buttercup & zaria

buttercup - yarn, I made it!

I finally finished the Buttercup SW merino/tencel from Spincerely. 3-ply, 148 yards, 18 wpi. It’s like liquid sunshine. It fluffed up considerably more than the Zaria, possibly because I fell asleep while soaking it... for 5 hours. :)

Roving


Singles


Singles wound on the plying bobbin


Plied!


Finished!

new lazy kate setup -- it's wonderful!

I first started out with Spinsanity's lazy kate. It might work well for someone who spins thick, but I spin laceweight singles, and there's not enough drag to prevent massive tangles and snarls.


However, I found that it works beautifully for winding singles onto a bobbin. I inserted screws into the PVC bobbin caps, rigged a shoebox to poke my spindle through, and use my electric drill to wind on.


That left the problem of needing a good system for transferring the singles from their 3 bobbins into a ball or 1 large bobbin for plying. So this past weekend, I added a second lazy kate to my collection -- a box from Target that was laying around and some old knitting needles.


It works perfectly! I put the large bobbin on Spinsanity's lazy kate and used the drill to wind on the 3 singles, then I put the large bobbin in the new lazy kate and plied from that. It was flawless! No snarls, no tangles, even tension on all the singles... I'm thrilled!

ref: niddy noddys

Ashford mini = 2 ft skein

Ashford std = 5 ft skein

progress! I have some!

I had some extra time today after a vet appointment that I had originally allocated for housework. I decided spinning would make me much happier.

I decided to see how the Buttercup liked the custom ornate spindle from Spinsanity. It loves it! I got another big chunk spun, and I'm down to less than a fifth of the original roving.

I also made progress on Autumn's Joy -- one more strip and the second bobbin will be spun. I definitely split the roving too many times and the long color repeats will be shorter than I'd like, but this yarn has some serious potential.

lavender to eggplant

I started a new project this week. (Of course I did. Sigh.)

It started with a very dark purple BFL batt (Sun Dried) that I had expected to have more tonal variation. I was trying to think of what I could ply with it to lighten it up.




Then I got this gorgeous superwash merino batt (Delilah).


I spun a test single on the same spindle as the test from the first batt. I noticed that the deep purple looked a lot less murky next to the Delilah, and that it shaded the Delilah towards purple rather than raspberry. So I plied them together and liked the result.



I'm planning a 3 ply sock yarn: 2 plies of Sun Dried and 1 of Delilah. It should be gorgeous.

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!)