February/March update

I've done a lot of spinning over the last two months, but not much knitting. Well, at least not enough knitting. And I have a ton of pics to take for the Breeds Challenge, but first I have to set the twist on all the samples. At the rate I'm going, if I wait until that's done, it'll be June before I post again, so....no pics this time, but anyway....

I did finish the pretty blue Gluttony colorway socks. They were plain vanilla cuff down heel flap socks in Lizard Toes yarn from the now defunct Cables and Lace.

The first socks for both the Cherry Tree Hill "Rustic" and the Opal Rainforest "Cassandra?" colorway are done and the second for both started. These are both afterthought heel socks (something new for me) vanilla cuff downs. The Rustic I've been working on in between spinning while visiting Mom, and the Opals are my nighttime DVD knitting.

I found (yeah, like they were lost) some new (to me) podcasts I really like: Electric Sheep, Ba Ba Blacksheep, Subway Knits, and The Fiber Files.

On the spinning front, my "Wash Me" finishing box for my spinning is almost full (it's small - 7x7x6) with completed samples skeins from Gulf Coast, Fressian, Montadale, Border Leicester and Clun Forest breeds, as well as five tiny Phat Fiber samples. I've also got four skeins of the Merino/Bamboo/Silk blend to wash, but I'm keeping them separate. On my spindles are Gotland, Hog Island (big yuck), Perendale and BFL. And the MBS blend.

The Wool Breeds Challenge has been very interesting. I'm learning a lot, both about the different breeds and about myself and my preferences. I like Down breeds better than the really long Longwools. I like prepping my own fiber. I like both combing and carding but prefer carding. I love spinning long draw even though it can be frustrating on a spindle. When it works, it's magic.