Puncheon Floor

Sheep. Fleece. Combs and cards. Needles - alright, pointy sticks. And socks. And sweaters. Light dancing across a naturally dyed skein. Fabrics knitted of twisted wooly fibers. That's what this blog is all about.

The heat of summer is stifling. A/C, however, is making the summer doldrums tolerable. Projects that were neglected in the late spring, when the windows were still open, letting warm humid air fill our space, are being picked up again. Those skeins of wool, of sock yarn, especially, bought in those "can-not possibly spin" days, are smiling up at me every time I walk through the studio. I'm joining KAL's. On top of designing my own socks and yarns. It's time to get knitting, and spinning, again.

This coming Saturday, Miss Pat from down the road apiece, is coming to a potluck at a local CSA, and bringing 6 fleeces - Gulf Coast Natives at that. I'm up to my ears in fleece, around here. So, I will, with all the self-control I can muster, be petting and passing up the temptation. I'll be giving a spinning lesson to the hostess, who won one of my spindles at a chili cookoff a couple weeks ago.

Yarns are what I spin. And I use natural dyes, from my gardens, from my fields, to dip and paint them. Socks, are my favorite little things to make. It's an odd day that I buy "other peoples' yarns." But, a month or so ago, I went el-kabong and bought a sweet little assortment. They are really wonderful. What an understatement.



Schaefer - Anne in two unbelievable colorways. I want to eat these, for Pete's sake. When I saw these obese skeins, I thought...ooooh, enough for husband socks. Now, though...oh man...my selfish side wants 'em both for me.



And this pile of delicious stuff! Clockwise, from left: Dove's Roost Border Leicester with Merino slubs in a Chocolate Chip dyed with sumac, skacel Trampoline Stretch in Tiger, Dove's Roost Border Leicester 2-ply in Cantaloupe from annatto seeds (not as pale as the photo), and a fat singles dyed a warm Gold with onion skins, and finally OnLine Sierra - a forest green, cocoa, and grey yarn. Not all socks, but darn yummy!



Here it's Henry's Attic merino space dyed with KA and a soft blue acid dye, and more Dove's Roost, navajo plied corriedale.



Finally, lookit lookit lookit! This is over the top, don't you think? Fleece Artist merino in Rainforest. Too gorgeous for its own good.

So, that's it. First post. Baseline. Bottom line. Tip of the iceberg. Solid footing. Welcome to the puncheon floor.