What Are You Spinning Now? Photos Please.

Post your photos here.

I'm still working on the Gaywool fiber:

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by christina | AlohaBlu on February 9, 2011 at 7:14pm

after neglecting my spindles for a few months, i picked up one of my faves this afternoon and spun a few grams of sample alpaca i was given. it's a teeny tiny skein, but it was fun to pick up a spindle again. now i have to set the twist!

Permalink Reply by Peggy Stuart on February 10, 2011 at 5:28am

Lovely! I should take one of my spindles to Vintage Stitchers today.

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on February 9, 2011 at 9:04pm

Very impressive, ladies! I will try to get some pics tomorrow.

Permalink Reply by christina | AlohaBlu on February 17, 2011 at 8:52am

Here's what I'm spinning now. It's a merino/bamboo blend called 'GALAXY' from Etsy artist, Sosae Caetano. This is month 1 of a 4-month fiber club. I'm trying something different now with the roving that is challenging me a bit. Instead of splitting the roving into smaller sections I split it lengthwise down the middle so i have two identical halves and am spinning them separately in hopes the colors will match up when plied together. i got this piece of advice from KP Member Sunshine, who did this and posted photos on her wordpress blog. the difficult part for me is drafting side-to-side on a wider piece of wool, but its coming along. here are a couple photos.

Permalink Reply by KnitWhich? on February 17, 2011 at 8:57am

Beautiful, Christina. Your spinning is so even! I've learned about splitting the roving lengthwise, too. It is especially good with a multicolor roving, but also helps to 'predraft', too, since the sections are already thinner.

Unfortunately, I've had to neglect my spinning to get knitting projects done that have deadlines. I'm looking forward to getting back to it.

Permalink Reply by Nutty4Knitting on February 17, 2011 at 9:01am

Beautiful, Christina! Splitting roving lengthwise also helps prepare it for spinning finer yarns like lace weight. This is a much better way of doing it than trying to just predraft the wide roving. That is because it keeps the fibers overlapping enough to keep the roving together, but gives you a smaller amount to draft out into the yarn. I usually split a roving into 4 or even 6 lenghtwise sections before I spin for lace.

Permalink Reply by KnitterGirl39 on February 17, 2011 at 10:41am

Wow Christina, that is looking really pretty - can't wait to see how it Ply's out... :)

Permalink Reply by christina | AlohaBlu on February 17, 2011 at 11:15am

Thanks Knit, Nutty & KnitterGirl :) I'm hoping the colors come out somewhat in the same space. I'm having fun spinning though I'm still figuring out how to hold the wool and draft at the same time. With smaller pieces it's easier, but this is a good learning experience. I have been drooling over Sosae's rovings for a while now so I'm hoping my spinning does her rovings justice - LOL!

Permalink Reply by Nutty4Knitting on February 17, 2011 at 11:30am

I was eyeing some of her lucious rovings, too!! I had one bookmarked called 'Strawberry Truffle'. Then friend Cheryl came to my rescue and recommended I go stash diving to pull myself out of the fiber doldrums. It worked! Still love to get some of those knockout combos you can find on etsy, but I'm a happy camper with what I have........for right now. LOL

Permalink Reply by christina | AlohaBlu on February 17, 2011 at 11:57am

i hear ya! i add more and more to my 'favorites' list on etsy (truly i'm as much of a shopper as i am a store owner!) but try to limit my buying since i can't possibly spin it as fast as i like. i saw Angel post her socks in the SOCK KAL and she said the sock yarn was one she bought 2 years ago! LOL - i was so relieved that i'm not the only one with yarn from a few years back. i recently pulled out a ball of KP yarn that is now discontinued and made 2 pairs of colorwork socks with it (100g ball) so i think we're all stash diving!

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on February 17, 2011 at 4:58pm

2 years? Only 2 years? Heck, I have some since I picked up my needles again in, hmm, let's see, my mom passed away in December 1996. Must be since 1997. Oh, wait! I have some mohair from my doll making days. That was in the early 80s! And then there is the yarn from my mom's stash. Oh, my.

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on February 17, 2011 at 5:01pm