fleece to get to.

I will be posting more about my spinning adventures now that I've been reenergized for this craft again, but that's all for now.

Blankets are big!

Yeah, I've started my first blanket, and am just now starting to realize that blankets are big, and that's a lot of square inches to be making by hand.

I'm making the Moderne Log Cabin blanket in 3 shades of blue and a grey in Red Heart Comfort, because it's not a bad feel for acrylic, and I can get a lot of it without breaking the bank. The picture to the left is where the first 3 blocks join up.

The corner isn't quite straight, but I'm also still figuring out how to pick up stitches that looks good to me. I think I have it figured out now, but I still have about 31 ridges, so 62 rows, left to go before I finish block 3 (the dark blue). I had hoped to finish that block today, but it's already starting to look more like tomorrow.

In the same vein, I was kind of hoping to finish this for Christmas, not as a gift, but as a handy deadline so we can actually use this blanket this season, as I'm hoping it will fit on our queen size bed (what was I thinking?!) But maybe for New Year's Day instead? We're looking at spending 4-5 days for Christmas at his parent's place, so lots of knitting time, I hope.

I went down to the new (well, as of either this last June, or the one before) location of the Halifax Farmer's Market (oldest in North America, from the signs), and picked up a pretty skein of yarn from Lismore Sheep Farms. This picture is a bit more neon than the skein actually is, but my phone likes to emphasize the reds/pinks:

I will try to post more updates on the blanket, and other things as they cross my needles. I have some rather large plans for 2012, the hard part is picking which plans to do, because I can't do them all in one year!