Yarn happenings

Here's what's going on with me.

Several different things, as usual. I haven't stopped spinning, I've just had less opportunity to share photos and stories. This is yarn for the third ring of a wonderful, international handspun swap I've been doing. Two different people spun and knit the first two rings, and I add my own third - meanwhile, I spun and knit two other rings that went to two other people, in Cardiff and Washington State.

The two rings I received are from Virginia and Colorado, and they're beautiful and very soft. I started to knit the third ring yesterday while out and about, but forgot to bring the first two with me - doh! The third ring has to be linked into those two when you join to knit in the round - it's a Russian Wedding Ring Cowl (Ravelry link). 

In other news, I'm getting ready to go to Laos for 6 weeks (!!!!) for my conservation degree placement. I will be working with the Ock Pop Tok organization on their collection of traditional woven textiles.  Hoping to finish weaving the handspun cotton below, and take it with me, to break the ice with the Lao women. Also hoping the local weavers don't laugh too hard when they compare my skills to their own.

 In case I don't find all the right sticks immediately, I'm taking my 'loom' with me. It looks like this:

 As long as I can get ahold of, or make, some yarn, I'll be ready to weave. I'm not planning to take my little rigid heddle - they make such things over there, and I will be on the hunt in the market, and/or weaving without one, which is my normal method.

From the department of Learning Something New, I've been attempting to spin like a Portuguese woman. Or like a Greek, Sardinian, French, Spanish, Medieval European.... I've noticed that a huge percentage of images, historical and contemporary, show women spinning with distaff and vertical spindle held by the tip, without necessarily dropping or letting go. It's counterintuitive for someone who learned on a top-whorl drop spindle with a hook, but I'm trying to get the hang of it. I started with a prepared top, and then changed to hand-picked locks, shown below. Everything on that spindle has been spun in this way, for what it's worth. It is not high-quality yarn, I can tell you that. But it's maybe, maybe getting better.

- spindle made by the same woman who spun the cotton yarn warp I'm weaving, and made the rigid heddle - my buddy Janet who is brilliant but doesn't sell them so don't ask ;)

Recently I had an impulse spin, after hearing about various kinds of suffering among people who are dear to me. Spun up some healing, in the form of supersoft fibers that felt loving and warm as I spun.

And one more fun thing: YarnWench wildcard bling batt, spun on an antique Iranian spindle = whee!