I am always dismayed at how long plying takes. After spending so much time spinning (I'm no speed demon), I want to ply, skein, wash and be done with a batch NOW! Of course, plying is just more spinning, so I should expect it to take awhile, but I don't. Sigh.After plying I was going to head to the barn to ride Russell and do chores, but made the mistake of checking emails again. That lead to blog reading, and an hour quickly sped away. It's both a blessing and a curse, this internet! I finally pulled myself away and headed out in the dark to do chores. Then I saddled my pony (at almost 16.1 hands tall, I use "pony" as a term of endearment!) and rode by the light of the barn lights. We are entered to ride one Third Level test in a show coming up on March 22, so I'm trying to dust off our skills and carefully leg Russell up for the job whenever I get a chance.
Back in the house after 10 p.m., I skeined off the alpaca before my guys got home. Here it is, all 8 oz. and approximately 570 yards of two-ply:
I may not get it washed until after my mother-in-law's visit; we'll see.
Making the guest bed had to wait until this morning. I really like our guest room - its colors, furnishings (antiques from Rick's side of the family), its view out the front. What you can't see is the little desk and bench piled high with magazines and other papers that need to be dealt with, toys Brian has outgrown, and a bunch of fabric I bought and washed for yet-to-be-made gifts.Lots more to do at . . .
18 comments:
Oh, well done on the plying! :-)
Lovely yarn! That much white would be difficult for me - I need fun colors and sparkly stuff to keep me going for 500-plus yards of spinning and plying. But there's me, who took almost 4 full months to spindle up 5.5 ounces of romney!
Gorgeous job with the plying! Love the quilt on the guest bed. :-)
Three people...you have 45 followers!! :)
Glad you got some 'free' time :)
Okay, there are four of you who were interested - hee! Yes, Garrett, I do have 45 followers which still boggles my mind and swells my heart, but I DO know that not all of them are interested in ALL my subjects. Some come for the sheep, some for the fiber, some for the other animals. I figured homespun yarn was not going to be an exciting post to come back to for some....
Adrienne, Kathleen and Kathleen - thanks so much for the compliments! I plan on playing with a couple ounces of different fiber before starting on my next 8 oz. of alpaca....
Beautiful yarn, 8 oz in one skein, very impressive!
Your amazing fitting all that in your free time. I am always inspired with your spinning and the beautiful skeins, I have a spinning wheel but have not got into using it as yet.
Your guess room looks inviting with that lovely antique bed :)
xoxoxo
The alpaca looks lovely! I ply so much faster than I spin singles so I don't mind it. It's the spinning singles that sometimes get monotonous for me. What are you going to knit from it?
I'm not sure I understand this followers thing. I use a feed reader and I have 100 subscribers but you are my only "follower". Do you get bulletins when I post? In a feed reader, whenever a blogger posts something new you can run through your reader and see who posted and read it, right in the reader or click through to the blog itself. It's great if you read as many blogs as I do and it keeps you organized.
Loren, you must have missed my earlier posts on the alpaca; it's my first spinning "commission"! The farm owner GAVE me 5 1/2 pounds of top/roving (I'm not sure which, but it's lovely stuff) in exchange for spinning half of it for her. This 8 oz. is the first installment of her 2 3/4 pounds. So I won't be knitting anything from it; I think the farm owner plans to offer it for sale in her shop.
Just saw your second comment, Loren. "Following" is a feature of Blogger. When I "follow" blogs, all new posts are displayed on my dashboard, so I can click on them to read the latest. I've tried subscribing unsuccessfully; "following" works very well for me (I follow over 100).
Well trying to get through my 500+ blog posts will take up a lot of time. lol!
I'm shocked that you actually finished today. I havem't even tried to go back and read through them all. Good for you, though. Now you're all caught up.
That guest room is cheerful and fun. And your yarn is lovely! I'm still learning how to ply. It does seem to take longer than the first spinning. Maybe that because we know it's the final process and we want it to be 'just so'?
Will you be dyeing your yarn, too?
I'm processing some of my churro wool right now by combing. Do you think I could just card and wash it after it's spun into yarn?
When I took my wool processing class, they recommended washing first, then combing/carding, but being that it's winter and I'm knee-challenged I want to keep it simple and fun.
~Lisa
That guest room is lovely, indeed.
Lisa, I have only spun a couple small sample of Navajo-Churro roving, so am not that familiar with the breed's wool characteristics, but if it isn't too "greasy" (and it doesn't look to be in your photos) you could spin it directly from those combed locks you've created, then wash the yarn once you've spun it. That would certainly cut down on the work!
ooh, well thanks for the following info. So it's similar to a reader then. But it won't work for non Blogger blogs and I follow a lot of those. I know sometimes feed subscription links are flaky though. I frequently fall behind on non subscription blogs as I use my blog "fav sites" links to check up when I remember.
I did some commission spinning once. I was nervous about making it perfect and then since I am so erratic with my spinning I felt stressed and decided to stick to doing it just for myself. I don't think I spin fast enough to make it worth my while. :-(
That skein is so pretty! I always read your blog, even if I don't always comment. I really enjoy your variety and love the pictures you post.
Loren, "follow" is a FEATURE of Blogger, but does not work ONLY with Blogger blogs. There are lots of non-blogger blogs in the group I "follow."
Oh I would love to learn this!
I love the smell of wool!
I always fill my stuffies with it.
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