I no write good

Maybe it’s the post-holiday exhaustion, but my writing abilities suck! Who am I kidding I’ve never been very good with the written word.

 

I knew there was going to be essay’s and such with this HGA Certificate of Excellence in Handspinning but wow, I wasn’t expecting this much. Never fear though, I’m determined to conquer the writing mountain. First mountain hurdle are the definition. Yes, I am working through this program in order as laid out in the handbook because going out of order drives me nuts. Anyway, as I’m trying to define words such as “Texture” my self critical nature is telling me that sentences like “I like texture. Texture can be soft” will not do. No, they are not really that simplistic but I feel like I cannot come up with an intelligent sentence or sentences to explain this different terms. So I think my best bet is to jot down random thoughts on the given term and maybe over a period of time of re-reading these thoughts and definition will hopefully coalesce into cohesive definitions and discussions. Well, that’s my hope at least. Thank goodness I have several years to climb this fiber mountain. And here I thought it was going to be just a bunch of spinning. Pfff!

 

Onto actual spinning news, the BMFA Sheep to Shoe kit in Chapman Springs is all spun up. It’s currently resting on the bobbins.

 

 

I prepped this fiber to create a color gradient. I first pulled the different color sections apart and grouped those together.

 

 

 

So all the yellow chunks were together and all the blue, etc. I then carded those bits of fiber into rolags.

 

 

 

The interesting part of that was that because the original chunks had bits of the adjacent color I ended up with many variations which allowed for easier gradating. I then sat down in front of all these rolags and started to create the gradation so that I would just move from one to the next once I started spinning.

 

 

 

I’m going to leave it as a single although I did contemplate doing a Navajo ply which would keep the color gradation but “correct” my uneven spinning. I say correct because a 3-ply can really help a problem single become a fairly even yarn. I decided against the 3-ply because I’m going to need the yardage as I plan on knitting a 1/2 Pi shawl with simple YO and Purl embellishments. I envision this thing being huge and I’m eager to cast-on. Just have to read up and study Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Pi Shawl info so that I can translate it into a 1/2 Pi shawl.

 

Oh, about that, I’ll be attempting to knit 13 EZ patterns (and maybe a Meg Swanson pattern or 2) in 2013. There is just so much to be learned from EZ and I felt that this is a great way to do just that. There is a 13 in 2013 KAL over in the Zimmermaniacs group on Ravelry so go check it out and maybe join.

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Finding Focus

As many people know I took a rather long hiatus from knitting/spinning and fiber arts in general. As a friend of mine pointed out I was busy creating humans. Now that I’m back I recognize a difference in my choices of patterns. Maybe it’s because I had time to step back and reflect. Maybe it’s the lack of time now means having to make my craved out space of time really mean something. I discovered along the way that I don’t in fact wear socks very often if ever. I don’t wear hats. I don’t wear scarves. I don’t wear thick wool sweaters either. I finally had the revelation that in fact I don’t actually like scarves because they only warm your neck and don’t work for me. I don’t wear socks, well because I just don’t. I don’t like to wear hats because of hat-head, and thick wool sweaters are only useful in the early morning and late evening in Florida. What I do like to wear are cardigans because they are easily layered. I like wearing Mittens/gloves for those cold days in the office or quick trips between car and destination. Shawls/Wraps are wonderful because they can be easily carried around for those times in a cold restaurant or cold room. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have a clear focus in selecting projects. While yes I may think this or that sock pattern is completely amazing, it would not be worth it for me to knit as it will end up with all the other lonely socks that never get worn. Does that mean I will never knit or wear handknit socks, hats, scarves, or thick wool sweaters? Absolutely not. But I will be more selective and they will probably be knit from a cotton blend.

Here we go...

This is my place for fibery goodness. First order of business, let’s talk updates. My first goal is to share my weekly/bi-weekly fibery goodness updates. I’ve been doing updating on my WIP’s and thoughts about future projects over on youtube for a little bit. I’ll start sharing them here also. Secondly, I want this to be a place to share my adventures in obtaining a Certificate of Excellence in Handspinning. These updates may be in video form or written. Third I’ll be sharing some mind-blowing (ha) written post about my fibery thoughts. These will be much like the vlogs, but in written form. I know I love to talk about fiber works, I hope you enjoy reading and watching about them also.