I'm back

I'm back...more or less.  I have been unwell.  We all have been at my house.  Nothing drastic.  One had the croup (again), one had something laryngitis-ish...then we all had colds and coughs.  Not a huge deal, but I still have been having a hard time.  I used to have bronchial asthma, and once in a while, when I get a bad cold, I struggle.  If I try to do too much,  I start wheezing and have to sit down or lie down again. Oh, and I can only take a 6 year old's dose of kid's medicine if I get really bad (and only if I am "supervised") because I have weird reactions to medicine.  I try to use herbal teas and stuff in stead, but sometimes it just doesn't cut it.

So, only the bare minimum has been getting done...and sometimes not even that.  But today, I can share pictures I took before we all got sick.  I'm going to do all things fiber to catch up all at once:

I have one batch of the alpaca fiber (that I bought at an open house) washed up and have started brushing it out.  I think I might look into getting a miniature drum carder as it is slow going with the method I am currently using.  It is hard on the wrists and elbows...or I am just not doing it right.  I have promised N that his bag will be washed next...and then HE can brush out his.

A few weeks ago I bought this delicious fiber from Andrea's etsy shop.  Andrea from Wisdom Begins in Wonder is the hostess of Fiber Arts Fridays, just in case you have missed that.  And I spun it up into this beauty...

 

I will be knitting this up into a hat for myself...oh yes I will!  But first, I have to finish a few projects that are already on the needles.

And, just to document my progress for my own self...

 The yarn on the left is the second last that I spun, and the yarn on the right is this last batch.  Progress!

I have four ounces of the white spun up and ready to dye and after I do the other 4, I will be doing another plant dye.  I have already picked it out, and it is bookmarked in the book on my bookshelf, but I forget what I picked.  I will share for sure once it comes out of the dye bath...but honestly that is still probably weeks away.

And this is something I am very pleased with the way it turned out.  Remember that white cotton that I dyed hoping to make a self striping yarn?  It is working.  In fact it is working very very well!  

And...a totally unrelated picture, but this is part of what is keeping me away from crafting and from the computer:

It is berry season.  I don't get a whole lot at once, but I do have to pick them and clean them every day and what we don't eat goes into the freezer to be "turned into something" once I have enough.  I will be trying my hand at jam in the next few weeks.  Wish me luck!

Linking up with Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom begins in Wonder and Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia and also to the new to me Saturday and Sunday Sharing on  The Handmade Homemaker.