High in the Clouds

It was a busy week, as usual, The little rug from my weaving class came off the loom. It's almost finished. I still need to decide the treatment for the fringe. Here's the front. 

The back is the same as the front, except that the colors are reversed, and the clasps show up. You might remember from last week that the brown blocks with rows of orange were made by catching the orange with the brown in a clasp and then moving the clasp to a spot where it would be hidden in the background but allow the color to show where the weaver wants. So the clasps show up on the back. No way around that. 

Lynda and I took a trip down to Spinderella's in Salt Lake City on Wednesday to see what could be done with the llama fiber I got for free.

Lynn and Jim, the owners/operators of Spinderella's, didn't think too much of the quality of the fiber or the shearing job. They thought it was really only good for making rug yarn. It would be very expensive to have them do all the work, and we wouldn't end up with much. Lynda isn't interested in rug yarn, but I am, so whatever I do will be by myself now. Lynda enjoyed seeing the operation, though. 

Lynn allowed me to use this tumbler of sorts (not sure of the real name) to get some of the dirt and short cuts out of the fiber. It revolves, allowing the dirt and short cuts to fall out. Lynda helped me run the fiber in this, then I took what was left home to pick through. 

Lynn and Jim taught us what to look for in the fiber, and to be brutal about throwing away anything with too much vegetable matter (VM) to be worth bothering with. We left behind a whole garbage can full of stuff. When I get done, I can bring back whatever is left and they will process it for me, or if it's a small enough amount, or I feel up to a challenge, I can process it myself. 

While we were waiting for each load to run, we had a look at their operation. Lynda and I share a little Patrick Green drum carder that operates using a hand crank. This carder really puts ours to shame:

Here's the carder at work:

Here the roving is shown coming out the end of the carder. 

After this, it goes through a machine that gently stretches the roving and blends layers of roving together. Then it goes to the spinning machine:

By the time we left, all of the little niches were filled will bobbins, all accumulating singles. It was worth the trip for both of us, but it was a dirty job running the fleece through the tumbler. Everything we had on needed to go into the laundry. 

Common Threads met at Kay's new place, a high-rise overlooking Salt Lake City. As we drove down, it was snowing, but it stopped long enough for us to enjoy the view. Here's the view from Kay's balcony:

Kay had just finished remodeling her master bath, complete with granite countertops and a new shower stall. She has plans to remodel kitchen soon, but its not bad now:

We had a nice time sharing information about our various fiber crafts and chatting. Julie and Jean were late because they had forgotten that Kay had moved and had driven to her old place, which was a long way away in the other direction. Thanks to smart phones, though, when they realized no one was there, they were able to look up the email with the directions. 

Georgette had made some baby hats, which she showed us.  

Before it was time to leave, Kay gave us a tour of the building, including a trip to the top floor, where the is a two-story party room for residents. Here's the first floor with nice view and fireplace. 

Lynda and Georgette admire the view from the stairs in the party room. 

The second floor of the party room has a serving kitchen and a big TV. (There's a small cooking area on the lower level.)

During Common Threads, I was able to get the second sleeve of Daphne's Green Pastures Cardigan finished. Now I've joined the sections together and am ready to start the pattern. 

The Green Tea Socks are coming along slowly. It's nice to have a small project to grab when I have to go out somewhere. 

Soren is bringing his family here for Thanksgiving. It should be fun. In the meantime, here's something for quilters:

(Only quilters would baste the turkey before dressing it.)

What's on my needles: Green Pastures cardigan for Daphne, ready to start pattern. Dogwood Blossoms, Christmas Waffle sweater and Green Tea socks with the heel almost done. 

What's on my loom: Making some progress on the Christmas present scarves. I discovered some mistakes in the pattern and had to take out a few inches, but now I have a slip of paper with an arrow that shows me which direction I'm headed in the treadling pattern. 

What's on my wheel: Full Circle Roving in "Wolf". First bobbin finished. No progress this week. I moved my wheel down to my fiber studio, so Soren won't get into it. 

What's on my Sewing needles, Featherweight: Delectable Pathways, piecing the Delectable Mountain block panels. Appliqué panel #3, No progress this week.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: I'm listening to Bath Tangle by Georgette Heyer. Reading The Sweetness at the bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley on the Nook App, purchased through BookBub. Another intriguing story. Listening to the Fiber Hooligan podcast and the Knit Picks podcast.

What's my app of the week: Talkatone. It lets me use Google Voice on my phone. If I'm home, I don't have to worry about losing the signal if I go downstairs, because it uses the Internet, rather than cell phone service. It also doesn't use my minutes, so it's great for long phone calls. 

What's in my wine glass: Corbett Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon, the big bottle. Nice. (We don't get any bad wine.)

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.