Further adventures in spinning

So following my drop spindle experiments I've started with the spinning wheel.

So I cheated a little and still split the wool right down into thin strips. Alot thinner than I did with the drop spindle.

Following watching loads of youtube videos (I liked the stuff by this woman and this also) I was all set up and got spinning.

It worked alot better than I expected to (I put it down to the preparation not actual skill yet) and is definitely more even than my drop spindle yarn was.

I think I might be over spinning it a bit and I defiantly need to work on getting it to wind onto the bobbin more evenly but hopefully will get better with practice :)

ETA:

I've done some more this evening and have done most of a bobbins worth. Its not perfect but for a first attempt I'm really pleased with it :)

WIP Wednesday 9 - Adventures in Spinning

Well to be honest my WIP has really not changed much since last week so figured there's not much I can really write about that I haven't already shown before so this week it's not so much a knitting/crochety type WIP but more my adventures in spinning (which I think is definitely a long term work in progress but fun none the less).

I got a drop spindle and some roving a few weeks ago but hadn't gotten around to having a go with it. Well I figured it was about time, so did a little youtube surfing and watched a few videos.

I found a few I liked and decided to follow this method to splitting and predrafting my wool before starting to spin it and then using another video by the same poster I started to spin my wool.

So I started with this

I unbraided it and had three chunky strips

I split it down and ended up with a pile of thinner strips

I then had a go at predrafting the wool. This is harder than it looks and I kept pulling it too far apart and splitting it up. So after re-attaching it a fair few times and then adding all the strips together I had a nice long piece to spin.

A couple of things I found out with this first attempt is your predrafting needs to be alot thinner than I thought. I thought I'd got it quite thin but I've still ended up with quite thick yarn. Its pretty, though I'm not sure I'm going to try and ply it as its going to be super chunky if I do :)

I've got a few more lengths to do practising this method and then I get to play with this next.

Its an ashford traditional. I'm planning on going on a course at the end of next month on spinning and also getting in touch with my local spinning guild as I think I still need quite a few pointers but its definitely fun.

For more work in progress posts please see Tamis blog.

This is Late Thursday

Right so this was supposed to be my WIP (work in progress) Wednesday post but unfortunately it was a little delayed due to the fact my youngest decided to pick a fight with my new kitchen floor.

Roo: 0 Kitchen Floor: 1 = trip to A & E

So instead of WIPW I am having a This Is Late Thursday post instead :)

Well what have I worked on this week. I've been working at the Maia Shawl as part of the NaturalMamas CAL and its going really well. When I started it I thought I wasn't going to enjoy it at all as its seemed a little complicated from the first few rows, and I got a little confused with the instructions by row 6 as I couldn't understand how to get 17 stitches into the 15 I seemed to have (I did have 17 actually I just wasn't counting 2 of them, Silly me). So by the end of my first go at it I thought this is going to be a really long project and I bet I don't finish.

I went back to it the next day and how wrong was I. Now I've got the instructions sorted and understood its actually quite straight forward and I seem to be getting on really well with it. Yey

I'm at row 30 and its about 12" long (I need to get to 17" and then start the edging). I've done the stitches quite tight and think they may supposed to be a little looser but I like how its looking so far so don't mind I'm using Black-purple-grey Kauni lace-weight and its really nice to use. It does feel a little scratchy but I'm hoping with a bit of a wash once its finished it will soften up a bit.

For more WIP Wednesday posts please visit Tami's Blog and see what everyone else has been getting up to this week.

Finished Objects Friday

Well I've had quite a good week for finishing things :) I've made a peg bag using this for inspiration. Its a great way to use up shirts that don't fit the boys.

I finished the wedding cake topper I was doing for a friend. It worked out really well and I'm sooo pleased with it. More Pics here

And I finally finished my Tunisian crochet blanket. It was made using the simple stitch and then cast off by this method. I used 7 balls of super chunky yarn and a size 8 hook for it.

For more finished objects please visit Tami's Blog