mini mystery skein

I spun a wee tiny 11 yard (35 feet) skein last night. The roving was a mystery fiber sample that came with my roving from woolytreasures.


After the agonizing week I've had, playing with something pretty was just what I needed. I spun it all, and realized that while it would look great as a 3-ply, it might work well as a Navajo ply. That way, I wouldn't have to measure out the length, divide it into 3, blah blah blah. So I gave it a shot.


It's my second attempt at Navajo plying, and it's not bad!

concealed wraps -- who the hell cares?

I'm turning a heel from Cat Bordhi's Big Book o'Insanity, and I had a revelation. I don't give a damn about concealing the wraps. It's an annoying, fiddly, time-consuming chore and I'm not doing it anymore.

Looking for Truffles finished!

BFL/Bamboo from butterflygirldesigns.etsy.com.
83 yards of 3 ply DK weight at 11 wpi.

Roving


Single


Singles wound together for plying


Plied




Finished

Autumn's Joy SW merino

This is my first fractal spinning project. On Friday I read all the fractal spinning posts I could find on Ravelry and ordered the back issue of Spin Off magazine. That night I decided I didn't want to wait for the magazine, and figured out how I wanted to split the batt. I decided on a 3-ply, 2 plies with long repeats and 1 ply with short. I started spinning the short repeats that evening, and am now 1 hour away from finishing that single. Doesn't it look lovely on the spindle?







SW merino purchased from exclusivelylindalee.etsy.com

Spindle purchased from gmtlvsred.etsy.com

fiber source recommendations

These are my favorite fiber vendors thus far, with links to my Ravelry stash from each.

Art/Glitzy Batts

• butterflygirldesigns.etsy.com -- Butterfly Kissed, Looking for Truffles, Margarita, Old Country Roses

BFL

• dyeingforcolour.etsy.com -- Lyl's blue, my red
  
• sereknityboutique.etsy.com -- Pomegranate
  
• spinningbunny.com -- Roses for You

SW Merino

• babablacksheep.etsy.com -- Sunshine State orange blend
  
• exclusivelylindalee.etsy.com -- Autumn's Joy
  
• freyalyn.etsy.com -- Wisteria
  
• knitspin.etsy.com -- Mystical purple blend
  

SW Merino/Tencel

• dragonfibers.etsy.com -- Solar Flare
  
• spincerely.etsy.com -- Buttercup, Lupine, Rosey Sweet Jade, Zaria
  
• spinningbunny.com -- Roses for You

credit for the best spinning tech idea

I found the post! Artsygal on Ravelry posted about using a cordless drill to wind singles onto a dowel.

I adapted the idea to Spinsanity's Lazy Kate (PVC bobbins on a dowel rod base). I inserted screws into the PVC bobbin caps, rigged a shoebox to poke my spindle through, and it works like a dream. Winding singles onto a bobbin has never been faster or easier! No tangles, no mess, and did I mention how much faster this method is? (The shoebox lazy kate idea also came from Ravelry -- best site ever!)

greensleeves spindles

Loki -- burl or spalted maple


at greensleevesspindles.com

at Bountiful

info page at Bountiful


at spunkyeclectic.com

chart creator

http://www.innaz.com/cgi-bin/makechart/makechart.cgi

dragon skin pattern links

Dragonskin is from Barbara Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. It is the basis for Marnie MacLaean's fabulous Wyvern socks.

Bitter Purl's allover dragonskin socks

spindle links

Bosworth spindles
http://www.journeywheel.com/

Eichem Flower spindle
http://www.woollydesigns.com/1_Spindles/FlowersFeb2001.jpg

Forrester spindles
http://www.the-wheel-thing.com/products/Spindles/forrester.html

Golding spindles
http://www.goldingfibertools.com/

3 in models: Solid Cocobolo, Solid Zebrawood

KCL Woods
http://www.kclwoods.com/index2.html

Spindlewood Co.
http://www.spindlewoodco.com/

True Creations
http://www.spunkyeclectic.com/shop.php?crn=322

646 Zebrawood Spindle

Spindle Links
http://spinanon.ladefoged.org/spindles.htm

The Fold
http://www.thefoldatmc.net/

Bosworth
Kundert
Wasserman

a history of my first yarn

This post is for my Mom, so I can show her my first spinning project. (Hi Mom!)

It started with this roving. It's 50% superwash merino wool / 50% tencel (which is a manmade fiber made from cellulose.)



I spun it into thin lengths of yarn called singles.



I wound the 3 singles together into a ball in preparation for plying. (I got the idea from abbysyarns on Ravelry -- it's infinitely easier to ply from a ball than from 3 singles.) Plying is twisting the singles together to form a thicker, stronger yarn. I spin the singles clockwise, then ply them together counter-clockwise.



Last night I plied the singles, which took quite a damn while, let me tell you. This is a 3-ply yarn because it has 3 singles in the finished yarn.



Then I washed it, whacked it, and hung it to dry. This morning, it looked like this. It's BEAUTIFUL.







(Big picture can be found here.)

I did it! I made yarn!!!

110 yards of 3-ply fingering/sock weight merino/tencel yarn! Last night I plied the singles, which took quite a damn while, let me tell you.



Then I washed it, whacked it, and hung it to dry. This morning, it looked like this. It's BEAUTIFUL. I can't stop petting it! And it's balanced -- I'm not going to have to run it back through the spindle!







(Big picture can be found here.)

zaria: singles spun, ready for plying!

I am so excited! Last night I finished spinning the Buttercup single to ply with the 2 Zaria singles!



I wound the 3 singles together into a ball in preparation for plying. (I found this post from abbysyarns on Ravelry, and it is brilliant. Plying from 1 ball instead of 3 bobbins is so much easier.)



And a picture with a kitten. For scale, of course. :) The ball weighs 1.8 oz.



I can't wait to ply tonight! My first project will be finished!

roving: carbonized bamboo & manmade sampler

http://www.mielkesfarm.com/manmadef.htm

glass spindle

http://www.glasspens.com/glass-spindles.htm

finished spinning the Zaria!

I finished spinning the Zaria merino/tencel this weekend. Haven't plied it yet because I decided to ply 2 strands of Zaria with 1 of Buttercup to stretch it out, and I'm spinning the Buttercup now.

But I'm very close to finishing my first spinning project!

spinning weekend

I went into this weekend feeling like crap due to my period kicking my ass, so I decided it was going to be a weekend of spinning as much as I could stand to spin.

I spun about a spindle's worth of Zaria, which is my top priority to finish. I love this merino/tencel colorway, and was thrilled to snag a matching 4 ounces of Buttercup merino/tencel. I want a pair of fingerless gloves, and plan to use Buttercup for the wrists, fingers, and thumbs, and Zaria for the body.


I spun a spindle and a half's worth of Pomegranate BFL. This is going to be the most beautiful yarn!


I'm using the Opaline spindle from butterflygirl for the Pomegranate, and it is fantastic. I love how you can see the colors building up through the whorl.


I ended each spinning session with a bit of Sunshine State -- I tend to end with that one, because it's so easy to work with that even when I'm tired I can get something done.

wrap for spindles without a notch

Most of my spindles don't have a notch, which can be a pain in the ass with slippery yarn. I finally figured out a way to wrap the yarn so it stays stable -- I wrap it below the cone of spun yarn and bring it straight up to the hook.

zaria -- 2nd batch

I'm so pleased with this 3-ply! It's merino/tencel, and I overplied the hell out of it before I set the twist. (I was trying for a nice, tight ply and overdid it by quite a bit.) This morning I figured out how to take out the extra twist.

First, I loosely wound it on the large niddy noddy. Then I started at one end and ran an arm's length through my fingers until it had untwisted to the point of being balanced. I wound that into a tiny ball and secured it with a hair clip. Then I ran another arm's length through my hands and let the ball dangle so it would untwist. I did this for the entire 75 feet, and at the end, I had a well-balanced ball of yarn.

I feel so accomplished! I'm learning!

wrist distaff -- oh yes, yes yes!

Roving management is the one part of the spinning process that makes me crazy. Some people can just wrap it around their wrist and hand and everything works great -- I am not one of those people. So I decided to buy this wrist distaff to see if it would help. It's a very basic macrame distaff and falls under the category of yes I could make it, but I'd rather do something else with my time so I'll buy one, kthx.

It's fantastic! It actually works! I secure the tail of the roving in the bead cluster with a couple of figure 8s, then just wrap around the bead cluster and voila! Roving is managed, out of my way, doesn't get torn, doesn't get tangled with my single, and the distaff can double as a cat toy. (That last may not be a good thing, but Mr Eko loves it.)

If you have trouble with roving management, buy or whip up one of these babies and I'll bet you'll be glad you did.