Digital is o.k. but I am partial to a good book in my hands or sometimes even better a lovely magazine to look through.  I splurge on this magazine and this magazine alone....so when it happily arrives at my door......I smile...look at it lovingly.....make a blog post about it......PIN it......and then put it on the coffee table for later today when I can take the plastic off and browse through it at ease while sipping some tea.   :)

When I go down to the shop I use Kate's official looking thingy (I don't even know what it's called-Lazy Kate?) to ply the yarn.  I was taking note of its construction to have Chris make me one, when a fellow spinner said that she uses a shoe box to put her bobbins in and plies from that.  So after I used the power drill to wind the bobbins (no $$ ) I made my own.  It works great!  My first plying on my own  :)

Here is the Lady Bug and I in action. Sorry about the leg shot.  :(

View from the top.

My very own Falkland yarn. I have much more top to spin and ply and KNIT.... Yay.  So I was able to not spend money on a winder and a Lazy Kate, but after wrapping this around my arm (and then again around Chris's) I think I WILL invest in a niddy noddy to wrap it into a hank. 

...purchases at the MFF

Merino/Bamboo/Silk 4 oz.

Polwarth Top 4oz.

.......

I don't like to shop. Period. No way no how. So when I DO shop I usually am intentional in what I am getting.  Get in get out.   We drove three hours north of here to visit the Michigan Fiber Festival.  I had no idea what I wanted or if I would buy anything.  I just wanted to see what was there.  We saw goats and sheep and ducks and Border Collies.  Chris and Margaret went off on their own while I perused the vendor's area.   Being new to spinning and not knowing exactly what I wanted or needed and being a tightwad to boot, I wasn't eager to part with my hard earned cash.  The booths held a plethora of woollen goodies from washed fleeces to rovings to ready to go yarn.  I could tell it was going to be a hard decision.  Personally, I am attracted to an organized booth, nice products and pleasant people. {I am picky like that} I guess it is because I DON'T LIKE TO SHOP, even if it is for wool.  That is probably one of the reasons I want sheep....I won't have to shop....it's already here. I would like one of each breed of sheep please....that way I have all the different types of wool I need.  :)   Soooooo, when I stopped at an attractive display of some Merino wool that was spun with tencil (I know that isn't the right spelling, but it was something made of wood), I was intrigued.   It was pretty and the extrovert shop owner pranced right over to me.   She said, " This will make you say Oh My God".   I thought.... Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.   This isn't my commandment...it's Gods.  So I let her tell me about the blend of the wool. I knew as soon as she said it I wasn't buying it.  It could have been made of gold and she wouldn't have made a sale.  All because I don't want a yarn that will make me blaspheme the Lord's name.     I did return to a lovely shop which was surprisingly owned by a lady in INDIANA.  :)  There were no declarations of future blasphemy.  It was a go. 

I fell in love at the Michigan Fiber Festival with this magnificent creature.  Can anyone tell me what breed it is?  I have since been informed that it is a Lincoln Longwool Ram.   He is lovely.

Can anyone give me the breed of these sheep?  I 'think' they are sheep.

.....Clara

Moonlight Magic {Magia Del Clare de Luna}..we just call her Clara.

.....BLT.....it's whats for dinner :)

.....a little yarn to tell

I finished spinning the Coopworth at home and made it back down to the shop last Saturday and was able to turn it into a 3-ply yarn.  Here it hangs drying.  Wet it was 29 inches long~dry it shrank up to 27.

Here it is dry.

The instructor said to count the strands of yarn and multiply by @1.5 to get yardage.  It turned to be about 165 yards.  I didn't realize until I was done plying that it seemed to be a little too loose.  Next time I will be more aware.   All in all I enjoyed this wool from carding to spinning to plying....hmmmm wonder how it will knit up.  I am looking forward to that.  I had originally thought I would make mittens, but I am not sure now.

......practice makes perfect....it's gonna take a lot of practice!

Blended-2 colors-100% Blue Faced Leicester Top-4 oz.