This is the first finished skein of the new yarn I'm spinning -- 350 yards of merino/alpaca plied with hand dyed silk hankies. I have a few ideas in mind for what to do with this yarn when it's all finished...I might weave a light blanket of a plaited twill design using handspun chocolate brown silk as the other yarn...I might knit it up into a vest, something I've been wanting to do for myself for a few years now. I have another yarn I did about a year ago, with different materials, although it reads very similarly to this yarn, color and weight wise. I might use both yarns together to make something. So we'll see what happens.
Finishing one skein at a time is a fairly new thing for me. In the past when I've done a big spinning project, I would completely finish one ply before moving onto the next. In other words, I might spin 1800 yards of one singles, holding my hands in the same position for near days on end before switching activities. I just can't do that anymore. With age and the potential for arthritis-prone hands, I've got to move from one activity to the next with some regularity, or else I suffer non-spinning days when I can hardly move my hands. So now I'll spin a bit of one ply, spin a bit of the next, ply them together and finish off one skein. Then start over again. Just one of those things I'm doing to take better care of myself as I age.
My yard sale yesterday was a success, although I still have a lot of stuff to offload. I'll be taking a bunch of stuff to my current favorite place to donate stuff, Miranda's Animal Rescue, a few things I've posted at craigslist locally, and some I'll save for the next yard sale, probably in August. What I really love about having yard or garage sales is that I love being playful with the folks who come by to look at and buy stuff. It's rare that someone walks away empty handed. If they're interested in something, I darn near make sure they leave with it. Although I always have my stuff priced, I'm always negotiable and I make deals for everyone. I want to move the stuff but part of the whole thing is that it's FUN. I always meet a lot of interesting folks and my neighbors come out of the woodwork to see what's going on.
Anyhow, this coming week is for getting back into the swing of my art. Stay tuned!
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