Friday, September 7, 2007

Fiber Love

Somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind, I knew that buying a spinning wheel would lead to the need to buy fiber. Dog hair is all well and good, but, to coin a phrase, one cannot live by dog hair alone.

This arrived in the mail today:

I couldn't resist showing you a picture of the tiny lamb packed in the top of the box. (I apologize for the blurry photo. The battery in my backup camera, which I've been using since my primary camera stopped working in Jamaica, died as I was taking this picture, so this is all you get.) But this is what was in the box:

That is a pound and a half of natural (undyed) BFL in various shades. I have a plan for this fiber. I don't know whether it will work--or more precisely, whether my nascent spinning skills are up to the project I have in mind--but this fiber is intended for my very first handspun sweater. My plan is to spin singles with random color changes, then ply them to create an even more blended,multi-shaded two-ply yarn in about a worsted weight, which I will then knit into a lovely, natural-colored pullover of my own design. This is the plan. Reality is another matter.

8 comments:

Linda said...

Sounds like a great plan! I still remain quite impressed with the dog hair though.

sophanne said...

You clearly have a really steep learning curve. I predict it will be finished by December 1.

Tammy said...

You have my full support and encouragement on this one! Reality is boring... I say live the dream.

MelissaKnits said...

hold to the plan.

remember - roving and fleeces and such are not yarn, and therefore cannot be counted in the same stash. One simply says "Oh, honey, this isn't YARN! It's ROVING!" and stick it under the bed (or in the newly created attic space).

...Sarah said...

I hope your phrase hasn't already been trademarked by Victoria Pettigrew, or there could be big trouble. ;–)

Looks like you are going to be busy. Did you see Yarn Harlot's demo on the way she prepares fleece? It was very enlightening for me.

Anonymous said...

I have no idea what all that means but I am certain that you can do it and that it will be great.
And you are totally right, one can not live by dog hair alone.

Karen said...

Well I suspect it will be a beautiful sweater.

5elementknitr said...

Reality is for the weak!