An exploration of my life as I know it. Knitting, working, creating, and cat-wrangling.

Monday, February 23, 2009

I've Got a New Drug

I finally broke down and tried my hand at spinning.  I had avoided trying it out because I knew that I would probably really like it (a lot), and therefore it would be cutting into my yarn budget.  However, Maura had given me the drop spindle I gave her for Christmas a while back (she has a wheel now) and I had some roving lying around that I had won in early January (a giveaway on the Phat Fiber blog), from Desired Haven Farms.  It's the "waste not want not 2."  She took all the thrums from her spinning and carded them with some wool and angora, then dyed the whole thing sky blue.  The staple (or fiber length) is very short, and so it made it a little bit harder to work with.  I think it turned out ok though, especially for being my first try.

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It's a thick & thin, sort of by accident, but also because there were slubs of other fibers in it.  Some of the twists are a little tight, but I think after a little more practice I can even it out.

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Speaking of practice, I will soon have some more roving to practice on.  Yes, it has begun already.  I found 2.5 oz of BFL for $7 on Knit's etsy shop.  It's the plum colorway.  I think this will be a little easier to work with and will help me work on consistency.  I also picked up 1lb of lavender buds to use in sachets for my stash (I've been meaning to do this for a while).  Maura and I went to the fabric store today and I found some really cute fabric in the quilts section.  The next project is to sew them into pouches to use with the lavender coming my way.

One last picture of my "special creation" :

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3 comments:

Michele / akkasha said...

Congrats on being lured...I mean trying the world of spinning. It is definitely addictive!

I am really impressed with your first efforts at spinning. It looks great. I wish I had been half as good when I started. Good luck with it.

Anonymous said...

Nicely done! I like the color -- now Sam has something new to play with!

Anonymous said...

Nicely done -- I like the color. Now Sam has something new to play with!