Round and Round

Yep, I’ve been spinning. I’ve been trying to make sure that I get in more time with the spindle on a regular basis. I hope that this will lead to improved yarn results. That’s part of the difference for me between spinning and knitting. Even when I was a beginning knitter I was able to produce nice, useful, knitted objects. A brand new knitter’s very first stitches could result in a garter stitch scarf if carried on long enough. It is true that over the years I have improved and become able to create a greater variety of nicer and more complex garments and accessories, but I was always able to make something. Once I knew how to make a knit or purl stitch, I created knit and purl stitches. My spinning has been another thing altogether. What I have previously created has not resembled yarn. I feel wasteful that I’m using up fiber and not producing something good enough that I can use it to knit. I’ve made messes. I’ve gotten in touch with the drop portion of drop spindle. I’ve created tangles. Now, however, I am beginning to make yarn. I know you can hardly wait to see my real-live, real-little, skein of handspun (penny included for scale). I may keep this little skein as a reminder of when I first created yarn. Then again, I might want to try and knit with it. What to try and knit with it is another question. I know that I have spun up 8 grams (1/4oz). What I don’t know is my yardage. Soon I will set my husband to constructing a niddy noddy for me. It’s not that I cannot make one myself, but he likes doing that sort of thing. He will probably have improvements to make on any set of directions I might provide. I plan to go the cheap-o PVC route for now. In the meantime, I’ve taken to spinning with the fiber my mom brought back for me from Estes Park Wool Market last year. She bought me the fiber, a nostepinne, and a spindle. The fiber is Polypay Wool Top, and it has been dyed some really groovy greens and purples with plain bits, too. The nostepinne and spindle are from Magpie Woodworks (no website). I never felt I spun well enough (and I never put in enough practice time) to do anything with the fiber. A couple of years ago I bought a kit with a Louet drop spindle and some fiber from Blue Goose Glen Farm at the Harvest Days and Fiber Festival at Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The wool from the starter kit is what I’ve spun up for this first little skein. Anywho, I’m going to keep working at the spinning on as close to a daily basis as I can. I’m having fun with the colored roving. I see how it looks different as I spin it up, and wonder how it will look when it is plied. It’s an adventure. Speaking of adventures, a fiber acquisition opportunity approaches. The Monday Nighters have planned a trip here on Saturday. I might be able to join them.