First day of school

It's been a while since I've taken the time to write a posting, but now that the move is over and done with and the boys have started school, there is a little more time.

Only a little though, since the girl still needs a lot of me and I'm back to work at the pottery studio as of this morning. One year of mat leave goes fast!

Yesterday, being day one of grade 2 for my guys, Olivia, Toffee and I went for a walk. After Olivia fell asleep, we came back home and I rushed to get out the fibre and spinning wheel!

It's cooling down but still warm enough for a little outdoor spinning!

And, now that I've opened shop at etsy, I spun up this yarn I called Raspberry and posted it this morning.

While Olivia slept, Toffee the wonder pug stood watch.

Still wondering whether I should list this one or knit it...I just love the colour.

Days

Yesterday, I dropped by wabi-sabi in search of the lazy kate I've been looking for for a while. One of the things with buying the spinning wheel second-hand is that all I got was the wheel and not the extras that would normally go along with it. Well, except for the five bobbins. But since I have no lazy kate and four bobbins filled with yarn that needs to be plied, I'm just a little stuck in the spinning department.

That was fixed yesterday. No, the lazy kate still wasn't there, but the kind owner of the store loaned me an extra bobbin to hopefully keep me satisfied with spinning some singles, and I picked up a bunch more of the shetland pencil roving that I've been working on and had run out of--in that colour anyway.

It's been fun spinning the shetland--it almost spins itself--but I wasn't sure what it would eventually become. I think it was sometime as I was waking up from a nap that I decided I'd ply it with a darker brown shetland and knit it into a poncho. I've always liked ponchos...though I've only ever had one--and I'm not even sure I ever owned one, I just have this vague memory of wearing a white one back in the late 70s or 80s. Anyway, I think it will be lovely.

In the meantime, while I'm waiting to be able to ply all this yarn, I've been working on a shrug, using yarn that I ordered from colourmart. It's mostly synthetic, but with a small percentage of mohair. It's quite nice, and if this works out well--it's my first attempt to knit without a pattern, other than hats--I'm going to knit one for Olivia to wear to my sister's wedding, over the dress my aunt knit.

As another thought, one of the plans I have is to eventually make some new pendants and put them on felted yarn. I think it would make a lovely neckpiece, though it's not much to look at right now.

This still needs work, of course, but it's the start of an idea. I have a bunch of pendants like this in various colours that I made last summer without a real idea of what I would hang them on. Before the spinning and rekindled interest in fibre. Once it warms up a little and I can get back to the pottery studio we'll see what else I can come up with.

Thankfully, spring is in the air! (even though it's a little soggy and windy out, and will be -14 C tonight...we have had a hint of it!) And not a moment too soon.

The Beginning

So this is it. I've started it. Been thinking about it for a while and now here is the first post. Phew!

What will this blog will be about? My three kids, pottery, my latest interest, fibre. It will hopefully help me organize thoughts, make plans, and work through designs.

I picked up knitting again last summer, as a way to keep my hands busy while waiting for Olivia. Wasn't able to get my stomach around a potter's wheel and there was a 7 year old sweater I had to finish. Now there's a spinning wheel in what will be Olivia's bedroom, and I find myself wandering through more and more yarn stores, looking up nothing but fibre related websites, and dreaming up tons of new projects. Starting them doesn't seem to be a problem...now if only I could finish them all!