My very first skein of handpun.....................

I am sitting here grinning from ear to ear as I type as I am so proud of what I have achieved today. A few days ago I posted about starting my adventures into spinning. Well this evening I finally finished my very first whole skein of handspun. A whopping great 95grms of it. Ok, so it is having a bit of an identity crisis at the moment as to whether it is a DK or a 4ply but I am very proud all the same. It actually looks like real yarn.



I finally finished spinning up the first plys on the two spindles that I had been practising on. I was getting a much finer thread on the Bosworth but decided to spin half and half over the two spindles I had been using hoping to get a more even yarn when I plied them together.

Here is the result of each ply with each of the spindles. Each one sitting next to the yarn that it produced.



As you can see I got much better results as I went on.

My next job was to work out how to ply without getting in a tangle. In the book I bought while I was on holiday it suggests putting the two balls under plant pots and bringing the yarn up through the drainage holes. Well I didn't have any plant pots but I am one for saving the empty plastic soup pots so I made some holes in the bottoms, thread the yarn through and then fixed the lids on so the yarn didn't fall out of the bottom.



I have to say I am very smug about this improvisation.

Then I was off plying although it took a little longer than I thought and by the end my back was aching quite a bit. I managed to get away without either of the plies getting too tangled at any one point and ended up with another spindle full of plied yarn having remembered to turn it anti-clockwise.

Next was grab two of the dining room chairs and wind up my skein.......





......and then secure it with a few holders in place.

I then lifted it off the chairs and guess what it hung pretty well open. I still need to soak it and do the distilled vinegar thing to relax the fibres and let them balance but I am already pleased with the results.





All I have to do now is decide what to knit it into.

NOTES:
1)I have named the Yarn - Purple Heart after the wood that the whorl on my Bosworth spindle is made out of.
2)The reference book I have been using is Start Spinning by Maggie Casey
3)It all takes a lot longer than you think, but it's fun.

Spinning around...........................

Ok time to confess that over the last 3 weeks under the expert tuition of Diane Mulholland I have been learning to do a bit of hand spinning.
I am addicted, there is no other way to put it. Diane very kindly offered to let me have a go with one of her many spindles. Actually no, that's not how it happened. We were at the Natural Dye Studio for the open day and Diane said you need a bag of this........



.....well I didn't want to argue so I did as I was told and bought some. It is so, so soft. I had been talking about wanting to give spinning a go but was unable to book onto Diane's recent course as I knew I was away on holiday for one of the days. Diane needs no encouragement to enable people to become spinners and I became the next immediate convert.

So not wanting to spoil the lovely roving I had purchased merely to practice with I was supplied with the loan of a spindle and some fibre that Diane gave me.

Attempt number one.......





See at least one piece wasn't too bad. At least I know I can spin that thick, slubby yarn!

By now I already had some of the vocabulary under my belt too such as drafting and plying. My next aim was to get things a little less on the chunky side and more even.

Next was an additional session on my break from knitting hats at the Innocent Village Fete, where Diane provided me with yet more practice fibre.

Attempt number two.......





It was certainly improving and getting more even but I was finding the spindle a little on the heavy side to try and get a finer thread (what I mean was it kept breaking because I was drafting it too thinly).

So after a few emails backwards and forwards I had ordered these two little lovelies.....(purchased at P&M Woolcraft)





and two 500grm bags of undyed tops from Andy at Bluefaced.com, one was a lovely bag of the best ever British Merino and a bag of Bluefaced Leicester as was recommended to practice with. All arrived just in time for leaving for the Lakes for my holiday.

Well the problem is I have already got ideas well beyond my spinning capabilities so while away, as it doesn't count as stash as it is not yet truly yarn I made the following purchases...........



A 500grm bag of Alpaca fleece, which I now know needs washing before I can do anything with it.



A book on spinning, 2 bags of hand dyed merino tops and 2 bags of Mohair tops and 28 grms of Cashmere. I don't even know if spinning these fibres is any different. I have a lot to learn but I am looking forward to every minute of it.

I have also found myself looking at the adverts for spinning wheels and I am sure it is now only a matter of time before I come to own one.

So if you are now inspired to have a go at spinning and you live in the London area why not book one of Diane's courses. You can find them on the Socktopus website or visit Diane's blog Needles on the move where you can see what she has been up to and what she will be up to next. Diane is also going to have a series of downloadable spinning tutorials so even if you aren't in London you can benefit from her expertise.