Look what I got! From my Spinning Secret Pal!That's baby alpaca top in the plastic bags. The softest fluff you could ever want. And I love that silvery gray - matches my hair! Or the parts of my hair that are gray, at least. I don't know what I'm going to make of this, but there are 4 ounces, so once my spinning skills catch up to the quality of this fiber, I'll have enough for a gorgeous lace scarf for me, I bet.
And see that little pouch? It was knit, perfectly I might add, just for me. Nobody - I repeat, nobody - has ever knit me anything, not since I was, oh, a young teen and my mom knit me sweaters. Which often did not fit well, I might add.
Inside the pouch - beaded stitch markers! And a dragonfly pin! I have absolutely no fancy stitch markers, much less lovely purple ones made just for me by my SP. And I love the wings of this dragonfly. It's Fimo clay, or something similar, so someone (on etsy, apparently) made little tubes of Fimo, or however it's done, to make the veins in the wings. Nice! Here are close-ups...
I love it! It absolutely made my day to get this little package in the mail! Thank you, whoever you are - you are very thoughtful!
In Other Fibery News
There's been a lot of productive fiber-working around these parts, especially over the long weekend.
First, here are yet more photos of my multicolored Ashland Bay merino roving, spun up and then plied with pink sock yarn, above.
And, when the pink yarn ran out, with purple sock yarn. I don't know what I'm going to do with this yarn, but I'm toying with the idea of using lots of different handspun yarns in a jacket for me. Which means I'll have to spin up lots more yarns. What a pity!
Second, Saturday morning I pulled out 8 ounces of Ashland Bay Pink Quartz merino roving - part of the first batch of roving I ever bought. Spin, spin, spin....ply, ply, ply...by Sunday night on a rainy weekend I had about 260 yards of heathery yarn, somewhere around a worsted weight (I gotta get me a wpi tool, or find a stiff enough ruler). I like this yarn, but I liked the roving better. The other roving I bought at the same time was a heathery purple, so I wonder if I'll be equally unthrilled with the yarn from that.
Third, I've been plugging right along on the to-be-felted striped-squares rug. I'm finding that spinning is helping my overall stick-to-it-iveness. When I start spinning a roving, I really want to see how it turns out, so it gets turned into yarn within days. I suppose if I were spinning enough of one type of roving to make a sweater, I'd get bored, but I'm not that foolish, unlike some knitters I could mention. Surprisingly, that enthusiasm for finishing a project is spilling over into my knitting. There seems to be a good chance that I will actually finish this rug - I'd estimate it's half knit now - before going on to another knitting project. And I like the switching between spinning and knitting. I spin for a day or two, then knit for a day or so, depending on my other activities, of course. I did find out that I can't yet spin while watching a movie, unlike knitting.
Finding My People
Finally, I am very, very pleased to report that I have landed among kin. Last night, I went to WEBS in Northampton for their monthly drop-in spinning evening, for the first time. I was anxious going in, of course - what if they don't like me? What if I don't like them? What if I can't spin a lick in public? etc., etc., but immediately I was at home with these spinners. There were about ten of us, ranging from brand-new spinners like me to very competent and experienced spinners (who were also very helpful and friendly - yay!). All women, all ages, and I'd tell you their names, but I'm really terrible at names and I can't remember a one. I had a ball, learned a lot about resources I didn't know (classes! websites! guilds!), was complimented on the yarn I've made, and it was all over way too quickly. I could have stayed and spun all night, really, I could have.
Anybody want to have a spinning slumber party with me?
4 comments :
Spinning slumber party?!? Great idea. Put me on the list.
I do - I'd love a spinning slumber party! Alas, it would be a bit of a trek all the way over to the other side of the country.
I am in love with the Pink Quartz merino that you did - it's just beautiful. I have so much fun playing with the multi-coloured rovings like that, the heathered colours just look so nice all spun up - and it's always so interesting what it actually looks like in the yarn as opposed to the roving, don't you think?
Oh - and the rug is coming out very nicely as well - I'm determined that one of these days I will get around to knitting a rug for my house. Something I've always wanted, just not gotten to yet.
Have fun!
Abi
Oh, and just as another comment - if you split your rovings down lengthwise you can preserve your colours better, so instead of the heathery yarn, you get more of a stripey yarn. Spinning from the fold has much the same effect.
I saw one spinner who took half the length of some multicoloured top, split it lengthwise to separate it into the different colours - spun those up in a random order. She then spun the other half like you did with your Rose Quartz to get the heathered effect, and plied the two together - it was beautiful, and something that is definitely on my list of things to try.
Have fun with it!
Abi
1) Neat the package. You've got a great SP there.
2) Love the Ashland Bay roving. I really like how the solid plying yarn adds depth and consistancy across the entirety of your yarn.
3) Stick-to-it-ness is great. I don't have it yet. Spinning has made me focus more on spinning.
4) The rug looks neat. Can't wait to see the finished product.
5) Spinning Slumber Party? When? I'm interested.
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