Fairy Dust

Ever since reading Symeon's Knitty article on spinning hemp, I've been jonesing for some recycled sari silk (and hemp, too, but I'm still waiting on that). At, MDSW, Gryphon and I were on a sari silk mission and found it in two marvelous places(links to come).
I've been wanting to make this since I saw it. So, I cut the sari silk in 3 " pieces





and carded it with Pinhead roving (pictured here in a basket I won at the MDSW auction) on my superfabulous new carder. Did I mention that I love my drumcarder?


I ran it through twice, being a rough and ready kind of girl. And, maybe, just a little impatient? Here is the batt pulled into roving. A lovely, ethereal cloud with colorful shiny bits. It makes me happy.




I very much enjoyed spinning it into a thin single



I'm so sorry I coudn't take a closer-up shot. I love this fiber utterly.


I used Gryphon's technique of plying from a center-pull ball. I must say she makes it look simpler and easier than it is on the first attempt. I had to stop several times and untangle the curliques, but now i realize that the trick is to make sure both the inside and outside plies come off the ball at the same rate.

Georgous! The next batt has quite a bit more sari silk in it, and perhaps, not even enough yet:) It is very nice knitted up, but the bits are not as prminent as I might like. So, more silk!

Speaking of which, at the Fiber Fest Saturday, I met some adorable future spinners. One was pre-verbal, and his mother had trained him, as many do, to use sign language for the word "more". I stopped spinning briefly to say hello (yes, spinning and talking is a challenge for me) and the child looked at his mother and made the sign for "more". She said "More spinning?" So, I started again and was rewarded with a beautiful smile. Another child, four year old Jenna visited me about 5 times that day, each time "helping" me by holding the tail end of my roving and telling me about the colors she likes. She clearly has a great future in our treasured craft. Of course, I sent her home with the tail end of the roving so she doesn't forget.

And finally, here is proof that "the Women are Smarter". You know that Greatful Dead song? It's one of the best.

Can you read it? She and her girl friend cooked up a scheme to the playdate to last longer. She addressed in advance all the concerns i would have, put it in writing (we always like that) and threw in an "I love you". Her buddy wrote a coordinating letter to her mom, even inviting her to join us for dinner. Smart girls, huh? Their nine year old male counterparts possess no such strategies. If asking doesn't work, then just ask louder. Of course, I had to reward such evolved behavior:)