UPDATE! NEW PICTURES ADDED!

Lots of things to report since Monday. I’m finally starting to get the hang of doing this, especially being able to add pictures and things. That said, I’ve been working on adding additional pages to my photo album (at right) so there are now pictures of the “Two socks on two circulars” project and of the silkworms.

Speaking of silkworms, Indigirl has asked how you get silk from silk worms so I’ll do my best to give you an answer. Basically, silkworms are moths, so they spend their very sort life eating a lot (and I mean lot) of food, then once they are big enough (at about a month) they spin a cocoon like other moths and butterflies do. The difference is that there is something very special about the silk they spin with. It is very strong and holds up much more than that of any other moth or butterfly. So, once they spin their cocoon, their normal life cycle would be to spend a few weeks in there going through metamorphasis and then coming out a moth. However, in order to obtain the best silk, the cocoon needs to be unwound before they chew their way out. Now there is a school of thought that says you should let them hatch and just deal with lesser quality silk, but the traditional method of obtaining the silk is to place the cocoons (worm and all) into boiling water. The water both kills the worm and loosens the “glue” that holds the cocoon together. In the traditional method only a small number of moths are allowed to hatch and breed to produce eggs for the next crop. I’m still on the fence about which method I’ll use. While I would really prefer the better silk, I’m just not sure I can kill all those worms (maybe I can get my husband to do it?)

I’ve made a little progress on the socks, but not much. I’m also not quite sure how this is going to work with the type of heel I prefer to do. I may have to switch to dpns again for that part but I’m hoping not to if I can figure it out.

Rabbit update: Turns out that Dusty (the grey one) is really a boy! Spoke to Debbie at Iron Horse farm last night and she is going to take him back. She even has another, she’s sure this is a doe, that she was planning to keep but will give to me if I like her. I have to say if anyone is looking for angora bunnies, Debbie is the woman to see! She has been great about answering all my foolish questions and provides great customer service in general. Her link is to the left if you are interested.

I’m hoping tonight to start spinning the Jacob fleece I got at NH. I’ve sorted it into three piles, the very light colors, medium and dark. I’m planning to start with the medium, in part because its the smallest pile. I’ll be attempting to spin “in the grease” for the first time so this should be interesting. I’ll take some photos to add once I get it started.

Okay, I think that is all the updates for now! Have a great “hump day”