Show Off Your Handspun Yarns

This weekend I dyed a batch of Leicester Longwool that I'd had a while... the fiber looks marvelous!

This afternoon I tried spinning this long stuff! And I mean it is long... the shortest lengths are at least 6" long... and some are evenlonger. It wants to be spun finely... it will not go thick at all. It was so hard to spin that I tried making a rolag and that was a little bit better, but still difficult... So I just finished carding the whole pile... well it's only 10 oz. and fits into a gallon zip lock baggie...Here is the first part of the spinning I did today... this will be a very slow process.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on March 5, 2012 at 8:14am

I really enjoy this process of spinning and dyeing the yarn and then knitting something useable with it. And yes, the BFL will be very warm - I will only have about 130 yards when finished, so I'm thinking a hat, probably.

Permalink Reply by robdob on March 7, 2012 at 7:52am

I do have a quick question I'll throw out. If I dye my singles and then ply them, should I then wash them in warm water and soap again to "set" the ply? The ends of this skein are untwisting as opposed to my first bunch over in the Turkish spindle discussion that I plied before dyeing and the twists seem to be "set."

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on March 7, 2012 at 8:04am

I always wash my skeins after plying.

Permalink Reply by Nutty4Knitting on March 7, 2012 at 4:43pm

Yes, because you are adding new twist energy when you ply them, and that is what you need to set.

Permalink Reply by Bren on March 8, 2012 at 9:00pm

Hi everyone! I hope you all are doing well! I've been spinning (like always) and wanted to share my newest goodies!! These were both dyed by me and spun on my Fantasia wheel! I finally broke down and bought a professional photo kit for taking proper pictures of my yarns and rovings for my store. It was only 26 bucks on ebay. It came with a soft light box that springs open, a white, black, blue and green drop cloth for the background and 2 lights for either side of the box. I really like it!

Thanks for looking!!

Erin Go Bragh

BFL wool, 2 ply

4 oz, 516 yds

light fingering

Here's the first photo with my new photo stuff!!

Chic Boutique

Shetland Wool, 2 ply

4 oz, 252 yds

worsted weight

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on March 8, 2012 at 9:40pm

Oh wow, that box is the bomb... not to mention the yarn... lovely skeins.

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on March 8, 2012 at 9:47pm

Not only is that yarn beautiful but your photos are professional quality.

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on March 8, 2012 at 10:27pm

Sure wish I could find that.

Permalink Reply by Bren on March 9, 2012 at 5:49am

It's right here Susan. The two lights on the side weren't quite enough for me but I have a large overhead ott light that I added to the top of the box and it was perfect.

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on March 9, 2012 at 6:21am

Thanks Bren.

Permalink Reply by christina | AlohaBlu on March 11, 2012 at 1:19am

awesome spinning/dyeing Bren! yay - a photo studio!! i have to agree with you, my two-light setup wasn't enough for me as well so I had to get a third. i have 2 different size light tents (40" and 24") and I could never get the 'look' i wanted with the tents but might try again after seeing your beautiful photo ;) 7 shades of green?? FABULOUS!!

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on March 11, 2012 at 7:14am

Well, I've ordered my light kit, but I can see that a major portion of my fiber studio (long time in the making) will have to be devoted to photography.