(I took this yesterday when they were three days old -- today they look the same, only fatter.)
On one of the last days down at the shore, we all split up to do our own things. My children and I went to a nearby playground, although that was short-lived; the sun was beating straight down on us, and there wasn't any shade over the swings and such, so then we visited a convenience store, where we picked up some milkshakes and lollypops. We went back to the house to enjoy our snack in the shade of the porch off of our room.
I got two new spindles in the mail (I've been wanting Golding spindles for a long time now, and I finally broke down and brought two).
They really do spin better than any others I've tried. I'm telling you, there's nothing like a Golding spindle, and it's totally worth the price. To me, every other brand I've tried is just pure frustration, but the long spin time on the Golding spindles makes it a joy to use.
I taught my littlest sister Rachel to spin:
(They're still in NJ for the rest of the week, so I left her with about a pound of fiber and the larger Golding to practice with.)
Here's the finished Rosebud Corriedale (Spunky Club), 8oz, spun on my HitchHiker:
(The top skein turned out a bit more marled than I would have liked, but such is the nature of things when you take chances with a two-ply.)
To spin these, I didn't split the wool at all -- just pre-drafted it out "full strength" to preserve the longer color runs. I was able to fit 4 oz on each bobbin, and then just plied them together.
It's a bulky two-ply. I gave it a rough wet-finishing to plump the yarn up an toughen it a bit; this will be mittens and a hat for Daisy, so it needs to be as resilient as possible.
And...I picked up the needles again! I'm working on my Auburn Camp Shirt again, but before I started, I had some untangling to do (sadly, Daisy had gotten a hold of my working yarn and clapped it about three times, rendering it almost hopelessly knotted up). I don't know why I waste so much time untangling when I could just cut the yarn and make it so much easier for myself, but I just can't bear waste, and I hate weaving in ends that much. (Although really we all know that in the time that it took me to untangle that ball, I could have easily woven in about a hundred ends...but let's not speak of it.)
Two final beach pictures, just because they're cute:
My sister Grace and Daisy -- squatting baby pictures are pretty much the best thing ever, I think.
My boys "keeping warm" on a blazingly hot day.
One final fiber shot -- I had a $40 fiber credit at Paradise Fibers, so I spent it on something that I've never bought before: batts!
Pure Merino from Hanks In The Hood. I see some fun spinning in my future...
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