Oooooh..........Silky

The picture doesn't do the color justice. It's really a grayish colorway with hues of blues, and pinks. It reminded me of the sky after a storm. This was made with 2 oz of Tussah Silk purchased at the '09 Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival. It was spun on my .5 ounce Golding (her maiden spin). I was hoping to get the yarn thinner, but I know it takes practice. It was two plyed on my 1.3 ounce Kundert with two separate toilet paper roll bobbins. I got about 185 yards of dk/worsted weight yarn which will make a small dressy scarf.

Good Things in Small Packages

I recently became a member of the Spindle Addicts Swap on Ravelry. This is the second swap that I have participated in and I love it. Here is my lastest package from Angie in Baldwin, Michigan (Valley on Ravelry). The spindle which is hidden is an Avi Wasserman which I was so excited to get. The three batts of fiber are so beautiful and I can't wait to get my hands into them. I also received some tea, hot chocolate, soap and a pattern for a great felted bag. Thank you so much, Angie.

Another beautiful 8 ounce roll of fiber which I acquired from Rhinebeck '08. I was really into the fall colors with the golds, reds, oranges, and browns. I was fixated on getting some fiber to spin up yarn to make some great scarves for my loden coat.

This spun up like a dream on my 1.3 ounce kundertspindle. I spun it up in short spurts and put on my original bobbins made of toilet paper rolls.

I andean plyed each roll an got a great result. About 250 yards of worsted weight fiber which I will make into a neck gaitor pattern I found on Ravelry.

In order to increase my stash of spindles, I joined the "Spindle Addicts Swap" on ravelry.com. This was my first handmade spindle made from polymer clay by cookie48. I love the sheep. Isn't she talented? I also got some great fiber from Montana. Very nice.

My First "Real" Project - Part II

My second "Dave's Martian Scarf" which was made with that sage merino knitted up great. The recipient was my future brother inlaw, Sean for his college graduation. He loved the scarf and was very appreciative. He even know how it got the name "Martian Scarf" as he's into alien stuff.

My First "Real" Project

Roving purchased from Rhinebeck '08, this sage green merino spun up nicely on my Kundert. I yielded almost 300 yards and this was my first two ply. I love the flecks of gold that show up among the green shades.

I set out to knit this up into a Dave's Martian Scarf, which I found on Ravelry. I had knit one before and liked the pattern. Finished page coming soon.

The Bamboo Project - Start to Finish

The completion of the Bamboo/Merino experiment turned out very well. I knew that when I purchased this braid it would be lovely. It was lovely to photograph at every stage, and it was lovely to spin up. It was also lovely to knit up this simple lace scarf. As for the loden coat it will go with.....I can just say one word - lovely.

It was spun up on my beloved Kundert 1.3 ounce spindle. The pattern was a simple lace freebie I found on ravelry.com. I got quite a bit of yardage out of this (enough to make this scarf). I'm getting better as I go.

Silken Mist - Aaaahhhhhhh

Something to spin up with that new Golding. This was also purchased at the Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival '09. Mary and I ooohed and aaahed over the selection of colors at the Hunnybuns Rabbitry and Avairy booth. This beautiful tussah silk came from New Hampshire and was hard to resist. The hardest part of this purchase was trying to decide on a colorway as they all were so beautiful. I figured that this would spin up into a nice fiber that would remind me of the clearning sky right after a storm.

Bamboo Bliss

I saw this bamboo/merino braid at Rhinebeck 2008 and couldn't resist. The more I spun, the more I wanted to experiment in color and different fibers. I liked this braid for the beautiful browns and orange combination. I could see a beautiful scarf to go with my loden coat.

Can't wait to see what gets created with this new find.

My Collection - So Far.......

It makes perfect sense that the more you spin, the more spindles you collect. Well, here is my collection so far. The left is a plain ole "Schacht" spindle that I purchased at Rhinebeck '08. It weighs about 2.5 ounces and is good for the beginner. As you get better and want to spin finer yarn, you want a lighter weight spindle. The right is my "Kundert" which has a walnut shaft and the whorl is a maple, cherry and purpleheart combination. It weighs 1.3 ounces and spins like a dream. The middle is my "Golding" which I purchased at the 2009 Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival. It weighs a mere half ounces and is made of purpleheart. Can't wait to try it out on the tussah silk I bought there also.

Spun to Finished - The Journey has Begun

My maiden voyage into spinning resulted in some pretty, but very bulky yarn. I only ended up with about 30 - 40 yards. I took up my size 11 needles and decided to see what I could do. I didn't follow any pattern on this hat but it turned out ok. Though not fashionably chic, I can see wearing it to run to the mailbox.

A Journey into a New Craft Begins

I had resisted the urge to spin for a while. However, upon a trip to the 2008 Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival with my new friend Mary, I decided to give it a "whorl." Mary wanted to learn to spin and as soon as we found a booth with spindle kits for sale. As I observed her five minute tutorial, I became interested and decided to give it a try. Needless to say, we both bought a kit. Here are the first and second results at my beginning attempts at spinning.

The blue and purple balls were spun from the roving that came with my kit. The second "cotton candy" colored ball was a spun with a soy silk/merino roving that I bought at the 2008 New York Sheep and Wool Festival at Rhinebeck.

Well, as you can now see, I'm hooked and purchased more roving at Rhinebeck and another spindle. Stay tuned for more projects to come.