Punkin's World: 2014

Well, it's been four long years since my last post and so much has happened. Children growing up, I got a puppy, I've been knitting, I've been spinning, I can't remember how to add posts....

I have successfully completed the first Level of the Master Spinner's program offered from Olds College, Alberta Canada . It's a course that you take, full time, five days. There are five levels and each one concentrates on different aspects of spinning. Level 6 is basically a final exam and a project (think thesis).

For Level 1, the concentration is learning to spin both worsted and woolen yarn (long draw, for the most part) from fleece which you've scoured/washed and carded yourself. There was written work (my paper was 10k words) and I think 40 skeins. Granted, the skeins were only 10 yards each, but still, an incredible amount of spinning. There was also a dye module. We had to prepare 10 different natural dyes. It was a ton of work! Now that I'm done, I feel a bit relieved and I'm ready to start level two, which will be in four short weeks. Hence, the reason for resurrecting my blog. If I track, maybe I'll stay on top of my work. My goal is to finish it by February. I want to have time to knit and spin what I want. I'm hoping we'll have a big enough group to do Level 3 next summer but we'll see. This stuff is time consuming and expensive but there has to be life in retirement. Having a Master Spinner certificate or even the knowledge will give me some options.

As far as knitting, I just finished Crooked Cathedral! A wonderful pattern, takes one large skein of fingering (I left off the last two rows and had only a few yards left of my 400 yard fingering skein.) and is a relatively fast knit. Not blocked yet. Doing that tomorrow morning.

To catch up, let's see, four years. I got a puppy from Maple Lane Shelties for Christmas 2012.

Isn't she adorable? She's one here and full sized. We love her very much.

I got a Hitchhiker Spinning Wheel from Dave at Merlin Tree, 2013 Maryland Sheep and Wool. We were off to a rocky start together but we're good now.

Don't you love the color? She's a custom.

I also restored a CPW, also from Dave. She came to me at a great price, all original parts, flyer is perfect. I love her. After reading up on Ravelry, I took the plunge. I gave her a bath to remove surface dirt, scrubbed her down with Murphy's to remove dirt and some of the gunk. The, I stripped her with denatured alcohol. That was rough. Down to the bare wood. I used a fine grade steel wool, six pads, a lot of gloves. After letting he be naked, I carefully sanded her smooth. I the tacky clothed her. She was thirsty so I oiled her with Danish oil. Clear coat.

Here's the hub, before and after!

The flyer is off in this picture but you can see how beautiful she looks out there basking in the sunshine, a new woman!

I also asked Tom Golding to make me a spindle. This one is a shell cameo I got on Etsy. Tom worked his magic to put it in a holly inset on top of purpleheart wood. Gorgeous. The ring is pretty, too! Sterling ring and hook. Ahhh.... I'm having him make me another one, to be disclosed in a subsequent post. It's more cutesy, whereas this one is 'elegant'.

I got a bunch of yellow and white ribbons for my skeins at Rhinebeck this year! YAY FOR ME. Still, first place eludes me....The blue ribbon belongs to my daughter. She spun a skein and entered it and got first place novice skein. She spun this as a 9 year old!