Delectable fresh fig

I spun this deep purple yarn from fibre I picked up at Wellington Fibres. They have such an amazing selection of fibres in wonderful colours and blends. This one - appropriately called fresh fig - jumped out at me right away. Ever since I learned how to spin, I wanted to make something special for a good friend who's a super talented, and prolific, knitter. I knew this box of purple fibre would be the inspiration I needed to get back to the spinning wheel.

Once there, I soon realized I still have a lot to learn. The double-ply yarn turned out pretty well, for a novice. And I figured out a lot of stuff along the way. I certainly got good at checking my wraps per inch to get a consistent yarn. As a treat to myself after finishing, I got a plying bobbin to make the next skein go easier. Plus, I got a special flyer to spin bulky and novelty yarn. But I think I'll need a bit more practice with the basics before I get wild!

Getting warped

Tonight in my second weaving class I got the warp on my loom. Now that is some painstaking work! I have a new appreciation for my handwoven tea towels, and I already loved them so much! (Weird, yes. But they are so very nice to dry dishes! You really have to give a handwoven tea towel a spin to understand.)

If I had a picture from the class, it would be of me hunched over a loom with a rather perplexed and tense look on my face, perhaps a little dark cloud hovering above my head. We all did surprisingly well and even got out a few minutes early. The tedious work will all be worth it next week when we get to start weaving. Of course that hinges on my not having made a monumental mistake along the way and, boy oh boy, were there many opportunities for that. Cross your fingers.

Weaving 101

Yesterday my mom and I took a weaving workshop with the local guild. In just a few hours you learn the basics of weaving and finish a whole scarf! (It helps tremendously that the instructors do all the tricky and time-consuming set up.) I caught on pretty quickly, although I had some sort of brain hiccup that caused me repeatedly to make the same mistake by missing two rows. Luckily we caught and fixed most of the mistakes. Alas, one remains marring my lovely scarf. Although I think crafty wisdom says every project should have an imperfection to prove it's handmade. Wise, placating, words indeed.

Today I enjoyed a lovely afternoon at my spinning wheel. I finished spinning and plying a jumbo box of fibre in a deep purple called fresh fig. The niddy noddy is hanging in the shower with the yarn drip drying. I can't wait to twist up the skein and see how it looks.

Boy, oh boy

I am the worst blogger ever. I should have made New Year's resolution covering this. Alas, I did not. I could give a bunch of excuses - I'm outside breaking my back shovelling, I've been preoccupied with other unblogworthy pursuits, the dog ate my craftwork - but I'm just a slacker, pure and simple.

I am resolved to get back on the right track soon.

I did make this cool miniaturized version of a photo from my visit to a Vienna palace . . .

Three pets, one bed

Here's a portrait of the power struggle going on in my home every day. Poor little Sofie is sick, so I put a heating pad on the dog bed for her to curl up on. Of course Aurora wants to be on the heating pad too. And Marie's nose is out of joint because the cats are on her bed, even though she rarely lies on it. (She much prefers a human bed.) So this is a common scene. What you can't see in the photo is Marie's butt hanging off the bed cuz there's simply not enough room for three. Oh, and when Aurora slowly nudges Sofie off the heating pad or, when that approach is too subtle, Aurora sitting on top of Sofie.

Candy cane dreams

I have been very remiss with my crafting and blogging. To be fair, I've spent a lot of time shovelling. And I've got the sore back to prove it. Here's yet another festive pair of earrings for my mom.

Thanks for the inspiration

While enjoying one of my favourite hobbies - ogling crafty goodness on etsy - I stumbled on a handmade orifice hook for a spinning wheel. "What a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?" I blurted. Of course that inspired me to try and make my own. Here's what I came up with. Sadly for me, I don't need a hook for my wheel. Luckily for my mom, she does. Now the tricky part is putting this beauty away for Christmas. Although maybe it could be a belated Sinterklaas present. Hmm . . .