New Beginnings

A new year with new beginnings, it always feels good to me. The last few days of 2006 I tried to clear the decks of all the stalled or unfinished projects. I plied up all the yarn from my spindles and bobbins so I could start out fresh in 2007. I decided to experiment with spinning Pygora on the Saxony. I'm loving practicing long draw with it. No photos as it just looks like white yarn on a bobbin.

Also started a new knitting project. A Faroese shawl out of some Coopworth handspun I spun in the fall of 2005. It was the first batch that I worked on spinning a soft and lofty woolen singles and also tried to maintain consistency between the skeins. I still have about 5 oz of fiber available to spin should I run short. This is a color called Secret Garden from Hidden Valley Woolen Mill. In real life it is much darker than it appears in the photo. Oh, and I'm getting to try out my set of Sheila's glass circ's. It does feel like the knitting equivalent of Cinderella's glass slippers. I think everybody needs to try them at least once!

One of the few projects left over from last year were these Diamond Patch Socks made from Lisa's Merino Sock! in South Pacific. I love how this colorway worked up! And, what's really great is that you can get a pair out of one skein of yarn. Actually, you can get almost 3 socks out of one skein. I ran out on the third sock with only the ribbing left to do. When I put out a call for .2 oz of yarn, it was Denise to the rescue. Thanks, Denise! You have some good knitting karma coming your way, I think!

Why did I make 3 socks? Well, then I can keep one to use as a trunk show model and actually get to wear the other two. It will make my feet very happy! :)





And, talk about new beginnings, here we have my nephew Josh and his 4 month old son, Keegan. They stopped by, along with his lovely wife Erin, on their way to the East Coast.

Josh was just home from his second tour in Iraq and this was my first opportunity to meet my little great-nephew. His daddy was the first baby I ever held, and he is the spitting image of him!

Holding a new little baby--it has to be the best way to start off a new year right!