Wednesday, 26 Jul 2006
Don’t blame me for not blogging - blame the almighty Wheel! I’ve caught the spinning bug, and ever since I started a little more than a week ago I’ve been unable to stop myself from spinning, even to knit or blog. Both my knitting and new entries have just had to wait. But hopefully I can make it up to you with some yarn pr0n. Homespun yarn pr0n no less!
The yarn I enjoyed making the most was the one that came out the most primitive - this plied yarn from Lorna’s Laces top:
Here’s what else I’ve been up to on the wheel:
The two grey are Corriedale - one plied, one a lumpy but more passable single (and the first since my last post), then the brown is this lovely alpaca and the white is my first attempt at a Merino single. The next experiments were much better, and led to this:
The merino is plied with a teensy strand of thread-thin silk, which was a royal PITA to spin but which came out nicely.
This would normally be the part where I’d put in a disclaimer about how I’m really knitting, but that would be a lie, and my mother told me that lies are wrong even in cyberspace. My knitting has spent the last week sitting forlornly to the side, totally untouched. Today, as I realized that my thumbs hurt from spinning and that I had started to spin in my dreams, it occurred to me that knitting again might be nice too… but I haven’t detached myself from the wheel just yet.
I won’t bore you with the other thing that’s been on my mind - how to deal with gummint bureaucracy - but suffice it to say that Hell is most certainly a crowded waiting room in which your name just never seems to be called.
More later as I peel myself away from my preciousssss and give my poor thumbs a rest… I owe you people another vintage pattern, tout suite!
July 26th, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Looks nice! You know, you can always knit when your thumb hurts from spinning. ;)
July 26th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
WOOHOO! Spin On my friend, spin on!
Wow I’m getting a major case of wheel envy ovah here.
July 26th, 2006 at 9:07 pm
Yay!!! Looking good!
I love my Traveller too!
July 26th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
It’s getting better and better! Did you spindle spin before the wheel?
Man, I wish I had a few hundred bucks to spare! ;-)
July 26th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
Very cool! The “primitive” one is very cool looking.
July 26th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
Oh, you’re getting good at this! That merino looks especially nice.
July 26th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
heya, I am learning to spin on a drop spindle, your stuff is lovely! check out my spinning forum http://talk.pixiepurls.com
July 27th, 2006 at 2:08 am
I was impressed with the first merino, and then you come up with the fancy silk ply! Whew. I was in a thrift shop in town and saw some 1950’s/early 1960’s pattern pamphlets - they are’t in the best shape, and I think they will cost less than $1. If you’d like me to pick them up for you, just email me with your mailing address. They looked so forlorn, and could probably use a good home.
July 27th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
Oooohhh!
I can see the progression!
Looking good! And don’t worry, you’ll come back to your knitting. I did after about a month!
July 27th, 2006 at 6:22 pm
STEP AWAY FROM THE SPINNING WHEEL!!!!!
Seriously, you have done some amazing stuff and I think you need to step back and look at it because I don’t think you really appreciate how amazing it all is (like all addicts, you aren’t even appreciating the high, you’re busy thinking about getting your next fix.) Also, I am worried about those thumbs. And isn’t there a half-finished argyle sweater that misses you?
July 27th, 2006 at 10:33 pm
WOW! I am envious! One week?!? Zib sent me my first spinning paraphenalia and I am scared to even begin. Alas, I will soon. Very soon.
July 30th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
Keep up the good work! Those pink/fuchsia-y skeins make me wish I could spin. That’s some seriously pretty yarn!
September 5th, 2006 at 4:47 pm
mmmm, spinning. mmm, merino handspun.
Nice job. I’m jealous. I not only wish that I could spin, but that I had the time to.
Your skeins are amazing.