handspun

I was finally taking some pictures of the various handspun things I've done for Ravelry, so why not go through them here as well?

(Pretty much all of these are spun S, plyed Z.)

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Spunky Eclectic club April '15, Golden Fields on Cheviot

This one was spindle spun. On the left spun semi woolen, using faux rolags, then chain plyed.  On the right spun semi woolen, two ply. It's very soft, but very wooly feeling.

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Spunky Eclectic club, Nov 14, Black pearl on Black Merino

The Black Pearl merino is spindle spun, and my first attempt at chain plying.  I actually like it a lot, despite it being slightly over plyed.

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Spunky Eclectic Sept 15 club fiber, Squash Blossom on Corridale

Practice 8 oz that I spun on the mini spinner, just messing around.  Some of it is semi woolen spun, some is worsted.  I did two ply here after winding into two plying balls. 

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Spunky Eclectic club, Dec 14, Anemone on BFL

aka the fiber in the blog header!  Spindle spun, chain plyed.  Probably the finest spun and most even spin as well.  I'd say this is about a fingering weight.

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Spunky Eclectic club March '15, Nebula on Falkland

Very fluffy despite being spun semi worsted weight.  Two ply, and I'm pretty happy with the amount of ply twist here.  Spun on a spindle.

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My second ever spin, of green BFL top from Rhinebeck last year.  I can't remember where I got it from though.  A bit heavier than fingering weight, two ply on a spindle. 

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Briar Rose polworth top

third ever spin, and probably the biggest amount on a spindle.  I'd say it's about sport weight and three ply on a spindle. From Briar Rose.

Spinning my wheels

Not really wheels, actually, since I don't have a spinning wheel (YET--that's my big plan for Rhinebeck! I'm coming away from that weekend with a wheel, or espinner). But I am catching up on the list of projects I have in my head, somewhat killing time until I do get a wheel.  There are a few bumps and braids of fiber I'm dying to spin, but that I don't want to tackle on a spindle quite yet. So meanwhile, I'm filling in the gap with some other projects.

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chain ply (3 ply) on the left, two ply on the right

Last year, after learning to spin, I joined the Spunky Eclectic fiber club, and so every month I get 8 oz of gorgeously dyed fiber, all different sorts (I signed up for the double option, thus the 8 oz).  I'm a few months behind on spinning some of the fiber, but I just finished up April's Cheviot Sheepswool in the colorway Golden Fields.

Since yellow is rarely my bag--love the color but I can't wear it well at all--I figured I'd experiment and practice with technique a bit here, and tried a semi-woolen spin on the spindle.

The first bump--shown on the right--I spun a two-ply, making faux rolags by tearing chunks off the bump, fluffing them, and rolling them into a little sausage and spinning from that.  I spun as the colors came and stopped and rolled off the cop into a ball about halfway through, spun the rest and then plyed together.  It's a bit barberpoley, and the singles were wildly uneven as I was getting used to the technique (and it was a put down-pick up kind of project), but I'm happy with how the final product turned out.

The second bump--shown on the left--I decided to pull apart and sort by colors and spin the single kinda as a gradient from yellow to white/grey to blues.  With this bit more of fiber prep, I took the opportunity to really pull the fiber bump apart to be more of a woolen prep approximation, and spun from color to color.  To keep the color progression I chain plyed (chained it as I wound it into a plying ball and then added twist--a lot of twist actually).  I beat the hell out of this one in the finishing, and I'm really pleased with how the twist settled and spread out through the yarn.  It's still a bit uneven in thickness, but eh, second time attempting something like a woolen yarn. 

Now I just need to figure out what to make with them.  That's a whole other ball of wax. 

A new toy (from Akerworks spindles)

I warned y'all. I'd be getting more of these suckers.

This one is a brand new spindle from Akerworks, who have some of the most beautiful spinning bobbins I've seen created on a 3-d printer in some gorgeous colors and designs!

I mean, really, how can you resist these? 

  They've recently created a line of modular spindles, using their 3-D printed designs for the interchangeable whorls, and carbon fiber for the shafts.  The whole thing is quite genius--you can pick the whorl size and color, and get various different shafts as well, so you can spin a bunch onto one shaft, then swap out the whorl on top to another shaft and keep on spinning.

Also, pretty pretty colors. Mine is dark teal. they have a bajillon options.

3-d printing is like magic, and I love that practitioners of one of the oldest known crafts are also some of the most innovative users of  modern tech. 

Remember I said I'd wind up with a billion of them?

I got a Golding ring spindle, and damn it's pretty. 

My charming assistant, in his "M" shirt, spinning the golding.

It's the Celtic Ring II, in cherry, with a brass ring, coming in at 1.3 oz.

And holy shit does this thing spin like butter.  So even, so balanced and it spins FOR EVER.  Also, it's super pretty.  

Did I mention the pretty?

I'm going to wind up with a million spindles, aren't I....

Honestly, I blame my cousin.

We went to Rhinebeck in October--my first time there!--and she was all, oh, do you want to learn to spin? Super casually, of course. DESPITE KNOWING IT WAS LIKE CRACK. 

One spindle and two bumps of hand dyed blue faced leicester later, she showed me how to begin with a leader, give the spindle a good solid twirl and then park it between my knees and draft out the fiber.  Addicted.

My very first handspun, wildly uneven but pretty! It took me a while to decide what to make out of it.  A while and 4 oz of green BFL top, a membership in the Spunky Eclectic fiber club, and a stack of hand dyed silk hankies later.... 

And now, I'm spending lunch looking at Golding ring spindles, rim weighted with brass and metals and with amazing carvings on the whorls.  Would you LOOK at these amazing things? Who wouldn't want one?

Yeah, I'm going to wind up with at least one.  Any bets on how long before I get a wheel?