Spinning!!!

A few weeks ago I ordered some roving at Amy's online store Spunky Eclectic. The above was custom dyed, 4 ounces of 100% hand painted BFL color Goldenrod, and 4 ounces of !00% hand painted wool Corriedale in the color Peacock. As I started researching into spinning, Corriedale and Blue Face Leicester were recommended fibers for beginners. As of right now, it's still in the bag, and I look at it every day with a sigh, and pat it, that's all. I'll wait 'til I'm a real spinner to spin yarn with it.


Now, it's going to take awhile until you hear me talk the talk of spinners. It's such a vast area to learn. I'm slowly getting there. I've ordered "The Joy of Handspinning" CD Basics & Techniques for beginners, but I'm very disappointed with it. You basically get what you can find on their website nothing more.


I've also ordered back issues of the Spin-Off magazines, 22 of them. While they are pretty to look at, going through them, as a total beginner, it gives you SOME idea, but there are questions one can only get answered face to face with a real spinner. So I guess I'll have to find me one of those! ;o)



I also ordered this sample package. I'll quickly list what's fibers are in there: Wool Blend, Superwash Merino, Corriedale, Merino, BFL and Superwash Merino. Aren't the colores just lovely? And there was the top whirl drop spindle "Little Si". So far I've dropped it twice, to be exact it flew out of my hands so fast, I couldn't even say "bah". ;o) That's alright, hence it's name I guess.

Fiber, fiber, beautiful fiber. I pat it a lot, but not too much ...

I've been looking at it for weeks now. So far I've tried spinning twice.

Below you see my first spun yarn. I didn't know what I was doing, but still I learned A LOT! First and foremost, roving disappears with lightening speed. You don't get a lot of yardage if you use too much of it. This is a write off, but still pretty to look at. At first it was very thick, but towards the end the yarn got thinner. It had too much twist as well. Learning here!

The yarn below, I've spun yesterday morning. It's more even, and I had a better feeling for it. Maybe because I've read a lot between the two tries. Still, the yarn is way to thick for my taste. I want to be able to make thin yarn, I hate the slubby, thick novelty yarns. I don't like the color in the below picture either, but it's still just for learning. I don't think there will be enough for anything yet.

Well, if I could I would spend half the day spinning, even though I'm quite tense about it. I have to spin the spindle, and park it between my knees. No way can I do it standing up yet. Still, it's a goal. I'm not sure however whether you can spin enough yarn with a drop spindle for any real project or not. But what do I know? One other thing, I really need to find me an affordable roving source, so I can practice some more, without feeling bad about messing up the beautiful fiber.

I leave you with this picture. It was so hot the day before yesterday (28 Celsius). I saw this Robin sunbathing in one of our fir trees. He's kept his bill open, tongue sticking out, and looked like a stuffed animal. I was glad I caught him on camera.

One more thing: I didn't want to make a separate post for these socks. They are done and have been worn already. Very cool and nice feel on the feet.

yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Fondo 100g, 45% cotton, 42% wool, 13% Polyamide, machine washable.

needles: leg - 2.5mm DP heel and foot to toe: 2.25mm

Stitch pattern: Chevron and Feather from 365 Knitting Stitches a year calendar, August 31

cast on: 65 for leg, decreased to 60 sts for foot

destination: my feet

There's another picture in my Finished Projects 2007 flickr file, there you can see the leg part better.

So, that will be all.