A New Adventure part 2

So back to the story...

I started to get busy making dolls and I didn't pick up my spindle for months.  Then in January I decieded to make a doll sweater for my daughter and I thought it would be fun to spin the yarn before I knit it.

I had her pick out the fiber. It was a lovely merino, alpaca, silk blend that was handpainted in a yellow/green/blue colourway.

I was so excited when it came I started spinning it right away. It spun so smoothly I was finely able to move away from the "park and draft" and have a nice fluid movement.  And that was the point I fell in love with spinning. It was just so clam and peaceful, it was like meditation but I was producing something at the same time. A definite win, win situation in my book!

I really loved the colour of the singles and I didn't want to mix them up so I decided to try theNavajo/ Chain Ply method.  It was easier than I thought it would be. The nice thing about plying on a drop spindle is between gravity and the built up twist(energy) in the yarn it basically plies itself.

 

Here it is after I plied it but before it was washed. You can see it has a little bit of that energy and I was afraid it would be unbalanced.

But after I washed it and hung it to dry it balanced nicely, yea! 

So it took me 2 months to spin, ply, wash and dry the yarn.  I had designed the pattern, and now I was finally ready to knit the doll sweater.

That's when my daughter told me she didn't really think she wanted a doll sweater, she wanted fingerless gloves.

Yes, 2 months in the life of a 12 year old is just too long to stay committed to an idea. At least the yarn was ready and I thought I remembered seeing a fingerless glove pattern somewhere...

Time to pull out the magazines and search Ravelry!

A New Adventure Part 1

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while might remember when I got my Drop Spindle for Christmas of 2012. If your new to my blog welcome, you can read my 2 posts on my spinning Here.

I thought it would interesting to know a little more about how yarn was made.  I had no idea it would be the beginning of a new adventure.

I began spindling with Corriedale Batt using the "park and draft" method. This is a great way to learn because you don't have to worry about the spindle going in the wrong direction as you draft. (If any one is interested I can make a video of this, just let me know.) But it does take twice as long. My first 3 oz were not very even, but I still managed to make a small hat.

Here it is on my doll Amelia.

For my second spinning project I used 3 oz of Corriedale roving. I was beginning to get better with the consistency but the yarn was still heavier than I thought it would be.  And I was still having to use the "park and draft" method.

I double plied it using the Andean Bracelet method and it turned out to be a heavy worsted to bulky range at 7 WPI(wraps per inch).

I thought I would make a pair of fingerless mitts.

But after making the first one I realized I didn't have enough yarn to make a second.

It is still sitting on the shelf a lonely mitt. I might just take it apart and have a pretty ball of yarn for the table :)
I was beginning to think I would never learn how to draft while the spindle was in motion, then something wonderful happened ..... (find out in A New Adventure Part 2)

*Resources- I always like to know where bloggers get their supplies, so here is where I get mine (and no i am not compensated in any way by these companies)*

The Corriedale Batt and Roving are from the Village Yarn and Fiber Shop 
http://www.villageyarnandfiber.com/

The Drop Spindle is from True Creations http://www.truecreations.biz/wtdropspindles01.html
He is a local wood worker and you can find his spindles at the Village Yarn and Fiber Shop. 

Homespun

Remember the yarn I spun back in January? http://tookenstale.blogspot.com/2013/01/drop-spindle.html Well I finally made it into a hat. It was a chunky weight yarn and with only 3 oz it wasn't quite enough to make a hat for myself so I gave the hat to Amelia.

  

 

Here it is on the spindle single ply.

Here it is after I double plied and washed it.

It was a lot of fun knitting something from yarn that I spun myself. And now I have a better idea of how much wool it takes for a finished project.

Drop Spindle

I have always been amazed at the process of taking fibers and turning them into yarn. I did have a chance to try using  a drop spindle when I was working on a project in Mexico many, many years ago.  There was a women on the project who was working with the spindle whorls that were found at the site. They were really beautiful.
 
 I wish I had some pictures of them.  The pictures above are from a different Aztec site but look  similar. They are made out of clay and came in all different sizes the smallest for cotton and the large ones were for maguey fibers which come from a cactus. We were so interested in how they worked. The women ( I can't remember her name :( but she was very nice) gave us a demonstration and then let us all try.  Some of the ladies took to it right away. I was not one of them. The cotton kept breaking and I couldn't get a good spin going. I figured it was just not my thing and moved on.

Now many, many, years later I've decided to give it another try. For Christmas I got a drop spindle and some wool fiber. I think wool is much more forgiving than cotton. I also got the book Respect the Spindle   . I thought it was a very good book for a begginer, I was able to start spinning the same day.

At the top of the blog you can see my very first single ply yarn. I did end up double plying it in the Andean style. Here it is after it has been washed and set.

I still need to work on getting it even and it turned out chunkier than I thought it would but it's usable and that makes me happy :) !