Yarns...

I couldn't think of a single song title that would reference these 3 yarns, even with a really bad pun. I'm a little slow this morning.

I got the first skein of the medium tan Cormo spun up. This skein is the heaviest yet- nowhere near 100yds per oz, but it looks and feels the same size as the earlier skeins. That does lead me to believe that the difference is in the weight of the wool fibers themselves, or perhaps in the crimp, since this skein shrunk more than the others after washing- so it's shorter, and therefore fewer yards in the final skein. However, I do tend to spin more fine at the beginning of a project (the old *hurry up and get it done* thing). At any rate- this hank is 1.9ozs and 119 yds (see- not 100YPO at all). The color difference between this portion and the oatmeal is very subtle, and it doesn't show in the picture very well, but I can see it in person (it's the 2nd from the bottom in the pic). I will have at least 3 more skeins of this color when I get done spinning the whole lb of Cormo fleece. This is all 4 colors that I got from that bit of fleece- only the medium tan is left to finish.

I finished spindle spinning the 2nd skein of Butterflygirl Designs Riot bamboo/recycled sari silk/firestar and it came out very well. I plied this (on the wheel- I cheated) with the same metallic thread as the first skein. This one came out 1.1 ozs, and 138 yds. I have at least one more oz to spin before I finish this fiber. It's destined to be a lacy scarf, though the lace pattern will have to be very simple because this is a slightly textured yarn. Total so far: 2.6 ozs (out of 3.4), and 292 yds. I'll have close to 400 yds when I finish. This picture shows the colors of the 2 skeins pretty well, but you can't see the sparkle. Not only is the plying thread sparkly, but the yarn itself sparkles with firestar, and the bamboo and sari silk have a gorgeous sheen. It's soft and gorgeous yarn, and it'll drape beautifully.

And to test my newly made stone spindle, I'm making some laceweight Merino yarn (with the purple/lavender/peach hand dyed roving). Though I hardly ever use singles, I decided to leave this yarn single for lace. I have about 2ozs of the fiber, and this first little skein (wound on my Ashford mini niddy-noddy) is .5 ozs and 76 yds (yep, it's over 100YPO, but it's not plied so that doesn't count). The stone spindle works very well, and I'll spin this entire batch on it. I want this yarn to be a lace scarf too. I'll have about 300 yds when I finish, and that will be plenty for the project. Since this yarn is consistent and pretty fine, I should be able to knit a more complex lace pattern with it. I wound and washed the skein at my son's house, and didn't have anything to weight it for drying, so I stretched it over the posts on his deck. That worked just fine, though there was not quite enough pressure to keep the yarn totally straight (and I overspun it a bit- I kept forgetting it was Merino, not silk).

I occasionally collect spindles, and I make them, but I hardly ever spin on them. Lately, I've been doing all 3, and I am getting much better at it (all 3, heh). Spindle spinning is still much slower than working on the wheel, but it's pretty amazing how much yarn you can make in 5 minute intervals here and there. And my spinning is getting much more consistent. I'm going to continue on.