
Izzy the calico cat has not had much face time on the blog lately, so here she is being her regal self in a basket I was getting ready to pack up for a spinning demonstration.

Izzy the calico cat has not had much face time on the blog lately, so here she is being her regal self in a basket I was getting ready to pack up for a spinning demonstration.

Thor the gray tabby brought another mouse into the house. At least this time he dispatched it himself. The last one hid under the couch and Sophie the calico cat had to take care of it.

My fiber page for Samoyed dog fiber is what has me thinking hard on my page design. The precut design worked well for a while, but I now think each page needs its own layout and not be forced into sameness. This was my last precut page, so now the adventure begins anew.
Samoyed fur is one of my favorite fibers to spin. I combed all the fur for this spin, but I didn’t wash it until I blocked the swatches. It repels dirt, has almost no odor, and takes twist beautifully. There are guard hairs, but the bothersome ones pull out easily from the finished work without compromising structure.

In October of 2015 I crocheted our dog Griffin a sweater because we thought he would be cold outside with his single coat of fur. I made stripes and crocheted in the round. It came out a little snug and getting him in and out of it wasn’t fun for anyone. Turned out he didn’t care about the cold at all. I always meant to make him another bigger sweater in Gryffindor colors, because that would be funny, but he was just as happy without.
Yeah, scrolling through old pictures was a kick in the gut this time. Lots of pictures of pets that are no longer with us.
Here are my mini spinning kits! They have description cards with as much information as I could legibly fit on a 4×6 card double sided, as well as a QR code the leads to a video. They each also have a 4 inch bamboo toothpick that is the mini spindle. There are two versions, wool and cotton, and the kits have a small fluff of that fiber, enough to fill the spindle with thread. I did one animal based and one plant based since allergies are a concern with natural fibers.


I gave these away at my recent spinning demonstration. I started with 60 and ended with 7, so the idea of spinning fiber was spread!