Saturday, February 28, 2009

Fleece and Yarn Adventures

Ever since my doctor said I was borderline "hypertensive", I've been trying to calm down, worry less, and spin more. Though I'm not having too much luck with the first two on the list, I've been doing pretty good with the third one. I've definitely been spinning more...

First, I finished my Easter egg "Peeps on Parade" yarn. I spun it from batts of the same name, and I had a blast spinning it! In hindsight, though, I should have added something else to it - like stripped fabric or glitter. Still, it's not bad looking...


I've also been practicing pretty hard on navajo-plying on the wheel. I do it pretty well with the drop spindle, but doing it on the wheel is definitely more cost-effective. I totally messed up the first try and ended up with a few tangles here and there. The second try wasn't too bad. I had the whorl on the second to the largest and went at it. For the third try, I moved the ratio to the largest (and slowest ratio) whorl on my Fricke and it went much much better. The yarn is definitely more consistent now.

I have to admit - I haven't spun much on my good ol' Fricke lately, but I'm glad I'm keeping him. He's a workhorse, much like my bulky spinner, which I've been using primarily the last few weeks to whip out some fun bulky yarns...


Back to navajo plying...I'm definitely hooked! Navajo-plying is so much fun, and I love that it gives me a "three ply" - though not exactly a true three-ply yarn- in way less time! I have to admit - I can be lazy.


I've also finally got to prep my own raw fleece! A few weeks ago, someone on the spinning yahoogroup offered to send me some free raw fleece. So for the cost of shipping at $6.60, I got this in the mail a few days ago. It was a few pounds of some wool I don't remember what - with a staple of about 3 - 4 inches. It was coated with lanolin and smelled kinda funky.


I set about washing it immediately and boy, was it icky. And don't even get me started on the smell...I don't think I'll be doing it again anytime soon. But the end result is definitely worth it! After a night of drying in the garage, it was ready to be carded into a batt and spun! I only carded one and the rest I think I will comb first, and then card...


I did spin a bit on my drop spindle and it felt pretty good. It definitely needs a better scouring though. Some of the tips are still light brown, but only about 10% of the whole fleece. It just needs a good vm-removal, too. Some of it does fall off during spinning, but overall, it was a great learning experience. Next time, I'm using Power Scour by Unicorn. I hear it does wonders to raw fleece!

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