Possibilities

My new toy arrived in the mail yesterday. I didn't have my camera (dead batteries), so I had to wait to use it, because I am a good blogger! But now this baby is up and running, and going to help me create bee-utiful handspun. Isn't he cute in his little yarny jacket?

I've been spindling very thin yarn for awhile - no idea what I'm doing, really, but gee I'm having fun. I wanted to learn to two-ply, and I happened upon this site from another blogger, can't remember who. (If it was you, give a yell out in comments, eh?) This lady has allowed me to jump over all tutorials and books, and advice if there were anyone around to give me any, and she has a tool that will let me spindle from both ends of my spinning, allowing me to not have to create another spindle's worth of yarn. Bless her. I didn't want to have to try to guess when to stop so I'd get the same amount as the first time, when I spin another spindle's worth. This is much better. I don't have to guess. I'll just count my yardage when I'm done, and see if I want to spin more.

And lookee! I spun a bit and washed it, and I got something very close to a fingering weight! See the comparison? My yarn would be on the right; Wildfoote, what I knit my shawl with, is on the left. I'm very happy. The more I learn about spinning, the more I realize you have to worry about spinning too tightly, which makes the yarn, well, not soft, like we all like it. But I don't want the two strands to come apart as I'm working with it, either. So I'm crossing my fingers on this one. I bought enough roving from Knitterly Things to spin yarn for gloves, hat and scarf (I hope), and this fingering weight will go to making the gloves.

Also, in one of my spare moments, I knit up a bath cloth for my daughter! She hugged it when she saw it - awww. My sister-in-law allowed as to how her son would love one, in calico colors (hmm), and I thought I'd make one for my little one's friend, just cuz they're so darned easy! They do take a full skein of Sugar'n'Cream, though, folks. I'm so glad I didn't look in the bag to see how much yarn I had left as I was doing the ears. I'd have choked. No, I can't show you. There was so little that I actually threw it away.

The weather is still cold here. I think we got our two weeks of summer early. This last weekend, I actually saw a tree changing color. (Don't throw things. I am but the messenger) How can that be in mid-July??? I'm just hoping we get our annual Indian summer, 'round about August.