Many Bits of Spinning...

I've been doing a fair bit of spinning since Peacock and I started attending the NWRSA meetings. We've joined Area 2010 which meets up in Snohomish once a month. It's been so nice to be able to pack up the spinning wheel and spend an afternoon surrounded by people who understand.

Actually I did quite a bit of my Fiber Exchange spinning at meetings.

I also spun my second 4 ounce batch of fiber from Bountiful at the meetings. I believe the color was storm clouds, one that they don't have any more of. It's gorgeous.. in fact, Peacock has been threatening to steal it since I finished the singles.



She didn't manage to steal it before I plied it onto itself, and it's still in my posession, but I have no idea how long that will last. I think it averages a DK weight, between sock and worsted weight... Here again I'm thinking a shawl as a finished project...

Now for some spinning things that may never have a finished project associated with them, all of which were spun up quite some time ago. Sample skeins, all of them spun on a drop spindle. (though, at this point I have absolutely no clue which spindle I used for which skein)



From the top down:
- The black at the top is some spectacular alpaca from a vendor whose name I've forgotten (I could tell you where to find them in the vendor's hall, not that that helps much now) at Oregon Flock and Fiber.
- The pale beige silk and the orange wool at the bottom, are both samples from Royale Hare. A friend of the dyer was at the Rennaisance Faire with samples taking orders. The silk was a dream to spin, it drafted perfectly and seemed to be gone in no time at all. The wool was nice, not something I'd necessarily go out of my way to purchase, it's a little too coarse for shawls or hats, but it spun easily and would be an excellent choice for a beginner that needed something with a bit of grip to it.
- The blueish/brownish fascinating color in the middle is a mix of blue and yellow silk (or soy silk, I forget) and camel down. It was spun at Renn Faire. I got it most of a year ago out of a Round Robin box.

More skeins that will likely never be part of a finished project. Even worse, each of these spent more than a year on the spindle waiting to be plied!.. I need to work on my distractibility or I'm going to be buried in partially finished (or is that barely started) projects.



- The two red ones are an Ashland Bay wool/silk blend from Weaving Works. I have a fair bit of it in a variety of colors.
- The blueish-green and red and grey one in the middle is more Ashland Bay fiber, this time just merino, and here again, I have quite a bit of it in various colors somewhere in my stash.
- The brownish one off to the side is moorit shetland
- The purple one at the bottom is an overtwisted and overplied sample from Lorna's Laces Roving purchased eons ago in Santa Cruz, CA.



- Here is the larger skein and roving from Lorna's Laces. I got a much better amount of twist in this second skein. I really enjoy the color progressions that come out of this roving. The fiber is a bit coarser than I'd like for hats or gloves, but I think it would be fine for socks. Now if only I could manage to spin four ounces of the stuff to sock weight and I'd be able to knit some purple handspun stripey socks.