wow, a carder

Ok, that's a really dumb title, and I totally staged this picture, but this is what greeted me when I got home last night. A very big, heavy box! I didn't even know it had been shipped. I walked the dog quickly quickly quickly, all the better to get home and open the box. There wasn't really any time to play last night, what with the children who live here, and Joe being away this week, but I got up stupid early this morning to play.
I carded some llama I bought a few months ago. It was in pencil roving form, but I really didn't like it, uneven and too thin in places, so I was saving it as I saved for a carder.
Then some color experimentation. I started with some Wilton's dyed wool I did months ago which clumped up a bit with the dyeing, so I was also saving it for the carder. I added in some undyed wool, but the result was too washed out, so I added some gold, turquoise, and a dark green dyed corriedale.
Big One got into it, too. Here he is figuring out how to get the batt off the drum.
And the end result of hours of carding:
Except I'm not quite done. I might add more of the dark green, and some brown. I'm really enjoying the experimentation process, adding color here and there to shift the color one way or another. I'm reminded of the time when my spinning wheel was very new, and I didn't have any experience buying fiber. The yarns I came up with then were unlovely, to say the least. I wonder where this learning curve is taking me, and how I'll see these batts when I look back.

big improvement

We had a garden last year, just cut into the yard in the sunniest spot. It didn't do very well, mostly because the grass kept growing into it. We've been planning raised beds for some time, and it all came together this week. Here you see Joe banging in the stakes and leveling the rough cut Hemlock we got from a sawmill.

Little and Cricket are supervising.
Here's Joe, trimming the boards in his wood shop, previously known as our garage.
First box, almost done. He made three of these, and then a guy came with a truckload of some lovely dark fluffy dirt.


We had some dirt left over. Not a bad problem to have, really, and it supplemented some of my flower beds quite nicely. One of the boxes already has collards and brussels sprouts growing in it.