Cheesy Camera Tricks

I took a spinning class today. Here is the huge skein of yarn I made with my drop spindle. Cool huh? Would be if it wasn't actually the length of my middle finger! Three hours worth of work...enough for a hamster scarf. It was really fun though and I was happy with the consistancy. I learned how to ply and skein it once it's spun. Also learned a lot about different kinds of animal and plant fibers.

The lady next to me asked the teacher three different times how she washed her fleece to get the lanolin out before spinning. The teacher told her three times that she puts in the kitchen sink with hot water and Dawn dishwashing soap and lets it sit then she rinses it well. Lanolin has a low melting temperature so that should do it. The lady just wasn't happy with that answer and she asked each time why it didn't felt. The teacher kept patiently explaining that it wasn't the hot water that felted the fibers it was the aggitation. Come to find out the problem was that the lady didn't know what 'aggitation' meant. So I said, "Just don't leave it in the hot water and call it names." She didn't get that either but the rest of the class liked it. (Here's a shout out to the original pun master, Uncle Donn).

We spun up some sheep wool, some alpaca and a sheep/alpaca blend. We learned about spinning with the direction of the fiber versus crossways the fiber. We learned that $5 dog brushes are just as effective for carding at $70 carding combs. We also learned that it's not called a 'drop spingle' for nothing. They got dropped a lot. I'm thinking about calling mine a 'swear word spindle' because there was a lot of that going on as well. All in all if was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

This morning we went down to the town fair. There was a craft sale but it didn't pan out to be much. On the way out I bought a $1 cup of animal feed and took a spin around the petting zoo. I justified the expense as therapy. I needed to get over the mean-spirited goat attack of last weekend. They had a huge tortoise that for some reason wasn't all that into the pellet food. Or maybe he was just too slow getting to the side of the pen when I called him to come get it. There was a skiddish, baby bison, and some alpacas. I spent most of my feed on a groovy little highland cow and small white camel that wanted to put his cheek next to mine and nuzzle my ears. I'm a sucker for the snugglers. There were goats too, but I managed to remain upright so the whole experience was worth it. I'm 'back in the saddle' ,as it were, as far as petting zoos are concerned.

Scott bought a new lawn edger at Menards this afternoon. See what happens when I'm not around for a few hours? I hear lots of hacking going on outside so I'd better go see what's up. Will take some photos of our new impatients plants out front and post them tomorrow. If they live that long. Animals I'm good with...plants...not so much.