Accomplishments!

I have a number of things to talk about this week. I didn't post last week because I was traveling. Also, I had nothing to say. This week is different.

Let's start with a surprise. I got a surprise gift from a friend/colleague in Germany. Two balls of lovely sock yarn. The colors are nice and spring-like and they made my week. What a thoughtful gift.

Next, I finished the body of the RLC last night. I bound off the hem. It is meant to be a short cardigan/jacket. Next it is on to the sleeves which should be more interesting since there is at least some shaping.

Here is a close-up of the picot hem I am doing. It will be on the sleeve cuffs, the neck and the bottom band. I think it is in keeping with the feminine colors.

Lastly, I just finished plying my first handspun yarn. You can see the mess I started with - the gray and the red. The brown is much later spinning and you can see how much nicer it is. The beginning of this skein is a mess. The ends (inside the bobbin) is much nicer. But it is a huge accomplishment and the red yarn really showed how much progress I have made since I started. Much more even both in spin and in grist.

This is my kate set-up. I still have half a bobbin of singles from the Hansen. I think I will practice Navajo-plying with it. The empty bobbin is from the Tina. That was where the red yarn was. The Hansen is a breeze to ply on! However, I found that it is hard to start and stop plying, and my hands did get tired. I will have to work on how to put down the plying half way to take a break.

All in all, a good week for accomplishments but not a great one for energy. I was very tired this week and it is only now that I am recovering my usual energy level. I was a bit nervous trying to ply for the first time when I was tired. But I think now I can do it even in the evening. It is much more mindless than spinning.