Spinning!

I've been so bad about spinning lately, much less posting pictures.

Recently I finished my second bobbin of the fiber I started spinning for 2012 Tour de Fleece.  How bad is that?

I thought I had posted a picture of the fiber I dyed on the blog, but when I did a quick search I couldn't find it.

I did find it on my flickr account.

 Thank goodness for notes.  It's Merino top, 3 ounces.  You can't really see the greens in the fiber.  I kettle-dyed this becuase that was the only kind of dyeing I knew how to do and not freak out at the results.

Here's a picture of it being plyed up.


Here's a close up.  You can see the greens better in this photo.

I was trying to go for a thin enough ply so that I could get a two-ply sock yarn.  Or close to it.  I'm  not sure if I'm going to get it though.  It seems to be a fine thick and thin, if there is such a thing.  I'm also only about a third done plying.  This is going to take me a while.

A couple weeks ago I got a some books from the library on spinning.

I learned a LOT from each of these books. The DVD that came with  "The Intentional Spinner" by Judith MacKenzie was really helpful.

My only "disappointment" with the DVD was that I watched her method of plying and I tried it and it did not feel natural.  So I've reverted back to my old method of how I hold my hands when I ply.  No biggie.

Another thing in her book that was really insightful to me was the ability to change what yarn you can make by switching up the whorls.  Now I knew you could do this, but I hadn't given it much thought.  After seeing her switch it up it was a light bulb moment for me and I feel like I've rediscovered my wheel again.