Happy April!

It's finally starting to feel like spring here. I liked the apple green Tencel so much that I decided to blend up some fiber to go with it.  I think these are great spring colors.

And I love the yarn it made.  It's the last fiber I have prepared to spin.  I'm not sure what to spin next.

I spun up a singles from one of our Shetland wethers, then plied it with 16/2 straw-colored bamboo yarn.  I mixed up three colors from Gaywool dyes and poured over the yarn that I had looped in a lasagna dish.  I "baked" it in the oven at 325 an hour.  As expected, the bamboo didn't take up any color.

I'm trying to create a knitting yarn with half the effort.  I know, I know.  Garbage in, garbage out. Anyway, I'm swatching it right now, trying three different needles sizes.  I don't want to spin any more of the wool until I have a plan, so for the moment, I'm spinningless.

I got the purple/green yarn warped and found that I had three weft choices.  I was stumped because I liked them all, so I called my color consultant to come upstairs and give me a second eye. Ian has really great color sense and said - green!

And he was right.  The green lets the warp shine through.

These are my last two scarves.  The crazy colors is on the left, the green and purple on the right.  I absolutely love it.  I always finish a scarf and think *this* one is my absolutely most favorite, but I do think this one is.

And I may just get to keep it.  I wet finished it last Wednesday and hung it on the bannister to dry. While I was at my guild meeting, Maddie pulled it down and chewed off one of the fringe ends.  I know it's secure and I doubt it will show, but I don't see how I can sell it.  I guess the answer  is to blend up some more fiber and do it again.

And speaking of the guild meeting, our program was an introduction to bow loom weaving.  You can read more about it on the guild blog here.  I have never been taken by any of the ethnic techniques so was surprised when I fell in love with bow loom weaving.  It's karmic, like knitting.  Thursday afternoon was one of those rare days with enough sun and no wind that I sat out on the deck to work on my band.

This is my completed project.  The supplies are very simple but I think next time instead of using this 4' dowel, I'll see if I can find a willow switch.  This was an enormously satisfying project.

I made mine into a headband, though I won't be able to wear it for a few days.  I'm doing a double whammy on Fridays for a while.  I start with an hour of Astanga yoga and then drive five minutes to The Art of Massage for deep tissue massage.  My scalp will be very sore for a bit, just about when it's time for the next massage. I think this is an example of "no pain, no gain," and I'm all about gain.