Oh my word! Guess what? Something I never thought would happen has happened. I've spun my first skein of yarn! Well, to be more precise, I spun it yesterday, whilst enjoying a fabulous day in the company of my dear friend Josiekitten. She's been spinning for a little while now and is producing some really gorgeous skeins. I've not been too interested up until now. I am a little bit of a perfectionist (..some would say a BIG bit of one!) and I somehow thought that I would find my early efforts very unsatisfying. However, all that changed yesterday. I LOVED it!
Josiekitten and I usually try to meet up for a 'woolly' day each holiday, but at half-term we couldn't find a day when we were both free. No probs this holiday though. What a lovely day we spent together; catching up on each other's news and knitting projects, drinking tea, eating cake, checking out some newly discovered on-line 'yummy' yarn stores, planning our trip to 'Knit Nation' and..................... spinning!!!!
I have to say , it's quite tricky, but I was content with the knowledge that with the excellent tuition I was receiving, I could see improvement. I produced two 'singles' that then had to be plied together . I think that's right ;-). They look very lumpy and bumpy don't they? Don't forget, I'm a 'newborn'!
Then a quick wind on the 'niddy noddy' and 'hey presto!' .............
.... my first skein of handspun!
It was soaked and hung up to dry overnight, with a weight on the bottom to straighten it out (I think!). Today, I dyed the skein and the little extra 'single' with some 'Kool-Aid'.
Here it is........... again...................... !!!! I'm so, so proud of my little skein of handspun, hand-dyed yarn, that I just have to show that photo one more time....
15 comments:
SNOOPYDOG said - 'I had to delete the original post, as there were issues with the spacing that I couldn't resolve. Sarah, you must have left a comment at the very moment that I deleted!!!!'
SARAH said - 'You are so clever! What will you make with it? Or will you preserve it for posterity?! I like the colours-I didn't know you could use cool aid to dye stuff. I bought jelly today-not a normal purchase but I bought a great orange plastic bunny jelly mould and wanted to try it. The jelly is in those two shades-lime green and tangerine orange. I wonder if you can dye wool with jelly?!'
SNOOPYDOG said - 'I don't know what I'll make with it yet. At present, I'm very content just to gaze upon it ;-)'
Well done!!!! It's so satisfying, isn't it? Josiekitten's blog has inspired to me get spinning again, so I'm very grateful! Just waiting for my replacement drive band to arrive. You should definately get your own wheel!
Carrie xxx
Oh-glad the comment is still there! Yes, you should gaze upon it, it is beautiful!
We did have a fun day yesterday, didn't we?! You should feel very proud of your first skein of handspun yarn! It looks fabulous, and I love the way it turned out after you dyed it! Here's to our next yarny adventure, whatever that might be! ;) xxx
You two are a power of creativity when you are on your own. Together ....!!! Well done ! The dyed colours are very nice too. Can't wait to see what you turn it into.
Cheers
Helen
yay you!!
what wonderful yarn you created!!
I love your first attempts at spinning! Spinning is just wonderful, isn't it? And it can be sooo relaxing. Hope you will get a nice wheel soon! What will you do with your first skein?
Yours, Julia
Yes we're VERY impressed Snoops. It looks fabby. Have a great holiday.
Our mom has always wanted to learn how to spin!
Your wool is just beautiful! Love the colors!
Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch
I preserved my first spinning attempts and once in a while I pull them out just to look at them.
You are now doomed like the rest of us spinners to that wonderful underworld lair of unspin fiber! Bwhaaahaaa!
I have a Lendrum travel wheel and love it. I would recommmend it--easy to maintain and repair, easy to transport.
Isn't spinning fun I had my first lesson last week! You have done better than me I need to improve on my spinning! As they say practice makes perfect!
Hi, I'm new to your blog but I thought I'd take a look (I always liked Snoopy ;)) Great Blog, I've just started spinning myself (about a month ago) and my first skein looked just like yours. I'm managing to spin much thinner stuff now - I've just got to get the hang of plying it right! I shall check on your progress regularly!! Allison.
p.s. we used to have a labrador called Oscar, he was a chocolate one though =D
GORGEOUS, Ros! And yes, hugely, HUGELY IMPRESSED! I love the knobbly effect of the yarn, and how your dyes turned out too. I've been curious about spinning, but don't seem to find any spinning classes or the like locally. I wouldn't mind giving it a go! Like you though, I have bad perfectionist tendencies too... LOL! ;o) This was such fun to see... Happy Weekend ((HUGS))
Wow.I'm impressed all right! They'll be no stopping you now.I hope you get your spinning wheel soon.
Bellaboo
I am so impressed, especially after my own pretty hopeless efforts at spinning. You and Miss JK just seem to egg each other on to greater and greater things yarnwise, and probably cakewise too. Well done
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