Hellooooo! Wow, going back to work last week really put a crimp in my spinning time. The noive! Well, I guess the job helps pay for more fiber to spin, so… yay, job!
So, yeah, I didn’t finish much this week, but it was still a good week and I spun every single day!
Day 10 (July 13)
Technically a day of rest, I still spun a little. I finished plying the Wensleydale that I posted last time (the purple at the end of the last post). It’s all right. Very, very purple. No photo of the finished skein yet.
Day 11 (July 14)
I taught myself how to use a drop spindle! Looking at photos of what others can do with drop spindles really inspired me to try it again. Before I learned on a wheel, I tried using a cheapie bottom-whorl spindle and I hated it. Just never got the hang of it. This time, I got a well-made top-whorl spindle and caught on right away. I certainly have a lot of practice ahead of me before I make nice yarn, but still…! The fiber in this photo is Corriedale from Dicentra Designs.
Day 12-16 (July 15-19)
I kept working on the teal fiber from Sporfarm — a little bit all week — and just finished the second bobbin on Sunday (day 16). It’s pretty, but it’s just not keeping my attention. I thought I might try to ply it with some beads on a thread, but I don’t know…
Here’s the same photo from last week.
Day 15-16 (July 18-19)
More on the drop spindle! I started to feel that I was muddying up the colors in the corriedale, so I wound that off and pulled out some merino/alpaca/shetland blend from Lavender Sheep. Please ignore my very messy winding technique… it’s about all I can do to just keep a twist going and not break the yarn and, and, and! Neater winding will have to come later.
So, there’s the end of week 2! There’s a suggestion that we challenge ourselves on Wednesday as that’s the day of the Tour de France’s densest mountain stage with 5 mountain passes. Hmmmm, maybe by then I can try to ply on this drop spindle. That should be challenging enough!
So, I’m participating in this challenge called “Tour de Fleece” — the idea is to spin every day of the Tour de France & share progress. There are awesome prizes, too, but I doubt I will win anything unless it’s in the random drawing. The TdF runs from July 4-26 with resting days July 13 & July 20 (just like the real Tour). I was actually feeling it a little bit in my calves yesterday… couldn’t believe it.
Here’s my progress for week 1:
Day 1 (July 4)
Spun in public in the morning at the Corvallis Artisan’s Market. That was fun, I’d like to go join those ladies in their booth again sometime. I started spinning the New Hue Handspuns, merino/angora that I got at Black Sheep Gathering.
Days 2 – 4 (July 5-7)
I set aside the singles from day 1 and spun this 100% Tussah silk that I found at the Rose & Ram knit shop in Independence. This is a gift for someone… I hope they like it. It is most definitely not perfect. In fact, I broke the strand a couple of times, so there are two knots. Boo.
Days 5-7 (July 8-10)
Started in on this superwash Merino from I’Did’A'Twist & spun two bobbins of singles to ply together. LOVE the color:
On day 7, I also spun a little more of the fiber I started on day 1.
Day 8 (July 11)
Done plying! Very happy with this.
I also spun the bobbin on the right in this photo. That lovely plummy-purple comes from Bellwether Wool & I’m pretty sure it’s a Wensleydale/Mohair blend. (I’d spun the other one a while ago — it’s from a batt I put together myself on my drum carder.)
And then plied those together — the result is just okay. The blending in the single from my carded batt really doesn’t show up, it’s just overwhelmed by the solid color of the Wensleydale.
Day 9 (July 12)
Yesterday I started on this & got one bobbin of singles done. This is a Shetland/Merino blend from Sporfarm:
I feel like I want to make a 3-ply out of this and use a thin midnight-blue velvet ribbon for the 3rd ply. But I can’t decide if that would actually look good or not…
So, there’s week 1. Back next week with another update!
Craftgawker
Etsy Mini
