My Birthday Present! And A Bit Of Spinning.

My birthday was about 3 weeks back so this is going to be old news to some. But I thought many of you would like to see what I am working on. My parents gave me a lovely birthday present, 5 skeins of Knit Picks Shadow Lace. It is 100% Peruvian wool.

Colorways: Springtime & Canopy.

I also received this book! I have been meaning to get it out of the library but kept forgetting to order it. I have looked through Clara Parkes book: Knitter's Book of Yarn and loved it.
The Knitter's Book of wool is perfect for a hand spinner! It tells so much about wool in general, but also discusses many breeds of sheep and the characteristics that are unique to the particular breeds. It is packed full of useful information, not to mention some gorgeous patterns! I had a three hour drive last week Thursday and took my new yarn and book along. I meant to jump right in to my knitting but first thought I would look up Icelandic sheep in my new book. Well, the knitting was forgotten for about an hour while I read my book. :) I still have a long way to go and much to learn, it will be an exciting read.

The yarn for my birthday was for a specific pattern, the Lillia Hyrna Shawl from: The Knitter's Book of Wool.

Somebody kept getting in the way while I was trying to do a photo shoot. I caught her in the act. Look at her! Paws right on my new book! She seemed to think that I should give her all my attention. This, by the way, is Sadie, my gorgeous Siberian Forest Cat. I haven't blogged about her, although I have been meaning to for the last 3 months. She is the sweetest, most lovable cat, with such an amazing personality. But I won't say anymore. I'll save my ravings for another post. :)

Here is another shot of my Lillia Hyrna shawl, as of this afternoon. I took my Grandma on errands today and there were a few snippets of time when I could squeeze in some knitting. I am about to switch back to color b. I simply love this shawl! The pattern so far has been clear and easy to follow. Although it is a lace-weight yarn it seems to be knitting up quickly. Thank you for such a special birthday present Dad and Mother!

Ooo,check this out! Ocean Splendor 2 on the spindle!

This corriedale was close to one of the last batches I dyed up with my Greener Shades Dyes. I was trying to duplicate Ocean Splendor. I came pretty close, but not quite. Well, since I had two of them, and I will be selling these, I figured that I should know how the roving spins up.

And it is wonderful. The corriedale fiber has a lovely, long, staple length. It drafts so smoothly, and I have discovered that hand-painted roving is so much fun to work with! I am spinning it up very fine. My aim is a lace or fingering weight yarn. I'm not sure what I am going to make with it though. Maybe another shawl?

And another spinning project on my large spindle. First about the spindle. My brother made both spindles pictured in this post. The fist one was a standard size. The one pictured above has a 3 3/16 " cherry whorl and a 14 inch shaft! It really should be for plying, but I am trying to see how much I can pack on it.

I already wound this off onto a bobbin and am now filling it again. This is the fine wool/llama that I purchased at the fiber festival. I really like the way it spins up. Very nice.

So those are my three projects right now. I'll update later when I get more accomplished.