People Give Me The Coolest Stuff

Have I mentioned how lucky I am?  Fiber people, like other knitters and spinners, just feel this overwhelming urge to send me cool stuff.  I don't know what it is, good karma, maybe, or just dumb luck, but I've been visited by the mailman gods.  Sherry, who lives in Alaska, had my name in the second go-round of the Loopy Ewe Swap.  She sent me what can only be described as an unending box of treasures.  I just kept pulling out wrapped packages.  I'm not even sure everything fits in the photo.  The first thing I saw was wads of Monopoly money tossed in the box, which completely cracked me up because I had been teasing her that she was supposed to send her swap partner money.  Har har.  There's tons of goodies in there, including a skein of buttery soft Handmaiden Casbah yarn in a to-die-for Mahogany colorway and some handknit socks out of this fantastic pinky/red yarn.  Now I've yet to travel to Alaska, although I have eaten moose stew, but Sherry sent lots of Alaskan stuff.  The kid and I are posers in the Alaska hats she sent along.  Thanks Sherry, this was fantastic.   

And then, as you might know, I've been struggling through the beginning stages of being a very beginning spinner.  A few days ago I  mentioned on my blog that some fibers, like the merino, were a bit more difficult to pull a good draw out and get a consistant spun fiber.  So out of the blue, Jess, who reads my blog, up and sends me some Shetland roving to try.  It was so generous of her and the absolute best confidence builder.  Look at that perfect skein.  Go ahead, admire it.  I don't mind.  I made my husband admire it for about ten minutes straight.  (I could tell he was forcing the love after the first few minutes, but he knew it was best to humor the crazy spinning woman.)  I am abnormally proud of this skein.  I kept running into the bathroom where the hank was hanging to dry every couple of minutes, just to look at it.  The Shetland was really rustic and rather rough, with little bits of hay and stuff in it, but really easy to spin to get a consistant size yarn.  My plying improved this time, too.  It was the first time using the niddy noddy that I just bought.  Talk about a comedy duo--it was a two person job winding on the thing.  My husband and I kept following the schematic directions and dancing around the thing, trying to get the yarn looped correctly.  I hope that one gets easier with time.  Look at that hank of yarn, though.  Isn't it gorgeous? 

Comments

[Jocelyn]

Oooooh.... It's like chocolatey goodness, and its goodness is only enhanced by the excellence of the spinning. What are you going to knit with it? Something that you can keep close by?

[Jess]

I am happy to have shared the wool with you and very glad you enjoyed it. That shetland stuff is addictive though - don't blame me if you find yourself trolling eBay at 2am for another fix!