Tuesday, August 27, 2013

I'm Better Now

OK, I've got the spinning mania out of my system--sort of. This morning I finished spinning up some fleece on a second bobbin. There's a freedom that comes with learning. I wasn't spinning for a project, so I experimented and tried different things. Yesterday I used a backward draw and today I played with a short forward draw. Since I like to spin off the fold when I use a drop spindle, I tried that method too. This being my first attempt to produce a plied yarn, I didn't hold back.
After lunch, I put together the tensioned kate that attaches right onto the wheel. Then I slipped on the two bobbins, and let 'er rip! Wow, what might take hours on a spindle took only a few minutes. Next, I wound the plied yarn on my niddy-noddy, gave it a bath in some water and Eucalan, and here's the result.


I'm surprised that I managed to make a "balanced" yarn. See? No skewing off to one side. The yarn isn't especially even--it has a thick-and-thin quality, but you'd pay a lot for that in a fancy yarn store, right?










I'll get more skilled at producing an even yarn, but for now, it's been three days packed with fun, and I've made a giant leap along the learning curve.












My desire to do nothing else has abated, somewhat. Still, I might just spend part of the evening checking out some online sources of fleece. You see, I have an idea for a handspun sweater design, and I need to order quite a lot of fleece to make it work...