Woolly Wednesday for September 2013

Oops - just missed Woolly Wednesday (by 40 minutes as I start writing). Hope it's still OK to join in.

Since last time I've finished this handspun, hand knit cowl which I'm really pleased with. Shame it's been too hot to wear it....

I felt a very strong desire to start some of the other projects that I've already spun for. But these socks have been on the go for ages, and because they're so slow (tiny needles and cable crossovers!) I've been putting them to one side to do other things. Funny how illogical the mind can be....

So I'm very proud of my self-control - I've decided not to cast on anything else until I've finished them. Here's the first one, I'm now on the heel of the second. They're looking and feeling so good, I'm really looking forward to wearing them. A good incentive to keep going!

I have taken advantage of the nice weather to wash a fleece. This is Smiler. I used some of Smiler's fleece last year to make this cowl and it was lovely.

So when offered the most recent fleece of course I said yes.  I've decided to process the fleece, dye it myself and make a cardy. (Definitely thicker yarn this time; I'm cured of my lace obsession!!)

There's a horrible amount of straw here, but it's large pieces and is picking out ok.

Among the straw are some lovely locks! Given the large amount of wool in a fleece I didn't feel too bad about being ruthless when I skirted it. I threw away not only the dirtiest bits but the coarser parts too, keeping probably only about the best half of it.

It's now washed and dried, ready for the carder.