Saturday, June 7, 2014

More spinning


I finished the second half of the singles for what will be Z's new pair of socks. The fiber is a silk and wool blend, dyed and carded by The Spinning Daisy and a generous and wonderful gift. I began spinning it back in February when Abby Franquemont was in town teaching and it languished for a while. I finished winding the two spindles full of singles into a plying ball last night and started plying today.  I really enjoy plying on a spindle, especially when I roll the spindle between my hands, Andean style, to get a fantastic rate of twist insertion.

As a luxurious break I also have been spinning some Chasing Rainbows dyed bombyx top on my Moosie. This is the ultimate in luxury spinning and I have been doing ten minutes or so as a nice break from my normal hour or two of spinning every night.
And finally, today. I have been working on a project I began a while ago. In February, Abby showed me how to spin from a mass of unprepared fleece and I thought it was the most awesome trick in the history of ever. I really like Andean style yarns, tightly and firmly spun and plied, and I really want to have a stash available to dig into as I learn a little bit of Andean backstrap weaving. I enjoy spinning these yarns. The project I am working on is to spin some of a Shetland X Border Leicester fleece into proper Andean weaving yarn. I added another half an ounce or so to the spindle I am working on, no photos. It is just plain while yarn on a plain spindle. Not exciting to look at, but totally fun to do, and a stretch for me as it is very far from what my spinning style and method has been in the past. I always find that spinning is interesting, even on the boring days, it will pull me back in eventually.

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