More Shetland Project

Well, I've been busy - and it is going so quickly! I am already half way through the light brown.

2 huge skeins already. Finished 'em up last night while watching Stargate SG1 Season 10 cach up. Shown above blocking - still somewhat damp.

Showing here - the 2 skeins with one of the grey - just see the colors. And there are two more!

Happy spininng!

Do the Twi-i-ist!

Its kind of dark, and not as focused as I could have hoped - but can you see the loops and over-twists all over the place? This is some leftover gray shetland I was navajo plying and having a hard time keeping the spin the same. I was also watching TV, so my focus was split. (Note to self - don't so that!) :-) Also - this is AFTER blocking.

This is a lot better - still navajo plied, but closer in loft to the 3-ply I had done before. I need to practice this technique some more to get it all even and uniform across the board. If I can do that, then I won't need to ply the old fashioned way anymore. Well... hm, I still like plying the other way, though. But check this out...

Those two pictures above

...are from the SAME skein!! Wow, my focus must have really been off in the beginning part of doing this! :-/ I didn't know you could do that. I must have tuned out the TV later, to be able to have a much softer yarn with much, much less twist. And it is split pretty close to 50/50. Yeah, I'm not sure I'll be able to use this skein. Maybe part of it, but I'm not going to count on it!

Winter, Spring...then Winter Again

What is up with the weather? The weekend was absolutely beautiful - with clear blue sky, a light breeze, and temps almost to 80. Trees, grass, and plants are starting to bud and green. And flowers are starting to bloom. Then today...its cold and cloudy again. Actually, it's good, as there is rain on the way, and we definitely need it. I was looking for a picture to show all the green, all the different shades of green - I guess no one took pictures yesterday of the valley.

I was driving south and east on S. McCarran yesterday afternoon, and coming over the crest of the hill past Caughlin Pkwy, the whole valley was in view for a moment, and it was stunning. Instead of the gray fogginess of bare branchs, there is now a faint lime green tint - quite cheering actually. And there are so many shades of green - the dark alpine green of the evergreens, the verte of the bushes, gray green of sagebrush, kelly green of growing grass, and the bright, lime green of the willow. The golf courses were certainly busy this weekend.

In spinning and knitting news - one nearly completed project. I am almost done with the green sweater I've been knitting on for an older client. Just have one more arm to go. Still working of 2 socks at one time. Oh, and I finally had time to block the Icelandic Triangle Shawl. Picture to come.

I finished spinning up the grey shetland, and now I'm onto the light brown. Still spins just as easily. Last night alone I got one bobbin filled and part of another started. I should finish this up fairly quickly.

Been a while...

I just realized yesterday that is has been over 2 weeks since I posted last. Sorry about that - but it has been a very busy two weeks. My back has been steadily getting better, thanks to my wonderful chiropractor and a couple of good massages. It kind of hurts today, but I think that is from yesterday - we had an extra choir practice at church in the afternoon.

Fortunately it isn't work that is stressful or super busy anymore - its everyhting else. :-) Things just seem to snowball, and you find yourself at the end of the week just looking forward to a couple of hours to sleep in on Saturday. Not only is it the usual knitting lessons and stuff like that, but the choir at church is preparing and rehearsing for the Easter cantata. It is a fabulous piece called "He's Alive" by Gary Rhodes and Clair Clonniger. It was first published quite a while ago - so not a new piece. But the orchestration and songs are quite wonderful. I have been busy not only with extra rehearsals for that, but up until yesterday I was getting ready for an audition for one of the solos (I don't expect I got it as there were several ladies with much nicer auditions), and I have also had practice early Wed. evenings for worship team - I am playing my oboe every Sunday morning in the 1st service along with Andrew (plays sax), Becky (trump) and Erin (violin.) It is a lot of fun, and I am praising God with the talent he gave me.

This last weekend was busy - but good. My mom and I had a great time together on Saturday, just hanging out - shopping and having lunch. Andrew and Dad went to a conference through church for most of the day. Then I had a knitting lesson, and by the time I finished up with that - it was 5pm already and Mom, Dad, and Andrew were coming over this way for dinner. So I got both lunch and dinner on Saturday! But it was really nice being able to see Dad, too.

On the fiber front - not much going on. I am trying to finish up a commissioned sweater, and am on the sleeves. So almost there. Of course, she's not going to be able to wear it until the fall! Can you believe the weather? Here in Reno it has topped 78F!! So sunny and clear. I guess we broke a record today - the last time it was this warm in March was in 1888.

Anyway, I haven't done much more spinning, but I am almost through the grey shetland I was working on. I still have two single socks on the needles along with a host of UFO's. :-\

On a different note:
Stargate Atlantis, Season 2!!! Wooo Hoooo!!! :-)

I *heart* John Shephard!!