full wool house

last night was spinning night and we were at capacity with every chair filled. we always have more fun when everyone is present and this week, there was a lot of show and tell to share as well.

first up, barb had her own finished coopworth sock yarn, spun from the same fiber i spun mine; she opted to do 2-ply with all of hers

i forgot to ask how many yards she ended up with, but it looks like plenty for a couple of pair of socks.

she also brought along three skeins of plied briar rose polwarth that she spun up after the coopworth (have we mentioned that barb is an overachiever?? but she’s our overachiever, so we love her for it . . .).

it was interesting because, when she made that transition from the coopworth (long, relaxed, undyed fiber) to the polwarth (short, crimpy fiber, dyed), she had a hard time getting control of it at first. she brought it to class just before giving up and ditching it.

once we got her brake loosened to the minimum tension and shortened her drafting zone a bit, she was off to the races. next thing we knew, polwarth was barb’s new best friend, hee-hee (i love when that happens). now she is the proud owner of 900 yards of bouncy 3-ply knitting yarn, mmm.

so what’s next on her agenda you ask?

a beautiful little bump of glossy briar rose wensleydale. isn’t it lovely?
once again she had to adjust, since she is now back to working with a long lustre fiber with little crimp, but she managed that with her usual flair (it’s going the other way that often takes some patience).

i really should get out my own little bump of wensleydale and spin it along with her; i think i might even have the same color. problem is, i’ve already got my next project underway

i’m spinning the finn fiber i bought in 2009 with anne marie; it’s a nice mix of several small brown and gray fleeces that we purchased and then had blended together during the processing. it has some distinct golden highlights as well as gray and dark brown undertones. anne marie spun hers up last year and i sampled mine, then got sidetracked.

now i’m ready to commence with the 3-ply DK i had planned. i’m not sure i’m spinning thick enough for that; i’m still determining what diameter the singles should be. my sample is a little heavier than i’d like, because i underestimated the effect of the bloom on the final yarn. but the singles i’m spinning now seems too fine; i’ll have to see how it plies and washes up (i guess i’m still sampling, heh).

anyway, enough about my spinning . . .

linda has been working away for some time on this delicious deep, chocolate brown alpaca. she still has a ways to go with her fiber supply and periodically she takes a break to spin something else quick or to knit in class. but slowly, surely, she is getting on top of that pile of brown fiber she has . . .

i could not get a good photo of susan’s project but you almost don’t need one to see how pretty it is. she is spinning up some lorna’s laces fiber, for which we cannot determine the colorway. i’m sure it’s on her label, but i haven’t seen that . . . the better point is that she is really enjoying this project.

i’ve spun this fiber too (in another colorway) and i can attest that it is delightful—springy and elastic, yet it slips through your hands smooth as can be. it makes very nice yarn that is cushy, cuddly, and warm. hmm, i have some of that yarn upstairs; i should knit with it.

and finally, we all continue to be amazed by helena’s progress as the newest spinner among us (though you’d never EVER guess she was new at this stuff—just look at her form). she arrived with two and half bobbins full, wanting to try her hand at plying. we decided that her second bobbin was much more even than her first and more closely matched the bobbin she had in progress. so we decided to ply the first bobbin to itself by making a yarn cake with it and plying from both ends at once

and voilà—witness her first plied yarn. she was enthusiastically applauded by the room, then commenced to filling that third bobbin so she could ply some more (plying is so satisfying, isn’t it?).

meanwhile, kris worked steadily, setting in sleeves on a gorgeous vintage sweater she’s knitting for helena and somehow, i did not take photos. but hopefully, next week it will be done and helena will wear it so we can take some nice pictures.

what a full night. after everyone went home i continued on the swatching binge i’ve been engaged in all week long. so no really interesting knits to show you today. in fact, all of my most recent swatches are for secret projects as well.

and now, i need to skedaddle—i’m finally going to spend some time knitting an actual garment tonight while spending time with friends. i’m very much looking forward to it, too. i have a terrific book to share with you, but i think tomorrow will be soon enough . . .

and wow, the sun just came out, sorta. i wish i had time to walk over there . . .