While most people on Ravelry are participating in the Ravelympics, I've apparently been having my own spinning marathon for the Olympics. I'm also knitting but you aren't allowed to see those pictures/projects because they are Christmas gifts. Christmas, already?! Yes, I know it is multiple months away but, in the life of a crafter, it isn't that far away. I am really excited about one of the gifts and can't wait until December gets here just to see how the recipient likes it. I'll just have to content myself with taking pictures of it and waiting until December.
Let's talk about the spinning so I'm not tempted to spill the Christmas gift beans. In the middle of the Tour de Fleece, I had a small spending spree (oops) during which I bought a beautiful rose quartz little spindle and this 4 oz of roving.
This is Chocolate Toffee Cream from CJ Kopec Creations. I've bought lots of roving off of her before but let me tell you this is my absolute favorite. I thought the alpaca/merino blend was nice but compared to this stuff, it was like spinning straw! This is a blend of merino, alpaca, silk, and bamboo. It absolutely flies through your fingers and feels magnificent.
Right now, if I did a 2 ply with the singles I'm spinning, I would definitely have laceweight. But I'm thinking something different for it. In one of the last couple of issues of SpinOff, an article was talking about cabled yarns. Those are created when you 2 ply and then ply it again. That would probably bring me up to a fingering weight yarn. I can already imagine those beautiful socks. Magnificent singles = magnificent yarn = magnificent socks. Yummm. . .
I should be finished with the 4 oz tonight at spinning guild. I can't decide if I want to start plying it right away or if I want to start up on some different fiber. Guess it will just depend on how quickly I make it through the rest of this fiber. I probably would have gotten through it sooner if I hadn't paused to ply up this fun stuff.
It is Wisp from Gaslight Dyeworks. This yarn was so much fun to spin. It has wool, alpaca, and sparkly nylon in it. The nylon was a range of fun sparkles from blue to pink to purple to silver. The wool/alpaca was dyed a light yellow and makes for a nice background. I wish the pictures showed the sparkle more so you will just have to trust me that it is there.
I was trying to spin this into a heavier weight which can be difficult after spinning so much fine stuff. It ended up being somewhere between worsted and bulky. I haven't done a WPI (wraps per inch) measurement yet to find out the actual weight. The total yardage on it ended up being 216 yards and the skein was absolutely massive. For some idea of scale, the cat in this picture is 6 pounds. In her "kitty log" bundle, she and the skein are the same length. 
I swear I'll get back to knitting (that I can show you) sometime soon!
3 comments:
Beautiful yarns! Definitely try the cabling - it's a fun process. I tried it on a small leftover bunch of roving and it does come out nice. And I have to agree that it is so much harder to go back to spinning bulky when your fingers are so used to drafting to fingering or lace weight!
Your spun yarn is really beautiful. I'm beginning to look into spinning and was wondering if you've spun all this yarn on a drop spindle? I was looking at the smatterings blog and wondering if this is a good place to begin. I would appreciate any helpful tips (if you would be so kind to oblige). Thank you so much for such an enjoyable blog.
Thank you very much for your complements! Jean, nope, most of this isn't on a drop spindle though I do use one. I bought a Majacraft Little Gem II in May and really enjoy it. I would recommend two books for you as well as, if you can, taking a spinning class. Try looking in your area to see if a local yarn store offers classes or if there is a spinning guild who can offer instruction. The two books are Teach Yourself Visually Spinning and Start Spinning. Both books have very good instructions on using both a drop spindle and a spinning wheel. They also have fabulous picture tutorials. Good luck! It is addictive!
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