Illegal spinning

My spinning wheel calls to me from the dining room floor where she sits in a sea of fiber waiting for my return. Her call is powerful, and I'm being such a sap about this new obsession (spinning since August, 2004 when I lost my last blog due to obsession with this new craft) that I named her (Chamomile Kromski; Oh, Chamomile, my spinning wheel! What did I tell you?) and she sure knows my name.

I started with a drop spinner and that was fun, I spun a few small hanks, but nothing compares to this wheel. I've spun up 2 # of a coffee swirl color of wool, some Lincoln fleece, and am currently working on a fleece I bought raw to scour, card and love.

The sheep's name is Spice and she is half Corriedale and half Merino, so the fiber is fine, about 4" long and beautiful. I am spinning fine and plan to dye and plye this batch. I have a bit over 7 lbs raw fleece, so I guess my opportunities to try different things are many. There is still quite a lot of lanolin left and some dirt and VM remain after handwashing. I keep toying with the idea of sending it to a mill, but I haven't learned enough about this process to trust it. And it's turning into a matter of honor, frankly. I can do it myself! I've read about other cleaning agents to try and know better to wash in small batches for what I'm doing, so the second wash of the dirtier fiber will be more successful. I'm hopeful that more lanolin will wash out of what I have already spun when I dye it and set the twist. It's all a new experience and that's what I love about the whole process!

Having a part of Spice doesn't stop me from looking around for other fibers - oh, no! I'm currently interested in finding a romney fleece and there is a huge range of prices for these. In my search, I've located an interesting spot to buy fiber in Ottawa, only a 90 minute drive.

On the knitting scene, I did finish 5 scarves for my friend to give his wife and daughters for Christmas and am currently working on a wonderful poncho using Kureyon Silk Garden for me. Progress is slow due to all of this spinning, but it's not about the poncho, it's about having something soothing to do with my hands during all of those aggravating meetings!