Spinning and Weaving and Cats... :)

My friend Vandy posted one of hers and he was awfully cute. Here's our cat toasting himself in front of our woodstove. When the stove isn't hot and going strong, he'll yowl and pace in front of it to make sure we're aware that it might have gone out! Once he's warm and toasty, he'll retire to the sheepskin I put on one of his favourite resting places. Hubby says I spoil the cat, but it's much easier than listening to his very vocal complaints! Besides, I'm rather fond of my Mr. Inspector Helper Kitty.

The towels are off the loom. They turned out much better than I anticipated in the beginning. I used red, green and white as weft colours. The green one is okay. The red is the one I like the best of the lot. The white are nice enough, but a little washed out for my taste. On the other hand, the white really shows how soft such a wide range of deeper colours can really be modified. I used a bit of black tencel at the beginning to draw in the warp and check for errors and between each towel to separate them. If I had black cotton I would have used it because the black brought out the colours beautifully. No, they aren't hemmed yet.. sigh...

I spun up two bobbins of the black shetland. I plied them with the jumbo flyer to see how much I could get on a bobbin. 473 yards of fingering weight yarn in one skein. There is still a bit left on one bobbin. I haven't decided whether to add a bit to it and then ply it from a centre pull ball or just ply it to make a small skein. I've got two large skeins of the black now, a partial ball left from the mittens and a smaller skein spun up before. I have enough to do something with, I'm just not sure what! I think I need a bit of inspiration with this project. I'm not out of black fleece yet either. There isn't an awful lot left, but a bit. I think I'm tired of spinning black though for the moment. I think I need some colour or at least the potential for colour.