Tag Archives: handspun

That Was Quick

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I had some merino blend fiber jump on and off my wheel very quickly last week. I had four ounces a merino, bamboo and sparkle blend that I bought from The Shepherds Mill when I took spinning lessons.

I weighed and split the fiber in half so that I could work from two bobbins. This fiber just spun so smooth and quickly. I think the singles rested longer than it took for me to actually spin them. I did my go-to 2-ply and ended up with this skein.

It it is a little overspun and is twisting back on itself. But I think a good bath and a solid thwack should set this just fine. I think this will turn out to be a thick and thin worsted? I’ll do a final weight and measure after its dry.

Happy Spinning!!

Deliciously Chocolate

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My beautiful natural chocolate Romney yarn is complete! This….I’m SUPER proud of!

I ended with two worsted to slightly heavy worsted skeins of 2-ply. After washing it plumped up to be 396 total yards and 213 grams. Roughly half in each skein so not a bad job on my part for the dividing!

After seeing this finished and putting it next to my other natural color Hand-spun…..I might be close to a sweaters lot of heavy worsted if I work stripes. And that excites me! They only caveat is that it’s not all the same fiber content. It’s all non-super wash but many different breeds of sheep. I might have to research my idea before I go to far down the rabbit hole…

Happy Knitting!!

Washed And Thwacked

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I am OBSESSED with this handspun. I gave it a wash and thwack yesterday and set near my dehumidifier to dry. And this morning, these are two gloriously dry skeins.

It is a very well balanced yarn that hangs fairly straight. I have just under 200 grams total in yarn. I need run it through my yardage counter to see what I ended up with. The yarn did plump up quite a bit with washing so this might be a heavy worsted. And I’m still super proud of that! Stay tuned for finished yarn photos 🙂

Happy Spinning!!

I Think I Accidentally Made Worsted Weight Yarn

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It took me a minute to get all my plying done. Had a few fits and starts, but I now have two pretty bobbins!

I did a quick wraps per inch gauge on these….and y’all this might be a true worsted with spots of a heavy worsted. This is the finest I have spun and plied thus far! I need to give this yarn a bath and see if it plumps up any. I am kinda excited to see what this turns out to be!

Happy Spinning!!

Plying All The Romney

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My spinning mojo has really caught fire. After starting some singles out of 100% Romney last week, I spent all day Saturday playing outside with the kids and finishing the singles. I let them rest overnight and played the “mother’s day card” so I could drink wine and ply my yarn.

I really enjoy using my tensioned Kate. It helps prevent overspinning and having the singles fold back on themselves. The wine doesn’t hurt either!

Happy Spinning!!

Outdoor Time

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After finishing my unknown 3-ply, I felt the urge to pull out my wheel again. It’s been a hot minute since I felt the urge to spin. So I took PB outside to swing and I sat on the patio with my wheel to spin a little.

I have roughly 200 grams of 100% romney wool in this lovely natural chocolate color. It is spinning really well and smoothly. It took me a minute to get back in a rhythm and make semi consistent singles.

PB played and told stories and I filled 3/4 of a bobbin! I think I have enough fiber to fill two bobbins and make a two ply? Who knows, I will go where the spinning leads me. It is freeing not to have a specific plan or destination. Just make something pretty!

Happy Spinning!!

Mystery Handspun, But It’s Finished!

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I have had some singles finished and just waiting on bobbins. I got a wild hair to ignore my adult responsibilities and stay up past 11 to ply everything the other night.

The singles were really inconsistent and prone to breaking. So I decided to chain ply/3-ply them back on themselves. It made a really thick and thin yarn but I think it came out really pretty!

I ended up 242 yards out of 182 grams of wool. So this is probably a bulky skein with a few worsted spots on it. The wool was some unknown wool I was donated so I don’t know the fiber content is. It’s a little crunchy/wooly so I think not merino. But also not alpaca as there was no drape.

Whatever it is, I will make something fun with it! Happy Spinning!!

The Dirtiest Fiber I’ve Ever Spun

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I snuck in a super quick spin after the holidays. I had some unknown fiber in my donated stash bucket. The only thing I know is that it’s from the Weavers Loft, the fiber is brown and I had 2.9 ounces. So I got it on the wheel!

This was quite literally the dirtest fiber I have ever spun. My fingers turned BLACK where the fiber was passing through my fingers. The prepped fiber must have not been washed a ton after shearing. Which is fine but a new experience for me!

I ended up spinning all the fiber on one bobbin and then caking it up into a center pull ball to ply back on itself. When I was done I had a 2-ply skein that measured 114 yards over 74 grams. So a worsted skein with a few thicker spots.

I had to wash and wash and wash this skein to get all the grime out. But I got there and the skein turned out really pretty. Now to plot my next spin! Happy Spinning!!

Labeling Binge

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I present to you….most of my handspun stash!

I was organizing my storage bins and realized that I am amassing quite the collection of handspun. And some of it really looks alike. So went on the interwebs and downloaded some free templates for hand spun yarn labels.

I managed to get each skein labeled with yardage, weight, fiber content and date. I feel like future Rachelle will really appreciate what today Rachelle did. Not to mention it made the organization lobe of my brain REALLY happy.

Happy Spinning!!

Romney Spins Fast

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I have been sneaky spinning some 100% Romney I pulled from my donated stash. I started with a pretty large amount of fiber as it was 7.8 ounces. I let the fiber tell me what to do and I spun the roving with a pinch and pull method. I didn’t even grab any in progress spinning photos, I just couldn’t put this one down!

I ended up filling two bobbins without really having measured or splitting the fiber. After resting the singles I started plying them as two ply. I filled one bobbing and had to start a second one! This was for sure my biggest spin thus far. I did have a little bit of singles left on one bobbing so I three plied it back onto itself to finish it out.

In the end I created two 100 gram worsted to light bulky weight skeins that had roughly 328 total yards. And the small three ply mini was 15 grams and just under 17 yards of a bulky. All skeins got washed, whacked and finished. I was surprised at the amount of grime that came out of this relatively light colored wool.

Now on to my next spinning project!