New Skills

Hand-painted sock  yarn. Single ply, 75/25 wool/nylon.

One pound of Gracie's fleece.

Yesterday I drove out to charming Mt. Horeb for a day of fiber at the Cat and Crow fiber shop with the incomparable Mo Brown. The morning was spent learning how to evaluate and skirt a fleece (we worked on four very different fleeces) and a little practice on carding and combing. I now MUST have wool combs. And a drum carder. and a hackle. And English combs. THere were just five people in the class, which was a good size. Almost everyone had more experience with fiber than I do, and two women have their own sheep.
   My only complaint is that there was that one entirely annoying person in the class. I can't tell you exactly what it was about her, but she just rubbed a raw nerve. Well, I can tell you two things. One-personal space. No respect for it. Two-extreme density. She came up to a woman sitting next to me ( a tiny woman dressed in kind of baggy overalls and a t-shirt.) and said, "I see you're expecting!" To which the overalls woman said, "No. I guess I'm just fat."  Cringes all around.
    Anyway, The afternoon was about hand painting. We  talked about the technical side a bit and about color theory and then we dyed! It was very very rewarding. I am trying to figure out how to set up a dying space in my basement. It will have to make a table out of plastic lumber or find a plastic table of some sort because it's so damp down there that wood rots and disintegrates. Then I will need to re-attach the old gas stove that's down there or get a hot plate. Maybe add some more lighting.  I think it could work.

Gracie up close.