Pathetic...

That's me. Pathetic. For being off-blog for so long. My apologies to anyone who might actually check this blog. I have been very absent. I try to tell myself that one day, after grad school, I post regularly and be quite witty. We will see. There is still one more year of grad school, but at least the end of this semester is in sight! On to the good stuff though.

I bought a wheel. I am super psyched. I told myself I would get one after graduation, when I would have time. Last month though, during Spring Break, That Guy was working in Boerne, Texas, outside of San Antonio so I went down to visit and found Rosewood Yarns online. I noticed on their website that they carried a couple of wheels so I decided I would stop by just to try them out. Ha. Granted, had I not liked the Ashford Kiwi so much I might not have purchased it, but the unfinished model was priced quite affordable so I caved. I have already found that it is very helpful when I hit little writing blocks. Spinning slows my mind down and helps me refocus my thoughts.
Naturally, spinning requires fiber. On the spindle above is a superwash merino from Allspunup at Etsy. I haven't spun enough to tell you how it's going, but it feels right so far.

A couple of weekends ago That Guy and I wanted to get out of town, so we drove out to Wimberly for a while and then stopped in at Old Oaks Ranch. This is a splendid fiber arts shop with alpacas and a sculpture garden. If you are ever in the Texas Hill Country I highly recommend it. This was my first visit, but I will definitely make the trip again in the future.

The owner and staff are very friendly and if you want to buy a fleece, like I did, they will probably let you get a little closer to the alpacas. The owner, Sue, led me into the pen and talked to me about the animals and let me decide which fleece I'd like.





I liked the coloring of this little one, Isabella. Charcoal grey and a little sienna. Plus, I figured the two pounds of fiber would be plenty. The larger animals are up to three pounds. She had just been shorn the week before.

The shop is lovely with a nice selection of quality yarns and fiber. I was able to pick up a niddy noddy and two more Ashford bobbins also. All in all it is a great place.

Okay, I've got to go finish a costume rendering for design studio class in the morning. The character of Violetta from the opera La Traviata in the painting style of Toulouse-Lautrec. No prob.