Spinning

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted over here... seven months?! How did that happen? It's not that I haven't been crafting. On the contrary, I've learned a whole new skill! But, since it's been all fibercraft, Ravelry has kind of taken the place of this blog as my brag space.

For my birthday, back in February, my favorite sister ever gave me a spinning wheel! At first, I was intimidated. Sure, the name "Babe" doesn't inspire fear, but it's mechanical, you have to take things like tension and speed into consideration, and you have to do things with BOTH feet and BOTH hands at the same time! For someone with my considerable lack of coordination, this can be a little scary. After several trial sessions, which deteriorated into cussing fits, I finally had a long talk with myself, sat myself down and worked through a batch of fiber. And you know what? It turned out just fine! Even kind of lovely, in its own way.

My first yarn!

Even though it feels like I've spun a lot since then, I've actually only tried a few more times, but I see improvement with every try.

#2

Note: #3 is featured in the next post.

#4

#5

The funny thing is, I've made this yarn but have yet to knit anything with it! The last two skeins were from borrowed fiber, so they go back to my friend in the knitting club. Also, I've made such small amounts, it can be tough to pick a project that will fit. I am learning to spin thinner yarn though, which makes it go farther and I'm also really excited to be able to order undyed yarn (cheap!) from knitpicks. The wheels are turning, and I have plans for larger quantities (woot! bad spinning joke!) so that I can eventually start a larger project, knit from yarn that I've spun and dyed!