Bobble Yarn and a Blah Blog

Part of the backyard...much different
than normal snow pictured here

After shoveling out from a little over two feet of snow, we're now going to be swimming in mud.  It was nice to listen to the rain last night while I was in bed.  I just don't feel like dealing with the consequences of the quick melting snow mixed with the current steady rain.  On top of it, I am not awake.  So I will start by apologizing about my post and it's lack of wit.  After many concurrent nights of little sleep I feel like a zombie.  Some is of my own doing but mostly it's the kiddo's impecable timing.  I know if I don't get a post out this morning, I don't know the next chance I will be able to.

It's been busy around here to say the least!  Was getting low on supplies so I found some great deals and restocked.  I love when you can find quality fiber at a really good price.  Especially if it's for a customer because then I can share the cost savings with them.  Right now we've got alpaca out the ears.  We're due in for some more of our basics but I'm trying to stock everything in superwash as well.  I normally don't work in it because as a knitter and a crocheter, I like my yarn to be versatile.  I like knowing I can felt something if I wish to do so.  I apply the same thing with gardening.  When I am going to buy a plant, it has to have more than just pretty flowers.  It has to be edible, make a dried arrangement, have herbal qualities or something on that line.  I preferr anything I can use for my home-made wine.



Some of the mill end roving

As I think about it, all this restocking reminds me of when I first started spinning.  I couldn't keep any fiber.  I went through it all and wondered how people could "forget" about some roving here or there that they had in their stash.  I always kept a mental note of exactly what type of fibers I had and the amount in ounces I had.  Last week while rummaging though my fibers for an idea to put on my wheel, I came across some mill end wool roving that was perfect for what I wanted to do.  I completely forgot I had it and there was a perfect amount for playing with.  I've always liked certain art yarns as long as they were practical.  I love the texture and look of bobble yarn and have never attempted to spin any myself even though I've gone over and over in my head the steps that had to be done to make it.  So, I spun some up.  It was a lot more tedious than I expected, but it still wasn't so bad.  It came out pretty decent.  Nothing I would put in my shop (at least not at this point, yet) but I would definately use it in a project.  Thinking about possibly felting some...just to see how it would look.  At this moment I have black and white zebra striped bobbles on my wheel but I have already gotten bored of it.  It's a lot of manual 

First bobbin of bobble yarn.  See,

still needs a little more work.

work.  Sometimes the bobbles are too big and you have to manually feed them into your wheel.  Sometimes you are constantly doing this to avoid over twisting where you are working.  Sometimes it needs to be fed back through and the plies loosened.  If you use that method then it needs to be fed back through again to tighten again.  My favorite part of it was making the thick and thin singles.  It was very relaxing to let the wheel take over and not work against the fiber.  I imagine I will be pulling the rest off my bobbins and storing it for another time to play with.  I have some other work I need to do.



BFL right off the wheel.



My first self designed sock.
Needs improvements.



I've gotten a couple skeins off my wheel and hope to have listed in my shop some time tomorrow.  Right now the twist is being set.  I enjoyed the way the colors came out and it's a larger batch than I normally do at once.  I think it was somewhere over 320 yards between the skeins.  Once the twist is set and they're all dry they'll get to go through their own little personal photo shoot.  I've got a couple other things knitted that I haven't bothered doing photos for either, so we'll see.  I've been itching to do a project for myself.  I did the socks, I am generally pleased with them.  I took the knowledge from all my sock attempts and combined it into this sock I made.  It's awaiting a mate but I'm not really feeling up to it.  While out shopping last weekend Zeke picked out some yarn as he mentioned he wanted socks for himself.  Not feeling that one either.  The other day I heard about Ravelry's Mystery 220 group.  Basically, each week you are given a set of knitting pattern instructions.  You do the instructions and by the end of the month you have a wonderful knitted piece.  Each piece will usually not contain more than 220 yards so it's perfect for all the stash yarns I have sitting around.  For me, it's a no-brainer.  I can't sit and ponder at the picture and decide if I would really wear/use it.  I don't have much time to ever do anything for myself so when I am looking for something to make myself I find I spend more time searching for the right pattern than it would to take me to even knit it.  This way I have no choice, I just do it!  I started the March KAL.  As my piece developes, I have an idea of what our little item will turn out to be.  Don't worry, I won't spoil it for those who are not as far or haven't had a chance to check out the group out yet.  Very tickeled to see how it all plays out!

On that note, I am staring at my carpets and noticing how they are in a severe need of cleaning.  The boys have done a great job at making a collage out of mystery stains.  Even if my closest relative/friend were to stop in right now, I'd be mortified.  When my house looks like this, it always seems to be the time we get a bunch of unexpected company.  I guess I had better clean the evidence!

In closing, I'm debating on sharing a very personal post in reference to the upcomming St. Patrick's Day weekend.  As I ponder it more and more, I think I just may.  If you're interested, check back in around this weekend and I just may have it up.  Until then, I hope everyone is keeping warm and that your projects are coming together beautifully!

Also, spell checker does not seem to be working today so I will apologize for all my errors that have slipped my personal corrections.