Batts

Okay, so I didn't end up getting around to the alpaca yesterday, but I *did* get some time in with the Strauch!  If you'd like to see photos of the batts, I've posted them online at this link:

http://on.fb.me/gzfQOn

I'm hoping to have more fiber/yarn time this weekend, but we're apartment-hunting and I'll also probably start packing my things for the move.  I'm hoping this is the last time I'm going to change locations for the next couple of years.  I guess we'll see how it goes!  I'm very excited for this move, though.

--

Tomorrow's schedule is full, but Wednesday, I'm thinking I'll work on cleaning more alpaca fleece so I can card it up for spinning.  I've wanted to make yarn or batts all day, but I relaxed today instead, after a long and busy day yesterday.  I finally finished painting my room, rearranged the furniture, and went food shopping.

The days are getting longer, and I'm way excited!  I woke up in time to see the sun on Saturday, and I sat outside to read the mail.  It was a wonderful change of pace.  Before long, I'll be able to take my wheel outdoors and spin in the sunshine.  It's my favorite part of summertime.

Crafty Hands are Here Again!

I've got all these crafting ideas whirling around in my head, and I don't have the time or resources to do any of them right now.  I'm super excited, because I found a studio around the Portland area where I can go to throw pottery for $5/hour, and they will fire the work if I leave it there.  Georgie's is a fantastic place to get clay, so I'll call the studio and see what sort of clay I need for their kilns.

I also really want to make all sorts of candles and list them on Etsy.  But I also want to decorate with them and put them all over my apartment!

Speaking of which, I'm getting ready to move again.  I'm headed a little south of Portland, and I'm very excited to finally be moving to Oregon.

I'm looking forward to heading down to Woodland Woolworks to pick up some carbonized bamboo in the next few weeks.  Tim's asking for a hat out of it, and I'm super excited to get started on it.  I also want to pick up some more locks and fun stuff for making batts with my gorgeous, amazing drumcarder.  I'm also working on processing the alpaca fleece for a lady from the knitting group.


Losing the knitting group is definitely one thing I'm going to dislike about moving.  It is about an hour from where I'm moving to the knitting group; I might go up once a month or so, but I won't attend meetings weekly like I want to.  I'll end up finding a new group and going to those meetings instead, and it will be good.  I'm definitely going to miss everyone from the Washington group though!

Oh, and before I forget, here's the photo I left out on the last blog post:

Photos!

Okay, these pictures are long overdue.  This last month or so has been super crazy, with the holidays, finals, friends from out of state, and snow in a city where no one knows how to drive in it.

My drum carder:

I did make a couple of batts; the first one was the run-through they suggest to get all the dust off the drum cloth, and looks like this:

The other one I haven't photographed yet.  I need to head out to a wool store and pick up more locks to play with, but I also need to experiment with layering rovings and tops together to make smooth batts, too.  

I'm hoping to find time during each week to make a batt or two.  Once I get five or six made, I'll list them on Etsy and see how they go over.  I'm very excited about having this carder.  Now I can finish processing that alpaca fleece in a timely manner!