A Mixed Bag

I was really looking forward to this weekend. The weather was supposed to be nice, and of course we had the holiday to look forward to. And then on Friday evening, just after we'd finished dinner, we heard that Ruth Bader Ginsburg had passed away. She was a much-admired human in this household, particularly by Rainbow, who took the news really hard, and it put a damper on the celebratory mood as we went to bed that night.

The weather was pretty spectacular both yesterday and today, true perfect fall days, with clear, sunny skies and a crispness to the air -- good running weather (I did five miles yesterday afternoon)! If this had been a normal year, we would have enjoyed that sunshine while we walked to and from our synagogue for services and then during lunch out at one of our favorite restaurants with my parents and brother (the place we usually go has a nice patio that's enclosed but still feels like it's in the open air). But obviously this is not a normal year, so we instead "went" to services from the comfort of our family room couch, watching on our TV via YouTube. And then yesterday evening my parents, my brother, and my sister-in-law came to share Rosh Hashanah dinner with us on our deck, safely distanced from one another. Again, if it were a normal year, we would have been at my parents' house with the extended family; I must report to you that my mother still cooked as though all that extended family was going to be joining us, and we'll be eating leftovers for the next several days!

Though things were strange and the holiday was tinged by a sense of sadness, I am so very thankful to still have been able to celebrate with my loved ones. We are all safe and healthy, and that's what matters.

Spinning has been happening here as well. I managed to ply up the yarn I was spinning for Rainbow last night and skeined and washed it today. It got to dry out on the porch this afternoon (and I have a feeling that's a practice I won't get to enjoy for much longer, although soon enough I'll be able dry skeins on a warm radiator). I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out -- and, more importantly, Rainbow is delighted with it.

The colors are a little less washed-out than they appear here; by the time the yarn was dry enough for a photo, the light was already starting to fade. Here's a better representation and a close up of the twist:

I was trying to spin this a bit thicker, and I certainly succeeded. I'd say this is about a DK or worsted, and I have approximately 220 yards of it, which is square in worsted territory.

I started my next spinning project earlier this afternoon, and it'll be a quick spin as well. I am trying to get back on track with spinning fiber I put on my 20 in 2020 list, so I pulled out these batts that I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool several years ago. They're a blend of merino, sari silk, and nylon sparkle.

There's 3 oz. of fiber total in these six little batts, so I'm spinning three onto one bobbin and three onto another for a two ply. I am spinning them semi-worsted (so I'm using a short forward draw on a carded prep), and I'm really not trying to get singles that are too insanely consistent. The sari silk creates a lot of texture, and I want to maintain that. In about an hour of spinning, I'd already gotten through one batt and started a second, so I think it's fair to say that this fiber should be in yarn form in short order.

After all the fine spinning I did for my most recent sweater spin, I am really enjoying how much faster these singles go, so I might continue and plow through several more bags of fiber when this is done.

I hope you've had a pleasant weekend. I'm off to go eat some leftovers!