Spinning and lace

It's time to show you my spinning. Here it is, my first yarn spun, plied, and washed to set the twist. It's lumpy and bumpy and has several knots that will be spliced together later.

Plus, it's loverly.



My spinning wheel sat, neglected, for several weeks after that. I'm in a "Catch-22" situation. What do I do with all the 4 oz. yarns that I'm making? It's enough for a hat, or a scarf, or....

I have a couple of hats (which I never wear), and a few more scarfs (how many does one need?), and what else can I do with bumpy yarn? I could make a striped vest, but that would require the rovings to all coordinate. (When I say "all", I'm planning for the future.)

When I get better at spinning, I might be able to make sock yarn (and then there will be no problem), but until then?

I could buy enough roving to make a sweater, but with bumpy yarn? Shouldn't I get better at spinning before attempting that?

So, that's why it sat around for awhile. I can't get better at spinning, though, unless I spin, so I went back to that option and yesterday I spun up all this purply roving.




See? I'm already getting better, and once it's plied, it should be enough for cuffs on wristwarmers (and it's getting colder outside, so it should be just in time.)

I have no idea what kind of wool it was, but it had a nice long staple length and I found it very easy to spin. (I'm sure it's still over-spun, but at least it's more even. Ignore the fluffy part that I think is the yarn end.)


I've also been knitting. Here's the Juliet sweater:



The lace pattern is a 6 row repeat that I've managed to memorize, amazingly enough. In another day or two, it should be done. Stay tuned!