Yeah. I bought a bag of hair. So what?

We had a good time at the alpaca festival (Pacafiesta) today. Well, actually not so much. Ian liked the alpacas for about five minutes, then he was bored and acting crazy, climbing the decorations and trying to kick spinning wheels. I had to chase him to stop him from scaring the baby alpacas. But despite all that, I learned a lot. I got to see a spinning wheel in action (it was like oooooooohhhhh! I get it!) and a loom as well. No interest in weaving at all folks. Don't fret. There was a lady with a llama as well, with a baby. If you could milk a llama, it would be the perfect animal. I asked her about it, she said they have small teats. But she also said it is really close to human milk, and probably really good for you.

Hmmm.

So I got some nice stuff for spinning. I got this superwash merino custom blend (which I started already):

It is 100 grams, I am hoping to get enough for socks. At least that's the plan. I know to knit socks, you need 100 grams, so in theory, if I manage to spin it at about a sock weight, I should be able to make socks. Most sock yarn is blended with nylon, however. So I don't know how I will get around that. (ply it with Phentex, maybe? KIDDING!!!) Anyway, we will see how it goes.

I also got this, Pat's Colours hand dyed feltable Merino roving:

Which I actually don't think I am going to spin, I want to make thrummed mitts. It's hard to show the colour right, but it is like green and yellow and brown.

Finally I got a pound of this:

Which I forgot to find out what it is. But I think it is also superwash merino. There is A LOT of it. A pound is a lot of fibre. I don't know what it will be for. Maybe a sweater? Or a scarf? The colour is not quite right in this picture either, but it is dark grey with a hint of brown. They called it Earth.

All together, I spent $17. (well, $26 with admission) That's it. Cheap!! The big bag was only $5. I have spent more than that on regular sock yarn! Like, a lot more! Now if I had a spinning wheel and could make yarn, you know, efficiently, it would actually be quite a bit cheaper than buying sweaters ready made! Surprise! Who knew knitting could be cheap if you make your own yarn! Too bad I suck at it. Hopefully practice makes perfect.

Now, off to practice!

Last night at supper:

Ian: This is my baborite supper in the whole..... oony-berse!

(We were eating fish sticks. Sigh.)

Playing catch up. (click any pics to embiggen)

Ian's artistic photography:

Kitty wants to knit:

My plied yarn! Woo hoo! It took forever, but I finally washed it today, and it should be ready to knit when it dries!

Ian at apple picking. Pretty big, orange, apple!

The sun was in his eyes:

Tree swing:

Apples:

Me and my boy:

Views on the wagon ride:

Yummie!

My tomato crop. Not bad for a first try I don't think!

You would think he grew them himself:

Queensland Beach, Thursday:

Then we went for a walk in the woods:

Stopped for a bite to eat. Ian had some cheese with his whine:

Mood swing!

This is his angry face. He stomps around and says "I'm Mad!"

My mad face:

I don't know how he took this:

Sometimes wrong is just right!

Hi folks!

I got the carpet cleaned today, and I just got my computer set back up again. I managed to ply the singles yesterday. I will get pics up as soon as I can. I still need to wash them as well. Anyway, I couldn't do a thing today with everything I owned in the wrong rooms. I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow!

Anyway, I heard this on the radio this morning and it made me laugh! I think the lady took it very well when she decided to stay!

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=b3f2600b-a2a8-4c78-9d38-1fba45df7f0a

Hope it brightens your day, and tides you over until I get my yarn pics up!

A good day

My spinning is getting better. Hopefully I am not boring anybody with all this, but at least I am posting! I am getting a lot more proficient with practice, and I am also becoming much less afraid of the wool, as in, not so scared I am going to tear or ruin it. Plus I am doing more prep work, which I think is helping. Here is a pic of the last bit I spun:

And just for reference, here is a pic of the other stuff, from oldest to newest, so you can compare quality:

(sorry the pic is blurry. It's hard to take pictures at night)

I still have a little bit of the roving left, I will probably finish it tonight, and tomorrow I will have to figure out how to ply it. Then wash it, hang it, dry it, measure it, knit it, etc. You never know. Anyway, it is sort of satisfying to see all that fuzz smooth out into threads, right before my eyes.  But I am running out of wool! (she says as she eyes the cat and the hair clippers...)

Anyhoo. That is not all I accomplished today. I made bread, tidied the kitchen (for me, that is an accomplishment) and most importantly....

Took Ian to his first day of preschool! Yay!

Look how super cute he is, and such a big boy!

Happy to be there:

Hat and bag off...

Hung in his cubby...

And off playing without a backward glance!

Last night when I reminded him it was his first day of school, he was so excited! I asked him what the teacher would teach him, and he said "about vacuums!" and the first thing he did was run in to the toy vacuum. No tears (not even me), just happy to be there. He was one of the few, though. You could hear the heartbreaking wails from the other kids at the other end of the building!

Later on, when I went to pick him up, he runs up and says "Mama I PAINTED! And my FINGERS WERE CLEAN! I painted NICELY!"

I am glad we had a good day!