Wednesday, March 02, 2011

What a Difference

Hi Knitters,
I haven't been spinning much at all this week as time hasn't allowed but I want to share a bit of spinning today that was finished recently.

This beautiful skein is spun from 4 ounces of Sunshine Yarns roving in Wintersong.
This time around it went so much better. I mean 100 times better. I don't know how it happens but somehow you start to intuitively figure out how to control the roving as you spin. I haven't had any further instruction or help but I just sit by myself and spin for minutes a day when I get a chance. Somehow things are slowly coming together.
I am pretty pleased and TC has told me this is my best yarn yet. That's pretty good praise as she is an honest one. It is still far from perfect and has some thicker sections sprinkled in but I'll take it.
I have 250 yards so I know I am getting better and more consistent because....
... with this 4 ounce braid (Springtree Road in Coriander) I got 166 yards. That's 84 yards more! That's improvement. Both are merino wool. Although the Wintersong is superwash.

My goal is to get enough eventually out of one 4 ounce braid to make a pair of socks for myself. It seems a little lofty but that's my goal. I'm sticking to it.
I don't know yet what these two will become but I am even kind of liking them together. We'll see.
I had a little tiny bit left over on a bobbin from both my earlier attempt at Wintersong and my latest more successful attempt. I plied those two tiny bobbins' worth of singles together to get about 30 yards of this thick and thin. Maybe I will make a tiny sweater ornament or a tiny mitten ornament with this.
Here was my first attempt with this same roving I shared a few weeks back. As you can see there was a lot of trouble going on. It kept breaking and breaking on me and I couldn't get the twist even or even going. I still adore this skein because I like that imperfection. It is amazing how different the same roving can look when spun in a different way.

It is also amazing to me what a difference a few weeks of practice can make. It is like night and day and the funny thing is that I don't even know what I've done to improve. That's kind of cool. It just happens. It's the same with knitting or any skill I guess. Practice and patience makes all of the difference in the world.
So this is Sunshine Yarns Wintersong part 1. Part 1 became a scarf (My so-called scarf). I'll keep you posted on Wintersong part 2.

I have been knitting and sketching like mad this week. I'll have some knitting things to share coming up soon.

Oh, I joined The Knit Girllls spin-a-long! I am watching the back episodes of their video podcast as I have been knitting this week. I joined through their Ravelry group for the Knit Girllls. Ooooh, I see they are almost to 1,000 members! I don't know if I'll have the time to spin right with them due to my upcoming publicity stuff for Spud & Chloƫ at the Farm but I got on the list to get the roving. They are all going to spin the same roving and then have different project options for knitting it. It sounds like a lot of fun.

Hope everyone is doing well out there.
best, susie