Thursday, July 13, 2017

A Summer of "S" ~ sort of...

Well sheep, of course!



And spinning ~ (finally, I've felt like spinning again!  It's been forever...)



Some mitten knitting ~ (again, had lost the mitten knitting desire...)



A sweater to finish ~ (which I am dutifully working on, even in the heat...)



And a new one to begin, one with soulful inspiration!

Take one lovely Bye Brook Farm, Romney lamb fleece from Maine.  Blend it into roving with one of our Serenity Farms Corriedale lamb fleeces.  Decide that the beautiful blend deserves to do more than languish in the stash (it's that amazing rusty black that reminds you of faded upholstery or vintage quilts, with threads of tinsel silver running through). Think longingly (so longingly that it's almost a physical pain, LOL) of how much you would like to be in Maine later this summer with Sarah of FiberTrek and her Wool Scouts retreat here.

Do a little sample spin of the lovely roving, and think of Maine sheep and Michigan sheep.  Maine wool women and Michigan wool women.  Start thinking about sweaters from handspun yarn that would be fitting for a Maine coast or a Michigan farm.  Listen to Emily of Fibre Town Podcast's Summer of S 2017 here .  And the idea of how to be a long distance dreamer participant of the retreat was born!

I'm spinning to knit a Maine to Michigan sweater!  I searched through dear Ravelry to find a Maine designer for my pattern (I was already thinking of a few) and had pretty much decided on Second Grace by Bristol Ivy.  But then, a few of my wool friends (Sarah and Patricia and Clare to be exact!) were knitting  Seachange by Jennifer Steingass.  I didn't want to start another sweater until I finish my Gingerbread so I didn't cast on when they all did, but the Gingerbread will be finished by the time I'm done spinning the yarn for Seachange and then I will start in.

My aim is to finish spinning and have the yarn washed and ready to go so I can cast on at the beginning of the Wool Scout retreat.  Emily's Summer of S craft-a-long goes until September.  I doubt I'll have the knitting done by then, but the spinning definitely! 

So there...there is my inspiration.  Will I stay focused and finish all these dreams?  I hope so.  I'm finding myself more single minded in my knitting and spinning pursuits these days.  And I rather like that.