I have finished both my skeins of handspun from my spindle experiment! I dare say I might be getting the hang of this to some degree
The first skein I finished was one ounce of an unknown merino. I ended up with a bulky weight single that after washing and whacking was 27 grams and 31 yards of yarn. I definitely have some over and under spun parts but its holding together and not twisting up on itself as badly as my first attempt. For this one I used a smaller and lighter wooden drop spindle.
The second skein I finished was one ounce of an unknown merino batt. Again I ended up with a bulky weight single that after washing and whacking was 28 grams and 34 yards of yarn. Almost exactly the same as the first one. And for this one I used the heavier and larger maple drop spindle.
All in all, I made two successful yarns. Both are not perfect but I learned a lot about my drafting technique/ability and how best to finish my singles. Now…what should I spin next??
My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures 
If you learn how to tie an Andean bracelet on your wrist with a single you can do 2 ply. Or you can use a yarn cake thingy and ply from the middle and outside ends. Beautiful singles though.
One think I learned about wool for spinning is that merino is one of the more difficult wools to learn with because it has a shorter staple. That tidbit came *after* I purchased a big ol’ bag of it. The next purchase was something like corriedale or bfl, I cant recall, but one of the ‘sticky’ yarns. You did a beautiful job.
I have a boatload of llama and alpaca. I think I will start working with those because of their longer staple
You are off to a great start, though.
Seconding this – I was recommended to start learning with Corridale for this exact reason. However, if you’re determined then I wouldn’t be put off working with ‘tricky’ fibres – for me the ‘aha’ moment with spindle spinning was using a spindle of the right weight for the fibre + yarn thickness I was going for.
That is good to know as well. Sometimes, when we try something new, we don’t have the knowledge to know we are doing things the hard way! š
The colour reminds me of a blackberry pie with custard! Lovely thank you!
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doing great
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