I finished this handspun over the weekend…

It’s 100% merino, single-ply lace weight.  I spun it from roving dyed by The Dyeing Arts, which I purchased from The Loopy Ewe.  It was an absolute dream to spin.  I’ve spun merino-blends before, but never 100% merino.  I really think I’m in love.  When I pre-drafted it, I couldn’t get over how incredibly soft it was.  I just wanted to curl up in the basket of fiber.

There’s just over 450 yards on the skein, so finally I have enough yardage to actually knit something!  I washed it Tuesday night to set the twist, and tonight it was finally dry enough to use.  I decided to cast on a new project with it, even though I have tons of other projects on the needles already.

I didn’t even have to debate or search for a pattern: the yarn immediately told me it wanted to become the Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery. The thought of having this super-soft merino knitted into a simple, airy lace scarf to drape around my neck is just heavenly.  It seemed the perfect match-up of yarn and pattern.

So I wound a center-pull ball.  It was exciting to wind my own handspun for the first time.  It’s far from perfect; as I wound it, I could feel occasional lumps and bumps sliding through my fingers.  It’s okay though.  I’m hoping it will give my scarf some unique character.

I only knit about three rows on it tonight, so unfortunately I can’t see the pattern taking shape yet.  I’m really eager to see how the yarn and this pattern interact.  I’ve already ripped it back once because the recommended size 3 needles were a bit to small for my liking.  (I tend to be a very tight knitter too.)  So I cast on again with 4’s and that seems to be going much better.

I think this will become the next project that travels with me.  I’m almost done with the socks I’ve been knitting during lunchtime at work, so this will replace them, I think.  But unlike those socks, I think I’ll bring this home with me everyday rather than leaving it in my desk drawer.  I want to finish it as quickly as possible because I can’t wait to wear it!

And don’t think because I’ve cast on some of my handspun that I’ve abandoned spinning more.  I got an entire pound of natural dark BFL fiber in the mail from Hello Yarn today.  I’m thinking perhaps it will become a shawl or maybe a project from A Fine Fleece.  I’ll have to see how it spins up.  Here are a couple other skeins I’ve spun recently…

If you’ve been a member of Flickr for any length of time, you’re probably familliar with Moo Mini-cards. They’re tiny little cards — only about 2 3/4″ x 1″ — and come in packs of 100 for $19.99. You can import photos directly from your Flickr account to have printed on the front. You can use as many or as few photos as you’d like, and they get divided among the 100 cards. The back can be printed with up to 6 lines of text.

There are so many potential uses for these little cards, but I never found anything to do with them — till now…

I had the front side of all my cards printed with various close-ups of some of my handspun yarns. Please excuse my photo; I promise the quality of the printing is fantastic! I just had bad lighting to photograph these with.

The back is the fun part — I had it printed with my website’s name, my e-mail, and websites’ URLs, as well as spaces to write in information about fiber and amount. So can you guess what these are for!? I’m going to punch a hole in the corner and string them on to my handspun to label each one so I know what the fiber and number of ounces/yardage of each one is! I think it’s a super fun way to label them!

What d’ya think?

What I’ve been working on…

“Dreamy” — Fiber: 2/3 merino, 1/3 colonial from CJ Kopec Creations

“Feelin’ Peachy” — Fiber: 2/3 merino, 1/3 tencel from CJ Kopec Creations

“Bad Robot” — Fiber: 100% corriedale from Sakina Needles

“Rose Garden” — Fiber: 100% black BFL from Gale’s Art (via The Loopy Ewe)

I just started spinning some more Sakina Needles (BFL in “Algae”) on Monday night.  I’ve been putting too much twist on my singles, so I’m trying to concentrate on treadling a little slower and drafting a bit faster.  I also spent a little more time pre-drafting the fiber than I have in the past.  At the same time, I’m trying to focus on spinning a more even single.

Eventually I also want to work toward thinner singles.  The two 2-ply yarns in the photos above are somewhere around bulky/super-bulky weight, I believe.  I’d like to be able to produce some 2-ply worsted weight, so I need to spin thinner singles.

There are so many variables in spinning.  I think that’s part of what makes it so fun and challenging.  When you’ve mastered one thing, there’s always some other aspect to improve upon.  However, with every ounce of fiber spun, I can see overall improvement.  It’s very gratifying.

I’m starting to get excited at the idea of actually knitting with some of my handspun.  There’s something about that moment after you’ve washed the hank, waited for it to dry, and then twisted it up into a skein — suddenly it’s yarn.  Real yarn, but made with my very own hands.  It’s a really, really neat feeling.

There’s no turning back.  I’m officially and hopelessly addicted to spinning.

I spent part of this afternoon spinning 4 ounces of BFL and another 4 ounces of corriedale.  The darker colored singles in the picture are hand-painted black BFL by Gale’s Art.  The name of the color is “Rose Garden”.  The lighter, brighter-colored singles are Sakina Needles corriedale in a color called “Bad Robot”.  I’m letting these singles rest on the bobbins overnight and I’m hoping I can ply them tomorrow and see how they look.

I still have another 16 ounces of corriedale and 8 ounces of BFL from Sakina Needles to spin.  I can’t wait!

AND… I was able to join CJ Kopec Creations‘ fiber club.  I’m so excited because it will give me the chance to try some different and challenging fibers.  Not to mention Coby makes some beautiful rovings.

I got my niddy-noddy in the mail on Friday also and I finally skeined up my very first 2-ply that I ever spun.  I can already see so much improvement from this first skein compared with the singles I’ve been spinning lately.  I still think it’s really pretty and I’ve hung it on display in my craft room.  It’s only about 30 yards so I can’t imagine I’ll knit anything with it.

I decided not to ply the two other singles I spun so far (the merino/colonial and merino/tencel).  Instead I wound them on the niddy-noddy last night and washed them.  They’re currently hanging in the shower to dry.  Both of them have a bit too much twist, but I’m still learning.  I might knit something with them, though — both have a lot more yardage than my first skein.  I’ll take pictures of those and post them as soon as they’re done drying!

First, there are a couple fun knitting/fiber-related events coming up in the middle Tennessee area and I wanted to share them with you:

• Worldwide Knit in Public Day will be celebrated in Nashville on June 14th at Centennial Park, beginning at 11 a.m.  You can find more details about the event here.  I’m really hoping to make it, providing the weather is nice.  If you come, be sure to look for me and say “hello”!
• The Middle Tennessee Sheep, Wool and Fiber Festival is coming up on May 23rd & 24th.  It’s taking place in Dickson, TN at the Dickson County fair grounds.  More information can be found at their site.  I was lucky enough to get a spot in their Beginning Spinning workshop on Saturday afternoon, and I can’t wait!  (Not to mention, I can’t wait to go ogle all the lovely roving the vendors will be selling…)

Speaking of spinning, I know several people have asked me how my spinning is coming along.  Truthfully I haven’t had the opportunity to do nearly as much as I’d like to.  In the short bits of free time I have here and there, it’s easy to pick up my knitting projects, but I really have to devote bigger blocks of time if I’m going to drag out my wheel.  It seems that I need to make time for spinning.

I did pick up some new roving last week from The Loopy Ewe:

This particular fiber comes from black Blue-Faced Leicester sheep, and then is overdyed with color.  It gives a really neat effect and I can’t wait to see how it spins up.

I also placed another order from The Woolery (where I purchased my wheel) today.  I got 2 more bobbins, a niddy-noddy, and the Ashford maintenance kit.  And I placed an order from Sakina Needles for some lovely Corriedale and BFL (TLE hasn’t had either of those fibers in stock reccently).

So, what have I actually spun…?  Not much.  Yet.

In a previous post, I showed the first singles I’d spun.  Here’s some more shots of the singles and 2-ply I made from that:

Then tonight I finished spinning my second single, a merino/colonial blend from CJ Kopec Creations:

Finally, here’s what I have on my wheel now.  I just started spinning this merino/tencel blend (also from CJ Kopec Creations) tonight:

This merino/tencel is by far the most challenging fiber I’ve spun so far.  The tencel just wants to separate from the merino.  It’s a real challenge!

I’m very glad I decided to order mostly BFL and corriedale (”easy” fibers) to spin next.  I think I need a lot more practice!

My lovely Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel is all finished, assembled and ready to spin!

The Finishing Process:

The finishing process was really pretty painless.  I chose Minwax Polyshades, a combination stain and polyurethane.  Note that this is not water-based so you’ll need mineral spirits for cleanup and you’ll want to work in a well-ventilated area.  (I worked in our garage with the door completely open.)  This finish is very inexpensive.  You can find it at your local hardware store or WalMart.  I bought the larger can but only used about 1/4 of it, so the smaller can probably would have been more than sufficient.  The Minwax site recommends using a natural bristle brush to apply the finish.  I used small sponge-brushes and they worked well for me (and only cost about 59-cents).

The color I chose is “Bombay Mahogany”.  I’m a huge fan of red woods like cherry and mahogany.  I did about three coats on all the pieces.  I think the wheel itself (which is MDF rather than solid wood) might have gotten an extra coat.  It did take quite a while to dry completely but we were also having some very cool, damp weather while I was working on it so I think that was a big part of my problem.

The color turned out really rich and beautiful and I’m extremely pleased with it.  I’m hoping the polyurethane will help the wheel hold up for years to come.

Assembly:

Ashford supplied a very nice folder with their product which contains assembly directions, spinning directions, and two spinning/fiber-related magazines.  The assembly directions have next to no text-instructions, instead using drawings to explain the assembly process.  For the most part, the directions were pretty easy to follow.  Keep in mind that I’ve never in my life laid hands on a spinning wheel, yet I was able to assemble this one.  I think Ashford deserves high praise for their directions!

The only portion of the instructions that gave me trouble was step 13, where you attach a string, two springs, and the tension knob.  (I believe this would be the brake-band?)  Ashford supplied a piece of fishing-line to use for this, and my knots just kept slipping.  I gave up and used kitchen cotton instead, but I’m still struggling to get enough tension.

… And the Spinning Begins:

My very first attempt with spinning was a couple weeks back with some corriedale from CJ Kopec Creations. The fiber was absolutely beautiful but I made two key mistakes with it: first, I didn’t do enough pre-drafting of the fiber, and second, I didn’t have my brake band on the wheel adjusted right.  In the end I made a real mess of the bit that I spun so I decided to start over.  So here’s a short video clip of last night’s attempt:

For the heck of it, I decided to try some Sakina Needles BFL that I got from The Loopy Ewe.  This time I spend a lot of time pre-drafting the fiber.  It made a huge difference.

I also managed to get the brake band on the wheel adjusted.  I used a tip I read on one of the Ravelry spinning groups.  They suggested removing the spring on the left side of the wheel’s band and just use the one spring on the right side.  That made it much easier.

I spun the entire 4 oz. of fiber while watching Grey’s Anatomy and Lost.  I made two singles (though one is a lot bigger/longer than the other).  I’m going to attempt to ply them together tonight, I think.

I’m debating now on what I’ll spin next.  I have two more beautiful merino-blend rovings from CJ Kopec and I also have some gorgeous 100% merino from The Dyeing Arts.  I’m just a little nervous to switch over to merino because the staple length (from what I’ve read) is so much shorter than BFL.  Can I do it?  May as well try, right…?

When I got home from my Easter vacation home to see my family, I posted about my grandma teaching me to knit her “famous” dish scrubbers. I finally got a chance to type up the pattern to share with you all. You can find it on Ravelry and you can download it here: Grandma Rita’s Nylon Dish Scrubbers (PDF).

I just added it to Ravelry on Friday and 15 people have added it to their queues, and 23 have added it as a favorite! That’s so exciting. I hope soon people will share pictures of ones they’ve made because I’d love to be able to show my grandma next time I go home for a visit. I’m sure she’ll be tickled to see how many people enjoyed her pattern.

It also makes me want to design some things myself. I’ve been experimenting with some things, but of course I always have so many things on the needles that it’s tough to find time, I guess. (And besides, I’m still a relative beginner with this whole knitting thing! — Maybe advanced-beginner?)

I’ve been working hard on finishing my spinning wheel…

I’m using Minwax Polyshades (stain and polyurethane in one) in “Bombay Mahogany”. (I’m a sucker for red-colored wood!) Most of the pieces in the photo I’ve just finished 1 coat on, except the treadles — they have 2 and you can get a better idea of the color from those. I think it’s going to be really beautiful. Unfortunately, the weather just isn’t cooperating at all — it’s cold and damp and the pieces just aren’t drying fast enough. *sigh* But hopefully it will be done soon. I can’t wait to start spinning!

Guess what I ordered today? Here’s a clue:

No, it’s not psychedelic cotton candy. It’s wool: merino, merino-tencel, merino-colonial, blue-faced leicester, and corriedale.

You may have also noticed that my little “Spinning Wheel Fund” section has disappeared from the sidebar of my blog…

YES, I placed the order today for an Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel! I ordered it from The Woolery and took advantage of their deal to also get the high-speed kit. (Not that I’ll be good enough to use it for a while, but ya know…) I ordered it this morning and it already shipped this afternoon. The projected delivery date is Friday! I’m hoping I might be able to spend the weekend in the garage finishing the wheel with some pretty cherry-colored Minwax.

I can’t wait to use it. I bought a copy of Start Spinning: Everything You Need to Know to Make Great Yarn and I’ve been studying it. Ultimately, though, it seems like it’s a “practice makes perfect” sort of thing. So I’m hoping to spend lots of spring and summer weekends on my back patio learning to spin. Wish me luck. (And send advice!)