Really – this is big news today. Why? Because we’ve had a lot of cold, blustery, gray days. Now if you have been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I like those kinds of days. But even I have to admit that after too many of them, you need some sunshine. It’s still cold, though. The windchill was negative 1 this morning. In true St. Louis fashion, tomorrow will be almost 50 degrees. FPS. That will be nice for Valentine’s Day, won’t it? I made cookies, which I do several times a year around most holidays. Always this recipe. Only the shape and frosting color changes. We love these cookies! The other great thing about tomorrow? It’s Knitting Daughter’s birthday. She was my most favorite Valentine’s Gift ever!
I completed some fibery things over the weekend. First of all, I knit up a skein of the Kid Slique in Woodland. I absolutely love how it turned out and it was quick and easy. Test-Knitter-Sharon said, “Hey, why don’t you just cast on 12 stitches on size 11 needles and then do: Slip 1, *K2tog, YO*, K1 on all rows?” (See why she’s a test knitter? It was easy peasy and fun.) The scarf is almost 5 feet long. Loopy had fun modeling it, but I have taken it back so that I can wear it. Of course now I want to make it in a few more colors…..
There was spinning this weekend, too. I have been wanting to spin up some of the Alpaca With a Twist Roving and picked the soft gray. Apparently there is a bit of a learning curve when spinning pure alpaca, because it came out just so-so. The roving itself is amazing. 
So soft to work with. This was pure operator-error. And although my skein is a little wonky looking, it feels absolutely wonderful spun up. I need to knit it into a nice hat, as I want it on my head. 🙂 All of you experienced spinners out there – is there a trick to spinning with pure alpaca? What might I need to do for future spins? (Because there will be more Alpaca spinning in my future. I really do like it.)
Check out this Tempted Bordello roving that I spun up. This might be my new favorite skein that I have spun. Not only do I love the colors, but I think it looks ok, too! It’s always interesting to see how different people spin up the same colors of roving. Blogless L-B cracked me up when she asked me one time, “Have you decided how you’re going to spin that?” Umm …. like there is a choice? I just start spinning and take what comes from it. I’m so not yet in the mode of figuring out color placement and how I want them to “mix” and look in the end. 
(Ok – let’s be honest. I so don’t have the skills to do all of that figuring yet.) I’m just happy when it comes out looking like something I might actually knit with. (Edited: Here is a photo that WH took of this skein of handspun. Now do you see why he is the official photographer and photo-correcter here at TLE?)
Speaking of spinning, I ordered a Victoria from Louet to keep here at Loopy Central. It might also be the beginning of possibly carrying spinning wheels here. What do you think?
I hope all of you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day tomorrow, with lots of chocolate and cookies and fun times with those you love. We’re taking Knitting Daughter out for dinner to celebrate her special day!
Sheri isitbadtohavecookiesandcoffeeforbreakfast?That’spurelyahypotheticalquestionofcourse.
Yes! You should certainly carry wheels at TLE! I’m saving up for one right now, and I’d love to order it from you! 🙂
I *love* the Tempted Bordello! If I saw that skein for sale, I’d buy it in a heartbeat. It’s just lovely.
Happy Birthday to KD! My parents celebrate their 62nd anniversary tomorrow, too.
I am so impressed with your spinning ability. Most things I’ve read say that it takes some time to become as competent as you did-but your stuff has looked great right from the start!
As for coffee and cookies, go for it! I’ll feel less guilty for eating pecan pie and coffee for my breakfast this morning.
I have a Valentine’s baby too. Mine will turn 21, and we’re taking him to Las Vegas. He was almost born on Friday the 13th, but I crossed my legs. (just kidding) We’re leaving Friday for a long weekend in Vegas with 2 other couples and their sons who turned 21 in the past 2-3 months. The boys all play college football together, and we (the parents) have all become very good friends. Can’t wait.
Sheri,
I’m a fairly new reader of your blog, but I can’t resist posting a comment:
Your alpaca looks wonderful! Some alpaca needs a whole lotta twist, more than you think it does on the wheel. Yours doesn’t seem to have a problem with twist.
The problem seems to be happening in the drafting. You may want to take a piece and pre-draft it entirely. This will get you a spinning experience that’s almost thought free, and a singles that is very consistent.
Love the blog, love the shop. Keep on spinning!
Lauren
Happy BIrthday KD!!!
If you started to carry wheels, I’d buy mine from you. I’m saving to get mine now. Hopefully in the fall 🙂
Bad to have cookies & coffee for breakfast?? Never thought about it…. what difference does the time of day make? 🙂
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Knitting Daughter!!! Have a wonderful day. Thanks for the cookie recipe too!
I’m glad to see how well you’ve progressed in the spinning dept. I think it’s a great idea to stock a few spinning wheels, but then you should also offer the swifts & winders for us knitters. Just sayin’….
No 50 degrees for us Wisconsinites – MORE SNOW is on the way tomorrow FPS!
I don’t see how cookies and coffee is much different from pancakes with syrup and coffee 🙂
You know Sheri, I think the writing is on the wall. You started with sock yarn and notions. Then….lace yarn. Then roving. Spinning wheels sound like they’re up next. It’s only a matter of (not very much) time before you’ll be THE yarn/knitting destination on the web. You’ll need to expand your needles to accommodate all the different weight yarns the spinners might concoct….then some choice lines of sport/dk/worsted for those of us who don’t spin….. Yes….those other businesses in your building better watch out because you’ll need to expand soon and the post office will be sending semis to your place daily to pick up orders! lol
Those cookies look fabulous and if I had some at my house I would have them for breakfast!
Happy, Happy Birthday Knitting Daughter and good wishes for many more! Hope mom knit you something special or bought you some special yarn for you to knit. Have a wonderful day!!
I want to make some of those cookies too, but unfortunately I’m out of some of the ingredients and I’m currently trapped under a foot or so of freshly fallen snow!
Love to Knitting Daughter on her birthday!
If you can have doughnuts and coffee, whe not cookies and coffee?!
Happy bday to KD, what a fun day for a bday!
And all your spinning looks great!
I’ll admit to having had ice cream and coffee for breakfast, so why not cookies? Ice cream has calcium, but cookies have both calcium (butter) AND grains (flour), so cookies are obviously the bigger nutritional bang for your breakfast buck. (Okay, I’ve done the cookies and coffee for breakfast, too. Sometimes, cereal/bagel/doughnut just doesn’t appeal, and when you’re out of cold pizza…) Happy b-day, KD!
I love spinning alpaca – I love the way it takes from my hands… it’s great fun to spin. I think Alpaca LOVES to be spun finely – so not too bulky… and with that said, it requires a ton of twist. Maybe it’s time to try a Sakina Alpaca – that stuff is delicious!
Happy Birthday KD! My not yet knitting daughter has her birthday on Saturday, she’ll be four.
Hmm, a wheel at Loopy Central… Just for testing the fiber you sell, right? 😉 I hope you will be happy with the Victoria. I got a pre-loved Louet S10 in December (my first wheel) and I love it. Admittedly I have never tried another wheel…
Oh, I forgot to say: Your spinning looks great!!
Yes on the wheels and also a play-by-play of your using each and every one and all the pros and cons…. (whoa, I am worn out already!)
Hapy Birthday KD! What a great day for a birthday!
I’ve never been a “gotta have breakfast” person, even though “they” say one ought to. With that in mind, I see nothing wrong with cookies and coffee, cold pizza and coffee, cake and coffee (by definition that is coffee cake!) It seems “coffee” really is the only esential ingredient for breakfast.
While you can pre-draft your Alpaca out, which will give you a thought-free experience, it doesn’t actually address why you’re having difficulty.
My guess is that you’re not drafting out as consistently because alpaca usually has a really long staple length. This means that, to draft the fiber properly, you’re going to need to keep more space between your hands than you would for sheep’s wool.
Add this to the fact that alpaca is a lot more slippery than wool, and you’ve got yourself a learning curve.
Happy Birthday to Knitting Daughter! What a wonderful day for her, full love and chocolate! Nothing better! Those cookies look so yummy!
I wouldn’t have any idea “how” I wanted to spin some roving, either. I have some experience, but not enough to do anything more than predraft & spin, and whatever happens, happens. Your yarn looks great! I need to practice more, and more often. Haven’t touched either wheel or spindle in months.
Happy birthday to KD!
Why, Loopy, you debonair thing, you! You should insist that Sheri make you a scarf of your very own. Perhaps something with a hint of red to coordinate with your socks?
Wow, that Tempted skein is beautifully plied, and really hasn’t lost any of its vitality by being ‘blended’ in plying. The alpaca looks pretty darn good, too! I am in no way a technical spinner. No counting tpi, pour moi. But If you wanted to try maybe a bit finer grist (not laceweight or anything crazy, just a bit finer) and accompanied that with a bit more twist in the singles, I bet you’d be 99.9% happy. As Lauren already suggested, more pre-drafting might flatten the learning curve slightly, too. If you feel like the fibre is being snatched out of your hands, you might back off on the tension, as well.
If you stock it, we will buy. 😉
Happy Birthday KD! And Happy Valentine’s Day to you all.
I see nothing wrong with cookies for breakfast, that is unless it is one of my kids trying to get away with that, esp on a school day.
Your spinning looks wonderful. I love the colors in the Tempted Bordello.
Happy Birthday KD!!!
Happy Birthday KD!! I can’t think of a sweeter present!
Those cookies sure look yummy! I love a soft sugar cookie with frosting…probably one of my favorites. I like mine with a big glass of milk but coffee and cookies in the morning is a great way to start the day, or end the day.
I think the wheel idea is great. Unfortunately I already bought mine and I am waiting very impatiently for it to get here. I think your spinning is coming along nicely. I also think that eating carbs like cookies for breakfast is better than eating them for a midnight snack because you have more time to burn off the calories. I would eat them for the midnight snack too though. LOL.
Robinthinkssheneedssomerovingfromtheloopyewebuthastowaitawhile.
I have cookies for breakfast lots! Well, not lots. But sometimes. It’s all my mother-in-law’s fault…my then boyfriend offered to bake cookies (from a package of course) and bring them in to me in bed. I was like, cookies for breakfast? And he was like, yeah, my mom likes it…and so began another bad habit 😉
I was enjoying the sun too…but I had to close the blinds because the room was getting too chilly.
See – that Kid Slique scarf was easy peasy and it looks GREAT!
Your spinning looks fab! I have my eye on that Tempted Bordello for needle felting. It’s such a wonderful color and you spun it beautifully!
Happy birthday KD! Have a wonderful day!
And Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!
Happy Birthday to your Knitting Daughter!
If you start carrying wheels, I am going to die, right after I buy one. You are bound and determined to suck me (and everyone) into spinning. So far I have resisted but with Uncle Sam’s rebate looming, I don’t think I can hold out much longer.
Boy Sheri, for someone who’s as new to spinning as you are, you’re doing a bang up job! I hope to resume my lessons after Stitches West next week. So in addition to getting my sock yarn from you….my roving too!?
Yes, yes, yes!!! Please carry wheels! I am learning on a drop spindle now, and am saving for a wheel!
Sheri, your spinning is looking great!! I started spinning a couple of months before you and have jsut finished my first 2 skeins that were worthy enough to be photo’d. My pics are on Ravelry … I’m knittergrl. I can’t wait to start in on my new Sakina roving from you that just arrived – took nearly 3 weeks to get here FPS!!
Happy birthday to Knitting Daughter … I’m certain she has been a wonderful blessing to her mom!
Cant.Wait.for the.Rebate. Check or disability whichever comes first 🙂 Part of our rebate is gonna go to spoiling ourselves and the rest to paying on some of the accumulated bills we have received. My spoils will be goin to Loopy and a few others so can get stocked up on yarn enough to last a while then back on the yarn fast…which by the way you Ms Sheri are in danger of causing me to break with all the new lusious yarns you keep adding!
Happy Birthday KD
Spinning wheels, drop spindles . . . I’m all for it 🙂
I think cookies are an excellent breakfast. I grabbed one this morning before I jetted out the door. I think it helped me combat the nasty slushy rain I had to wade through. I may just have one when I come in the door tonight too.
Happy birthday to Knitting Daughter! Tomorrow I’ll be baking a batch of cookies, too, for the Valentine’s doll party at our house. Every holiday one of the girls’ dolls plans a party for the others, and I’m the cook—I make tiny doll-sized treats. I think I’ll use your recipe this year.
Inspiring spinning. I haven’t tried my alpaca roving yet. It’s so wonderful to pet but I guess that can’t last forever. Eventually I’ll have to give it a try. I used the Victoria wheel at my LYS last spring and it was great. Nice size, too.
Happy Birthday Knitting Daughter!
Your spinning looks great! I’m always amazed how spinning and plying plays with and changes the color – that bordello looks so different spun up. I like it 🙂 As for alpaca tips, with the more slippery fibers I have better luck with them when I lower my tension so the take up is almost nil and then spin from the fold. http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/ has a great video showing the technique – I’m no good with explanations 🙂
I’ve been eying that Victoria for a bit now myself. My main wheel is a Louet that I love so. So if you start carrying wheels that’s like two extra frequent shopper credits….hmmm 🙂
Have a fabulous birthday, Knitting Daughter! 🙂
Sheri, doesn’t everyone have cookies and coffee for breakfast? 😉
Happy Valen-birth-day, KD!
Question: Coffee and cookies for breakfast? Are you kidding? I mean really, are you?
Answer: OF COURSE YOU CAN! And so can the rest of us! They look so good, just bring some on over when you drop off my next package on my porch in the middle of the night!
Sheri – you can have louet ship that victoria to my house for review purposes, then I can deliver it to you in STL in a month or so! AND no, I’m not kidding..
I was actually looking into being a louet dealer for that and other reasons – can’t find the good louet stuff nearby… Ahhh to dream, then turn dreams into realities!
I agree with the comments about the predrafting – my alpaca I predraft to about what I want my yarn to be, then I don’t have to think so much about drafting as I spin… I have some lovely white alpaca, some cinnamon, and some of the same grey in my que. Still have not figured out spinning rolags tho. I hate spinning from the fold – so I don’t!
Enjoy KD’s b-day!
Even if I don’t get to review your wheel, I may stop by in a month or so when I’m in town….
Happy Birthday, Knitting Daughter!
I guess I should be ashamed to admit that cookies are my breakfast of choice. I love cookies, and those Valentine ones look scrumptious!
I think your spinning looks great. I had to have that Tempted in Bordello in sock yarn–my favorite colors!
Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day/Knitting Daughter’s birthday.
Ummmm….Sheri……what does FPS stand for??
Happ Birthday, Knitting Daughter 🙂
Oh, and about how many cookies do you get out of one recipe?? (So I’ll know how many batches to make to send my kids – after all, they’re never too old to get a care package of yummy cookies!
P.S. Will Loopy be welcoming visitors on Friday?
Happy Birthday to Knitting Daughter. My son Rick was born on the 12th of February,
so we just missed a Valentine Baby. Of course he wasn’t due until March l5th, so
we weren’t even hoping for a Valentine Baby. He shares his birthday with Abe Lincoln, and he’ also an honest “Abe”.
I still can’t see some of your pictures from your blog, so I don’t know what
your spinning looks like; I’m sure it’s beautiful. And I would love to have
cookies for breakfast. Go for it.
Happy birthday to knitting daughter! My little guy turns six tomorrow. When he was born, I told my hubby, “Nothing you can ever give me for Valentine’s Day will ever top this!”
Your spinning looks great! I might have to order myself some more tempted roving!
I also want to know what FPS means.
Happy birthday to Knitting Daughter! What a special Valentine’s gift.
Love how your spinning looks. I still have to figure out how to use my drop spindle. I think I don’t know how to draft right. Someday.
Sent you a picture of my finished stole for your gallery.
Sheri, If you carry wheels SOON, I will wait to buy mine from YOU. I have been dying to buy myself a Lendrum DT Complete. I am waiting to work a bit more and maybe get that teaching job….but, if the right thing comes at the right time, hey, that would be great!!! Would there be shipping included?? How long before you make such a decision?? Let me know!! I feel I should keep my fiber related purchases to just you and Claudia….I love you both so much!! How do you like the earrings from April Star Davis?? I will have to send you some pics of the jewelry I bought from her over the years….Juli
Sheri! Your spinning is gorgeous!!!
Hello Sheri.
Whenever I do not spin exactly what I am trying for, I go back to the beginning and look at how the fiber was prepared. Then I look at what method I used to spin that fiber (worsted? woolen? Combination?). Then I look at how the wheel was set up.
You mention that this is roving but I see the word top on the web site description. Is this combed top?
I think you will find some excellent info. on spinning alpaca at the NEAOBA web site. This stands for the New England Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association. They posted a page called “Spinning Prepared Alpaca Fiber”. It covers some of the advice your blog readers have put in your comments and then some.
Personally, I think you are a natural when it comes to spinning. Some new spinners have a very steep learning curve. =)
Happy Birthday to Knitting Daughter! My brother, and this used to really annoy me, used to have cookies and coffee for breakfast every day when he was single and teaching and he had maybe 2% body fat on him at that time. Grrrrrr. Still annoys me that I got shorted in the skinny gene department.
I think I’ll take the fifth on you selling spinning wheels. That’s a dangerous road for me to travel. Full of temptation.
I think your spinning looks great!
Yes! Carry the spinning wheels. 🙂 No! It’s never a bad thing to have cookies and coffee for breakfast. Hypothetically, of course. 🙂
Happy bithday Knitting Daughter. Hope your dinner is a nice yummy one.
I love that scarf Loopy. But loopy you would really look better in the red/orange range.
I dont spin fo lack of money and am having trouble with dropspindle right now. I love your alpaca, I think they way you spun it will make it look scrumptous. I love your version of tempted.. I would buy it just the way it is., if it were for sale.
And cookies for breakfast with coffee is totally ok, I think I have tried everything, and cookies specially homebacked ones are a hit.
I know what you mean about the sun issue, we have had more grey days then usual, so it is good to see the sun. But warning it istn lasting, just enough to melt some of it where it hasnt been in drifts. I t feels like the temps are dropping as i speak and the clouds came in so I bet more cold is there too. Great for knitting.
And of course i would prefer to buy my spinning wheel from you. KUP
loveya
Ps everyone made my day today with thier comments. I love to laugh.