More fibre!

... not in my diet but in my spinning stash.

Went to the Fibres West show yesterday and picked up a little something for myself and the FuzzyOne.  He saw this 'Hibiscus' merino/silk blend that he thought looked like an orange popsicle (I personally think Creamsicle) and all he wants is a knitted/felted/crochet(?) popsicle from me.  I have a pretty good idea as to how to make his popsicle, but I was hoping he wanted something more useful like a scarf or toque (he seemed quite interested in a gridded fair isle toque on display).

Now onto my fibre stash.  This would work out so well if I had pictures but then, I'm lazy.  If you read this, you should know by now that my attempts at putting pictures on (or even regular blogging for that matter) have not been very successful.

Got some gorgeous Ashland Bay merino/silk in the "Lilac" colourway (200g) for a potential scarf/toque set for moi, and 3 bundles of Bamboo fibre (in natural/white, Caribbean (light blue) and Espresso (dark blue)).  The bamboo fibre I'm not completely sure what I want to do with it yet but right now, I'm thinking of doing a tank top/shawl with a varigation of colour.

Also picked up a WPI tool I've been wanting to buy for a while (to check my spinning) and a couple sets of stitch markers from Uli, who I met at the Victoria Fibre Festival last year.

All in all, it was fun.  I managed to stay under budget ($100) and learn a bit about spinning fine/superfine fibres.  The FuzzyOne was like a female in engineering at this fibre show.  One of the few guys around who weren't selling things.  Needless to say, any question he asked resulted in a wealth of information.  He was completely fibred out by the time we left the show (4 hrs later).  He has also learned that he might not want to go to a fibre show with me every again. :) 

Another thing was that I may have met the wheel of my dreams: Kromski Sonata spinning wheel.  Yes, I've been going on about the Lendrum in previous posts, but I had yet to see/try a Sonata til now.  A spinning teacher at the festival mentioned that the Lendrum had a tendency for the flyer assembly to fall apart when changing bobbins (perhaps due to the angle) and she recommended the Sonata over the Lendrum.

Prettyness wise, the Sonata is a much prettier wheel.  Both are made with hard wood, the Lendrum is made from Maple while the Sonata is made from Alder and Birch.  Both are family businesses: Lendrum is Canadian and the Sonata is Polish.  Both have their plus sides that I think the ultimate test would be for me to play with both wheels for a while.  

But for now, I will be satisfied with my Ashford Traditional.   Not a very portable wheel, but I like it.