Secondly, being 30 is pretty awesome so far. I have my new sewing machine, which is awesome! I set her up the other day and went through the manual and tested all the stitches on some scraps. I even made my very first buttonhole.
I picked up reference book Sew Everything Workshop
which has already come in handy for some basic tips and have started working on some curtain panels I've been meaning to make for 6 months.We had a pajama party last night and an ice-cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery. Mmmmmm, ice-cream cake. We also tried teaching people to play Wii - that was hilarious in its own way. Also, boxing is *exhausting.* Lots of fun. Also, I got chocolate and tea and a lovely gift card. Sweet!
The past few days, especially when I've felt crappy otherwise, I've been shopping online. I placed most of my orders today:
Some sock yarn (some for Tom and some for me), a chart keeper, some more stitch markers, needle protectors, and the book Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool
from Knit Picks (all their books are on sale for 40%, so it was actually less expensive than Amazon).After much hemming and hawing and research and dithering, I decided to get a Schacht Hi-Lo 1.1 oz spindle and 8 oz of undyed wool roving from Paradise Fibers, half in Blue Faced Leicester and half Norwegian. Both seem to be recommended for beginning drop spinners. The Hi-Lo can be used as a high or low whorl which is also cool and is nice and light which seems to be a highly recommended feature as it allows spinning of finer gauges. Interestingly, as I was looking into historic spinning techniques, it seems that the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians preferred high whorls spindles while the Anatolians and Greeks tended to use low whirl and Levantine peoples, being in the middle, perhaps used either as it suited them.
Both types of roving are amenable to Kool-Aid dyeing, so I should be able to have some fun once I get the basic hang of things and play with color as well. I am already drooling over other types of wool, other fibers, and various colors.
I also ordered two skeins of Super Kydd from Elann, one in red for a gift and one in green to make something for me. The red is to make Wisp from Knitty as a first lace project and as a gift (yes, I know, using mohair may not be the best idea, but I'm planning to do some practice swatches/wash clothes with cotton before I jump in. The dark green is to try Ice Queen, also from Knitty, for myself.
I think I should have plenty to do for the foreseeable future. Now if I can get going on my motivational problems, I'll really be doing well. :P
1 comment:
Sounds like you will have so much fun. For me, it's fascinating to try techniques that I know are so old.
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