Pre-funk progress update - by guest blogger WillyG

Here's a double update for y'all.

Melissa called for yarn reveals for the May Day knitalong, and I'm more than happy to oblige, despite being not quite ready.

You see, I'm trying to spin my own yarn for the shawl.

This is a big deal for me; I've been scheming to do something like this (knit a shawl from my own handspun yarn) for a couple years, but never did enough spinning to make it happen.  Lately, though, I've gotten comfortable enough using a spindle to get a fingering-ish weight yarn from two plies.

I currently have one of the two singles completed:

I'm using one of my long-time favorite color combinations; this photo doesn't show you as well as the first that I am spinning a gradient.  Ooh, it's fun! I won't bore you with all the little details about how I'm spinning it, though I will say that it is less intimidating than one might expect. Check out my regular blog if this intrigues you.

I told you this was a two-fer; here's the news on my Leaves Of Grass. Last night I broke into the last repeat of chart C!

I know, I know...I'm probably not even half-way, but I'm one of those people that has to set small goals for myself, and reaching chart D is good enough for me for a while.  There are just too many good things I want to make and learn to spend all my time on just this one blanket. The happy result of my procrastination is that it provides a nice, relaxing retreat from other projects when I do pick it up. There's something wonderful about the drawn-out process of short repetitions of lace knitting interspersed with free-flying plain rounds that helps me be a different person than at work -- less driven, perhaps -- and I'm trying to keep it that way.  Apparently, I'm succeeding, heheh!