We had our first snow of the season a week ago Friday, and it was cold enough to keep all 3 inches on the ground for nearly a week. Actually, it’s been cold enough that I don’t want to poke my nose outside at all, so that has given me much more time at the wheel and on the needles. The squirrels and birds are taking no breaks from searching for seeds and nuts, giving the cat girls good entertainment. I’m always amused when the squirrels and cats have a stare-down contest. Here in the country entertainment is easy to come by.
The sheep of the month for my ongoing breed study is Perendale from New Zealand, a dual-purpose (meat and fleece) sheep developed in the 1930s by crossing Cheviot rams with Romney ewes. The result is a hardy (and hefty) sheep, with ewes weighing in at about 100 pounds and the rams as much as 220 pounds.
The fleece has been described as “crisp” and “bouncy.” I found it really slippery at first, and the two most successful techniques for me ended up being either spinning from the fold, or long draw.
Even after thoroughly wetting the fiber, there were only a few waves in the roving, so I went back to spinning with the techniques I had already mastered.
Racing to the End of the Year
Off and on I’ve been working my way through the 2020 Inglenook Fibers 12 days of fiber that was paired with two braids of complimentary colors (the green and deep red at the back right of this photo). I spun 10 of the 12 fiber samples on spindles (supported and suspended) — each on a different spindle, to see whether it was possible to get all of them to a similar gauge. It worked out pretty well. The two braids and two of the samples were wheel-spun; two on my e-spinner, and two on my Majacraft.
I’m currently in the plying process. The majority will be matched up to the red or green so that I can have some blending through the entire batch. I’ll also make up the rest of the green and red as two-ply, which will form the ground colors for my planned sweater. My current idea is a sort of crazy-quilt design, but who knows what will happen when these hit the needles.
One thing at a time — I’m just hoping to have the yarn ready to go before the end of 2021 so that I’ll have actually finished something this year.
This is the first swatch from the small ball above. I’m pleased with how it turned out.
This is the skein I’m most pleased with in my current plying frenzy. Part of this came from last month’s Gotland breed study fleece, but the bulk of this is from Erika Burrows’ Gotlands. I spun the colors separately and then randomly plied them together to get this wonderful tweed look. This skein is headed for washing while I continue to ply more of the 12 days of fiber.
As usual, I have more projects going on than hands available to work on them. That’s just how I roll!