We are in the time of year where we take one step towards spring, then one step back. Yesterday I woke to watery sun trying to break through the high overcast and by the time I was overseeing the data transfer of the latest Zoom meeting to You Tube, it was snowing. Great big fluffy globs of snow. They soon morphed into sleet, then rain.
Ah. Spring Break Up. The most difficult season, I find.
We are also dealing with a global pandemic and everyone is tired. So we layered on another level of challenge - spring forward to 'daylight savings time'. I never understood what it was we were saving. Living this far north (which isn't all that far, truth be told) we still woke up in the dark and walked home from school in the dark in the winter during standard time, and in summer? Sun rises well before I ever wanted to wake up and set after my bedtime. Didn't matter how much the clock was...adjusted.
I remember the first time I travelled 'south' - to Colorado as it happened. It got dark so early I thought it must be a lot later than it actually was. Instead of after 11 pm it was barely 9 and fully dark. I had a chuckle at my expense.
I am also dealing with allergens so my head is extra stuffy and it hurts to think. As this 'dance' with seasonal change continues, that will continue with dust, snow mould and then pollen.
But spring IS coming, in spite of the snow. The weather forecast says maybe some more later this week, but it's only March. Spring Break Up can last 4-5 weeks. The temperature will continue to dip below freezing for a while yet. Seems like everything is waiting for something right now.
Patience has never been an attribute of mine but there is nothing to be done for this time of year but wait it out.
And that's the thing. Everything changes. Nothing is static. Minutes roll into hours, hours into days, days into weeks, then months. The seasons come...and they go.
So I go - to my studio. I play with string. I dig deep into my yarn stash and find colours that speak to me. Right now I'm working on my 2/8 cotton stash and seem to have an abundance of beige and blue. So I will figure out how to make beige towels and blue towels that please me. After months of weaving with 2/16 cotton, the 2/8 seems to be evaporating very quickly. And that makes me very happy, given how many years I've been trying to weave down my yarn stash!
Today's goal is to work on the place mat warp (blue!) and start pulling my fibre stash out of storage. I have several braids of hand dyed/variegated Corriedale and lots of solids. I treat my fibre much like my yarn stash. Beginning with a variegated I start adding solids and blend them on the Ashford blending board to make 'worms'.
(I'm told by those who know that what is made on the board is neither a rolag or a puni, so some people have settled on 'worms' to describe the fibre package that results. I'm good with that.)
I still have zero idea of what I'm going to knit with all this yarn I'm making. But right now that isn't of a great deal of importance to me. I'm going to have fun making unique blends and spinning them up. I'll figure out what to do with the yarn later.
One thing at a time!
In the meantime the sun is actually shining this morning. The snow is melting. Spring IS coming.
Patience, Grasshopper. Patience.
2 comments:
Could you show us one of the worms? I was visualizing rolags, but perhaps I have the wrong picture in my head. Thanks.
Sure, once I've got them done. I dug through some of the bins tonight and should be able to start making some on Wed. Doug needs the table to do some stuff tomorrow.
They are sort of but not quite rolags, and sort of but not quite punis, I'm told. A spinner would have to explain the difference. I defer to the experts. :)
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