cobalt & indigo

I thought I’d begin my review of past projects (mentioned last time)  with  a skein of yarn I’ve spun from the fiber I’ve gotten from my angora bunnies – the result of all of the grooming featured in my posts from earlier this month.  The picture was taken with my phone – apologies for the lower quality image.

This particular skein was spun in April and May of 2008.  It’s around 225 yards of 40+ wraps per inch (without halo) two-ply pearly soft copper satin angora that was carefully plucked from Gus and spun from the lock.  It was spun on my trusty old Ashford Traditional scotch tension on the 14:1 ratio (that lovely wheel has since moved on to a new home).   All of this information was written on a small string tag.  I am so glad I got in the habit of labeling and recording notes on tags on my spinning a couple of years ago, otherwise I’d be just guessing.

It is one of my favorite skeins I have ever spun of any fiber.  His fiber is the softest thing I’ve ever felt on this planet, cashmere included.  The satin genes really add some amazing textural qualities to the already wonderfully soft angora – it has a pearly sheen to it and the fiber feels like it’s been blended half and half with fine silk.

The drape of the fiber is amazing, obeying gravity flawlessly despite the fibers weighing practically nothing.  The 225 yard skein pictured weighs 20 grams, and I am certainly not the finest angora yarn spinner – not by a long shot.   Although that really hasn’t been my focus – I spin my angora yarn to incorporate as much fiber with lots of twists to hold the fiber tightly together (which means room for air) which probably contributes to the nice drape.   I believe it’s also the reason why the items I’ve made from my angora have worn so well and don’t shed.   They are a little slow to develop a halo, but when they do, as this skein has from being fondled on a regular basis, it sure is pretty.  I have no idea what I will do with this skein.  I have paged through a couple of pages of patterns on Ravelry, and strongly considered knitting Alison’s Rabbit Tracks. but have yet to get past just petting it.

It’s been a little stormy in my life the past week.

First the snow came, in earnest.  We went for a couple more runs when the sidewalks were clear enough, but the last snowstorm pushed us to the point where it would just be dangerous.  So snow shoveling and vacuuming have made up the sum of my physical exercise.  That never helps.

There’s progress on the business front, but it’s still far from a sure thing, and the uncertainty is continually wearing on me.

It’s certainly an exciting time in my life.  I am living the way I believe is right – trying to make a difference in the world because I love it and believe it can be a better place.  I’m making real progress in achieving my dreams.

It’s just so hard to see it from the middle of it all when you’re the kind of person who gets completely absorbed in her work.   I am slowly learning how to keep perspective, and the importance of doing so.

I’m realizing that life and the memories that are made don’t stop being made when it gets stressful.  It’s our lack of paying attention to the passing moments in pursuit of the future that eats up our time.

I remember looking at photo albums of my parents while listening to their stories and always wanting to have something like that to look back on in my own life.  That’s really my primary motivation for blogging at present, I think.  I used to think I wanted to fill my blog with tons of fun tutorials and educational posts, and that still might happen in the future as things calm down.

For now I want to just keep perspective by telling my story a bit. In order to keep things interesting I’ll be digging through some of my thousands of digital photos to share some of my favorites with you. All of the above photos were taken by me in the summer of 2010 during another stormy period in my life right before we moved here.

Photography isn’t the only pursuit I’ll be sharing – I’m sure some knitting, spinning and weaving posts will be plentiful as well.

While I am lacking in the oomph necessary  to attempt a big project,  finding inspiration and celebrating some of the past accomplishments I have achieved should remind myself of what I am capable of when I’m not under this amount of stress.  And as I get a little more energy and time I’ll add tutorials and some technical spinning articles and fiber breed sampling, gluten and dairy free recipes, thrift shop finds and all of the other things I can’t wait to have the energy to do.

I hope you’ll join me when you can.

 

~Molly