I have been doing a little spinning since Christmas. I joined a new spinning group on Ravelry that has jump started my spinning mojo (it has also jump started a bit of a fibre buying spree, but we won't talk about that..... they have a LOT of great places to buy fibre from on that board and I haven't got the willpower to resist). I joined a SAL (spin-a-long) for December and January and spun 2 braids of the same fibre/colour in 2 different ways, but the results were similar other than the thickness of the yarn.
50% Alpaca, 30% Merino, 20% Silk, by JulieSpins in December Dusk. I spun the first braid as a lace-weight 2ply and tried to maintain the colour shifts with some blending in the middle.
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The second braid was spun slightly thicker and then navajo-plyed. The resulting yarn is approx. a light-worsted to worsted weight yarn. I just realized that I gave it away without taking any pictures or copying down the details.... it doesn't look much different than the lace weight though, just picture that in a slightly different weight.
I've also started another SAL. This was a challenge to spin something from your stash that you've been avoiding.... either because the braid was just too pretty to risk spinning, a new fibre type that you haven't spun before or some other intimidating reason that the fibre hasn't been spun. I decided to tackle some 50% cashmere, 50% silk top that I obtained before I ever even LEARNED to spin (my friend bought it for me on the boxing day (can you say SALE) of the Christmas that I was given my wheel... at least I owned a wheel, so I'm not completely crazy).... it was just too pretty to pass up. This is my first real attempt at spinning from the fold (and it's going fairly well, although a bit more thick and thin than I'd like, but that could be the fibre blend). I'm hoping for enough yardage for a longish lace weight cardigan.....
And speaking of Tucson.... my step-mother invited me down to Tucson to help her with some personal stuff and I leaped at the chance (it involved organizing and I'm quite good at organizing). We did take a break from the work at hand, when I mentioned that people were going to ask me what I thought of Tucson and my only reply would be "the house I stayed in was very nice"..... She took me to Pima Canyon for a bit of a hike in the mountains. It was gorgeous....
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On the home front, the kids and I have been doing some Science Experiments in preparation for a project Eli has to do for school. I introduced them to Non-Newtonian Fluids in the form of Oobleck (Cornstarch and water in a proportion of approximately 1 part water to 1.5-2 parts Cornstarch). They had fun squeezing the Oobleck into a solid state and then letting it turn into liquid (when at rest) and oozing through their fingers. I don't think it quite meets the criteria of Eli's science project, but it was a lot of fun!
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