Each Day A Harvest of Hope

Over a cup of coffee I sat dreaming yesterday’s summer…of deep contentment when I thought life was a forever thing as the world lay before me…a green field blossoming, waiting harvest.

Autumn is here to stay. A time for transition. Cooler, shorter days.

The appearance of colorful foliage, harvest time, feasts and festivals.

Here is something to brighten your day and help you to remember to smile. Isn’t he adorable, sweet? This is Kirsten Holbo’s son manning the booth at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival.

I first met Kirsten of Iron Water Ranch this summer at Black Sheep Gathering. Unexpectedly, I ran into her again at OFFF the weekend before last. This time, she stuffed in my bag 15 grams of her beautiful locks of newly hand-dyed Romney.

It’s even better this time around. The art of spinning the thread of life.

Miraculously, to my own disbelief, I spun a gram straight off the locks and got 32.5 2-ply yards out of it~~that’s over 30,000 yards-per-pound of singles.   A good bit finer than the commercial handspun sold as Orenburg. I’m tickled pink!

I may certainly knit something small out of the 15 grams of locks I have as it’s spun…48 wpi 2-ply/66+ wpi singles. However, Kirsten likes to see a larger lace sample in her Romney. So, there are more being sent to me in the mail. I am thrilled to the commissioned work and can’t wait to spin more of it. Just wish I have some authentic Orenburg needles for this fine gossamer yarn to knit with…

Life is short, spin the batt! I’m spinning…Pygora and Silk blend here, it’s like…heaven. It is really soft and spins up great–as fine as the romney threads above. Think I have spin fever!

Another commission I recently received from Terry aka Spinpygora (the lady in green) while at OFFF.

Terry was the party girl/enabler that got me hooked on Spindlewood finest spindles last year, spinning her copper pygora roving in a custom-designed featherweight spindle that was unavailable to the public at the time.  Spin me a yarn…and it did!

I’ve had a great day despite a canceled hike last minute due to Aspen’s down for an unexpected nap! Disappointed? Yes…but that did not deter me from enjoying the day. I have made some amazing progress on the shop sample…working on sleeves two-at-time. Spinning and knitting go hand in hand, doesn’t it?! Both are passed from one artisan to another, used to create warm and beautiful fabric. I hope to get at least a cardigan off tomorrow, or the next day latest, and show you the finished piece

Meanwhile, here is one of the treasures I found at Goodwill yesterday.

Not that I need another bag…doesn’t it look perfect for my next swirl collection of yarn?!

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…)

When Ten Minutes is All I Have

Day two of Campfire USA Day Camp has come and gone.

There was spotty slight drizzle in mid-morning after a night of thunder, lightning, rain showers given dry air aloft and residual low-level moisture. The rest of the day was relatively dry as a desert.

Being gone a day sure cuts into the fiber-playing time…

Those little kids are pretty darn cute though.

I did have a few minutes when I got home last night. So, I made a new sample out of 2 grams of Romney mohair locks–from Kirsten Holbo of Iron Water Ranch in Albany, OR.

spun on my newly acquired Vegas Turkish spindle

while I was at Black Sheep Gathering on Saturday.

I knew I wouldn’t have enough to complete two motif designs.

So I used some gorgeous silky bamboo silk for the intarsia framing borders. This is relatively simple–great way to try out both intarsia and Estonian lace knitting!

Thanks to my friend Monique for the introduction. This may just be the gig/connection I need to further my spinning and designing portfolio

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…)