new fiber

This week, John and I went to Solvang for the afternoon.  We had both been waiting for this day for a couple of weeks and were glad that it was here.  I had also been wanting to get a niddy noddy for my hand spun yarn to both measure the length and to prep the skein to set the twist on my singles.

We stopped at the Mustard Seed on Mission street for lunch and had some really good danish food.  Usually I think of danish food as, well danishes or pastries.  But instead, we had danish meatloaf and meatballs and they were delicious.  It helped that were pretty hungry, but regardless, the texture was smooth, the flavor not like anything else I had eaten before and the combination with the cabbage was out of this world.  We sat on the patio and people watched through a leisurely lunch and just enjoyed ourselves.

Our next stop was at Village Spinning and Weaving on Alisal.  We had been there before, but like I mentioned I wanted to pick up a niddy noddy, so just a hit a run.  So I thought.  Much to my surprise and delight, we ended up purchasing 2.5 lbs of fiber.  John is such a good picker of fiber, he essentially goes through the shop like a kid buying candy and says "hey that looks good" and picks some out.

Funny story here, he had walked past a bin that usually has set weights with different colors of fiber in them and finds a color combo he likes and then says "she wants this one too".  This time there was very little in the bin and he doesn't really like any of the colors until he gets to this yellow and orange one.  He says, see if you can get some more of this one - it looks like sherbet, like 4 ounces or something.  So I ask and the owner says what kind of sherbet do you want, a little lime, raspberry?

 

We also picked up some fiber called Diablo.  John liked the name, so did I.  The color combination is pretty cool too.  What surprised me most, was that he said, I picked it because you haven't spun silk before, so I thought you might like that.  And they say husbands don't listen!

 

 

Finally, what I was hoping to someday own, some rare bluefaced leicester wool.  Supposedly there are only so many sheep in the world that produce this wool.  I was thinking about 8 ounces like the others.

they had the cutest ears - like a bunny rabbit

 

a ewe and her lambs

 

John asked "what can you make out of a pound?"  The owner replied, "a child's sweater, or a shawl".  Then John said, "how much do you need to make an adult sweater?  She's been on a sweater kick lately and has all those patterns to choose from"  She replied, "between one and one and a half pounds for an adult sweater."  "Okay then let's take 2 pounds, go ahead pick a color.  What does the mix look like?"  she replies "a tweed effect."

 

Moments later, I had 2 pounds, a sweaters worth with a little extra of BFL mix.  I'm so excited and started to look through patterns.  I'm thinking the effortless cardigan or a shorter version of the linen and lace cardigan.

 

More updates later once I've spun the fiber into yarn!