Here's the first batch I spun and plied:
Looks pretty lumpy and bumpy to me.
Then I read about "pre-drafting." Aha! The light bulb went on! This is the second batch I spun and plied.
Not at much to show, but much more even. Except for the one little extra boucle where I over-twisted the single.
Once I felt like I had the hang of it, I went to town and made this:
Still a little thick and thin, but definitely better. I did manage to do a better job of plying this time, so I went ahead and set the twist on this one. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, if anything. For right now, I'm just enchanted with the making of yarn.
Now, as if this new addiction, er . . . hobby, wasn't bad enough as it is, Chrispy offered the loan of her spinning wheel. Did I mention that she's an enabler? In fairness, I had offered her some of the fabric stash I acquired way before I started looking over the cliff of spinning. But her offer really did push me over the edge. So last Sunday, Tool Man and I drove up to her house. She and I talked fiber and knitting and measured out a goodly amount of fabric for her while Tool Man and Churchable got to know each other and petted dogs. Then she carried her wheel out to our van and strapped it in the car seat. I promised to take good care of it and share nicely with Cindy, who's also been bitten by this bug. However, not every family member was quite as happy to have a spinning wheel living in our house.
Make a choice here, Mom. It's either her or me.
Andy Rooney is usually offended whenever Tool Man or I (or anyone else in the house for that matter) gives less than our full attention to him.
Ellen says her dog, Shelly, has been hoarding windfall apples from their yard. Well, she's got nothin' on The Roon. He's always hoarded his toys, as evidenced by his basket.
Just for the record, that basket is 22 inches wide by 28 inches long by 10 inches deep. That's a LOT of toys. And yes, every single toy has a name by which he knows that toy. Every. Single. One.
But lately, he's been stashing for winter, so he's been "burying" biscuits all over the house. There's one in the family room.
And there's also one in the lower hall.
And one in the living room by the fireplace.
And one at the bottom of the living room stairs.
And one in his bed (where he never sleeps) inside the master closet.
And one at the foot of the bed.
And two on the bed (where he does sleep).
And we're not allowed to touch any of them; in fact, we can't even mention them. If we do, he has to grab it, growl, and stalk off to find a new hiding place. I have no idea where he gets this stashing thing from; must be from Tool Man, 'cause it certainly can't be from me.
That's so cute with the stashing! My dog NEVER did that, we replaced her toy that she's had since day one (the old one was still somewhat held together). She went in the yard,dug a hole and buried the new one! What dog buries a toy?!?
ReplyDeleteI refuse to get into the spinning thing, as curious as I am about it. My yarn addiction is bad enough as it is :)
Headed to OR next week, not sure if I'll make it to PDX outside of flying in and out, but hoping to try and get one night in town.
Do not let me near a wheel. I know resistance would be futile.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine why your dog would stash! Go figure!
LOLOL on Andy Rooney stashing! Yep, total mystery where he could've gotten it from. Maybe he's been associating too much with squirrels?
ReplyDeleteNow. Seriously. I am sure you have seen Colinette's Point 5 yarn. Bring that to mind. Got it firmly pictured? Now make the thinnest sections so thin that they're near to breaking if you even look at them wrong, and overtwisted so much they ply back into a nasty knot. Think of the slubs misshapen and more like big, solid lumps, with the super-thin sections right next to them.
That's the more usual look of beginner yarn. Frequently for days and days of practice, too. I repeat; YOU'RE DOING FANTASTICALLY! Just look at how fast you've smoothed out even more in only three batches! I rest my case. ;)
And just to add weight to my opinion, keep an eye open for new spinners at OFFF. There will be some funny, funny yarn as they try out their new spindles or wheels.
OOoo nice job on your first yarn!! Isn't it addicting?! I just dyed yarn for the first time this weekend and now I think I may have a deadly addiction between the two.
ReplyDeleteOur puppy "buries" her bones all over the house too. If only she'd chew on them! She'd rather seek out our shoes to gnaw on and save the chewies for whenever. The other day I found a bone on my knitting chair. She goes on "bone patrol" when she comes inside (she spends most of the day outside since she's still in training). She goes around the whole house sniffing and checking the status of the bones she's buried.
ReplyDeleteThat is so funny. I read about Ellen's dog awhile back so it's funny to see yours at work, too. lol
ReplyDelete