what is my problem??

Posted on Posted in projects, spinning and fiber, Uncategorized

hello—sorry it’s been so many days. i didn’t know what to write about. it must be the weather. it’s wet, and has been for several days. it’s nice though—a good, spring wet that’s making everything grow.

as debby said in class the other day, “you could just sit outside and watch the plants grow right now, they are coming out so fast.”

before i say any more, debbieKnitter is having a stash sale that you might want to check out (debbbie buys nice yarn always, so there might be some real finds there).

and still, i don’t have that much to write about! i did some spinning the other night, which i totally needed. i found it inspiring and peaceful and soul-satisfying. just what i was wanting. i haven’t spun since the week i got back from my brother’s funeral. i really don’t know why . . . but

it was starting to feel a little like the clothes i won’t wear because i bought them for my father’s funeral a few years ago; we went to visit him and didn’t expect him to pass away right then, but he did. so i had to buy clothes to wear to the funeral—absolute worst shopping trip ever. and now i have these perfectly good clothes, brand new, only wore them once. but i just can’t bear to put them on. maybe in a few more years.

so, i thought that going near the wheel would be the same, that it would make me feel slightly nauseous and very sad. but it didn’t. it was GREAT. thank heavens. because i love spinning and i have a ton of fiber here that needs to be made into yarn . . .

i spun up the rest of my secret agent man merino superwash from Crown Mountain Farms. it is so cool. i had previously spun about 3 or 4 ounces of it into sock-weight yarn

and i said when i spun the rest into a heavier-weight yarn, i would show it so we could see if the coloration changed when spun differently.
so here is the newer batch. the smaller skein of worsted-weight was spun quite some time back, and the singles sat on the bobbin for a while; i just plied it the other night. the larger skein of DK weight was spun and plied the same evening. it seems as if the second half of the roving might have had more white in it.

i expected that the chunkier yarns would have more spotty coloring and the sock yarn would look more blended, and that’s true. but i dunno; they all are fraternal for sure; it’s not a big distinction. lots of nice variety and no mud; i like them all.

tonight i’m going to start spinning some more of this

adam and i are going to trade—some of his Hand-Dyed Yarn for some of my handspun. i’m looking forward to it. check out adam’s blog, be sure to say “ting!” and that anne sent you.

and speaking of outdoor colors, check this out

does anyone know what this plant is? i bought it a few years ago in the shade plant section of a local nursery. it is a small, delicate-looking ground cover that i love. it has these tiny star-shaped fuschia flowers and a lime-green leaf with a reddish edge that glows like a little lamp in the shade, where it lives. despite its delicate appearance, it comes back year after year, and seems to love our garden (not like those other, traitor plants . . .).
i divided it last year and the new ones are also doing well. but boy, would i just LOVE to have a carpet of this to fill some barren areas in the deep shade. however, i have never seen it for sale again (ain’t that just the way?). and, shame on me, i lost the little nameplate, too.

ok, back indoors to look at my socks.

these are knitting up quite pleasingly; the fabric feels sooo nice. the smooth, buttery yarn and a little lace pattern is making them go quickly too. in fact, i’m starting to dawdle with them a bit, just to make them last longer. by the way, kim has posted some more of this yarn in new colors . . . i can wait . . . i’ll be here when you come back broke return.

and i am really, REALLY close to being done with this pink ragg sock. i’ll be happy when it is off the needles. i’m tired of fighting with this prickly yarn . . .

i’m sure i will love them much better when they are keeping my feet warm next winter.

i have to laugh . . . as i said, it’s been very gray and rainy here this week. everywhere you look it’s sort of brown and green. the trees haven’t leafed-out yet, so the landscape is a little raw, still. except for this

we have this errant tulip growing by itself near the garage. every time i look out the window i see this bright red spot and it makes me smile, and reminds me of my favorite childhood movie, the red balloon. such a rogue.

30 thoughts on “what is my problem??

  1. Hi Anne,
    It looks like a variety of epimedium (barrenwort or bishop’s hat). Does that ring a bell?

  2. That’s an epimedium spp. common name Barrenwort. Its a great dry shade plant. I have to have mine in a little cage so the rotten deer don’t get at them. I love how your Crown Mt. Farm fibre spun up – its lovely!

  3. Beautiful socks, even the prickly one. I think those errant flowers know exactly what they’re doing. Or maybe some squirrel with too-full cheeks dropped it and… happy things happen.

  4. You had me at “Crown Mountain” and completely sealed the deal with that lovely errant tulip! I like Jenn’s charming theory of the chubby-cheeked squirrel.

  5. OMG ya’ll the socks, they are sooooooooooo soft. I wish each of you could touch them just once. Anne, why dontcha ship the socks to each one of our houses so we can fondle the *grin*

  6. I’m right there with you in the lack of words for the blog these last few weeks. I think it is the season….spring fever :-).

    I can’t wait for you to post that sock pattern!

  7. Hi there, lurker dropping in.

    I’m a Sock Hop spinner for CMF, and the big 8oz hanks of the superwash merino are always darker on one end than the other because of the way it’s dyed. Teyani has us split the hanks into bits, then mix them up and spin them in a random order so the color is more or less evenly mixed in all skeins.

  8. yeah.. what Diane said (grin) – thanks Diane… I do indeed dye one end of the superwash lighter than the other. I break the entire 8 ounces into 2-3 foot lengths, and then randomly spin from that bunch of fiber. It spreads the lighter sections throughout the skeins. It was done to make the barberpole effect more obvious..
    LOVE the socks… are you really going to be posting a pattern for those beauties that you are knitting from Kim’s yarn? Whoo-hoo. can’t wait!

  9. I really like that manLace sock, it looks great! Do you think the pattern will be easy to modify for it to fit not-so-manly feet as well?

  10. Spinning brought you, and your brothers, such peace and connectedness after the funeral of your dear brother. I think that’s what you are carrying with you now. It shows in your beautiful yarns — there’s a gentle rhythm and balance visible in them.

    Happy Spring to you, too! What a dear little plant.

  11. I love how you start off saying that you don’t know what to write about, then turn out a wonderful posting. I always look forward to seeing new entries from you.

    I’m glad you’ve reconnected with your spinning. I still have the clothes from both my grandfather’s funerals tucked in my closet. Actually, I take that back. One top was a store bought knit cotton top. I ripped that up one day in a fit and later reknit it as a baby sweater for the newest grandchild. It’s still a little big for her. I guess I also just realized she’ll never know her grandfather. I wore the sweater to his funeral before she was born. Oh boy. I’m sorry. I didn’t make that connection until just now.

  12. Am I the only person who misses snow? *sigh*

    The pink ragg sock doesn’t LOOK prickly, but it also doesn’t look as soft as the TWR sock.

  13. Anne, your handspun yarn is beautiful… I am glad that it felt GREAT spinning again.

    How beautiful those bright pink little flowers are! And the red tulip…sigh…

    For somebody who didn’t know what to write you sure made a beautiful entry.

    Have a good weekend, Anne.
    Take care!

  14. I remember the secret agent man yarn! I loved that yarn. I for one can’t say how glad, HOW glad, I am you can still spin with joy. Your photography just never ceases to amaze me, I don’t know if you realize just how gifted you are with a camera!!

  15. Those are truly lovely yarns. I’ve more or less given up knitting now that we live in balmy California, but I’m tempted to have a go with cottons instead – I could do with a bit of therapy.
    best wishes

  16. Beautiful yarns, as always. I just love your homespun. Luscious. No idea what those charming little red star flowers are, but they’re delightful. Love the lone tulip, too. Renegade. LOL

  17. Clothes are just there, they remind without bringing in any newness of their own accord. Spinning and knitting are creative, contemplative, and bring a little more beauty back into the world. My sympathies to you in your losses, and I am grateful you have knitting and spinning and your unexpected tulip.

  18. So glad that somebody else knew the name of that pretty plant; otherwise I’d have had to ask my ex-husband, who is something of a botanist. Thankfully, I’ve not needed to speak to him since Christmas Day.

    Love the dark socks; nicely busy without being dizzying. Nicely done!

  19. Oh, what beautiful yarn you’ve made! I just love the twisty looking ones. I’m having kind of a crappy day, but seeing that has cheered me quite a bit. Between you and Kristi at Knitters Anonymous I’m going to have to start spinning pretty soon here. Nuts.

  20. Oh, the Red Balloon! That’s a very powerful childhood memory for me, too.

    I’m glad you’re spinning again. How weird that you got two such different skeins from one roving!

  21. so much to look at in this post – that secret agent man color is so nice – amazing how it changes when you spin it thicker! glad you could get back into your spinning – maybe you could just put the clothes away and not even look at them for a while. I have my “funeral clothes” and really don’t wear them anywhere else. Like they have bad karma or something…..

  22. You will never wear those funeral clothes – jsut give them away. No psychic house room.

    The dress I wore to my grandmother’s funeral I took to the dry cleaners and never picked up. Never even went back to that cleaners.

    The jacket I bought for my dad’s is in the back of the closet. I keep it becasue I find it oddly comforting, but I won’t ever wear it.

    Now I have to go read the rest of the post…..

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