Friday, March 16, 2012

Spinning a Storm

The drop-spinning continues at my house. I bought a small stash of wool roving and have been slowly working my way through it. I'm still knitting, for sure, and am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on a cardigan I'm working on right now, but spinning is so easy to pick up for five or ten minutes throughout the day.

Working third shift, I am blessed to be home to help my husband start bedtime for our son, but around 8:00 or so, I say goodnight, leave my husband to read bedtime stories, and I get ready for work. Once the scrubs are on and the dinner is packed, I have 10 minutes before I have to leave in which to spin.

Undyed wool roving, my second attempt at handspun:


Two plies of pink and one ply of purple, which I spun more tightly:


And some hand-dyed wool, done on the stove with plain old liquid food coloring, tap water, and vinegar:





Spinning is great fun, but there's a little added excitement for me as I watch the colors change gradually, and then again as I wait to see what will happen when the individual strands are plied together.