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.

New Adventures in Old Technology

I received a top-whorl spindle for Christmas from my awesome parents, and within three days had already spun through the wool roving that came with the spindle. Last night I wound my single into a center-pull ball, then took the "outside" end and the "inside" end and plied them together to create a 2-ply yarn:

It varies between worsted and bulky weight, and there are definitely some spots that are much thicker or thinner than others, but overall I'm pretty happy with it. I have 1 oz (~28 grams) of wool that will probably never be knit into anything, but I've already bought more wool so I can keep practicing.