Flippin' Friday

Were are the weeks going? I feel as if the weeks are just flying by! This week I finished up the little shawl for my friends daughter... here it is all blocked and looking pretty.

Yesterday morning I was finally able to unpin Marin's wedding sweater and this morning she tried it on for me. She is still in her pajamas and has sleepy hair... but when she put the sweater on? I was so happy with it! Boy, it really is a spectacular feeling when you see something in your head and are actually able to translate it and make it a reality. I just love this little sweater!

Last night during Blogtalk radio, I was happily flicking away on my coopworth fleece. Wow, what a pleasure this fleece has been to process. Originally I was going to send it off to a processor, but I can't bring myself to do it. I want to process the whole thing myself! Here are pictures of the box of fluff that I worked on - I can't tell you how much I love feeling the softness of the fluff!

 I was going to show a quick tutorial of how I flick open the locks. I started to take still pictures of the process, but I needed two hands to actually flick the locks (it's really just like brushing hair with a special brush - you can actually use a dog brush) but my camera is too heavy for my little tripod. I thought well I'll do a quick video and post it here. I went to the drawer to get my flip and...... nothin'. I went through each child's room... nothin'. I wasted 45 min trying to find this thing... and I came up with nothin'.

box filled will delicious fiber!

washed locks (remember that photo with the packets of fleece?)

twist fiber, holding the twist brush out each end.

fluffed out fiber... so soft and pet-able!

Sorry folks no video, but I now know going into the weekend that there is no contraband in any of my children's rooms..... and believe me I searched!

Yesterday I wrote the pattern for the new RedHeart design and I will be starting that up today. Hopefully I will have a major chunk of the knitting done this weekend so I can start a baby blanket on the rigid heddle loom my friend ordered.

Progress

This morning I finished up a quick shawl for my girlfriend's daughter. She is making her First Communion (May can be unpredictable in NJ). I went to an all girls Catholic school and my friends that I keep in touch with I offered to make shawls for their daughters when they make their First Communion. I have visions of adding length to the shawl for their Conformation and then again more length for their wedding. The pattern that I have chosen is so quick to memorize and it really flies off your hook.  The pattern is call Seraphina and is a free pattern on Ravelry. I started this yesterday morning and it is soaking right now as I type. The pictures are of the shawl pre-blocked.

Next up is swatching for a knit pattern for Red Heart. It will be a sweater. The yarn feels soft, it has some sparkle in it.....

I also have been spinning with my new Woolee winder. Can I just say I have mad love for my new Woolee winder. I asked Mr. Fantastic for it for Mother's Day, but he thinks I have enough 'fiber machinery' (silly man) so I took matters into my own hands and ordered it myself.

The beauty of the Woolee winder is that you don't ever have to change the yarn in hooks... it saves time and winds your singles onto the bobbin in pristine fashion. The bobbins are large and you can spin and spin and spin not worrying about how it is winding up. I have heard that some reviews say that they don't care for the take-up on single drive wheels. I didn't find this at all. I have a single drive wheel and thinking there would be a lot of adjusting while I spun for the first time... it didn't happen. It was pure spinning zen, baby. I also was a bit worried about the color of the winder if it would match the stain (I have a walnut Kromski Sonata) of my wheel.... another perfect score. I love it!