My Birthday

I turned 41 over the weekend!

I got a new spindle for my spinning wheel so I can make art yarn.  I practiced using some wool locks that I bought 2 years ago (and then discovered that they weren't very good quality).  They aren't very useful other than for practice.  I also learned how to make my own art batts (sandwiching various spinning material; locks, different kinds of wool and other fiber; and blending it).  These are usually made using a drum carder but I found a way to make them just by hand.  They spun up beautifully.  Unfortunately, the only way to learn to make yarn is trial and error and that can get expensive.  It is actually more expensive to buy dyed wool and wool mixes to spin than it is to just buy commercially made yarn.  Not only do you have the cost of materials but the time investment in blending materials and then spinning them.  A skein of yarn can easily cost 20 dollars and hours worth of time.  I am working on making free form hats using art yarn.  It has been more challenging that I thought it would be!  



We went to my parents for a birthday dinner.  The sky was beautiful!



This isn't the best picture because it was getting dark but this Magnolia seed pod is amazing!

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