This was going to be a good post...

So, while it's been more than a month since I spun the chiengora yarn, I figured I should maybe blog about it one of these days. Coda, The Yarn Dog, is a border collie/ australian shepherd/ afghan hound mix. I've measured some of his hairs to be 11 inches long! He has classic blue merle colouring (when not dyed the colours of the rainbow) and the yarn I spin from his fur is lovely variegated grey.

I didn't have enough of his hair to make 100% dog hair yarn, and still have enough for a hat and mittens. so i spun one fine single of dog hair, and one thicker single of fine white merino. I wasn't sure, at the time, about the Ragg colouring of the yarn, but when knitted up, it's very pretty. The white merino turned out to be the perfect background colour for the ever changing shades of grey.

Of course, as mentioned before, the first mitten had to be completely ripped back because of sizing troubles. So I reknitted it, larger this time, and it worked! Here's what they look like now, after about a month of wear. Well, actually, I was about to show you what they would look like, I went and took pictures of the mittens, and all my spoils from my trip to Quebec. But aparently iPhoto says half the pictures can't be imported because they aren't actually pictures. On top of that, every time I open entourage to configure the pictures, it freezes and quits. I always hated entourage.

So until the computer stops being stupid, you'll have to do with older pictures. Take for example, the story of the horribly inexplicable yarn. I had bought a batt of brownish merino back in august at Birkeland Bros. Wool co. So I decided to spin some up, and see what came of it. Lady Margret, my heretofore trusty Ashford Traveller, hated it. She wouldn't spin the singles evenly, and when I started plying... Well, it seemed she hated it so much, she wouldn't fill the bobbin, So somehow, even though I can usually get about 75 yards of worsted weight on one bobbin....I got 45.

I really can't blame her for it though, as everything about the yarn was weird. The colour is an inexplicable matt brown/grey. I can't decide if it feels soft, or oily, or both. It's utterly indescribeable. So given this, what would anyone do...except go to the corner store, and buy koolaid! I came home, soaked the yarn, and proceeded to dye it with three packets of Cherry. This would have been what I got, but unfortunately, the picture fails to describe exactly how even more inexplicable the yarn was after I dyed it.

The yarn, frankly, frightened me. The colour, and texture, that could never be explained, haunted me at night. It had to leave. But where does one send handspun merino that would be red if it was describeable? There's only one place that would be fitting. Kansas. After all, everyone knows...there's no place like home. Aparently Alyson (the recipient) loves the yarn, and is knitting a scarf out of it. All for the good, I say. She likes it, and it's stopped haunting my dreams. Everyone wins when you send away yarn that scares you. Does anyone know if this would work with children, haircuts, or piles of laundry/dishes?

So in conclusion, this was going to be a great post, with tons of pictures of new yarn...but it isn't. Maybe next time.