Friday, July 17, 2009

my first handspun




I DID IT!!! i can spin! to make a long story short ... i already told y'all about my intense desire to spin lately, which kinda came outta the blue. yesterday i went to a LYS -- the one closest to work -- and started to practice some more. amy, who was working there at the time, got me going and gave me some tips. she even pulled out one of her spindles and spun for a while too! i only had about an hour but before i left she helped me wind my yarn into a skein and told me what i needed to do in order to "set the twist." i went home after work and did what she said and today i have a wee little skein of my own handspun yarn. YAY!!!!

interestingly, she noted that i spin my spindle counterclockwise. that's good to know so that when i get up to plying i'll be sure to spin clockwise so that my plies twist together properly. i'm so stoked about this new "obsession!"

that's all for now, just wanted to share :-) happy friday, everyone...

~mz

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

back from the abyss

i have so many things that i want to talk about right now, i hardly know where to begin. so i will start with the fact that one morning earlier this week, i woke up with a crazy urge to pick up spinning again. nevermind that it's been AGES since i even -thought- about my spindles, or that the last time i looked at roving was to make thrums for mittens. the urge to spin was kinda strong so i decided that i'm gonna just go with it. last night my plan for today was to come home from work, give myself a much-needed and long-overdue pedicure then practice spinning for 15-20 mins. THAT didn't work out, only because I ended up hanging out with a friend of mine, who, after i told her my plan to learn to spin, said that she had some fiber that i could have. so i high-tailed it over to her place! i didn't intend to stay long, but i ended up staying for 3 hours. we had some good, quality chit-chat and knitting and i'm very happy for an impromptu mid-week gathering with a friend.

so, i came home and went pawing through my stash to find my spindle and some roving. lo and behold! i found that there was still some yarn -- if you can call it that -- on my spindle from the last time i tried spinning [i'd post a photo here but the camera batteries are dead]. i also have about 1oz of undyed merino that i can use for practice. SCORE!! i read somewhere that it takes about 1lb of fiber to really get the hang of spinning, so i will have to add to my fiber stash for sure.

i've been listening to podcasts lately, especially while doing housework -- dishes, ironing, cooking etc. nevermind that i have over 800 un-listened-to podcast episodes in my ipod!! my current favorite knitting-related podcasts are:

feel free to share some of your favorite podcasts -- i'm always looking for something new to listen to!

ZOINKS!!! it's past midnight and i best get to bed. i will update soon with my spinning progress ... can't wait!

ciao for now...
~mz

... this has been a QuietStorm production, dahling ...