Fiber Arts Friday: Uninspired

I have been feeling uninspired about fiber over the last several weeks.  So much that I feel I've done more frogging than anything...

You may remember my Challah Socks... they still look like this:

This nearly became a hat:

I played around with this for a couple of days, but didn't like how the colors were knitting up:

And now I have an overwhelming urge to rip out my Surprise Scarf:

My vision of this project was initially to be woven.  However, my loom is still disassembled.  I decided to make it as a knitting project, but it just doesn't feel right.  It's going on the shelf for a while.  Which means I have nothing on the needles right now.  :-/

I am spinning a little Via Verde Alpaca-Silk, which is yummy,

and skirting my own alpaca fleece, which is fun,

but both are going slowly.

It's a good thing I had a great thrifting day last weekend, otherwise I might feel completely uninspired.

Although, I am half-thinking about making a uterus...

Be sure to join me in reading the Fiber Arts Friday blogs linked in over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder.  Certainly there is something inspiring to be found there.

Making Stuff: Skirting Table

I've wanted to make a skirting table for quite sometime.  So finally, I picked up the supplies and put it together.  But before we get too far, I feel I must apologize to anyone who is a skilled wood worker.

I have no delusions regarding my wood working skills.  This project is not square, nor is it plumb.  It does not have any rabbits or dove tails.  No milling, sanding or staining was done.  This project is functional, but in no way should it be considered beautiful.  :-)

The finished skirting table sits across two folding tables.

L-brackets hold the frame together.

Two hinges hold both frames together.

Welded wire fabric is folded over and stapled to the frame.  Handles are screwed down over the top.

Folded up for storage.

Holding our largest alpaca fleece.

Hopefully next weekend will be warm enough to begin skirting the fleeces I mentioned last week.  :-)

Supplies
4 pieces of 4ft 1x2 wood board
4 pieces of 2ft 1x2 wood board
16 sq ft of wire fabric plus extra for attaching to the wood frame
16 L shaped brackets
2 hinges
2 handles
screws
staples

Tools
hand saw
staple gun
screw driver
tape measure
wire cutters

Time Spent
10 minutes drawing a sketch and making a list of supplies
1 hour selecting the supplies at the local home store.
2 hours putting it together

Three Seasons of Raw Alpaca Fleece

I have three seasons of raw alpaca fleece in my shop.

There.  I said it.  I feel so much better.  :-)

I have three seasons of raw alpaca fleece in my shop, waiting to be turned into something wonderful.

Why? You ask.

I have very good reasons why.  Ok, I don't know that they're very good reasons, but they are reasons.

The first year, I did not have enough fiber of any one color to meet the minimum requirements for the processors I found.  I had a total of 10 pounds of fiber and did not want all of it combined into one roving.  The resulting color would have been mud.

This fleece has been skirted, but alas has remained packed in boxes for more than two years.

The second year, we were in the process of moving.  So I boxed up our harvest and put it directly into storage with most of our other stuff.

Last year, the third year, I have been on the road a lot.

Now with three seasons of fiber ready to be processed, I can meet the minimum lot requirements on most colors.  I just need to get the rest of the fleece skirted so I can send it out for processing into yummy roving.  Of course in order to do that, I need to build a skirting table first.