I like to spin, hook, tinker in the shed and strum hula music for the dog. Raised in the Midwest, I've been some places and managed to find a terrific husband along the way. Currently settled in the desert. https://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3m55umtev3c2vPicked some fresh eucalyptus polyanthemos for the dye pot. Color looks great, but how will it stick?09 Nov 2025 00:39 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3m55umtev3c2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lzelifyhrk26My haul from the County Fair: Homespun 2-ply Pima and Natural Red cottons on the left; 3-ply Pima, Red and Green cottons on the right; and 3-ply Merino wool dyed with prickly pear in the center.21 Sep 2025 19:03 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzelifyhrk26https://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lwicbjizms2kI soaked a skein of homespun cotton today and decided to take pictures of it wet to run through the kaleidoscope app. It is three ply, singles of white Pima, natural red and natural green cottons, spun on my great wheel Sacramento, wet plied on my even greater wheel Broncobuster.16 Aug 2025 02:13 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwicbjizms2khttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lty3ef4rb22gDay 10: Finished off this batch of crochet cotton. I reckon it would sit somewhere between #10 and #20. (I sure wish I knew how that was figured.) Wet plying worked well, and it measured out at just over 100 yards weighing a little over 14 grams. #tourdefleece.15 Jul 2025 04:37 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lty3ef4rb22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ltvpvzxpdc24Day 9: When I spin on a Great Wheel, I ply on my Traditional, which needs a lot of pedaling. So I tried plying this three-strand ball of Upland cotton on the Broncobuster, my biggest wheel. And I did it wet as an experiment, hence the bowl. Went fast, worked well, results soon. #tourdefleece.14 Jul 2025 06:07 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltvpvzxpdc24https://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ltsgcdcuq22yDay 8: Plying some Upland cotton from the Great Wheel using a homemade rig I call the "Bed o' Nails." It helps control the pigtails, and I can worry about the spin later. "One crisis at a time," I like to say. #tourdefleece.12 Jul 2025 22:36 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltsgcdcuq22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ltqpl257os2xDay 7: I want a three-ply with two colors, and debated -- two reds or two white? I decided to make a cob half red, half white, alternating every four walks or so on the Great Wheel. The cottons are white Pima and natural red. #tourdefleece.12 Jul 2025 06:17 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltqpl257os2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lto5sihkac2dDay 6: To comb or not to comb, that is the question, especially when the drum carder is so quick and easy. This Border Leicester is very lustrous, long-stapled and kinky, with a bit of VM in the mix, so I opted for the combs, but I could change my mind after a test spin. #tourdefleece.11 Jul 2025 05:54 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lto5sihkac2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ltldzrs3422mDay 5: Day 4 didn't go so well. This is Emmy, my first wheel, and she's been under repair all afternoon. I had a fainting spell yesterday, swooned, and landed on her. It was not pretty. I cannibalized another wheel for a broke part, and she seems to work fine. Me, sore but OK. #tourdefleece.10 Jul 2025 03:07 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltldzrs3422mhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ltlcddgr6k2uDay 4: Planning to finish off a batch of merino, spun long-draw on my first and favorite wheel. Two bobbins down and one to go. A natural overspinner, I'm trying to cut back on my spins after the draw. We'll see how it goes. #tourdefleece.10 Jul 2025 02:37 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltlcddgr6k2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ltfhtqyxv22tDay 3: An Aussie friend taught me the word "ort." Today I basically spun orts. Here's the bottom of the ort pan by my great wheel as seen through the kaleidoscope filter. Funny how "ort" autocorrects to "art." Could be a lesson in there somewhere. Cheers. #tourdefleece.07 Jul 2025 19:00 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltfhtqyxv22thttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ltddswxqtc2kDay 2: While waiting for a fleece to dry today, I decided to finish off a cob of natural red cotton on the great wheel. I'm planning on plying it with the pima cotton on the other cob. #tourdefleece.06 Jul 2025 22:42 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltddswxqtc2khttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ltapofcum22iThis year I plan to post along with the Tour de Fleece mob, starting today. To begin, I'm washing 720 grams of Border Leicester. Even the raw wool looked good through the kaleidoscope filter. #tourdefleece.05 Jul 2025 21:36 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltapofcum22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ltannq2tjc2uTinkered in my workshop July 4 making a riser for a hat block I inherited. Who needs a 7 1/2 inch crown? Since that's where my old bell lives, I opened the garage door and gave it a good ring in honor of the day. Cheers.05 Jul 2025 21:00 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltannq2tjc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ln2gu4n2nk2jFrom today's Fourth Circuit decision in the Abrego Garcia case: "The Executive may succeed for a time in weakening the courts, but over time history will script the tragic gap between what was and all that might have been, and law in time will sign its epitaph."18 Apr 2025 01:11 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ln2gu4n2nk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lmghvuaogs2yMaybe it's working.10 Apr 2025 02:37 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmghvuaogs2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3llfzaxkhlc2rA box of upland cotton came in the mail today and it spins like a dream.28 Mar 2025 04:50 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3llfzaxkhlc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lkmdduinq22aBest rolags yet. Nani helped.17 Mar 2025 23:41 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lkmdduinq22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3ljm6jd4fak2tI spun some Pima cotton in the library tonight. I call this wheel "Sacramento" after the mountains from whence it came. It makes a wonderful rattle, easily the loudest of my great wheels.05 Mar 2025 04:49 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljm6jd4fak2thttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lj76dipc7s25Pau.28 Feb 2025 00:41 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lj76dipc7s25https://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lj5e3oqf6c2yMy annual knitting project is finished. Let the fulling begin.27 Feb 2025 07:19 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lj5e3oqf6c2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3liyc32bgo22bI much prefer hooking, but once every year or so I do a knitting project just to remind myself how it's done and why I love crochet. While unpacking boxes, I found three skeins of Fisherman's Wool, so one is becoming a scarf, and it's going quite well... for knitting.25 Feb 2025 07:00 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3liyc32bgo22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lij4mkjv3c2hToday I spun cotton and listened to Dvorak in the craft room. I worked from roving, and realized life without rolags is possible. That's liberating.19 Feb 2025 06:12 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lij4mkjv3c2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lgpauxpwk225I was listening to this book, Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel, while spinning cotton on the great wheel today. I know I'll enjoy it because it's being read by one of my favorite narrators, but since it was written way back in 1965, it may be hard to relate.27 Jan 2025 05:54 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lgpauxpwk225https://bsky.app/profile/manspinner.bsky.social/post/3lg7bvsw4ck2fRemember that pic of the Prickly Pear yarn next to the eucalyptus starts? From the kaleidoscope app:20 Jan 2025 21:30 +0000at://did:plc:o54ddcml4q2omk2m6od3wn3n/app.bsky.feed.post/3lg7bvsw4ck2f