Red yarn and other news...

The red yarn I was playing with the other day has turned out pretty good. It is still a little more orangey red than I was picturing, but over-dyeing with the wine made it a little darker and richer. I like it a lot now, and will most likely be making it into a felted bag later. I wound it and the green laceweight from an earlier post into balls and they are waiting for me to cast on.

Yesterday I went to Rock Ledge Ranch with three other women from our knit group.

We went to see the sheep shearing, which was very interesting. They had about 8 Merino sheep there, plus three others out in the meadow that they were using for sheepdog demonstrations.

The Trek along sock rested on a wall while we were watching that.

Ellen, who Lisa calls the Enabler, found out that there were some fleeces that were not spoken for, so we decided to get two. It's about 25 pounds altogether. So now we each have a half of a fleece. We each took a couple of handfuls to play with, but as to the rest, we will meet up at Ellen's next Sunday for the llama shearing she had planned, and will skirt it. I think we are leaning towards having the rest processed into roving by somebody else.

Now I know you are wondering why on earth someone who doesn't spin needs a half of a fleece. Neither Phoebe nor I had ever learned to spin. I know I've been trying to resist this particular addiction, but...

Yep, that's me learning to spin on a drop spindle and some roving that jumped into my hand at the small shop on the property. Sorry, Bob.

I made yarn. Then I plyed it together. Bob helped hold it while that was happening, thanks Honey. It's lumpy and uneven but it's mine! I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it next. Thank goodness there's Google!

Then I washed my fleece and dried it, but it still looks dirty. I hope that carding helps. I have no carding combs, I have no roving to play with, and it's Sunday so no place that would have those things is open. I'm more than a little bummed out about that but it gives me time to learn a little more about what I have gotten myself into.

I have added a link on mysidebar for extra pictures. Have a look...