Jeff e-mailed me at work yesterday to say my spinning wheel was ready to pick up! With a little creative financial geniusing he managed to get enough money to pay my wheel off and I brought the Majacraft Rose spinning wheel home last night.
Majacraft Rose |
It was snowing. It stuck but it won't stay.
It's our first snow of the year in the valley and almost everyone is glad to see it. Those who aren't are lamenting the weather change but when God says it should snow, who's gonna argue? Not me. Meanwhile, I sit comfy and warm in my home with Jeff, the birds and our hedgehog while the dogs play in the snow, the cats avoid it at all costs and the chickens peck at it suspiciously. It's the chickens' first snow since they were hatched and when I let them out of the coop this morning they were afraid of the snow. I don't know if they thought I had manufactured it to throw them off or if it was a dangerous creature in a hitherto unseen form but they hid under their coop for a while before deciding it was safe to venture out. I spread a little of the parrot's leftover seed on the ground and that seemed to encourage the chickens to peck at the snow and make sure they were going to be OK. Chickens indeed!
Fog is rolling in now so we have some low lying clouds coming in to sit on the hill top we live on. It's going to be a gloomy day I fear. Tonight is the Canyon County Christmas show at the Idaho Center and Jeff is going to take me tonight to look around. I just love craft shows. My friend Carol is at one today selling her wares at a booth. I hope she does really well. Her hand spun yarns and hand knit hats and cowls and gloves and socks are the best ever! Tomorrow she is going to teach me to make soap. At our holiday bazaar at work someone brought in goats' milk soap to sell. It smelled alright at first but it had an "after smell" that was unpleasant and it seemed like it would be one of those soaps that smelled great the first 2 times you used it and after that the nice scent would be gone and the nasty smell would be all that was left until the soap was a sliver. Carol's soap stays lathery and smells good up until the very last particle has been used. THAT is the kind of soap I would be proud to make. And she is going to be generous enough to teach me!! And now that the holiday bazaar is over, I have to buckle down and learn to knit for real and true. No more crochet deadlines are hanging over my head so it's time to get serious about knitting. I am also going to start spinning straight angora rabbit fur now that I have my new wheel. I'm using the roving that came with it to learn the ins and outs and settings of the wheel and whorl and then I'm going to focus on angora. It's almost time to shear Licorice, my black angora rabbit. She's so fluffy right now!! The little tufts at the tips of her ears have grown out and she looks like a cross between a gnome and a rabbit. She's adorable and of course, soooooooo soft! That black fur is going to spin into something beautiful! This coming spring I hope to acquire another angora rabbit. I have a huge merino fleece to start working with too. My friend let me borrow her book by Margaret Stover on preparing and spinning merino wool. It's not for the faint hearted that's for sure. I'm wondering if I shouldn't get one more fleece to play around with that's not quite as fine as merino. I'll have to think on that for a bit though. I have more than enough to focus on for now.
Well, off to play with the birds and eat some snacks. No church for us today because of the weather (and I woke up too late) so it's a home day. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
I love your wheel,it looks very pretty to me.I taught myself to spin,have many,many books.Will this wheel spin lace weight?Looking forward to what you spin,I know the rabbits fur will be beautiful,phylliso
ReplyDeleteI love this post! It sounds like you are having a lot of fun! I live in Texas and it is not really cold here yet. Oh man, I wish it would snow here. I would love nothing more than to be home in my pajamas on vacation spinning yarn while it is snowing outside! Your new wheel is beautiful. Happy spinning and Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys! Happy holidays to you as well. The new wheel will spin lace weight if I use the high speed whorl. I haven't gotten to use that yet but I'm looking forward to knowing the ins and outs of it. It snowed all day today while I was learning to make soap and it's supposed to snow into tomorrow as well. Not sure if it will stick but it's been fun watching it. :)
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