Monday, April 18, 2022

A PEEK AT WHAT I'M WORKING ON

A recent discovery is Lindsey and her site at 
www.artifactsofappreciation
up in Canada.
She is an avid spinner/knitter who sells the most luscious batts to spin up.
So yummy they include wool, alpaca, silk and kid mohair all carded together.
Above I separated the 5 batts she sent me into smaller segments.
Each batt was a bit different but they all flow beautifully together
as you can see.
The top half are separated into 8ths and then staggered,
the bottom half are separated into 4ths and lined up into rows.
Then I experimented spinning and plying them different ways.
I also wanted to add a bit more color into some of the yarns.
I had a braid of Blue Faced Leister wool and Tussah silk
that seemed to look good combined with Linsey's batts,
bought from Cowgirls Yarn in Laramie, Wyoming.
Below a much thinner length of the braid being auditioned & ready to spin up.
You can really see above the shine of the Tussah silk peeking out in all the batts.

So from left to right below,
the first skein is one of the experiments plied on itself,
same with the second skein.
I liked the second one better because more of the darker fibers showed up.
The 3rd skein is the braid spun up and plied on itself
Btw, 
I also experimented with how to spin up these batts,
woolen or worsted,
long or short draw or off the fold.
I ended up spinning long draw woolen off the fold for the most softness and shine.
My favorite skein is the 4th one,
 a singles of the braid plied with a singles of Lindsey's batts.
A close-up below.
I haven't used my spinning wheel in at least 3 years now,
and it just feels so good to get back at it.
Because spinning is a global skill,
like riding a bicycle,
it comes right back to you.
Super relaxing while I binge on Netflix's Longmire,
a modern Western murder mystery series about a Wyoming sheriff,
his Deputies & town,
and the Cheyanne people that live on the reservation nearby.
Starring the older but still very handsome Australian actor,
Robert Taylor,
as well as Lou Diamond Philips and A. Martinez. 
The scenery is gorgeous so I looked to see where it was filmed.
Several locations in New Mexico were used
including Santa Fe, Eagles Nest, Espanola, Red River, Los Alamos and Las Vegas.
And the most iconic location in the series is Longmire's log cabin 
filmed in the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

So what to make out of these delicious yarns?
Stay turned for my next post,
or ha ha,
maybe my next one after that. 

8 comments:

  1. Yes, we so loved the Longmire series. Those areas of NM are some of our favorites. When we were passing through Las Vegas last year, we drove down to the town plaza and my husband wanted his picture taken on the steps of his law office. Valles Caldera is amazing as well. My brother goes frequently at sunrise to watch the flight of hundreds of birds take off. Eagles Nest was a favorite camping area my parents took us to as children. Hope you can visit sometime. Carol AKA grannaishere (at) verizon (dot) net - I have trouble commenting through google

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    1. Hello Carol! Really enjoyed reading your comment. I always told my students that if they ever needed to find me in retirement, I'd be somewhere in New Mexico, one of my favorite states in the U.S. But haven't gotten there yet. So to see so much of it in the Longmire series was amazing! Sadly I finished it last night while knitting with my handspun yarns. I've heard the series Yellowstone is a great one as well. Thank you for you lovely comment!

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  2. I clicked on the profile picture of a younger you at the spinning wheel ... and re-read your profile ... School of Dreams is at the Austin Public Library, so I put a hold on it ...

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    1. Oh my gosh Liz, I am so honored and thrilled you did that! Wow!!! I hope you enjoy it, Edward Humes is a wonderful writer and became a great friend in the year he spent at our school. Let me know if you enjoy the book.

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  3. Oh, lovely lovelies! You make me want to dust off my wheel...

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    1. It feels so good to spin again! Great to see you here. xoxoxo

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  4. Hi Debra I can imagine how wonderful it would be to sit at your spinning wheel again. I enjoyed visiting your blog today and reading some of the recent posts. Best wishes to you xo

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    1. So very happy you stopped by Judy. And I'm loving spinning so much that I'm in the process of restoring an older Ashford wheel. Can't wait to see how it will spin. xoxox

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