There’s no turning back.  I’m officially and hopelessly addicted to spinning.

I spent part of this afternoon spinning 4 ounces of BFL and another 4 ounces of corriedale.  The darker colored singles in the picture are hand-painted black BFL by Gale’s Art.  The name of the color is “Rose Garden”.  The lighter, brighter-colored singles are Sakina Needles corriedale in a color called “Bad Robot”.  I’m letting these singles rest on the bobbins overnight and I’m hoping I can ply them tomorrow and see how they look.

I still have another 16 ounces of corriedale and 8 ounces of BFL from Sakina Needles to spin.  I can’t wait!

AND… I was able to join CJ Kopec Creations‘ fiber club.  I’m so excited because it will give me the chance to try some different and challenging fibers.  Not to mention Coby makes some beautiful rovings.

I got my niddy-noddy in the mail on Friday also and I finally skeined up my very first 2-ply that I ever spun.  I can already see so much improvement from this first skein compared with the singles I’ve been spinning lately.  I still think it’s really pretty and I’ve hung it on display in my craft room.  It’s only about 30 yards so I can’t imagine I’ll knit anything with it.

I decided not to ply the two other singles I spun so far (the merino/colonial and merino/tencel).  Instead I wound them on the niddy-noddy last night and washed them.  They’re currently hanging in the shower to dry.  Both of them have a bit too much twist, but I’m still learning.  I might knit something with them, though — both have a lot more yardage than my first skein.  I’ll take pictures of those and post them as soon as they’re done drying!

Somehow, I’d completely forgotten about it until I received a reminder e-mail in the mail yesterday.  (Whew!)  Today begins Sock Wars III!

I just received the pattern and the dossier for my “target”.  Muhahaha.

The sock pattern we’re knitting is called “The Detonator” (hehe) and is pictured to the left.  I think it looks like a very fun pattern and it’s sure to look good in TOFUtsies yarn.  (Which I need to stop by my LYS and get some more of!)

If you’d like to knit along with sock wars participants, the organizers of the event have made the pattern publically available here too!

Ok, I need to get all in to my 007 spy/assassin mode and get knitting.  ;)  Hee.

First, there are a couple fun knitting/fiber-related events coming up in the middle Tennessee area and I wanted to share them with you:

• Worldwide Knit in Public Day will be celebrated in Nashville on June 14th at Centennial Park, beginning at 11 a.m.  You can find more details about the event here.  I’m really hoping to make it, providing the weather is nice.  If you come, be sure to look for me and say “hello”!
• The Middle Tennessee Sheep, Wool and Fiber Festival is coming up on May 23rd & 24th.  It’s taking place in Dickson, TN at the Dickson County fair grounds.  More information can be found at their site.  I was lucky enough to get a spot in their Beginning Spinning workshop on Saturday afternoon, and I can’t wait!  (Not to mention, I can’t wait to go ogle all the lovely roving the vendors will be selling…)

Speaking of spinning, I know several people have asked me how my spinning is coming along.  Truthfully I haven’t had the opportunity to do nearly as much as I’d like to.  In the short bits of free time I have here and there, it’s easy to pick up my knitting projects, but I really have to devote bigger blocks of time if I’m going to drag out my wheel.  It seems that I need to make time for spinning.

I did pick up some new roving last week from The Loopy Ewe:

This particular fiber comes from black Blue-Faced Leicester sheep, and then is overdyed with color.  It gives a really neat effect and I can’t wait to see how it spins up.

I also placed another order from The Woolery (where I purchased my wheel) today.  I got 2 more bobbins, a niddy-noddy, and the Ashford maintenance kit.  And I placed an order from Sakina Needles for some lovely Corriedale and BFL (TLE hasn’t had either of those fibers in stock reccently).

So, what have I actually spun…?  Not much.  Yet.

In a previous post, I showed the first singles I’d spun.  Here’s some more shots of the singles and 2-ply I made from that:

Then tonight I finished spinning my second single, a merino/colonial blend from CJ Kopec Creations:

Finally, here’s what I have on my wheel now.  I just started spinning this merino/tencel blend (also from CJ Kopec Creations) tonight:

This merino/tencel is by far the most challenging fiber I’ve spun so far.  The tencel just wants to separate from the merino.  It’s a real challenge!

I’m very glad I decided to order mostly BFL and corriedale (”easy” fibers) to spin next.  I think I need a lot more practice!

This, my friends, is what happens when knitters destash…

No, *I* wasn’t the one doing the destashing.  I barely have a stash by the standards of most knitters.  (My sock yarn stash is mildly impressive and I have a weird affinity for dishcloth cotton, but I’m lacking in everything else.)  No these are the treasures I added to my stash after a friend of mine decided that she needed to clean out some of her yarn.  She had three garbage bags full.  I only took one of the three, and I already have no idea where I’ll put it all!  Not that it matters, I’ll find some place!  I did have a heck of a good time dumping it all out in the middle of our living room floor (while my husband was still at work of course) to sort through it.

I managed to fit it all into one storage tub.  That storage tub is sitting in the middle of the floor in my office/craft room though.  I really need to clean out the closet in that room so that I can store tubs-o-yarn in there.

I’ve really been on an anti-sock-kick lately.  I know.  My friends at The Neighborhood Knit Shop were concerned I might be ill.  No need to fear, nothing is wrong!  I’m sure I’ll be back to knitting socks in no time.  I’ve just been in the mood to knit other things lately.

I knitted up a Ballband dishcloth the other night.  I’ve been meaning to knit one for a long time.  It’s such a fun, clever pattern.  I want to make some more and mod them to be Swiffer-covers.  I think that is such a clever idea — saves money and they’re washable/reusable so you’re not tossing more junk into landfills.

I also started knitting up Deb’s Hug Me Shrug.  It’s this fun shawl/shrug pattern that wraps around your shoulders and loops through itself in the front so that it “hugs” you.  It’s another one of those things I’ve been meaning to knit for quite a while.  I finally bought the pattern last week and started knitting it on Saturday.  It goes so fast!

I’m using Schaefer Sandra yarn in the “Jeanette Rankin” colorway.  I’ve had this yarn (4 skeins worth!) in my stash for quite a while.  I really struggled with finding a good pattern to use it with, but the “Hug Me” is absolutely perfect.  I think I’m going to bring it to work and keep it in my cubicle to wrap around me when I get a chill.  (Which is often, our office is usually COLD!)

I’m hoping to finish the Hug Me later this week, then I’m going to get back to my Bombshell sweater, I hope.  So much to knit, so little time!

Finally, I had to share with you my new little buddy, Little Loopy from The Loopy Ewe.  Ain’t he a cutie-pie?

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