stage one

I know the actual Tour guys are on stage 13 or 15 or something. I just finished my first. Eight ounces of Coopworth roving, washed to set the twist and dried on the front porch plant hanger.

I ended up with a fairly even and fine (for me) yarn of 14 wpi (wraps per inch), so a sport weight. It is slightly underspun, but it should still work for bulky-ish socks.

This took two weeks of more-or-less concentrated spinning. I am in awe of anyone who manages to spin enough wool for a sweater. The Yarn Harlot, who is making amazing progress on the Tour de Fleece, recently provided much food for thought about spinning, and the days when everything was handspun. If my family relied on me for the sails for their fishing boat, we would really be in trouble.

I spent a few hours this morning working out my next project and ended up organizing and weeding my fiber stash in the process. Isn’t that what everyone does just before they go on vacation?

(In the process, I found a long-missing shawl pin that I have been looking for since I misplaced it almost 2 years ago. I love serendipity!)

Thanks to Heidi’s most excellent suggestion, I am going to work on my spindling skills, using yet more Coopworth.

The white is from Pam Child at Hatchtown Farm; the natural colored is Regina Malsbary’s pin-drafted roving, from Turtle Creek Farm. The spindle is your basic learning-variety Schacht. Rumor has it that certain well-known spindle makers put Coopworth in their beginner’s kits, because it is so easy to spindle.

I am trying, as much as possible, to game the spindle experience in my favor. My first attempt involved Merino combed top. Let’s just say it was not a positive experience, and leave it at that.