whackadoodle coconut

my husband and I met up with some friends this weekend and they has asked about spinzilla and wanted to know how it all works.  I had briefly explained how it all works and figured that since I was likely to start from nothing on this journey it might be helpful to know how this all works. Step one: Sheep.  if you want to spin yarn, you will need to source some fiber.  but, where does it come from?  the easy answer is from sheep.  however, living in a non-spinning centered (or sheep herd centric) city, I choose to purchase prepared fiber.  I used to have a shop near by to purchase fiber from, now I order from an online vendor. the possibility also exists to find locks from sheep to prepare and then spin. like these. Step two: Prepare your fiber. I have several methods to choose from.  I own a pair of carders and a pair of combs.  I will either card or comb my fiber until it is the way I want to spin and then I'll spin.  I don...

hooray!  spinzilla has officially concluded and at midnight my time zone all the yardage should have been submitted and the finally team tallies will begin. I really pushed myself this year and placed my goal well outside of my reach.  at times I wasn't sure if I'd even make it.  even my hubby had to cheer me on and give a pep talk about keep working to meet my goal.  it was was close there for a few  hours (a day).  my goal this year to spin 5 km.  That is 5468 yards (5000 meters). at the end of it all, I did make my goal and passed it by just over 100 meters (technically 168 meters). here is my schedule for the week and what actually was  spun.  I was bummed I didn't get to the Sweet Georgia fiber I wanted to spin for this year, but I was unsure of with kind of prep that was needed, I decided to pass in order to make my mileage. of course I plied everything into a 2 ply yarn, so the mileage includes plying credit. three days I spun ...

didn't think there would be a part two.  however, receiving more wooly goodness tuesday and getting my spinning schedule worked up there is a need to update! I picked up one of these (actually two) of the Woolery's Spinzilla special Spinzilla 2017 Fiber packs. it is so soft and gorgeous i person.  this is the first time I have ordered fiber online and wasn't sure if I would like it. usually, I'd rather pick up fiber in person, so I can feel it and get an idea of what it looks like in person (colors, texture, depth, etc).  and the personal experience is better.  plus when my hubs goes along, he likes to help pick out colors and new fiber to challenge me with. I also purchased the Spinzilla 2017 Colorway from Sweet Georgia called fire starter. with eight fiber selections to work through this year, I'm really looking forward to the fun.  my goal is to reach 5456 yards (8047 meters) worth of spinning.  that's a 5k (3.1 miles)!  last year ...

hi.  remember me?  I'm whackadoodle coconut. this week (and actually the last few months) have been quite busy for us around ye olde household.  I've been working on getting the house straightened up, cleaned up and organized.  makes a girl feel better knowing everything is in it's place.  so this week with the heat and prepping for spinzilla, I've been practicing my spinning and finishing up a couple projects. First - the evolution of the yarn I've had in my stash for over a year now.  I thought it was a nice mix of spring time colors, but I never really liked the way they looked together on my test spin.  then I had an idea, what if I blended the colors like I did with my sherbet yarn?  and voila! and here it is.  the evolution of yarn!  it's a nice mix of bulky yarn.  I think it looks like cotton candy and my husband said it looked like yarn for a baby.  I'd agree with that.  it is fresh, pastel and...

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 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'...

In 15 words or less what are you doing right now? I'm waiting to see what they caught from my fishing trip. Until then, I'll be spinning this... Potluck Roving, Colorway: Black Crimson Very striking color combination and when it's spun even more so   Which is turning into this...   And I washed up this, which came around really nicely once it was washed.  Not sure what I'll make with it, but it's still a good practice batch.  Low yardage, so maybe knit with a few other random yarns?

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 ...