Grayscale

gray·scale/ˈɡrāskāl/

noun a range of gray shades from white to black, as used in a monochrome display or printout.

I finished carding the rest of the fleece and it turned out exactly as I planned.  It is so pretty and the colors remind me of a box of Conté crayons.

  

Sample spinning of each color

I altered the photo of the batts.  I am very happy with the gray scale range.

Each step of the process from fleece to yarn is fun.  

On Sunday the bubble in my eye disappeared.  It did its job to keep the retina in place, I have my vision back and other than a future adjustment in the prescription of my glasses. I have had a rough couple of days with some pain  that feels like sandpaper in my eye, but right now it is not as irritated and feels better.  I made an appointment yesterday to make sure everything was okay and the doctor said everything looked good even though it did not feel like it!  

Spinning and the bubble

As of yesterday I can see above the jiggly nitrous oxide bubble in my eye.  because it moves a LOT.  The good thing is that I have vision for which I am grateful.  The bubble is disappearing and according to the opthamologist the bubble should be gone within a week.  With my head down I can see the whole bubble and a little bit around it.  It has a dark perimeter that fades to the magnified center, which is akin to looking through water.  Looking at my computer screen I can see what I am typing!  A small thing but it is really huge to me.

During the past week I have been walking a bit more each day and the one activity that keeps my hands busy is spinning and carding wool.  Between the spindle and the wheels there has quite a bit of progress made in the woolly stash-down.

Before I took the Jacob/silk noil  off Reginald's bobbin I checked to see if I wanted to ply the single or leave the yarn as a single.  I opted to leave the yarn as a single.  

Stella and some Romney wool I bought last year at Shepherd's Harvest.  I am hand carding the wool into rolags and pick out the VM (veggie matter) as I spin.

Left to right:  Jacob/silk noil continuous single, natural gray and natural light brown spindle spun Shetland, Stella with dark brown Romney, colorful Cormo/silk noil spindle spun 2-ply, Cormo/silk noil called Dark Side of the Moon from Riverwinds Farm.  I ended up not plying the latter with Reginald and used Louie (my Louet S10) instead with the jumbo bobbin and fl yer.  

 In addition to spinning, carding was less than pleasant endeavor, until I realized that I needed clamps and a nail to make the experience easier.  When I purchased my Wild Carder it did not come with instructions.  I had a general idea of how it worked because Joanne loaned me one of her carders when I lived in Texas.  I looked online when I brought the carder home and  did not find much information or videos on the subject.  I mentioned my experience to Joanne in a recent conversation and she helped me find the specification sheet and assembly instructions online.  I was having difficulty because the drums were too close together.  Joanne tried to talk me through the adjustments without much success.  She mentioned the clamps and a nail. To make a long story short, she contacted her supplier and I have clamps and a nail en route.  Now that I have the information about how to adjust the settings the carding experience will be better.  I sent each batt through the carder twice and picked out any loose or short bits.  I look forward to spinning this lovely wool!

Using the Wild Carder to make batts of Jacob wool.  Natural black, dark gray, and medium gray is finished.

Light gray and white yet to card.

On the mend and handspun

Tuesday, 26 May
Yesterday was a tough day.  I could not get comfortable and it felt like I had sandpaper in my eye.  Working with fiber I sometimes get something in my eye, but this was really annoying.  This morning when Jim put the drops and salve in I thought I would have another day like yesterday, but right now I'm sitting up (looking down--no tipping the head back unless I am getting the eye drops) and pretty comfortable.  I will be able to finish up a class tonight!  I can see the inside of the eye shield very clearly and a bit more definition beyond.  The vision is still watery, but I can see and that is a wonderful thing!

Thursday, 28 May

Yesterday was a better day and I was able to teach a class, which was enjoyable.  The students finished their projects and had more planned.  It is rewarding to see the pride they have in what they accomplished during our class time together.

Getting ready for class.  I ended up using an eye patch to keep anything from getting in my eye.  A little lipstick and a comb through the hair and I was good to go!

Since the surgery I have been able to knit a little and spin a lot.  I wear the eye shield to keep any flying fiber out and since I look downward it is a nice way to keep up with projects.  

I finished the Jacob/silk noil blend from Ewespun Fiber Mill.  Deb blended the two together the day of our field trip to her farm.  During the spinning of the pound of this fiber I really got a feel for the Ashford Country Spinner.  Reginald is nice.  I like the whoosh-whoosh sound of the large bobbin going around.  I took a couple of pieces of yarn off and kept one a single and one I let ply on itself.  I decided I liked the look of the single, as it reminded me of Lopi something between the Lett Lopi and the heavier Lopi yarn.  I used the swift to make a large skein and tied it off in six places, soaked it for a bit in Euclan Wool Wash and hung it in the basement under a little tension to dry.  The next step will be to measure yardage and knit up a swatch.

A nice big skein of continuous yarn after a soak.  What will it be after I measure the yardage?