Oh, What a Tangled Web We...Spin

Because we don't have enough to do (her three kids still at home, my three jobs, the mutual care and feeding of the Grandparents), Mom and I have randomly decided to get into spinning. No, not the stationery bike workout. The process whereby one takes a pile of fluff and works Rumpelstiltskin magic to turn it into yarn. On a contraption out of "Sleeping Beauty". Because we have

 

1) So much time to spend on this!

2) So much money to spend on this!

3) So much extra energy that we should put toward making our yarn from scratch so we can knit with it!

 

(Not.)

 

Also, we're knitting SO MUCH that we really need the extra yarn for all the projects we have going! 

 

(Not.)

 

This started after I noticed a pile of fleece outside a sheep pasture on the road I take from work every day. It was a curious set of mixed messages: the tarp laid underneath said it was intentionally taken care of, but the fact that it was five feet from the high-traffic roadway, outside of a fence, said they didn't care too much about keeping it clean or preserving it from filtchers. There was no sign (no "reserved for the Girl Scouts" or "Please Help Yourself" or "$5 per fleece--honor system" or "Owned by ---; call 555-5555") and the houses 1/4 mile away are surrounded by 9-foot-high chain-link fences with padlocks in front of the driveways. No casual knocking was going to cut the mustard, here.

So I brought it up to Mom as I suddenly felt like the obtaining of copious amounts of wool would be the culmination of my life's work, and it turned out she has long felt the same way. This is the text conversation that subsequently transpired (I'm in green; Mom is in purple):

 

8/31

 

1:27pm

Wool: no signs. Drive by & tell me what you think? Between ----  and the ------- light. No idea who owns, either.

 

1:28pm

I think it’s free.

 

1:30pm

All signs point to yes. Unless it’s an elaborate test of honesty. Yes, my mind is not normal. So when should we pick up?

 

2:04

Whenever you go by, I guess. Now we need to seriously look for a spinning wheel. Or bail money if it was a test and you lost.

 

2:05

Heh. Did I quick Google for spinning wheels and $200 is considered cheap. Maybe eBay is better? Or renting?

 

2:27

We’ll have to pray about this since we need two of the suckers.

 

2:58

Yep. Unless we swap bi-weekly.

 

3:01

Sharing could work to start.

 

 9/1 

 

11:24am

Are you going to nab some fleece on your way home? I think we should start stashing before rain and not wait for wheels.

 

11:45

Did you steal...er...rescue that pile?

 

11:47

Not yet. Was in a hurry and didn’t have large garbage bags...er...appropriate  plastic carriers for it.

 

12:06

So you want me to do the dirty deed and you will graciously visit me in jail? If you remember and can find the time? I smell a rat!

 

12:06

Well, since you put it that way, have at it and have fun! Remember, some of my best friends were in jail! :-)

 

12:09

I’m getting a wheel—purple, with sparkles, and I’m not sharing.

 

12:13

Hey, even though I clued you in to the free stash? And re-ignited the flame in your heart? I say, that’s harsh.

 

12:15

Oh, the unknown quality stash that remains on the side of the road?

 

12:18

Hey, that’s “practice fleece” so we don’t waste good stuff learning. And I notice you ignored my role bringing this up.

 

1:11

I didn’t ignore anything. I simply chose to rise above your obvious shortcomings in leaving all the heavy lifting and illegalities to me. It’s okay. I’m used to it.

 

1:20

Sigh. I’m always the bigger person. Just picked up a fleece on my way home. Not in jail yet.

 

1:22

Ooh! I wanna see it!

 

1:27

Any deets yet on the condition? I’m at Kelly’s or I’d be online looking stuff up. I know Steph has said things over the years and I just asked someone here. She says there is a sheep thing in west county.

 

1:33

No idea. Don’t think my phone’s camera works anymore but I’ll try to send a pic. Don’t know enough about condition to tell.

 

1:40

How long are the strings of hair, henceforth known as fiber? And our fleece is “roving”. We are practically experts already.

 

1:45

No go w/ camera, but fiber is about 1 1/4 to 1/2 inch long.Not great, but workable I think. Very sheepy-smelling at the moment.

 

1:46

Oh, and your turn.