Eureka!

I was over at a friend’s house last night, for food and drink and conversation. I always take a project since I get fidgetty without something to occupy my hands. Last night it was spinning, since I still hadn’t done anything with the spindle I brought back from the Netherlands. I didn’t take enough wool with me, and ran out before the evening was over.

What to do? I wanted to end up with a three-ply yarn. I could use the Andean plying technique, but didn’t want a two-ply. With such a short skein, and with no equipment, that left Navajo plying. I’d never done more than try out that technique, where you make chain-stitch-type loops in a single strand of yarn as you ply it, and never gotten it to work right. But why not try again? The same looping technique that is used for Andean plying works fine for feeding just one end off your wrist, and after a bit of fiddling I got the chain stitch part working smoothly too.

My conclusion: the secret to Navajo plying is MEAD!

I have a cute little skein of three-ply yarn, all done on a spindle with no other equipment.

This weekend is the AAUW book sale, the largest used book sale on the East Coast, or nearly. Prices are very good and selection is enormous – it’s held in the ag arena, and the entire space is full of books and people.

The bag is all fiction; the crate is nonfiction. Not a bad haul!

I’m afraid the tulip photos are over for the season. They didn’t fare well in the big rain and wind storms we’ve had this week.

There’s still plenty to look at in the garden, even though today the weather is too nasty to want to do so.

That’s a different azalea bush, one that hasn’t appeared on the blog yet this year. I have lots.

Happy Mother’s Day to those of you responsible for human lives.