Small projects

 For the Master Spinner level 6 dye day we needed to dye a multi step gradient colour scheme using fibre reactive dyes on wool  yarn.   I spun a 3 ply yarn, and dyed it two different sets of colours.   I started these shortly after the class but just finished them today, because with this stupid, freezing weather, my hands are cold and there is only so long I can bury my fingers in a cats fur to warm them up.  All I had left to do was sew in the ends and cast off one thumb.

I've spent days untangling dyed cotton yarn.  The cats had decided that the skeins were fabulous cat toys. There were enough ties to keep most of the order in, but lots of weird pig tailing, twists and crossed fibres, made it much harder to wind into balls.   I ended up winding the turquoise one by hand and then running it through the ball winder.   Amazingly, the skein that Kevin had gone crazy with, that looked like a pile of green spaghetti noodles, wound off with the least trouble.  Eventually, this should become instrument straps.

This however has taken up a lot of my time.   My 1st banjo is a resonator banjo, loud and proud.   I kind of mentioned that it would be nice to have an open back banjo, for several reasons, including less weight and the ability to stuff a bit of cloth in the back and just pick quietly, with virtually no noise, so people could do other things while I practiced.

Mainly I was having a mental issue with clawhammer style and the resonator banjo, which was all in my head because either style can be played on any type of banjo.  Turns out I'm still having issues with clawhammer style, but because of a previous injury, not the style.  However, I've found thumb/index lead style, which fits in with my 3 finger picking, so it's all good.   The tone on this instrument is different than the resonator and with the dark fret board it's sometimes easier to play.   At any rate, I sort of fell into the trap of 2 instruments, means 2 times the practice.   It's been eating my time - not sure it's productive, but it's fun.  And maybe by the SCA event, FOOL, I'll be able to play Horses Bransle on it.