Forgot to mention – I had the freakiest dream this morning. I was in some kind of office setting and I was showing this young woman all of my fiber – and all the little balls/batts/whatever were wrapped up so pretty with bows and wrapping paper and I was telling her all the things she could do with the fiber. Like make clothes or something. I don’t know where I went, but when I came back she was gone and so was all my fiber! She STOLE my fiber! I was running around telling everyone she stole it and I knew she didn’t know how to spin, so when I found her I confronted her and told her that I had put a call into the syndicate (you know who you are) telling them NOT TO SPIN FOR HER! If she approached them, take the fiber and send it back to me.

I swear this was my dream.

That wheel can’t come fast enough!

This counts, right?

Thank you, Claudia, so much for your instructions (see yesterday’s comments!). I started there, and didn’t get it. Went to the icanspin.com website and didn’t get it. Found the Grafton Fibers tutorial and started to get it. Messed around a little bit – put the spindle down, did some stuff, picked it back up again. Got a lot frustrated (but didn’t think about any of the bad stuff) and then I looked over Claudia’s instructions again and GOT IT! You pinch with the right while you spin, then switch to the left – draft out some yarn with the right – then pinch higher up and let the twist travel to the pinch! Genius! I was off!

It was light when I started. Dark when I stopped. I think three hours went by. Not sure.

A question – see in the third picture how the yarn is kinking back on itself – is that supposed to happen, or do I have too much spin in the yarn. You really need to draft it thin to get thin yarn, huh.

I don’t know. I’d like to think that some of the stuff I made is a little Manos like. And wow – those Manos people don’t spend too much time spinning their stuff do they.

Thanks for all your good thoughts – yesterday wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and certainly not as bad as it could’ve been. And I’m confident today will be better. We’re getting a new bed delivered so I have a lot to do around the house to keep me busy and my mind at rest. And a big, huge bag of fiber calling my name.

I caved. And really, what did it take? Fondling some amazing yarn? Two freaking days? A night of delicious dreams? If I tell you I’ve already bought the URL for www.barberpoleyarns.com with delusions of mass production will you laugh at me? That is, even more than you’re already laughing.

Toni at The Fold tried to reign me in. I mean, I KNOW I interrupted their dinner, for pete’s sake. But in the end I bought a Bosworth Midi in the Paduak wood. She talked me out of a second spindle. I’m insane. I feel nauseous. Then I felt like she was going to actually get off the phone with me after getting all my credit card info and I was like, wait, I’d like to buy some Fiber. And she said, why don’t I throw some in for you – you know – so you don’t feel any pressure (I had told her I was a beginner and all about my lofty barber pole dreams) and she said the price is right – it’s for free, and I said that’s great, thank you so much, but can I buy some other stuff, you know, something to look forward to? I swear she was laughing AT me. I walked away with 6+ ozs of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Targhee in a phenomenal Gold Rush colorway and 6+ ozs of Merino/Tussah in the Serendipity colorway which isn’t online, but Toni described as purple and brown and green. I think. Honestly, I went with the name. Kind of the same way I went with the Paduak wood. Names mean a lot.

One thing I’ve definitely learned in all this is that I absolutely DON’T like hairy yarn. By that I mean angora (sorry little bunnies!), alpaca (sorry weird but cute llama/camel type animals) or mohair (sorry sheepies.) Now, of course, I realize that merino wool and its just-as-soft counterparts are hairy (I mean wool is kind of like hair, right), to a certain extent, but I think you know what I mean when I say hairy. Cashmere is definitely NOT hairy. The hairy stuff itches and I wouldn’t want it actually touching my skin.

Oh, yeah, and to prove I’m no WUSS, I bid on TWO auctions on ebay last night and I WON BOTH!!!! More roving for me – from dudleyspinner because Mary’s Yarn is just incredible!

It wasn’t until an hour or two later that I realized that the whole time I was making these ridiculous purchases I was wearing my Maryland Sheep & Wool T-Shirt. Do you think that means anything?

I really do feel sick. I feel like I’m getting sucked into some kind of black hole vortex and I’ll never knit again. Never write again. Never blog again. Never take another photograph. My head is literally spinning.

I will be okay, right?

PS – Bloglines isn’t updating my feeds again, so if you haven’t already, please read yesterday’s post about Prudence Mapstone. I don’t want anyone to miss it – her fiber arts are beyond imagination. Thank you for indulging me.