Fluff and Stuff

Wow, didn't January fly by.  Now it's February and the durn groundhog saw his shadow so we're due six more weeks of winter.  Considering how warm this winter has been, we may need some real winter to keep the mosquito population down for summer.  We have daffodils and forsythia blooming now - about five weeks too early.

I've knit - finishing a pair of socks:  Presenting Berry Moon, from the pattern Paper Moon Socks by AnneLena Mattison.  The pattern may be found at Knitty.com, Deep Fall 2011.  A nice knit and I'll probably knit the pattern again.

Made a crochet hat for DH that's a bit too small so will do another in brioche, probably 2 color, so I can figure out what I'm doing.  Also need to get 16" needles to knit it on.

I've been playing with the cotton sliver (pronounced sly-ver) and not been really pleased with the results.  Yesterday my cotton on the seed arrived from Cotton Clouds so I started playing:

The following 5 photos show the steps.
1: the cotton as received
2: straightened away from the seed (the fluff)
3: spinning
4: the remaining seed (the stuff)
5: the yarn.  

For those who sew, the thickness is about like buttonhole twist.  This will eventually be a 3 or 4 ply yarn.  Also have been

spinning some Corriedale - which I won't show as it's more white fluff.  Corriedale is a breed of sheep with a really nice wool for spinners.  This is very soft and may be a cardigan for me or the first part of an afghan or throw for the living room.  

The other fiber I've been playing with has been with my supported spindle (well one of them).  The spindle is a Tibetan style and I finished a 2-ply yarn this week.  It is about 278 yards and weighs  22 grams.  For those in the US who don't do metrics, 28 grams is equal to 1 ounce.  I've not washed this yet, will wait until all the yarn is done and

wash all at once.  The colors don't show very well in the photos but this is mostly purples with gold, cream, and various greens.  Later on there will be a couple of blue areas as well.  Sorry the spacing is all wonky on this - don't know why nor do I know how to fix it.   

 So what I have going on for this month are two pairs of socks, one for younger granddaughter and one pair for me; the cotton, the Corriedale, the support spindle and, hopefully, a new job.  I get to interview Monday afternoon so have fingers and toes crossed.  I can't cross my eyes or I would do that too - until the interview.