Sheep In The Shower

 

Day 176: There will be more botanical bits coming up, but first I think I'd better 'splain 'bout the sheep in the shower. Y'see, when I started playing with cotton and the tahkli, it kicked my spinning urge into high gear. As soon as I felt I was getting sloppy with the tahkli and my cotton thread began exhibiting lumps and thin spots, I'd lay it aside and pull the Louët over to my chair so I could resume working on the "cinnamon-twist" yarn I started a year or so ago. Working with wool is a whole different ball game, one which most spinners will tell you is substantially easier than cotton. Right now, I'd agree with them, but I think once I've mastered the nuances of short fibers, I might even find it more restful than working with long-staple wool. But for now, shifting off to spinning wool relaxes me. After an hour or so, I'll be ready to pick up the tahkli again. So...'nuff said. Let's talk about the sheep. The white strand is Corriedale top: soft and silky, and came to me already prepared to go directly on the wheel. The brown was something I purchased at a bazaar, two pounds still in the grease. I washed it, teased it out, carded it and spun it separately. Then I plied the two strands, cinnamon and sugar together. The next step was soaking it in tepid water, and hanging it (weighted) in order to set the twist. Since our nights are still dipping below freezing, the "sheep" has to be moved from its clothesline pasture to a safe shelter before bedtime. The shower serves as the "barn." This makes bathing a bit tricky, for obvious reasons. The "cinnamon-twist" is a beautiful yarn, if I do say so myself, and now that I've reached the end of the bag, I have enough for a sweater/jumper. While these are hanging to dry, I'm working on some silver Gotland, a happy spinster at the wheel.