Thursday 2 February 2012

Keep Your Lips Away*

Recently I noticed a post on GirlanachronismE's blog about buying a "learn to spin" kit. She cunningly included the link to the etsy listing, and a few clicks later I appeared to have ordered one for myself *laughs*

I'd been meaning to give it a go for a while, and the day I saw that post my blog reader had quite a few posts about spinning popping up all over the place. So I took the plunge.

I started with this lovely fluff:


A short time later, I had this:


Followed by a ball of spun singles:


It almost looks like yarn already *smiles* But then I made another one of these and plied them together, to make this:


This is the pre-soaked yarn, which was washed, dried and skeined to become this:


Real live yarn *grins, a lot*

It's thick and thin and overspun and underspun, but I made it myself and it looks like actual yarn *happy dance* I'm pretty impressed, as you can no doubt tell ;)

Boyfriend was wonderfully patient when he came home to me thrusting it into his hands and repeatedly telling him "look, I made yarn" *laughs* And he didn't even groan when I mentioned that if I get into it then the stash might expand to accommodate a fibre stash too ;)

I'm now working on spinning some of the purple blended roving from the kit. I'm pretty slow, and not very good at it just yet, but I'm really enjoying it. Looks like you might see more handspun on here from time to time!


* "My advice is keep your lips away from the spinning things." - Adam Savage (of Mythbusters fame)

21 comments:

  1. I'm off to buy the last one, how awesome!!

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  2. Congratuations...you made yarn! Maybe I need to practice a lot more since I still can't get the hang of it!

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  3. Wow this looks amazing! Look forward to seeing more x

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  4. Yay, its such an awesome kit! And i have to say, it think your first attempt looks better than mine.

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  5. Oh no! I have been trying NOT to buy one for ages but you may have just enabled me - AAARRRGGHHH!

    ;)

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  6. Oh hooray! It looks so great for your first try (way better than my first try)! Do you think you'll knit it into something?

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  7. Yay for spinning! It's another slippery slope of a craft, once your hooked! That's lovely for your first spinning too.

    Have fun, it opens up a whole new world of fibre love. You'll soom be hankering after a wheel! (spoken from experience from someone who started with a wee drop spindle and now has *coughs* 3 wheels :-0)

    have fun spinning x

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  8. I tried spinning a while ago and could not get the hang of it. Yours looks awesome!

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  9. Must resist allure of spinning. Must resist. I keep telling myself that I can spin once I run out of yarn. (My household loves Mythbusters too)

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  10. I love reading about peoples' first adventures in spinning and the results they have. From the looks of that skein, you are seriously a natural spinner. It's so pretty! Great job, there are so many more amazing skeins to come. :)

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  11. Ooh, I met Katie at the weekend! She's lovely and her fibres are GORGEOUS. Oddly enough, I inherited a spinning kit from someone, so I've been thinking of giving it a go myself, once I find some suitable instructions. The book that came with the spindles I've got is a bit advance for me - it keeps talking about physics and maths and angles of momentum, when what I really want are very basic pictures!

    Maybe I'll see if Katie would just sell me the booklet!

    Your yarn looks pretty damn good for a first attempt. Definitely something worth pursuing, I'd say :)

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  12. Just wait....you'll want a wheel. I gave up my drop spindle very quickly (I hated how I had to stop and start because I'm short and the spindle kept hitting the ground)...and now I have my wheel :)

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  13. That looks fantastic. I always love seeing what people make with the kits, particularly when they've been as successful as you!
    Congratulations, and welcome to a lifetime of addiction to spinning!

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  14. SO COOL!!!! I am really impressed!!!!!!!!! Nice work!

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  15. That is really cool, I think when I am older and I have more time I may think about spinning my own wool he he :)

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  16. You are some kind of legend. When I tried a spinning class I ended up with what looked like something that might once have been wrapped round a straw bale, only not quite as smooth. I see you have a top whorl. Maybe I'll try that.

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  17. You took to that like a duck to water. Good for you! Learning to spin is on my to-do list.

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  18. It looks super. Far more like yarn than my first attempts. Looking forward to hearing your spinning adventures

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  19. Yay! Spinning is such fun and it's looks like you've had no trouble picking it up. Beware, it eats into you knitting time though!

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