Things haven’t been as crafty-slow around here as they probably have seemed from my posts lately, but they haven’t been all that exciting either. I’ve been settling into the new job, and generally being distracted by all this summertime we’ve been having lately.
The last few weeks have seen a fair bit of spinning, but it’s been incredibly off-and-on. I barely fell like I’ve been doing any at all, but when I step back to look what I have done, I’m actually quite proud of.
This is probably the most beautiful skein I’ve made to date. >50g of Fleece Artist merino roving, spun fine — like I ever measure WPI? let’s say it’s “fingering weight” — and wet-finished to gorgeous, bouncy beauty.
My best hand-spinning to date.
What a skein!
The glamorous close-up.
I have no idea what I’ll do with it, but it’s doing quite well as my favorite pet skein right now.
This next Fleece Artist sliver was spun very similarly (stripped into thumb-width/arm-length sections, slightly predrafted, spun from the end), but I think I was less successful in it’s plying. Nonetheless, it shows quite nicely on the niddy-noddy:
Yes, the colours are quite pretty, but…
…does this plying look loose to you?
Currently I’ve got some lovely “oatmeal” light grey and tawny Blue-Faced Leicester I picked up at Romni that I’m working through. I haven’t quite figured out how best to spin it — it’s very fluffy, so I’m worried about predrafting it overmuch lest if just fly apart, and yet it seems a bit sticky if it’s not stripped down some. I’ve spun one bobbin from the end, and one spinning frmo the fold, and I’m not quite happy with either. Once spun, however, the singles look quite fetching, if somewhat uneven.
I like the way the natural colours create a subtle barber-pole striping in the singles. I’m going to ply these ones up, but I may try to spun the rest of the 225g bundle as a fatter single, to preserve this nifty effect. I’m totally making this up as I go along; any tips, tricks, advice, and/or opinions are welcome here!
On the knitting front, progress has been made on the ever-present socks (the purple Pomotomus are 1-down, and there’s another pair of Monkeys “flying under the blogdar” too), as I have been enjoying relaxing knit-time, fine company, and delicious treats of Lettuce Knit‘s knit-nights. Last night I was gifted with a rather large handful of needles, cast out from the company of classier needles like Addis and KnitPicks, by Glenna (who is sadly moving next week, just as I we were getting to know each other — hooray for blogs, at least!).
Thanks again Glenna, best of luck in the move, and come back to visit soon!
Aemmeleia's Ephemera 
Gorgeous yarn! It makes me want to get out my wheel and spin….just beautiful.
That is some great purple handspun there! See, it’s photos like these that make me want to learn how to spin.
We’ll just have to have that knitting sleepover in the fall. :)
Your new handspun looks scrumptous!
wow, that is way nicer then the stuff I am spinning, but then again I am just making it up as I go and not really paying attention to the drafting etc. Great score on the needles.
Oh my goodness. That is just gorgeous yarn right there. I would be petting it every other minute. Well done!
Ohhh… pretty. I like the Fleece Artist a lot.
I spun up that Fleece Artist sea wool that I got at Knitomatic during the TTC Knit along. Very pretty and great to spin with.
Psst. . . I’m all settled in now and while not quite unpacked, I’ve at least unpacked the fibre stuff, so if you send me your mailing address, I’ll send you those brushes I promised.
WOW! I got here from your link at Dez’s (Mambocat) blog. Beautiful spinning, beautiful yarn. Was there a picture of the roving from which that was spun? I can see a glorious drapey shawl from that top picture. Or even a gentleman’s vest.