Yesterday I had one of our newest Sanday Spinners (J2) round for some further practice. We spent a couple of hours playing with both wheels and eating choccie cake. Then it was off to Craft group, with a surprisingly large turn out, to make cocoon stripping paper. Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves and some lovely papers emerged. Next time we shall continue and also develop the papers into finished objects. I shall take my sewing machine and card stock along with the crateful of fibre stuff that I took this week. Hmm, must make a mental note to set off in plenty of time.
Today I have been preparing fluff. The Shetland X fleece that I rainbow dyed some time ago is now on the spindles. The nice fleece, which took the dye really well and came out very dark, is on Hebbie as a thin single. The coarser fleece, which dyed to pastel shades, is on Connie as a fatter slubby single. The good fibre needs only teasing, the coarse fibre mainly needs carding but I am only carding those pieces that desperately need the attention. This morning I carded a whole heap of the pale stuff, and teased a goodly portion of the dark fine stuff. I left the room for a brief while and returned shortly to find Nell munching on my fibre. Not the coarse stuff… oh, no … chewing up the good stuff, of course!
I growled at her, and she went to hide behind the chair. Wise puppy.
Anyway, the dyed fibre looks stunning – heaped up in a range of pastel aquas, blues, and lilacs, with contrasting mounds of deep peacock greens and blues, it all looks very inspiring.
The carding I find to be something of a slog. But teasing the dark fibre filled my heart with a deep joy. The fleece is so lovely and amenable and has dear little curls at the tips that take up the colour differently to the remainder of the locks. I love the way that the fibres separate without argument and just lie there in colourful easy ripples. It’s all so satisfactory.
The amount of fibre that I prepared quite astonished me – as does the way in which I can quickly spin a bobbin full now. I sat and thought about this for a while. Putting a couple of things together, I conclude that I am now much better in health than I was and that when I thought I was better, I wasn’t. I’m far more productive now and very much closer to normality. It feels good.
Which is more than I can say for my head.
I came home to a bath and a bottle of wine last night. Red wine. Now, I know that I have concluded that red wine is a trigger. I also know that one glass is usually fairly safe, but this depends on other factors. I also know that the red wine/hot bath combo is a big no-no. I know this. I know it to the extent that I pointed out that the bah should not be really hot and that I should only have a small glass. My instincts were telling me not to do it. But I did it anyway. And Mr L ran the bath very hot… and guess who had a blinder of a migraine this morning?
I was expecting J2 to come round again this morning. She didn’t show, so maybe I got it wrong and she is coming this afternoon. Just as well, I doubt I would have been very good company this a.m. I still don’t feel too good, but definitely more able to make an effort than I was this morning.
Spinning day tomorrow, at M’s house. I am prepared now to spin on either wheel, so if any of the new spinners need to use Connie, I can do my thin single on Hebbie. I might take Mr Plumbum’s Green ‘n Grrowlly Socks with me too, in case we are short on physical space for all those wheels. I don’t have a problem with knitting at spinning group.
It may now be time to start a second weekly spinning meeting…
I am thinking of volunteering my sitting room for a regular weekly session in the p.m. Afternoons, maybe, but I thought evening spinning, with a bottle of wine, might be rather convivial. We’d better make it white wine, perhaps 🙂