A Swap and the Ravelympics

With the secret spinning project and a crazy work schedule, I haven't had much to post about lately. But that has all changed! The secret spinning project is complete, and has made its way to Deidre in Seattle so I can finally post a photo here.





This is Rambouillet wool, which was a first time spin for me, and it was dyed by The Fox Hop. It is a super soft wool, similar to Merino, but with a much longer staple. It created a squishy yarn that you just wanted to squeeze. The final product was about 780 yards (~4 oz) of laceweight yarn. I loved how it turned out and it was sad to put it in a box and send it off...but I know it has a good new home. And I knew that there was a box crossing the pond on its way to me...



I received my HHHH swap package from Gill in the U.K today. She did an excellent job spinning a Navajo-plied sock yarn for me. It's is BFL which is one of my favorite fibers. See how pretty it is...



The package also included a braid of BFL fiber and some bamboo fiber for me to spin. It also had the book Knitalong (LOVE!)
and a package of Smarties - candy that I love, but can't get in the U.S. Thanks, Gill! You really spoiled me!

Now that this swap is completed, I have moved on to new projects. I've caught the Olympic spirit, and signed up for the Ravelympics, which is a knitting challenge to finish a project while the Olympics is going on. I may have bit off more than I can chew, but I've signed up for three events: the Sweater Sprint (my first sweater for me!), the Handspun Heptathalon, and the WIP (work in progress) Wrestling, where I will finish a pair of socks that have been languishing for way too long. I cast on for the sweater Friday night during the Olympic opening ceremony. I know all of that fanfare was just for me. I'll fill you in on the sweater in another post. And the sock will get some action next weekend. I'll be traveling to Iowa for the State Fair, and socks are my favorite airport knitting project.

For the Handspun Heptathalon, I am spinning some superwash merino from The Dyeing Arts (purchased at The Loopy Ewe, of course). The colorway is Orchid Dreams, and it is a Dazzling Duo, which means it comes with 2 oz of two different color combinations that compliment each other. In this, one bobbin is mostly green, with a bit of purple,



and the other is blues and purples with a bit of white.



I'm really excited to ply this together. It is going to make some cool looking sock yarn.

Once this is finished, it's not staying with me either. I am donating it to my friend Janice from the Loopy Spring Fling for a fundraiser. Janice is training for the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Antonio this fall as a part of the Team in Training which raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Since my family has been touched by lymphoma and I've seen how the treatments developed from recent research can save lives, I wanted to help her raise some money. You can see some of the other prizes (Wollmeise!), and how to donate by clicking here. The yarn should be on its way to her by the end of the week.

It's not a blog post without a photo of the kitties. My Ravelympics cheering section likes to be close to the action.