I finally finished the Halloween project/outfit for my son. He is going to a party and wants to be a Video Game Hero! So, I have finished knitting hat, gauntlets and a sword strap for him. The hat is already felted, and the gauntlets and sword strap will soon follow. At first, he also wanted me to knit him a tunic, but I think he finally realized that was an unrealistic request. (Imagine knitting an almost knee length tunic for a grown person, and then making it big enough to withstand the shrinkage of felting - eek!! I am glad he didn't push me on that one!) Now, I am planning on trying some clogs for myself. If they go quickly and work out well, some people may be getting clogs for Christmas!

Spinning my Alter Ego. The great carding experiment flies in the face of my very personality. I am a very structured, logical and "do-it-by-the-book" person. This spinning is wild and wooly - literally. Instead of my normal worsted draw, I am using a woolen draw that is producing thick and thin places. I am combining a dull fiber (grey) with a riot of brightly colored ones and not trying to establish a certain coordinated color scheme, although I hope the colors will blend somewhat harmoniously. The fibers I am blending are both scratchy and smooth. So, I consider that I am breaking all the rules! But inevitably, I must return to my ordered personality and use the yarn in Sally Melville's very logically planned Einstein Jacket.

Carolyn

Okay, now to get down to fiberly business! One of the current projects I am working on is a carding experiment. I am carding some hand dyed merino into some grey Border Leicester. I have about 4 pounds of the Border Leicester and am always looking out for ways to use it. I also always use it when doing my spinning experiments. Hopefully, this yarn will go into a knitted Einstein jacket. So far, I am only working with 2 colors of merino, but I plan on dyeing all sorts of colors to incorporate into this project. This is my first use of the handcards I purchased at the Fall Fiber Festival. I am getting better with them, but am still pretty slow. I feel like I need about 14 hands for this operation. Anyhow, it may take me a year or so to complete the entire project, but I think I will be very happy with the final results.

I am also thinking of ways to use yarn that was spun from the same handpainted roving, but doesn't exactly match. I have some that is purple, blue and green which ranges from light lavender and light mint to a much deeper purple/ blue. So far, these are my ideas: 1. Start with the darkest, and knit up into the lighter ranges, 2. Knit a group of several rows with alternating skeins of yarn 3. Incorporate them randomly, but do a slip stitch mosaic with a darkish contrasting yarn to pull it all together. 4. Use it in a domino pattern with a contrasting yarn. I will definitely do some swatching before deciding on how to use it.

Well, I haven't done any spinning in almost 48 hours and my hands are beginning to itch.............

Arghhhh. How did I spend an hour messing with HTML publishing? Because I don't know what I am doing. But that is the way I learn most things - I just plow in and do the best I can. (I never think about doing anything easily, like maybe taking a class!?!?)

Anyhow, I have added 3 links now. The first is to my pictures of the absolutely fabulous and fun Fall Fiber Festival my friend and AAA knitting mentor, E and I were fortunate enough to get to attend. Another link is to my "must read daily" fix for fiberly happenings, LIKE the QUEEN, spinner and knitter extraordinaire, B whom I also met at the Fiber Festival, along with other Knitter's Review Forumites, L, J and A.

Well, must go back to spinning or carding to recover from all this intensive "computer biz."

Not exactly knitting. But I found the Harry Potter quiz on another site and could not resist putting it up for a short time.
Have fun!

Well, I am taking a deep breath and finally jumping into to cold water of blogging.

Why do I call it "cold water"? Simply because it is a painful experience for me to look back on former writings, diary entries, etc. without feeling like I am just a little bit stupid, addled or both.

However, after reading other blogs about the fiber arts, I am feeling the need to create a written record of the journey I am taking into the fiber arts.

And after all, I am just me. I figure either you will like me and visit often or consign me to the outer limits of cyberspace.

Sooooooo...... a little bit about myself.
I am a gal caught somewhere in the fuzzy time period of an empty nester. I have one "sweetheart" of a son, who is in graduate school and a wonderful husband who is supportive (and even enabling) of my severe fiber addiction. I live in the very southern part of Georgia, where knitting and spinning are mostly foreign words to the general population. I became interested in knitting a little over 2 years ago and found I could not put down the needles. About 9 months later, I stuck my hands and feet into the spinning pool. Now I am so far immersed, I am practically drowning!

I hope to chronicle my various projects, sharing tips I have picked up along the way. Since I am new to the blogging thing, I am not sure about posting pictures, etc., yet. but would dearly love to incorporate this into my journal.

Thus, the journey begins...................