Building A Relationship - a blog about the dog

I have a good relationship with my Spinning wheel.  It took me some time to get the feel of the twist, the speed, the tension, the spinner's little quirks.  When I first started spinning with it, it was like a foreign object - separate: It and Me.  I went through many bats of fleece, cursing, before, we both finally came to an agreement that we should work together. 

Relationship - with the DOG....My Jilly, who was born and bred for working sheep. Me who is a klutz but is fairly sheep savvy.  We are working on our sheep herding relationship.  It takes time.  Yesterday, I really felt there was the inkling of a connection between us.  She is good at what she does - I am clumsy.  Right now we are two separate objects, trying to figure the other one out.  At home she trusts me, loves me, respects me.  I want that to happen on the sheep. It will happen. As with my Wheel it just takes time and a trust in the process. 

Spinning is kind of like life.  When it works, it's flows ever so smoothly - like water gently flowing over rocks.  It becomes a muscle memory.  So to with working a dog.  When it's right, it flows....like a dance, ever changing, but smooth and flowing.  Sometimes it's a Tango - hard, rough, fiery.  Sometimes it's a Waltz, gently swirling, graceful, flowing.  It's all a dance - move with the rhythm, feel the flow, get a sense of the tempo and work with it, not against it.

I love my Jilly. As my spinning process taught me about life, so to is my Jill.

HURRY UP AND RELAX! DANG IT!

Ok...so spinning is relaxing, right? Knitting is relaxing, right?  Yes and no.  I have way too many UFOs!  I think I'm just a fiber junkie.  I've found a source for hand dyed fiber to spin and I've gotten several bats.  Trouble is I have 2 wheels and they are both occupied with unfinished spinning projects.  I can't help it.  I love the feel of the fiber - Blueface and silk is my favorite, but I'm fast becoming a fan of BFL and Alpaca and my latest buy is BFL and Camel.  I'm like a kid in a candy shop - way too much to choose from and it all looks good.

I don't have any projects in mind. So I've been getting either 4oz or 6 oz.  That should be enough for a shawlette or a scarf and hat.  I think it's just the process of spinning that I love so much.  The feel of the fiber as it slips through my fingers; the concentration on getting a perfect thickness. Then whether to 2 ply or 3 ply or Navajo ply.

The relaxing part is the process.  My blood pressure drops, my mind goes into Zombie land.  The not part is making the choices - which fiber to start; and the "OMG, I've got so much to finish" mind set.

I finally finished the Galadryal from Wooley Wonka.  It spun up beautifully and it's now in the process of becoming a shawl. 

My other finished project was fiber from a Port Townsend shop, BFL and silk.  I bought 2-4oz bats.  One had some soft lavender mixed in with the grey, the other was just plain.  I spun the two separately, then plied them together for a 2 ply semi worsted yarn. Don't know what I'll knit with it yet, but it's so soft!

At the moment I've got the fleece from Cupcake Fibers on the eSpinner; BlueFace and Silk in gradient greens, 6 oz.  The plan is to spin from light to dark then back to light and Navajo ply the whole thing.  That should give me a nice soft yarn that gradually goes from light green to dark then back to light.  I have  a shawlette pattern that will be perfect for it.

So how does all this translate in my life? First of all I am a child of Process.  I love the process of Anything - coffee making (I have 4 different ways to make coffee); bread baking; steeping teas; organizing anything, then organizing it again.  The product is just a bonus.  The frustrating part, the not so relaxing part,  is the "what to do now" part.  In my dog life, I love to train my dogs. It's the process of the training that enthralls me.  The end result - what do I do now part - is where I get hung up.  Maybe it just doesn't matter.  I have no goals for my dogs, I have no goals for my spun fiber. I just love the process.

Oh maybe my knitting friends - the one's that don't spin - will get some lavish gifts for Christmas this year.  Hand spun Merino/Silk in a heathery yummy deep maroon, or that wonderfuly soft Shetland in heather greens and ochers. I feel better already.  Yes, blood pressure restored to normal; mind at ease and relaxed; no more worries........well, until the next time I look at my stash.

Out Of Chaos...

We have a lot of chaos in our house.  Mainly because of the two Corgis and a Border Collie pup who knows no bounds for energy.  But...this is about yarns, and projects and STASH.

Out of chaos.....came a shawl!

I'm sure most of you have bits and pieces of yarn that you've just got to hang on to, because heaven forbid you just might need 20 yds for a stripe on a jacket, the toe of a sock, or just because you can't bear to throw it away.  Well, I've got so much sock yarn stash that I decided to turn that chaos into some kind of order.

I started off with this:

A varied assortment of Koigu KPPPM yarns, left over from a project that was never realized.  A friend and I thought we might try our hand at tapestry knitting and so bought up a basketful of the beautiful Koigu yarns.  To our chagrin we realized that what we really like to do is just knit - a shawl or socks or a baby project.  The tapestry knitting went out the window, leaving us with lots of the wonderfully colored yarns.  We divided up the skeins and this was my stash.  I could have done toes and heels for socks, but I was tired of socks and wanted something a little more challenging.

I found a shawlette pattern that was easy to do and voila!  A beautiful shawl for my shoulders while I knit or spin.  The pattern for the shawl was a bit confusing.  It was an easy K2P1K1P1 pattern with increases at the sides, but you had to pick up the pattern on the other side from where you'd left off.  With the increases, that made it a challenge to figure whether I should be knitting or purling. Chaos reigned!  I finally decided that it really didn't make any difference where I left off; I could just start wherever I wanted and create my own order.  Thus the Chaos Shawlette.

Garter stitches filled in the beginning and end of the shawl with a few rows in between the pattern.  It was a fun project. It's beautiful and warm to wear.  I could knit while watching episodes of Grimm or Once Upon a Time and if I forgot where I was in the pattern - oh well, never mind - it doesn't show and created it's own pattern.

I'd love to do another project like this one.  So I'll continue to save up my leftover bits of yarn and perhaps another day I"ll create another jewel.

What's your favorite Stash story?

The Origins of the Fiber

Ever wondered how that gorgeous bit of fluff, that you're going to spin into yarn to make your favorite (fill in the blank here) started?  Well, here it is.  Wool in the flesh and fresh out of Mum's tummy. 

Baa Baa Black sheep, yes there are 2 of them at my friends little ranch in the valley.  Yesterday, I got to help give those little lambs some bling.  Blue ear tags - right ear for boys; left ear and pink for the girls. I got to catch them and hold them while Lora did the deed.  First couple were easy to catch, then the word got around. 

Ooo...they're so soft and warm, and that wool will be dynamite when they're ready to shear.

It's a Good Day

You know it's a good day when....

You get new fiber to spin.
Wooley Wonka fibers. This one is Galadriel Roving, Extra Fine Alpaca (70%), Silk (18%), and Glitz (2%).  Sooooo soft! and the color is yummy.

And from the Cupcake Fiber Company, Blue Face Leicester and silk in soft gradient greens.  Another softie.

I've never ordered from these companies before, but I'm truly pleased with the feel and the colors.  I think I'll keep them on my list.

Can't wait to start spinning. Six oz of each. Should I start the blue or the greens....Oh Dear! Choices!

It's Not JUST About the Socks.

Yes, Virginia, there is life other than knitting.  I have kept a separate blog about my dog life and have decided that it's time to merge the two.  After all, I do knit when I'm at a dog trial (insert big grin here).  However, I must say, I don't work dogs when I go to a spinning workshop - although I do miss them.

So, inserted below, you will find some edited versions of the old Dog Blog - my life with two Corgis and a Border Collie.  Beau and Jill are my constant companions in my studio. They hang out with me while I try to figure out what went wrong with a pattern and Jill is very curious about the spinning wheel.

Mostly, though, it's their quiet time.  For me, my studio is my place to reflect, to zone out, to get grounded after a frazzled day, to just hang out and look at new knitting patterns and to sit back with a cuppa' and read some of my favorite Blogs.

Welcome to my world.

A Garden to Dye For

This year, I have decided to grow my own plants for dyeing my handspun.  Having never dyed before, this will be a fun exercise.  There are so many plants to choose from; although they all seem to produce mostly soft yellows, golden browns and heather greens.  Which are all my favorite colors anyway.

I also want the garden to look pretty, smell nice and not get too over grown, so I need to stay away from the 'weed-type' plants.  Dahlias and Cosmos are a must, as those are my most favorite plants. But Coreopsis and Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susans); Chamomile and Yarrow are all in the list too.  Hollyhocks are a fav also, but for some reason, I have trouble growing them.  Purple Basil and Marjoram for scent.  Nix the Bronze fennel - it runs rampant and is hard to control, even in a pot!  Indego is out as we can't grow it here in the Northwest; and Tansy, Goldenrod and a few others are so weedy that I can just go picking along the roadsides.

I just bought a book called "A Dyer's Garden" by Rita Buchanan. It's a lovely book filled with all kinds of natural plantings and a page for each plant as to how it dyes up with different fibers and mordants.  She even has garden plans; spacing and yield of each plant; equipment necessary and mordants.

Mordants:  What the heck is a mordant anyway??!!  I still have a lot to learn.  Mordants keep the dyes from fading and help in the dye process.  They are usually metals, but I learned from my spinning workshop with Judith MacKenzie, that the centipede from the Chola plant will give a brilliant raspberry color.  Go figure! A bug!

Since my plants will be ready in the summer, the best place to work my dye pots will be outside.  The little area under the side porch is a great place.  I'll have hubby, David, fix me up some work tables (old doors on saw horses) and a hot plate or two; some drying racks out of PVC piping and I'm good to go.  Nice ventilation, sun, fresh air, water and hose and I'll rig up some fencing so the dogs don't get in the way.  So it's off to Good Will to pick up some old enamel pots, maybe a hot burner or two.

Can't wait to get started.  Just a bit too early to plant, even though we've had wonderful sunny weather these past few days.  I can spend the waiting time, planning out the garden - what flowers, how many.  This will be such fun!