Getting to Know You

I'm in my new apartment and it is delightful. I've been spending the past two weeks getting sorted and organized in the new place.

I'm right across the road from Bass Rock, a park in Bracebridge right on the Muskoka River.

Apparently the swimming is really good, but I haven't been in yet.

Also, the high water from our spring flooding is still evident in the really high flow of the river.

Not only have I been getting familiar with my new apartment (pics to come once the couch arrives) and neighborhood, I've also been getting comfortable with my new spinning wheel.

Claudia, my Ladybug, has been an absolute dream to spin on.  It's like there was no learning curve to get the yarn I wanted from it, and in fact I have spun up two yarns in the past week.

The yarns turned out just the way I wanted them too and I'm really excited to actually make them into something. Because they have such similar undertone colors, and totally opposite textures, that they would make for a really interesting woven scarf. I'm not sure who wants to be the warp and who wants to be the weft, but they go together nicely.

My Ashford wheel has found her way to her new home.  One of the women in the Trillium Guild was looking for a more modern wheel to spin on because her heritage wheel is a little fragile.

So I'm getting settled in to my new spot and I'm enjoying the sound of spring peepers and my little deck from which I can see glimpses of the river and I can spend the evening reading or knitting and enjoying the wonder that is summer in Ontario.

Looking for some inspiration

I have been in a bit of a creativity slump the past little while, between the stress of work, the stress of my contract ending in May and it being winter I haven't been feeling the urge to create.  I finally started spinning again over the weekend, after cleaning and polishing my wheel (she is unfinished so I have to moisturise her on semi-annual basis).  I am not loving the yarn I spun.  It is too hard and picky, it is wensleydale combed top so it not surprising, but because my main style of spinning is inchworm, I have yarn that if woven could probably stop a bullet, never mind abrasion resistant, this stuff would abrade me if worn.  I like rustic wools, wool that still feels a bit like the sheep it came off, but because I spun this stuff worsted instead of woolen it doesn't have any loft, whoops.

This all said I am in a bit of a spinning rut, so when I finally remembered to order Spin Art from Amazon it was a no brainer.  I have Get Spun, another art yarn book from Interweave, but this one looked different and it has a DVD.  While, I was there I picked up the Knitters Life List which I had seen a book store before Christmas.  It seems to filled with inspiration and mountains to climb, with suggestions about techniques and yarns that every knitter should try.

In addition to my spinning slump I am totally stuck on my knitting projects, and I have been trying to use up some of  the yarn that has been weighing on my mind and I the balls of yarn are the left overs from my crocheted blankets that I am thinking I am going to turn into Chubby Chirps, an adorable, free pattern from Rebecca Danger (who has the amazing monster patterns).  However after a week I have yet to cast on, so I need to get kicked into gear as it will fill my need for a quick finishing pattern and also use up some stuffing I have lying around.

I am also looking for inspiration in my non-fiber life.  My contract is up the first week in May and I don't have anything lined up for afterwards, I am applying for jobs but nothing yet.  I am going to re-read the Sand Country Almanac because it inspires me so much and informs so much of my feelings on environment.  Maybe that will inspire me to finish Understanding Ordinary Landscapes, a book I skim read (a common crime of mine) in school that deserves a closer read.

Hopefully the new books will help kick me into fiber inspiration that will in turn fuel my personal inspiration, because winter isn't over yet and having the blues during the winter just sucks.

TdF: Finish Line

So, I crossed the finish line of the Tour, with three yarns, one short and fluffy, one firm and silky, and a spindle spun yarn.

As a reminder, here were my goals:

• To spin every day, for a minimum of 10 minutes
• To spin one yarn with a pattern in mind, which means being intentional about my spinning technique, yarn weight and trying to aim for specific lengths.
• To spin some silk successfully
• To spin at least one yarn: -Long Draw -From the Fold -Chain Plyed
•  To spin with intention, and make sure that no matter what I enjoy the activity

So I succeeded at a few things, I enjoyed all my spinning during the Tour, and I spun some silk on a spindle. I also spun most days, and I have learned how calming I find spinning and how helpful it can be at dealing with stress.

I have been much more successful in the week following the tour than I was during the whole tour. I spun some  semi-woolen/long-draw singles, which I haven't chain-plyed yet, also I  have silk singles spun on my wheel, soon to be plyed.

I have even started my first art yarn, a corespun using crochet cotton and my Golding Ring Spindle to manage the core (something that was keeping me away from corespun yarns).

I look forward to next year's Tour, but I have a hard time putting aside my knitting and crochet projects to spin, so I think I need to clear my calendar so I have a clear run at my spinning.

On Sliding and Flying

As a treat to myself, inspired by the Tour de Fleece, I finally got some accessories for my wheel, namely a sliding hook flyer and a lazy kate, and oodles of bobbins (for the new larger flyer).

Neither of these things were totally necessary, I could make do with the standard flyer and the built in lazy kate on the front of my wheel, but it sure makes things are more fun.  Although I do like the larger bobbin, I can hold a full 4oz of plyed yarn on it, which is awesome!

I ended up getting 8 bobbins (one came with the flyer), mostly because I wanted to be able to get into all sorts of trouble, and work on two projects at once.