Inspiration from guild meetings and books

The past two weaving guild meetings have been about new-to-me methods of weaving: twining and circular weaving. Sometimes when I am thinking I am not much of a weaver, I see a new technique and think, Maybe this is my path forward. I haven't tried twining yet, but at the circular weaving meeting we each received a cardboard loom (already warped) that we could practice on.


At an informal spin/knit-in/gab-fest, someone mentioned a book called The Joy of Yarn: Your Stash Solution for Curating, Organizing, and Using Your Yarn, by Marie Greene. One of her organizing methods is to group yarns by color. I once visited a yarn shop that did just that, and I found it to be a rather ridiculous but beautiful way to organize yarn. The author's other method is my method - by yarn weight. After all, how often does one mix yarn weights in a project?

I found the following charts from the book to be very useful, though.

I am really disliking the Cascade Yarns Heritage Sock yarn - it is very soft and feels like it won't hold up well for socks. However, if I double it, I think it would make a nice next-to-the-skin garment like a hat, scarf, or cowl.

Knitting: I have turned the heels on the non-matching socks. One of the basketweave socks is ready for a heel turn, the other close.
Spinning: I finished spinning the Tasman comeback singles. I also plied the latest merino/silk blend that I spun at spin-ins; I'm not very happy with it, would not enter it in the county fair, but I'm sure it will knit up into something nice.

Speaking of spin-ins, yesterday I planned to attend one. I packed up the wheel and some fiber, then decided maybe I would just knit. But after backing the car out of the garage, I realized just how tired I was. So back into the house I went, where I spent most of the day on the couch, reading (and crying through) The Women, by Kristin Hannah. If you lived through the Vietnam era, this is a must read.