whackadoodle coconut

I haven't posted my fiber stash in a little while and although these aren't the best photos, they are still so soft and squishy to hold. Remember it's almost Friday! what you can't read, that's1/2 a pound of cashmere and 4 oz of angora.

since my last post, it has been a flurry of day to day action.  I recently received a new DSLR camera, a Canon Rebel T3i we bought at Costco and I have been struggling to use it and learn all it's features.  many of these I cannot control on my Canon Powershot, while I can still take great photos with this camera, I wanted something that would allow more flexibility in my photography. for instance, I could change my lenses, control the shutter speed with a greater range and adjust my exposure for more drama.  this also means that I had a steep learning curve to advance my skills. I started with some basics, the birds next door. I took close to 100 shots to get a couple that remotely resembled the look I was going for.  these were taken with the telephoto lens that came in the kit on full automatic focus. the next day I went to one of the parks in the city to take some more photos of random subjects to see what I could do in the field.  the bir...

 photo collage of the latest outing - my "teacher" said I was getting better

this week has been a little more hectic than usual.  getting  chores and errands done have taken more time than expected so I have had a little trouble working in some knitting time and spinning on my wheel. I did however, finish watching Downton Abbey's second season and knit a bit on a pair of socks for my MIL.  So there. and I whipped a little video about spinning on my wheel.  It's a little grainy, but it gets the point across.

since the good news a few weeks ago, I've been recovering without the stress.  I've also been knitting and spinning kind of non stop.  I finally finished a bobbin's worth of the red fluff I have and started the second bobbin of singles so I can ply the two.  Didn't seem to get anywhere with it this past weekend....so I figure another 3-4 weeks of spinning before it's done. Also, over the holiday, J and I visited the fiber store in Solvang, Village Spinning and Weaving on Alisol.  I had a few questions and of course, J had the time of his life feeling all the fluff and picking his favorite colors and textures.  I just asked questions and a couple things on my list to pick up.  They have the best customer service and answers with plenty of examples to share. We came home with; more silk blends, two batches of Manos fiber named Dragon, 4 ounces of angora, 8 ounces each of baby camel, merino 150 and (drumroll) cashmere.  ahhh cashmere.  I can'...