Spinning

For the kids, spinning means twirling around in circles until they get dizzy and fall down, which is a current favorite activity. Since just watching them do it makes me dizzy, I'll stick to this kind of spinning:
These are the three hanks I have finished from the cheap wool I got at Susan's Fiber Shop. The top two are the older ones and the bottom one is the more recent one with the much thinner singles. Although consistancy is still not a strong point, I do like the finer weight yarn. I still have a little of the fiber left, so I will probably get one more hank out of it, though it is mostly black and brown left.

In addition to be thinner, I was also able to finally do some drafting while the spindle was actually spinning. Up to now I have been all about "park and draft," which means spinning the spindle to overtwist the yarn and then holding on to the spindle with my legs or feet so I can concentrate on drafting the fiber. Then the extra twist can travel up into the newly drafted area, until I run out of extra twist and repeat the process. The problem I have with drafting while the spindle is actually spinning is an appalling lack of coordination. I start the spindle spinning, but by the time I get my hands where they need to be on the fiber and manage to try and do some drafting, the spindle is done spinning. Maybe someday I will be able to spin like the big kids.

Once I get the last of this fiber spun, I would really like to get an ounce or two of different kinds of fiber just to see how they feel and how they spin up. I am completely drooling over the "Almost Solid Sampler Pack" (at the top of the page), which has superwash, wool blend, corriedale, merino, and blue faced leicester. More likely, I will probably wait until we have a chance to go back to Rainbow Fleece Farm (where I got my spindle) and just get a couple ounces each of a few kinds.