Knitting
Jumpers/cardigans
My 3rd Turtle Dove is continuing and I’m into my 2nd of 5 balls it will take.
Spinning
I haven’t managed to spin every day but when there have been zoom calls with some of the Guild members I’ve been spinning. I spun some Beltex and Soay. Neither of which I enjoyed. Both were raw fleece samples I had washed and drum carded nearly 2 years ago! The Beltex is the whitest of all the fleeces spun so far.
On Saturday’s call I spun 25g of Manx Loaghtan that needs to be plied. I also spun and plied 25g of Masham (pronounced Mas-um). These are all 2 ply and part of my breed study that may one day become a blanket or wall hanging. Some are DK and some are bulky 🙈
Other News
I’ve been continuing with some spring cleaning and have drawn up a table of things to clean so I’m working my way through that slowly. By summer it will be finished.
That’s all for this week! More spinning is planned for next week, including a lunch out and spinning in public with some Guild friends.
I have picked my word of the year, here’s a post about it from earlier in the week.
This is a Year of Projects post. Officially the Group is in its 12th year, but this is my 5th year participating. If you would like to find more about the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry.
HighlandHeffalump 
Thanks for the breed update. I’ve only spun Masham once but I found it a lovely spin. Why didn’t you enjoy spinning the other fibres? I need to get on with my Mohair study but my samples are rammed in a drawer with my mojo right now. Good luck with the spring clean. I’m terribly undomesticated, much to the horror of my mother who must constantly wonder how she raised two domestically feral children!
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If it makes you feel better I cleaned the bathroom extractor fan for the first time in nearly 16 years we’ve lived here! Also I’m saying it’s going to take me 5-6 months to clean…so I guess I’m not terribly domesticated myself 😂 I’ve been assured by a friend with a pet Soay that I just got some bad fleeces to try, they were both from the same lady and I don’t know what year they were clipped or if done professionally but the fleeces were greasy still after two washes, lumpy, long bits and short nepps and lots of VM. Just not fun at all thus the bumpy and tatty looking yarns.
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I love the brown and tan colors of your spun yarns. Will you use them together or in different projects? Agree “less X” can be positive when paired with “more Y”. Creating a cleaning checklist is a great idea. I think I’d be better at my cleaning/decluttering if I made a list (long) of relatively short tasks that I could check off. As it is I never start. I’d rather be knitting. 🙂
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I’m not exactly sure what I’ll do with them. There’s about 25g each but they are different thicknesses and lengths. Could be the rough ones I weave with, I’m just not sure 🤔 I’ll decide once they are all done.
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You did quite a bit of spinning this week. The colors are so nice and earthy. I think some type of wall hanging would be so cool using all your breed study fibers. Even though we clean the house weekly, there are always those jobs that need to be added. Like windows and baseboards and fingerprints on walls and doors. There is always something. Then, when you get it all done, you need to start over again! Not a very thankful job.
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Yes it’s that sort of thing I’ve had to list washing skirting boards, waxing wood furniture, cleaning picture frames. They get forgotten about when I do normal cleaning.
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I’m so impressed with your cleaning mojo. The fact that you have a plan and are working on it regularly takes you way beyond what we do — which is clean things when we can’t stand to look at them anymore, haha!
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My default is clean when someone is coming over but never invite anyone haha. It does feel good having done the bathroom extractor fan though, it’s much more efficient now so was worth the hassle.
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I really think doing a breed study for spinning is a hugely worthwhile effort. You learn so much about the specific fleeces, but I think as well you wind up being able to apply that knowledge to similar breeds, which winds up helping your spinning overall. (And I have to admit to the sheep geek in me that finds knowing something about different breeds intriguing.)
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It’s been very interesting, some breeds have been a joy to spin but the finished yarn is so scratchy it wouldn’t be great for garments. Polwarth is still my favourite to date. Still a lot more 25g sample breeds for me to spin though.
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The Beltex is SO WHITE, like its been bleached! I’m sorry it was unpleasant to spin with, that is always a dissapointment.
I can’t wait to see your bright pink turtledove sweater!!
I love that you are giving yourself plenty of time to finish all your cleaning tasks! We are also starting to do some of the deep cleaning tasks. Last week, we moved the furniture in our bedroom away from the walls, and cleaned the giant dust bunnies from behind the dressers and the bed. It was SO GROSS. Even the walls behind my dressers were dusty!!
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I really admire your cleaning discipline and also your breed study spinning! Love hearing about the different fibers and what you think of them 🙂
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I spun some Herdwick yesterday, you know those cute grey sheep with white faces…ooof it was like spinning barbed wire…I image their wool is just for making insulation or carpets.
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