Finished Pink Thick and Thin

She’s lumpy and nubbly and she’s all mine, lol. I am now calling this my Rustic 2-ply as it’s full of “character”!

After washing and drying I measured this skein out. The wraps per inch are ALL over the place but they mostly averaged out to worsted weight. The finished skein is 148 grams and 173 yards. It’s VERY pink and there are some spots where the fiber is not spun at all.

This is the kind of skein where it would be perfect for weaving with to show off that texture. Weaving is a fiber craft I had not dipped into. I may tuck this skein of yarn into the stash to wait for that day.

Happy Spinning!!

Balanced But Lumpy

My spinning that I am now calling my “Rustic 2-ply” is plied and coming off the bobbin this week.

As predicted, this is VERY thick and thin in spots. In fact there are some places where the roving is not spun at all. It can be very lumpy in many spots. But one silver lining, it was a very balanced skein after plying. There is almost no twisting back on itself. And it’s hanging straight down

This skein is off to is bath time so I can measure and count this skein. I think this will work out to be worsted on average across all the spots. And with 8 ounces of fiber used I am expecting a decent amount of yardage.

Happy Spinning!

Spinning Something New

I am still feeling the urge to spin and my Shiny Alpaca was off the wheel. So I pulled out a spinning kit I got in a mystery bag a few Christmas’s ago. It was 8.5 ounces of pink merino and a handful of intact wool locks in bright pink and bright blue.

I was so engrossed in the spin that I didn’t even grab any photos before the singles were done. I split the braid into 4 ounce chunks. I spun the first half with working the locks in intermittently. I HATED it from the start. But I persevered and worked them all in the first 4 ounces.

I then HAPPILY spun the second 4 ounces as plain merino. Those were lovely to spin. I plan to ply the two together. My first bobbin is very inconsistent and thick/thin. So I am predicting an “art” yarn from this skein. It will be beautiful in its own way, lol.

Happy Spinning!!

Shiny Alpaca Singles

I ignored my adult responsibilities and sat at my wheel for most of yesterday. I had finished my Finn yarn and I pulled more fiber from Fiber Flurry to spin. This time it is black alpaca with Firestar mixed in.

This roving is carded very nicely is lovely to spin. It’s smooth and comes out fairly consistently. I have 4.7 ounces of this fiber. I think I will plan to weigh it and spin onto two bobbins for a 2-ply. A single day got me an almost full first bobbin!

Happy Spinning!!

A Fine Finn Skein

The Finn singles are plied an folded into a neat tidy skein. I need to wash and whack this yet but I couldn’t help but show it off.

This skein weighs about 85 grams so I didn’t lose much fiber during the spinning process. There is still a TON of veg matter spun up into this skein. I’m hoping that some of that falls out during washing. Pre-washing I think I have about 80 to 82 yards of yarn so this is Aran weight.

I will lose some yardage during washing as the yarn plumps up. But that’s normal. It will be an interesting experiment to see how much I lose. I am happy with the tight ply and the overall yarn is pretty consistent. Not too shabby!!

Happy Spinning!!

Plying And Picking

All three bobbins of my Finn fiber are complete and I moved on to the plying stage!

Even with the fiber having been carded and the singles gone through the wheel once, I am still getting a lot of veg matter out of the fiber. My pants and black shirt were a little messy after my spinning session.

I did end up with a nice plump bobbin of a finished 3-ply. I will let this rest on the bobbin for a day or two and then I will give it a wash and whack to finish the process. I am predicting a nice heavy worsted to bulky finished yarn.

Happy Spinning!!

Two Fine Bobbins

The spinning has been slow and warm by the fire. I finished the second two ounces of Finn fiber. The bobbins look very similar and I hope this means the yardage is similar.

This fiber is really lovely to spin with. As long as it plies out nicely, I think I will be procuring more Finn from 14 Hands Ranch. Admittedly, I still have the third ball of two ounces to spin. Spinning has been my calm in the year end storm.

Short Days and Warm Fires

We are past the winter solstice and the days can only get longer now. The holiday season brought some SUPER frigid temperatures and I pulled my wheel close to the fire. This is the Finn I started before Christmas.

I have the second ounce on the wheel and the first ounce resting on its bobbin. This fiber is carded very well and spins wonderfully. I started and stopped several times, but I got there eventually.

I’m still thinking I will put each ounce on its own bobbing and 3-ply the lot. I haven’t done 3-ply a ton so I’m intrigued on how it will turn out. I still have dreams of a stripped bulky handspun sweater in my handspun…..

Happy Spinning!!

Spinning Finn

I finished the incredibly sparkly and very messy Pink Merino Sparkle 2-ply. I’ll have FO pics to share tomorrow! So I decided to keep my wheel cozy and warm but starting the Finn roving I got at Fiber Flurry.

I have three little one ounce nests. I plan to spin each on its own bobbin and then make a 2-ply if the fibers spins thick or a 3-ply if they spin thin. This is my first time working with Finn so I am interested to see how it turns out with my technique level.

This color would fit nice with some of my first handspun in natural colors. I am still dreaming of a big thick cozy handspun sweater. But we shall see!! Christmas is almost here so I have many many things to do!

Happy Spinning!!

Spinning From The Flurry

It’s been about one month since I touched my wheel. I decided to get back into the flow over the weekend. I grabbed the small 2 oz custom batt I bought at Fiber Flurry 2022.

This bat is VERY fluffy and VERY sparkly. It sheds more than my daycare providers German Shepherd in the spring. There are only 2 ounces of this fiber so I will just spin the whole thing onto one bobbin and then 2-ply back on itself.

I am a little out of practice so I reasoned that going back to my “default” spin would be a nice warm up to get my fingers back into the groove. Happy Spinning!!