Dabbling...

I'm currently between projects. I suppose this amounts to a confession that I am for the most part a monogamous knitter--one who likes to work on one thing at a time. Momentum is all for me, and it seems that the only way I can accomplish things is to stick with each thing until it is done. If I set something aside, it's doomed. Anyway, I'm done with my last project and waiting for the wool to arrive for the next, and so it's an excuse to play around for a few days. I devoted much of yesterday to spinning on my new wheel. I'm getting better at it. Here are my first two wheel-spun skeins.

On the right is the first and you can see it's quite lumpy and bumpy, in a good sort of way. You'd pay a lot for a skein like this in a yarn store. The problem is that it wasn't intentional; it was my first experiment with my Ladybug and I was on a big learning curve. The skein on the left is my second attempt, and I think you can see that it's much more even.

The good news is that both skeins were balanced after plying and washing, so I seem to have that under control. Like so many things in life, it turns out that success has a lot to do with preparation--in this case the preparation of the fibre. I'm learning to take the time to properly open up roving so that it drafts easily.
This morning I played with some lace charts. I want to design a simple rectangular sampler scarf/shawl that will be easily adjustable in size. I love Cheryl Oberle's Sampler Shawl, but I've seen it "in person", and it's way too long for a shortie like me. I want to create a pattern that can be used to customize the finished size. We're not all the same, right?
On Friday, I had two girlfriends over for tea and conversation. I showed off the library/studio on our third floor, and Carolyn tried on the Twist Collective model of Brookline.

Lovely!