I brought a silk hanky (a silk cocoon spread out into a thin square) to the Brownie presentation and stretched it way out so the girls could see how strong and long the silk was. Because it was going to be difficult to store in that form, I decided to go ahead and spin it.
Wow. Just wow. I’m stunned at how fine a thread it can make. No wonder they used to use this for parachutes. This stuff just does not break. Mark this as something else I want to tackle when I get better.
Since I had that spinning presentation the other day, I took that as my cue to go back up to Greensboro that morning and get more supplies. For… uh… the presentation. Yeah, that’s it. Not for me. Ahem.
Anyway, I picked up some Strauch hand cards. As I cleaned up my spinning area this morning, I decided to take some of the little bits of wool that the girls had used and discarded and try to card them into something else.
I took some of the bits and put them on the card. I did line the fibers up better after this picture. I also added more red from the bag.
Bring me the eyebrows of Bozo the Clown! I did two cards worth. The thing in the center is a cardboard circle that I use for making my Jayne hat pompoms. I used it as a diz, drawing the wool through the center hole until it was an attenuated wool snake. Later, I did another card, but didn’t blend it as thoroughly, so that I would get more little flecks of this and that. That was so I could ply the single with something similar to itself.
I overspun the singles like crazy, since I’m trying to break my habit of underspinning, or not giving the yarn enough twist. The plied yarn, though, is reasonably balanced. It hangs like you see on the left, with just a little twist. Good enough!
This was a really fun way to tone down the super-bright bits of fluff. I’m glad I got the cards, and I look forward to learning more about them and improving!
Another gift I made for the Jar O’ Joy. Three glass beads and a sterling silver headpin and earhook. Voila, an angel. My recipient spoke a lot in her profile about how much her church and her faith meant to her, so I thought this would be a nice item to recognize that.
I finally added Statcounter to http://www.wearwithstyle.com so that I can see where people are coming from. No big surprises in terms of the sites that are linking to me, but it is neat to see the geographical locations the hits originate from. I’ve only had the counter up for a couple of days, so I’m enjoying playing with it as a new toy. Five continents were represented yesterday. Firefly fans really are everywhere!
On the Jayne hat front, I’m surprised that more Serenity screenings haven’t asked for charity hats. Some have, and I’m glad I’ve been able to accommodate everyone who’s asked so far. I’m about to finish off St. Louis’s and send it along to them. That should get me caught up through April, and then I can no longer put off the black purses that the Huntersville lady asked for. Le sigh.
Knits up for: TX, MO, and NC
