Creamy handspun parfait; so incredibly soft.  I pray, meditate, and wish as I work on the handspun wedding shawl.  Now that I'm more confident that I'll be able to produce enough yarn on my drop spindle to make an actual wrap, I've begun to dream of lace motifs, shapes, edgings.  Sketches, I think, are just around the corner.

This takes such focus, such time.  I'm pleased with how consistent the yarn is, hank to hank.  Pleased that it is so soft and delicate.  Pleased, even, at the slubs, the proof that I'm still a beginner, that this is where I am in my life right now, that I don't have it 100% figured out.  Proof that it has all touched my fingers, that it is made by hand, that it takes effort.  This is, after all, for a shawl that I'll wear on my wedding day.  I don't pretend to be perfect, but I know that I am loved, and that I love in return.  I think it's fitting.

Saturday morning, very early. A quick trip down the street to the car wash. I love the huge selection of air fresheners; I finally selected one from Japan with great packaging in the same bright blue of my car, in the scent "Marine Squash." I haven't opened it yet, and can't imagine what on earth a Marine Squash must smell like. I've certainly never smelled one.

My wedding shawl handspun stash is getting bigger... oh, how I love it.  I got into a spinning zone this weekend, and my spindle is almost full again, ready to be plied.  I won't let myself start swatching until I'm finished spinning - and that's a long way away - so for now I'm just dreaming of possible lace stitches.  Sweet dreams.

Plied, washed, dried, and cuddled up in a bowl of depression glass (another Tulsa thrift store score).  Pretty little yarn ball.  Slow project.  I have a fiber bracelet around my wrist when I'm at home these days; sitting, walking around, wandering and tidying up and spindling all the while.  I like the freedom of my Little Si.  I used an official wool wash (Meadows Wool Wash) for the first time (I've always been a lavender Johnson's Baby Shampoo fan for my knitblocking needs) and I love it - the Penny Royal scent smells fresh and - this really is the best word - pleasant.  I notice online that it comes in Patchouli too, which I find very tempting.  But isn't there a saying, "if you wore a trend the first time around, you shouldn't wear it again?"  I'm not much of a rule-follower (or -carer) when it comes to things like that, although Patchouli, specifically, makes me worry a smidge.  I guess it begs asking:  if I spent some of my formative years spinning (um, dancing, not yarn) at Dead shows and hung out in Phish concert parking lots making hemp necklaces, quite possibly wearing as much Patchouli as my mom would let me out the door in, do you think perhaps I should pass the baton and let someone else wash their handcrafts with Patchouli?  I'm conflicted.

12 ounces of 15.5 micron natural merino combed top; big ideas.  Just over 130 yards of finished 2-ply so far.  The softest and most delicate yarn I've spun yet.  Simple, clean, pretty.

The ivory lines criss-cross on the spindle, building up slowly.  I'm taking my time; breathing; thinking.  Smiling a lot.