This Saturday was the opening day at Old World Wisconsin and they hold their sheep shearing and a whole fiber-filled day. I couldn't go. I sulked around the house a bit till I decided to sit and spin my own stuff. Well I got 5 skeins spun and plied and washed and dried! Whew! the picture is the result of my frustrations. Although, after spinning a while it worked as therapy and I was smiling again. I love what I made. Each skein is between 35-55 yards. All are lumpy, bumpy and spun to the right. The darker blue is spun with cut up pieces of commercial yarns, and then plied with more of the blue wool that I spun just plain. For the other 4, I spun various rolags I had carded with mixes of wools and angelina, and a shimmery synthetic. Then I tried something new that I taught myself after watching it done on youtube by other spinners. I did a Navajo 3 ply. I absolutely love how it turns out. I don't have a really smooth technique yet, but I enjoy doing it and the look of the yarn is great. The only drawback is the yardage is shorter than regular plying-so the next ones I do I'll plan to make longer singles. Problem solved.
These pictures are a little fuzzy-but I think they show up ok. Had fun designing these--used some great aluminum wire I got from a friend. The bangle is riveted and wrapped with copper wire. The two cuffs are wrapped with wool roving and beads are sewn on. I'm looking forward to making many more (although all that hammering is tough on the arm).
