Spinning right round

I'm still in spinning mode, and lately I've been reminded of a few things that I already knew but forgot.

#1. No matter how pretty this kind of roving looks before spinning

It always looks like this afterwards- muddy. Now, it's a pretty mud, but it's still mud.

#2. Ebay bargains, in this case 17,000 yds (I'm not kidding) of very fine brushed mohair yarn for $9, may sit in the Wool Room for years, but eventually I'll think of something to do with it, like

using it to ply with muddy yarn. On the right, we have 1 ply of the mud roving and 1 ply of brushed mohair (it'll make a lovely halo after it's knit up), 2.6 ozs and 133 yds. On the left, we have a boucle experiment- 1.3 ozs, 94 yds, 1 ply brushed mohair, 1 ply sewing thread, 1 ply metallic glitter strand.

#3. Old Spin-Off magazines are wonderful. I was thumbing through back issues for a pattern that I vaguely remembered, when I came across the instructions for making boucle yarn. Since the Monster Mohair Cone was already out, I gave it a shot. I think this turned out beautifully, and I plan to try again with handspun.

#4. Ugly roving sometimes makes pretty yarn. The yarn on the left was a Merino blend that I'm hoping I got in a trade, because if I actually bought this green/yellow/pink stuff, I need my eyes examined. It was totally ugly in the bag, but I have to say that the 4.5ozs and 183 yds spun up rather prettily. The yarn on the right was gorgeous in the bag, and it turned out just as pretty spun up. It's naturally dyed with Goldenrod and I think it came from Connie at Colors by Nature's Studio- it's soft and sproingy, and will probably be used with the formerly ugly green/yellow/pink.

#5. It takes a long time and a lot of concerted effort to use up every bit of 1lb of handspun yarn in small projects. I knit another waffle hat with the Decadent Fibers Jelly Roll yarn, this one smaller than the first. I still have a small ball left, which I will use with the novelty yarn to the right, to knit one more hat. With that, the yarn should be gone. I hope.

#6. I'm still not tired of spinning. Go figure.

#7. The stash in the Wool Room doesn't look any smaller yet. sigh.