Tying Up Loose Ends at the End of 2015

There are always loose ends to be addressed.  Let's see....

I got the Schacht-Reeves wheel, the drum carder and the picker all up on the website.  Check!

I bagged and tagged all the remaining dried marigolds.  They have been selling like hotcakes this fall/winter so I weighed out the remaining flowers.  There are 14 bags left and there won't be any more until next spring.  Check!

I've pulled together all the supplies I need for my two classes in Oxford at the end of January.  Spinning fun and funky yarns will be a hoot and so will dyeing with Kool-Aid.  I've also managed to send all my class examples to Patsy at Knit 1 Oxford so she can advertise the classes.  For some reason getting my samples done was a challenge even though I love this kind of work.  Check!

I've only got two more towels to weave to finish my blue/white run.  I used some different yarn than I'm used to so I will be very excited to see how they look once they are washed.  Yes, I know the value of always doing a sample at the beginning of a warp to verify how your yarn, sett, beat and design will look but somehow I didn't get that done with this run of towels.  I was into the 3rd or 4th towel before I realized I had neglected that step.  This doesn't quite qualify for a Check! but I'm close.

I'm also almost finished with the run of towels on Peggy's loom.  I think maybe one more towel and I'm done.  This is another case of using some yarn I'm not familiar with and not doing the appropriate sampling to verify I will be thrilled with the final result.  The weft I'm using is Peaches & Cream cotton, often used to crochet or knit potholders.  The towels may not have the hand I'm looking for once they are washed.  This may be one of those cases where you start weaving a shawl and end up creating a table runner.  Or in this case maybe a baby blanket instead of a kitchen towel.  We will see how it turns out.  No Check! here but again, I'm getting close.

The next problem will be deciding what to put on the looms next.  I want to do a run of linen face cloths but I have all the yarn for some wonderful cotton fabric, too.  I won't say what the goal is but I'll let you know when I figure it out.

I've been spinning on the wheel I got back from Peggy.  I love this wheel.  I finished off one bump of our new Shiraz fiber.  I love the fiber too!

Stay safe out there on New Year's Eve and I hope you jump into 2016 with all the enthusiasm and excitement of a brand new year!