You Spin Me Right Round...

...Baby, Right Round, Like a Record Baby...

Or in this case, less a record and more a drop spindle. I took a class with some knitterly friends on Saturday. We had lots of fun, and I'm happy to report that my skills and my confidence were greatly increased.

I took this:
and this:
and made it into this:
It's ugly, I know, but I purposely picked contrasting colors so I could use it for reference later. The twist is a little uneven in places, but this was my very first attempt at plying. I could actually knit with this!

We used some processed roving (like the lavender stuff at the top) in several colors. It was provided by the LYS, and it was okay. But our instructor also brought a whole fleece for us to see. She spins "in the grease," which means that the wool is straight from the sheep. It has only been carded, but has not been washed, so it has all the lanolin still in it. It smells a little funny, but, holy crap, it's nice to spin with. The fibers slip really well when you draft.

Here's a picture of the lovely Karen attempting to master the spinning wheel. It was her first time on a wheel, and she struggled a little, but really kept at it!
Look at all the lovely fiber!
When I got home on Saturday, it was time to do a little gardening. Well, actually, can you call it "gardening" if the garden doesn't exist quite yet? For the last several years, we've had two boxes in this area; they were each 4'x6'. As you can see, it has grown quite a bit!
We succeeded in framing out the area and spreading out the soil more evenly. I'm concerned that we actually have too much soil in there, as it is still slightly mounded up over the edge. Matt keeps telling me that it will all settle in, but I'm not so sure it will settle before I need to put plants in there. Its supposed to rain a lot today, so I guess we'll see if that helps.

While Matt & I were digging, Ty was helping out by keeping Riley occupied. More than occupied, the boys had quite a lot of fun! This photo is going on my wall.
After several hours of working, it almost looks like a garden. Matt did a really great job.
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On a side note, I sometimes wonder how I will ever survive raising two boys. This was the book Tyson brought home from the library last week. Ick!
Happy knitting!