Out of the Silence

Sorry, I was on quite the run there for a bit of posting to the blog and then I ran into my funk, got a reason for my funk and then just kind of stayed gone from the blogging world.

Mind you, in my absence I have not gotten anything of import done. Mainly, I've rested and started the road to feeling better. Feeling better you ask? Yes, feeling better. Previously I wrote of the vicious hate spiral and stated I wasn't feeling well. When I first composed that blog entry, I didn't even really know how unwell I was feeling. But, since then I got worse, then I got an answer as to why I didn't feel well and though I have started back around, it's going to be a bit. And yes, I get that this little ramble doesn't tell anyone much but please recall that though I do blog, I am still quite a private person. I have had a medical condition return that I thought was beat back several years ago. It has been caught and we've begun to address it and with any luck things will be just fine as they were before but it takes time, and energy and some days like today I seem to have precious little of that commodity. But though I feel sapped, I also feel hopeful and happily I am out of the spiral. I passed through it without dragging everyone near me through it with me. Hooray!

Now, onto what I have gotten done:

A few months back I was given a batch of fiber in the "Tardis" color way. While it was in it's original stranding I felt it was very "contrasty". In other words I felt the colors kind of clashed and didn't blend or meld together well. So I broke out those carders I bought a while ago and dove into the fiber with abandon since I have never made my own rolags. As you can see from the above picture, I figured it out.

Then I spun the yarn in to a gradient yarn that went from blue at one end, to white in the middle, and back out to gray. I then chain plyed that bad boy for about 90yards of worsted weight yarn. Much nicer with it's colors fading into one another and I am looking for the perfect pattern for it.

Then I got the above yarn which is a mixed bfl fiber done. It was my first stab at a 4 ply. It was great fun though I had a bit of a time with the ply since I only have a three bobbin lazy kate. A box with a knitting needle stuck through kind of solved it but it didn't hold tension the same way. Still, fun and I ended up with over 300 yards of a wonderful rich hued DK weight yarn.

And last but not least for this months spinning is my very first "crepe" yarn that as it has turned out has been one of my favorite spins so far.

It is a 2 ply wrapped with another ply, and though it looks kind of complicated and fiddly, it isn't. My only real issue was that I didn't ply that first two together as tightly in some areas as i should have to go an ply it the second time with the third one, but despite that it is still a lovely 135 yards of blues, nectarines, coppers, and violets. Bless Scarlet at Huckleberry and her eye for color and her amazing fiber preps. I actually special ordered some fiber from her yesterday since I loved some of her blend samples so much and the colors were just amazing. By next week I hope to have my hands on some merino/bamboo/silk blended fiber in amazing hues.

And with over a week gone by since I last truly posted, spring has surely arrived and started fading into summer here. All the trees but the honey locusts seem  to have embraced the return of the sun.

The iris's bloomed yesterday but we then had a little hail that though left almost everything alone, tore the delicate hoods of the iris so I have no blossom shots. They are not my favorite siberian (to dry and hot here) iris's and instead the double bearded varieties they are still a favorite and seem to be doing well where we have placed them.

The white clematis is in fool bloom. As I recall, last year it was the first to bloom as well.

I hope by next week to have pictures of the purple robe locust that has decided to give us blossoms this year which despite it's slow start with leaves I hope is a good sign that it is doing well.

Well, I have a baby gift to wrap and another to get finished up and blocked and a nap i hear calling my name so I hope you all have a good weekend. But I'm going to leave you with a gratuitous cute shot.

True friends can never be truly separated. Not even by a screen door dammit.