Spin cycle

Went to the Weaving Dept Spin in on Saturday 11th, and spent a happy few hours spinning outside with Susan and Kay.  I got more spinning done that day than in the preceding six months, and learned an important lesson:  Stop spinning like a hamster on meth.  It's not a race, it's more fun when you slow down, and you get just as much done but with less stress.  I was spinning white Cormo pin-drafted roving, after 3 hours spinning there was noticeable lanolin on my hands, they were all soft when I got home.

I'm still trying to refine my Navajo plying technique.  The Jacob skein seems like my best, the others are too twisty on the plying.  One attempt is a cream Wensleydale roving, spun for the Tour de Fleece.  The latest is Polwarth locks finished on Thursday night.  I am completely taken with the look of three ply yarn, I'll be doing this for a while until I figure it out.  Plying isn't as fun as spinning for me so I'm rushing it and messing up the skein with too much plying twist.  Again with the hamster on meth.  Polwarth on the left and Wensleydale on the right, probably light sportweight:

I have 30yds of Wensleydale and 39yds of Polwarth.  I could happily carry the Polwarth around with me, twisty and uneven and all, because it wasn't some well-behaved roving, I got it as lumps of washed fleece and flick-carded it into roving balls, then spun and plied it.  Susan and Kay assured me they've seen worse, and while it is over-twisted, it's OK.  I feel better.  Susan also brought some of her hand dyed roving, and it's gorgeous.

Knitted the Polwarth into a six inch hexagon (I was aiming for a square and missed) on US3 needles when I got home.  It's lumpy and uneven and twisty, but lovely and soft.  This is going to live in my work bag, ostensibly to clean my glasses, but really because I was involved in this thing from fleece to final product and I'm chuffed to bits with it.