You’ll all have to forgive me, but I’m in serious love.

 

Things of beauty, aren’t they?  One’s obviously (at least to most) an iPhone.  I adore this little thing far more than I thought I would.  The other?

Some absolutely delicious merino/silk roving from Serendipity Fibers on Etsy.  I’m trying to contain my drool, because I don’t want to ruin the fiber!

Okay, I attempted to play with CSS today. I don’t think I succeeded.

Darth Spindle! A custom order from Spinsanity, and I adore it! She also included the most adorable spindle keychain. Now I’ll have no excuse for losing my keys.

Very, very happy pink singles here. I’m loving spinning this up, when it’s not hot enough to make me melt at the thought of touching fiber. It’s a Corriedale, Merino, Silk, Firestar blend from Copperpot Woolies. The fiber they sell apparently has some sort of addictive chemical in it, as I can’t seem to stop buying it.

I finished the Carousel singles from an earlier post and plied them. Not perfect, but I’m happy with the resulting yarn!

The first finished Solstice Slip Sock. Of course, now that I’m done, I wish I’d made the cuff a bit longer. Oh, well.

I was down the other day, so I decided to spin something…excessively cheerful.

Batt from Coperpot Woolies – who seems to peddle fibery crack, I swear.

I haven’t disappeared, just been quite busy.  But I’ve got some blurry pictures to show you!

This is CJ Kopec Creations’ Carousel roving – 80% merino, 20% colonial wool.  Yummy stuff.  I can’t get enough of just touching it.

Of course, when I couldn’t sleep, I decided to see how some of it spun up.  Here we go:

Not trying for anything in particular with this bobbin.  Just watching how the colors flow, and playing with different drafting methods.  So it’s more thick and thin than I normally care for, but I’m okay with it.

I think one of the biggest things I’m learning with spinning is that things can be imperfect, but still wonderful.

Speaking of wonderful, the musical accompaniment for this evening was the soundtrack for Done the Impossible, which is a great documentary about the fans of Firefly/Serenity.  I think it’s just as yummy as the wool.

Now playing: Rob Kuhlman - Done The Impossible (Ballad Of Serenity)

I just brought this home!

It’s got a bit of a story, as well.   I’ve been taking a class at Springwater Fiber Workshop, and I got to use this wheel. I loved it, and wanted one just like it. (If anyone actually knows anything about spinning, it’s an older Ashford Traditional.)

I went to a spinning group meeting on Monday, and one of the group had mentioned that she knew I liked that type of wheel, and there would be a used one for sale soon. Was I interested? I somehow refrained from bouncing and said yes, could I see it?

It’s the same wheel I’ve been using. And it only cost me $200!  It’s got a few quirks, but I’m used to most of them.  I do need to replace a few pieces – the brake band’s spring has been replaced with a rubber band, for example.

And now I”m going to stop blogging and actually *spin*!

Honestly, I’m in love.  How could I not be?  Just look!

Spindle is a lovely lace spindle from Spinsanity on Etsy.  It’s a wonderful spindle, and I can’t stop playing with it!

Fiber is some fine merino from Copper Moose, on eBay.  Just dreamy – it’s like playing with cotton candy.  Except my fingers don’t get all sticky, which is generally a plus.

Warning: Visual Wonkiness because I tried to prettify the blog after I wrote the post, since I was all jealous of Turtlegirl’s pretty, pretty blog. Yeah, she generally does get m up off my shebs to get to work…

You know you must be a fiber geek when this is what you use to weight a drying skein:  For the less geeky, that’s the controller for the Nintendo Wii, lending a bit of weight to my first skein spun by spindle.

Here’s a closer look:

I obviously still need work, but I’m not unhappy with my first attempt. I think learning the basics on the wheel helped a lot - I didn’t have so many new concepts to worry about. And speaking of spinning wheels, I have these products from my last two nights of class. First, some much better looking singles than before:

Grainy, poorly color-corrected closeup:

 

And from tonight, my first plied yarn! Bit of a mix of everything, honestly. Wool of different kinds and colors, and some bamboo (which tastes funny, at least to me).  Kali (otherwise known as Jabba) had to help out with the photos. I guess she knows that cat pictures are fairly obligatory for knitting blogs.

I’ll actually show some knitting soon. At the moment spinning in the “Ohh, shiny!” craft. And not just shiny, but Shiny! Hey, you all saw the Jayne hat. You know I’m a Browncoat!

First up, probably the most frustrating socks I’ve ever knitted:

You can see them both ways. I like the version on the right better. I think the frustration was mostly me. Stress + tight cables = lots of snapped size 1 needles. Some sort of memorial service may be in order.

Pattern: Inside-Out Socks from Blue Mountain Fiber Arts Rockin’ Sock Club.

Needles: Foot knit on size 0 Inox metal needles. Not fond of these - I’m used to the length of the Brittany Birch needles, and metal doesn’t feel as good as wood, to me.

Leg knit on Brittany Birch size 1 needles. Lots of them. (Again, pretty sure this is my fault.)
Yarn: Blue Mountain Fiber Arts Socks that Rock, sock club colorway Monsoon

New techniques for me: Toe-Up socks, and short row toe and heel. Also used a sewn bind-off for the first time. I’m used to grafting toes, not binding off cuffs!

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Next, a pair of socks that you may have seen in various incarnations. It took me almost a year to knit, due to depression and just being plain unhappy with them at any given time.Pattern: My default sock pattern, the Universal Sock PatternNeedles: Size 0 Inox metal needles.Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Black Purl
New techniques for me: None on the actual finished sock, but there was, at one point, a picot edge, so this sock is where I figured out how to do that, and a provisional cast-on.

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And now the “And more!” part:I’ve spent part of this past week taking a class I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Springwater Fiber Workshop’s Introduction to the Spinning Wheel. And I’m in love.

Of course, my first skein of yarn is nothing to be proud of:

Second one is better, somewhat:

Coiled

Uncoiled

The orange bits in the second skein are from some wool that we learned to hand-card on. And as you may be able to see, the second skein is more consistent, but also filled with knots. There were quite a few points where I was underspinning thicker parts, and it caused breaks.

Also, the first skein has been washed and whuzzed, the second skein hasn’t. We did the first in class, and the second I’m waiting for the right time to freak out the neighbors. Something about swinging around a bunch of wet fiber is good for the soul.