Snail Spirals

Well! It's been a while. I've been very busy, and am getting lots of things done. I finally finished Dad's Christmas Sweater on Tuesday night. I really think it will fit Dad this time- it's quite big on me, and fits Shaun just fine. If it doesn't fit, too bad. I am NOT ripping this out again!!



It's a really good feeling to have this done, and done right this time. Now it's a garment that will be used, and isn't just wasted effort.

I also finished a pair of socks this week, but I forgot to take a picture, and they're not very interesting anyway. It's the pair I started here. The colors continued to pool weirdly, and I'm not sure I really like the finished product. They fit just fine, but the self-patterning yarn didn't pattern very well. I may overdye them.

Today I started washing the superfine New Zealand Merino fleece I bought off Ebay last fall. This is a truly special fleece. I unrolled the whole thing on the deck to shake it out and get a good look at it. When you look at the outside, from a distance, it doesn't look like much.



Kind of dingy. But, if you look closer and get underneath the greasy tips, you see this:



It is glorious. Unbelievably soft, fine fibers, crimpy, and snowy white. I washed up about a quarter of it this morning, and I think I'm in love. There is some VM that is left behind, and I think I'm going to have to send it through another soapy wash, but it is looking great. I'm going to spin this as very very very fine laceweight.

In gardening news, the first fuschias have opened in the baskets I planted myself!