Idle hands...

... or not so idle.

I'm finding that spinning yarn is a little harder than it looks. Its all about the drafting and that part is really practice I'd expect, and a good bit of practicing I did. I worked through a half pound of merino wool top, all of my SP2's blue faced leicaster (hand dyed for me woo hoo!) and four ounces of a raspberry merino tencel blend and 4 ounces of a light cherry wool mohair blend (both from Carolina Homespun and from my trip to the Santa Monica Fab Fiber Fest.

I'm almost embarrassed to show the SP2 wool spun up because I thought it was so lovely and I know my spinning skills are lacking. I did really enjoy spinning it though, and I think that it plied together looks lovely. I tried really hard to figure out how to do that super thick thin yarn that people like buggypup sell on Ebay but it just didnt end up thick enough and it was so over twisted that I had to ply it to combat some of the curly twists.

From top to bottom - SP2 Wool as a single - the attempt at thick thin novelty yarn failing miserably, blueberry merino top two-ply (getting a little better at spinning more evenly), raspberry merino tencel (this stuff was real slippery but very smooth to spin - I think the next batch of this I'd do much better, and finally at the bottom - SP2 wool spin thinner and plied together



Heres some merino mohair blend - I didnt like this as much because the fiber seemed too sticky, harder to draft and the fibers needed a ton of fluffing out before it drafted easily.



A close up of the lovely yarn made from the awesome wool that my Secret Pal 2 sent me ..



I also picked up some soy silk from The Black Sheep in Encinitas - and tried to spin a little of that. I dont think I'm quite up to a point where I can take on soy yet. It was super slippery and the staple really short so I was running into a good deal of trouble. Putting that aside for a while till I get a better handle on spinning thin strong yarn from wool first. Not even going to post a photo of that cause its so ugly.

*sigh*

On the knitting front my Broadripple sock has been moving right along. I've turned the heel and am working busily along the foot towards the toe decreases which I am hoping to get to by this weekend. I have some more blue faced leicaster roving on my spinning agenda with some soft merino top.

If only I had a fraction of the passion I have for fiber arts - channelled toward what I do for a living. The bleh factor at work is at an all time high.