A few months back I picked up a fiber sampler from The Spinning Loft. At the time I had decided that I really needed to expand my fiber addiction from processed fiber to raw wool.

I guess I really didn’t know what I was doing. When I bought the sampler, I bought a flicker too, with the intention of spinning from the lock. The first fiber I washed was some merino. All went well, and other than overspinning the yarn. So it was time to try some more.

I totally felted the corridale while washing it, and decided for Christmas that handcards were in order. I successfully carded and spun the Polworth (my favorite wool so far) and Border Leicester (which would be good for a rug but not for close to skin stuff). I am in the process of spinning up some Finn. It is great practice on the backward long draw, and really, it has been a lot of fun.

My only frustration was with the Blue Faced Leicester wool I received. There was so much VM in the fiber that I ended up just throwing it away. I was disappointed, since I absolutely love BFL. I guess it a good thing that I have 6 oz of handdyed BFL that are wanting to be made into socks

Well, needless to say, last year was a little hectic. It seams that everything that went wrong did for us as a family. On the crafting side though, I have finally gotten more confident in both my knitting and spinning.

The interesting thing for me this Christmas was that all of my kids requested handknit socks. I was able to complete them all, although I am still working on Rons Christmas socks. Oh well. I also finished a hat and mittens for Rachel. Here is a pic:

Well, one of my new year resolutions will be to post more often. I have to thank the ladies at knitting night for asking about my website. Hopefully, I will be posting so patterns here in the future, and maybe some tips on spinning and what not. Too much to do, so little time.

It is already the middle of October. Halloween is coming up, and Ron and I are going to a Halloween Party! Sounds like fun  Well, I finished the Secret of the Stole III. I have decided that I like it now that it is finished. I really did not like it until it was blocked. Just goes to show how different things can look after blocking. So here is a picture of it.
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 I also finished a vest for myself. The pattern is Talia and I think it really worked with my handspun. That and it was a fast knit that had enough interesting pattern detail for me not to get bored with. Unfortunately, I do not have the best picture of it, but here is what I have: 
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I made a lot of adjustments to the pattern to work with the yarn (I was unable to knit to guage) and I can’t wait till we have the money for the buttons (they are going to be celtic knots). But I am happy with the result. I will post a picture of me wearing it someday.