Knurre, snurre, knurre! Schnurre, Rädchen, Schnurre!

Growl, purr, growl! Purr, little wheel, purr!

This is a line from Haydn's "The Seasons" ("Die Jahreszeiten"), which I sang in 1998. The girl sings about spinning something fine that will be woven into a light shawl that she can wear to the fair. "A girl's bosom must be pure outside and in, but covered by the shawl. She must also be hard-working, pious, and demure to attract a strong suitor," she sings.

Maybe my problem is that I don't have a lacy shawl. But now I've got Lance.

Isn't he just beautiful? (Click for more of Lance!) Pure black, at least 50% Wensleydale, with shiny, curly locks. Only 3/4 lb (his first shearing). It's so soft! You can see that the locks are fairly tight (and still are when after it's washed), so it's going to take some care to prepare it (which I don't know how to do yet). When I bought him, I knew I wanted to make a shawl, and I hadn't thought of this music in years.

But Lance won't be my first. Babe II will have that honor. (Click for more of Babe II!) Her locks are a lot more open, so she should be easier to spin. I have the whole fleece -- about 4 1/4 lb before washing. Now I just need to learn to card it, and I'll be on my way. I think I'm going to make a sweater, maybe spinning fine and cable plying. (I say that like I know what it means, but I don't really. Singles plied, then two of those plied back again. It should have good stitch definition, or so I've heard.) My current plan is to spin the colors as they come from the fleece, not separating them, getting something tweedy or marled in the end. I think this would dye beatuifully, but it seems like kind of a shame to cover up those lovely shades of grey. They yellowy bits are pure white when they're washed. Just stunning.

So yes, Debbie, I'm loving it! Completely sucked in. :) I'll bring my wheel to the Boulder Creek Festival and hang out with the Sheep-to-Shawl team on Saturday, spinning more of the roving I'm working on in the pictures in the last entry. Unless someone has time to show me how to card or flick or comb...

Since I promised skein info, my first skein was lumpy and uneven and about 7 wraps per inch. Skein number two is about 270 yards at 16 wpi. I have enough on bobbins to make another similar skein. Don't know what I'm going to make with it yet, but it's soft and springy.