He's home where he belongs!

Remember back when I blogged about the "day of spinning among the grapes" at Retzlaff Vineyards, and how I bought my first fleece? I'm pretty sure I mentioned that I sent "Felix" home with Shari of Morro Fleece Works, because prepping raw wool just isn't my thing. I've done it, I don't enjoy it, because I am too impatient and just want to get busy spinning. Towards the end of last week, I received an email from Shari to let me know Felix would be ready to ship on Monday. Guess who made it home today?!!? OMG, what an awesome experience...so much fun! Knowing I handpicked this fleece, sent it out to be processed into a pin draft roving, and it comes back to me in the form of the softest, most beautiful wool I think I have ever felt. Felix is Lincoln and I believe a Corriedale crossbreed, that I purchased from Sandy McCabe of Hayshed Wool in Soquel, California. I have never spun this particular fiber, but I'm told it's going to be very enjoyable and I'm going to love it. I'll let you know on that one. It's so beautiful, I just hope I can do it justice and spin a beautiful yarn. If not, I will at least have fun and have had the experience of spinning something new.

Shari even includes a little sachet with lavender in it. Nice little touch!

 

Since I'm already on the subject of spinning, I'll go ahead and show you what came off my wheel today, got a good soak and is now drying. I put it into skein form first so I could show you before doing the bath. It came out to 9 wpi, which I believe is worsted weight, 2 ply and 194 yards. So far, I have spun approximately 500 yards of this fiber. It blooms beautifully once it's soaked and dries, but it's a little heavier worsted weight than what I prefer to knit with, so I might give it to my oldest granddaughter who prefers a thicker yarn.

 

 

She's done!!! I finished my Vodka Lemonade! Wait, let me rephrase that. I have finished all of the knitting on said cardigan. There. I won't consider it complete until it's been blocked, all of the ends have been woven in, and final photos have been taken. I did preliminary try ons last night at knit night and was told it looks beautiful on me. I'll take my knitsibs word on that one, but we all know it won't look its best until it's been washed and blocked. It feels absolutely divine on, so I can tell it will be one of those cardigans I reach for in my drawer time and again! Also, this is a pattern I would definitely knit again...

 

 

I'm not sure what I will work on now, but I'm leaning more towards finishing up my Bad Oyster Scarf, a pair or two of socks I've had on the needles, and a beautiful scarf that's been lingering since I went to Stitches in February. We'll see which one wins out first, but I'm thinking it's going to have to be something that I can knit without much thought going into it. I'm going to start washing down my kitchen cabinets and put a good finish on them to bring them back to life. At first thought, I was going to just hire someone to do them, but then, I always hear my dad in the back of my head saying "if you want something done right, do it yourself." So now, I tend to have this fear that I will spend the money for a job that won't be to my satisfaction. Do you ever feel like that?