Spindling

Well, I finally started trying my hand at drop-spindling.

Behold!

Not too bad for my very first attempt. (I probably should have taken a class so I could have some feedback on things. YouTube isn't the best for that, you know.)

My spindle is pretty light, and I remember reading that lighter spindles make for bulkier yarn, but I can't remember where I read that or if I just made it up...

Anyway, I did an ounce of blue wool and an ounce of orange. The part where they joined looked kind of neat, so I may try spinning (or plying!) two colors together soon.

I'm not sure how much yarn I actually made. I washed it and thwacked it to set the twist, so it is drying now. I'll inspect it after it dries and see what I can learn from it. 

Also, I think I need to pre-draft the fibers a little better. I have thick spots where the roving came apart and I joined it back together. But it's a learning process!

I should probably go check out the nearby spinning guild, but they meet every third Saturday, and this month's third Saturday happens to be Chris's birthday, so that's out for a while. 

Garden Picture Spam

Our garden is growing!

We had our first produce this Sunday.

A cherry tomato!

This guy

still likes to dig in the garden if he gets a chance, but we have a fence around his favorite spot, so he hasn't messed with anything recently.

That stupid tom cat however...

I think I may have figured out how to beat him.

We planted flowers in the square foot sections the cat destroyed, and I sprinkled cayenne pepper powder all over both beds. I also sprayed them with cat repellent. And we have that fence around the one bed...

I hope it keeps him out. That stupid cat has cost us enough money and time in the plants he has destroyed...

OK. Garden pictures. Right.

Nasturtiums!

There's also a sweet potato vine in there with the red nasturtiums. Chris's old neighbor Jan gave it to us. It has so many flowers now!

And here are our beds

We have quite a few green tomatoes, and we have about 5 cherry tomatoes that should be ripe by this weekend.

I can't wait to make bacon lettuce tomato sandwiches (lettuce wraps in my case) with our own, home-grown tomatoes!