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Spinning with Turkish Spindles: Singles to Plying

My second Fiber Arts related course through FiberyGoodness. This self paced course can be started at any time, and has three sections: S...

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Spin the Bin 2014

Hi everyone,
It's been awhile. I've been keeping pretty busy lately mostly with work, spinning, and knitting. My latest projects are coming along nicely and I signed up for Funonion's Spin the Bin this year which has been greatly motivating to keep on spinning to keep up with my yearly goal.

I've been pretty anxious and nervous over the past several months waiting to get my Wee Peggy back. I'm extremely happy I decided to jump on the offer to get my Wee Peggy spruced up.  She took a trip to Montana to get spruced up at Q's Quality Wood Work. Ella received a new custom made larger flyer, 2 larger capacity bobbins, and a faster whorl. The new bobbins are the exact same size as Pocket Wheel bobbins and are much larger than the dinky Ashford DD bobbins I was using. I'm extremely pleased with the improvements. I've never considered myself a fan of orange but I'm loving the new orange driveband and I plan on getting some matching Akerworks flatpack bobbins to coordinate.

Aura and Wee Peggy

Merino/Cashmere dyed by Woolgatherings
In other exciting news I received this absolutely amazing handmade leather tote from my mother-in-law. Her talent with leather never ceases to amaze me. This bag was made for my Jenkins Turkish Egret which is my favorite out of all my spindles but too large to carry around. Now that I have this bag I'll be able to tote my Egret everywhere!



After much hibernation my Ink Cardigan is back and picking up speed. I finally got to the point where I could try it on and YAY it fits beautifully.

Ink Cardigan - Handspun BFL/Silk dyed by Allspunup
I also started on a Cladonia shawl that I am knitting along with Leslie. I sent her some 15.5 micron merino that I spun in a color that screamed Leslie and it ended up being the same weight and yardage as my Suri Alpaca so we decided to do a knit along. It's been so fun seeing how they are both coming along and how the different yarns look. Each yarn has it's own feel and look and both are going to be stunning.

Suri Alpaca
Cladonia Shawl - Handspun Suri Alpaca dyed by Woolgatherings
On to the big goal of the year Spin the Bin. I picked out several braids that I'd like to spin this year and my goal is to spin them all this year or at least spin that much in weight as I have added some projects in and will possibly take some out. I set my goal at 52.39 oz and so far I've spun 14.9 oz with 4 of that I'll be plying next Saturday.

Spinning Goal - 52.39 oz
  • DONE 4oz Silver Alpaca/Tussah Silk 70/30 (Woolgatherings) Spinning on Aura
  • Almost done needs plied 4oz Merino/Cashmere 70/30 (Woolgatherings)(.79 oz was spun prior to the start of the year) Spinning on Buggie Aegean
  • 29.59 oz Merino/Yak/Silk 60/20/20 (Woolgatherings) +4 oz undyed to test with Spinning on Aura
  • DONE 1.5 oz Merino pigtails (Greenwood Fibers) Spinning on Dragonfly Egret
  • DONE 1.4 oz Colton batt (Abstract Fiber’s kid Colton)(.16oz spun prior to the start of the year) Spinning on Tulipwood Lark
  • 3.9 oz Merino/Silk 50/50 (BJS Fiber Creations) Spinning on Holiday
  • 4 oz Rolags (Jump Sheep) Spinning on Holiday
  • DONE ADDED 4oz BFL/Silk/Sparkle 60/20/20 (Woolgatherings) Spinning on Aura
  • ADDED 4oz Merino/Silk 50/50 (Woolgatherings) Spinning on Dragonfly Egret
Washing Goal
  • Midori Fleece(unknown weight)
  • Hank Fleece 2lbs 11 oz.
 Here's what I've done so far.

Merino Pigtails plied against River Stone Polwarth both dyed by Greenwood Fiberworks
Silver Alpaca/Tussah dyed by Woolgatherings
Merino/Cashmere dyed by Woolgatherings - 2 oz spun
BFL/Silk/Sparkle dyed by Woolgatherings - Spun on Akerworks Flatpack bobbin
BFL/Silk/Sparkle dyed by Woolgatherings
Colton Batt
Colton Batt
 I feel like I've been making good progress. All the spring colors have been fun to work with and remind me that spring is coming soon. We've had several nice days already, our plants are coming up, and leaves are budding. I cannot wait for more of the beautiful weather that is in store this year.


EWM