Today a friend of mine on G+ shared this: Spinning in Cowgirl Boots – Homespuns and the American Revolution.
In an act of rebellion, women took to their spinning wheels, their knitting needles, and their looms. If you were a Patriot, you wore homemade clothes from homespun yarn.
You know, this is something I can really get behind. I don’t really attend any kind of 4th of July BBQ or anything and I rarely make a big deal out of the holiday, though now that we have the kid I feel like I should step up my game a bit. But spinning and knitting? Yeah, I’m down with that. Can we just trade out the usual over-the-top patriotism of the 4th of July with more of a low-key BBQ and spin/knit-in? Because I will gladly scrub my house and buy a bunch of burgers and steaks to feed everyone if that’s the kid of celebration we’re going to have.
Anyway.
Tour de France starts tomorrow, which means Tour de Fleece starts as well. I wasn’t sure if I was going to even participate this year – I haven’t spun anything since last year before the baby. But, with part of my “look for happiness in the little things” idea from yesterday, I decided I need to do it. The weather is nice, and I always love being out on the patio, so it’s a perfect excuse to do both after the baby goes to bed and take some time to do something that makes me happy.
I won’t be able to spin every day, nor am I spinning my traditional thin yarn, but it’s spinning and making and creating, which is something I’ve been needing to do more. I decided to start a bit early and go ahead and spin a bit. The fiber is Malabrigo Nube, and it’s what I picked up on my annual yarn shopping trip this year. I’m using my lace flyer but I’m trying to spin it thicker than usual so it a. doesn’t take a year to finish and b. will be something thicker to knit up that also won’t take a year to finish. I’m hoping the lace flyer will help keep the twist nice and bouncy once I ply it up. I’m not sure what I’m planning yet to knit it into – probably a hat. Not that I need more hats. Maybe I’ll pair it with some stash yarn for a baby cardigan or something? I figure if I knit up a few things here and there in different sizes then I’ll have some gift knits in the future and won’t have to stress over not being able to get something knit up in time.
Or, maybe (most likely, really), it’ll just sit in a plastic bin with the other hand spun until I get around to deciding what to make out of it.
