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.