Today is the first full day of summer, or so you thought, really what began today was the start of the Monsoon Season here in West Michigan.

Seriously.

Don’t tell me there is no such thing as Global Warming.

After we got a record setting amount of rain on Friday night, something unbelievable like almost 9 inches in 3 hours and my Little Dutch Town was looking for the little boy who did not put his finger in the proverbial dike! I am convinced that The Netherlands kept all intelligent forms of life there – or at least all the engineers!

It is funny, don’t you think, our founding fathers came from a place that is really just reclaimed land from the sea! We obviously have missed the boat in that much of our town is or was under water over the weekend.

But, when it rains, I say find a good indoor activity to do – like say knit… or spin… or weave!

I got a little treat from my friend Beth at The Spinning Loft this week. A box full of fiber-y deliciousness that contained 18 different breeds, from Wensleydale to Jacob – a veritable feast for my Woolen senses.

My plan over the next few weeks is to share with you my journey as I explore these fibers – from washing, to preparing, to spinning, and finally sharing with you the finished product – the fiber spun into yarn. There are some fibers I have spun already, but I have not to date washed or processed anything I have spun! I encourage you to take notes, or better yet – get a sampler yourself and we can work our way through them together! Either way, I will be sure to share with you my thoughts on the process and I will share a bit of history and information on each of the 18 different breeds. When I am all done, I hope to have enough yarn to knit this beautiful sampler into a lovely wrap! I got just over 220 yards out of a few ounces of some yummy Pygora I got from Beth – so 18 samples of a few ounces each should more than provide me with enough yardage to knit a variety of patterns!


Pygora Singles

I can tell you out of the gate, I am very impressed with the packaging. Large packages of beautiful fiber just begging to be touched!

I don’t know about you, but the thought of washing and processing an entire fleece is a daunting task, so this seems like the perfect introduction!

On the Plying Front, I have spun up and plied some gorgeous Blue-Faced Leicester that I got from Beth (seriously, there is no other place to buy fiber in my not so humble opinion) which was dyed bye the amazingly talented Chris of Briar Rose Fiber. This is my first true fingering weight, two-ply yarn, which I did not ply too loosely, with a nice sproingy feel that surely wants to become a pair of socks! I think that Abby Franquemont would be very proud of me and practice does make perfect!

Well, that is all for this Monday morning – I am off to survey how the Drying Out of Holland is progressing!

Copper took a foray into the mud, nice of him – don’t you think? I think it is time to Wash The Dog!

010 by you.

Have an awesome day all!

Pin It on Pinterest