I’ve been doing a lot, and therefore have lots to talk about, but my brain isn’t working right. I can’t focus and formulate anything comprehensive. So I’ll show a couple of pictures and ramble a bit.

Since I happened upon that little spinning guild meeting years ago and decided then and there that spinning on a wheel was something that I simply HAD to do in my life, I’ve been romanced by and in awe of the idea of making a completed, functional item from raw fleece. Now, 5 or so years later, I’m finally doing it.

As I mentioned last Monday, I want to make a sweater for Clark. Well, now I’ve sampled, swatched, and decided on a blend and weight…

…which is basically going to be in between those two. The one on the right is a two ply of 1/3 alpaca, 2/3 wool knit on size 5 needles. The one on the left is a 3 ply 1/5 alpaca, 4/5 wool knit on size 6. Indecision and varying opinions from the outside have resulted in a 2 ply yarn that is 1/4 alpaca, 3/4 wool by weight. I’m well into the spinning right now, and have carded over half. I’ve learned that while carding does remove some vm (vegetable matter, or bits of grass and hay, etc), it doesn’t remove enough to make it worth using the parts of the alpaca that are particularly dirty. (It’s been washed, so it’s CLEAN dirt/hay/grass/whatever).

That was annoying, but I learned quickly, and didn’t ruin anything.

So, I have about a week and a half to finish the yarn before the dye party, and I’m planning to journal the progress for posterity.

Here is weighed and measured, cleaned fiber for one batt.

That picture isn’t completely legit, as I’ve hand fluffed the wool to get it ready to card. But we’re close.

And here are some batts, which you’ve seen already, but humor me.

Oh! The softness. The fluffiness.

And here we are with I think 4 of the required 15 batts spun into a single.

And that’s as far as I’ve got. Hopefully, you’ll see some plied yarn in the next few days.

I’m shocked as to how quickly the spinning is going, which has a little voice in the back of my head FREAKING out that I’ve messed up my math and have 3 times more to do than I think I do. At least.

I haven’t touched the socks, so they look the same as they did the last time you saw them.

And I had more to say than I thought I did. Cool.