Really…it’s a thing now (or at least I think it will be!)

Two weekends ago, after finishing my last skein of yarn, I decided to actually spin something that had a label, and thus not only a name, but an actual record of what the fibre content might be.  Imagine that!

So I grabbed two 35g HilltopCloud batts that I received as a set (there were actually three, but I fired one off to my friend, Val as part of a fibre-y care package last fall) and figured I’d spin those up before starting on what I have been considering “the good stuff”.  The fibre content was listed as 43% British Shetland, 43% Merino and 14% nylon (which translates to orange sparkly stuff!).  They were two different orange shades, and the tag suggested that one might want to ply them together for a tweed-y effect.

I started spinning up the darker orange and never having used a batt before, I spun it straight from the batt.  No dividing or anything, which I found out later would have been the more “standard” way to go.  In any case, the single turned out something like this.

Pumpkin Batt Single

I then waited a week, figuring I’d spin up the lighter one the following weekend.  This weekend past was busier than anticipated and my schedule got thrown off track by unexpected visitors.  Sunday evening, I finally got a chance to sit at my wheel and spin up the second batt.  This time, I divided the fibre into what turned out to be eight strips.

I forgot to take a picture of the single because I literally pulled it off the wheel, placed it straight onto the lazy Kate and plied the two singles into this.

Pumpkins – Plied!

I ended up with several extra yards of the lighter one – so I suspect I am getting better at spinning thinner yarns.  At the end, I still only ended up with 65-70 yards (I can’t believe that I forgot to write down the length!) and I have not done a wraps per inch.  But I suspect it’s  bulky-ish.  It is also massively itchy so even if I had enough to knit something with, I wouldn’t knit anything to go next to my skin.

I’d like to find more time during the week to spin maybe 20-30 minutes a night but so far, that’s just not happening.  I did get a chance to prep my new braid, though.

Next up…some very pretty ultra-violet BFL.

OK – so it was supposed to be Spinning Sundays, but time got away from me.  Right then.

So I am struggling with a fibre artist’s dilemma these days, especially on weekends…knit or spin.  It seems to be coming to spinning on Saturdays and knitting on Sundays.  Not sure how or why; it just seems to be happening that way for the time being.

Friday night was spent with my friends Shireen and Leslie (who is also my spinning instructor), and the newly-met Jeannette.  We had a lovely evening of “Stitch ‘n’ Bitch”, and Shireen gifted me with the most beautiful skein of Handmaiden Great Big Sea in Topaz, a stunning green-y blue.  (It’s like she knows me or something….)

I got some knitting in, but threw a random 2 oz/54 g braid of pink and grey fibre onto my wheel and by end of day Saturday, this is what I had.

Pink and grey 2 ply

Yes, it’s pretty uneven, but it’s 50 yards of 2-ply yarn, and I think it’s a definite improvement over my very first skein, which ended up as only 30 yards and looks like this:

My First Ever Yarn spun on my Lendrum

We think that one was merino – it is remarkably soft.

I decided that perhaps it was time to spin something I can actually identify.  So now, I am spinning up two 35 gram orange-y HilltopCloud Pumpkin Mix Batts….British Shetland, Merino and Nylon.  They are different shades of orange and my plan is to ply them together, once the singles are complete but we will see.  So far, I like the batts – they seem easier to handle than the braids, possibly because they start out less “compacted”.

I’ll let you know how it goes.