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When I bought my Suzie Pro from Lisa Souza, I received four ounces of Tropical Mist. 90% superfine Merino and 10% Tencel. I weighed the fiber, dividing it into three and spun it on the Suzie Pro. I plied it on my Rappard Mitzi and got one 366 yard skein. I managed to come pretty close to ending all three bobbins at once. I two plied what was left on the last bobbin and made a small sample skein. It was a fun self-challenge. I usually two ply, but I think I will start doing more three ply. Maybe with more practice I can come out closer at the end.

I got the book!

I received Respect the Spindle, Abby Franquemont's book just out from my Secret Santa. My local group had the annual Christmas party Thursday evening. Great foods, fine friends and lots of fun.

Christmas Knitting

I have been knitting for Christmas gifts. Over two dozen pair of mitts and a scarf or two. This shows part of them. Some have been given and everyone loves them. The pattern is Baby Fan Mitts by Morgan Wolf. Ewedaimonia.Etsy.com

Retreat

Last weekend was wonderful! First ever fiber retreat held locally. Three level Victorian home with a great wrap around porch. Spinners and knitters everywhere. Wonderful food and lots of laughs. It was a mega fun weekend and no one wanted to see it end. At one point I was challenged (triple dog dared in fact) to a blindfolded spinning contest. We both spun well with no breaks or problems so it wound up being a tie. I think everyone's stomach hurt from so much laughing. If you have a chance to do a weekend with a bunch of crazy and wonderful women..........do it! We are already thinking about the next one. My daughter in law is massage therapist and was kept busy most of the time. Massage, spinning, knitting, laughs, what better way to spend a weekend?
Don't you think the pillowcase rather looks like a giant sheep head?

The boys have names

I sat with the sheep this morning while they were having breakfast. For better or worse, some names came to me. Jeremiah, Seth and Timothy.



In June I bought a Majacraft Suzie Pro. I love this wheel. I have added the high speed head. Did some trading for the lace kit, so I can spin a vast range of yarns and fibers. The wheel had been making some noise and I noticed some *play* in the drive wheel. Not a good thing. Upon investigation it was discovered that the shaft bearing was bad. I called the dealer (wheel is under warranty) and sent pictures of the problem. My dealer is Lisa Souza. WWW.LISAKNIT.COM. Lisa's husband was great. He and I discussed the issues and he called Majacraft which resulted in my being shipped a new drive wheel. Great service! I am a happy spinner. I do have other wheels and spindles, so it was not a total hardship being without Suzie for a few days. But you know how it is when you have a project going.............

Comings and Goings

Yesterday I said goodbye to the twins, Slate and Nubbin. They went to live with a guy that raises Scottish Blackface and trains working dogs. His ram was the one that had his way with Sequoia and that resulted in the birth of the cross bred twin boys.
In their place are triplet wethers that were born this spring. They are Coopworth. I need to name them. Any suggestions?

This and That

RAIN! I emptied FOUR inches of liquid sunshine this morning from last night's storm. I do hope this is a start of a wet winter. I harvested the cotton bolls a couple of weeks ago. (a bit early) I got about 140 bolls from five plants. I have a large zip loc bag full of brown cotton with seeds. I may gin it or just spin from the seed. That is a fun thing to do.

This is a bit of a catch up post. I just cannot seem to find the time to sit down and write often like a lot of you do.

September 26th was National Alpaca day. Four spinners from my group went to an alpaca farm about an hour away.

http://www.alpacas-porterbraypines.com

We had lovely weather and a lot of people came to see the alpacas and things that were offered for sale. I came home with two bags of alpaca wool. One is a lovely almost black and the other is cinnamon. This is the sire just before he broke out of the pen. He wanted to be back with his girls so he put his head under the rail and lifted the side of the pen and then went to the barn! Good thing that there were other alpaca on display. You cannot believe how black this guy is. One gal said that he looks like negative space. It was the first time that we visited the farm and I think we will go again next year. The alpacas are such lovely creatures and those large liquid eyes.............oh my, I am in love.


The first Saturday of the month was the annual Art and Craft in the Park. It is sponsored by the local garden club. There are many vendors with handcrafted items and some really good foods. There is music and dancing too. And of course there are all of the plants for sale by the garden club. One of the gals in our group has a bear that she used as a knitting bear for display. Her son carved some knitting needles for the bear. It did get a lot of attention and kids had their picture taken with the bear. It was a fun day.