Radio silence.

Oopsy. It's been over three weeks since my last post and I'm not exactly certain where the time has gone. I haven't been particularly busy.... I don't think.  Perhaps just a little post Holiday let-down.

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.


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.....

I've also been knitting a bit. I finished a new tunic length top last Thursday. I was determined to wear it on my trip to Tucson and bound off and sewed in the ends about 10 minutes before the cab arrived to take me to the airport.... I LOVE it! The pattern is Allegheny by Thea Colman, knit in MCN 200 by JulieSpins in the colourway of Garnet Ruby.

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....

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!

Phew.... I had a lot to share.... three weeks is too long not to blog, I think.....