I hate titles

***Warning, picture heavy post***

Probably the main reason I've been writing so few blog entries is because I can't think of a title. I've never been a good writer and I'm not particularly clever when it comes to writing anything engaging. I'll just have to continue to be boring and write boring stuff and hope I'll keep my 5 readers. I do have some pictures to show off what I've been working on.

I've been doing a ton of spinning lately. Mostly I've been trying different fibers and finding what I like. So far I've spun Corriedale

which is becoming this -- feather and fan scarf.

Merino dyed by me. This was actually my first wheel-spun yarn -- uneven, unbalanced 2-ply.

and BFL -- also dyed by me and 2-plied. I really liked spinning this yarn. The BFL is really soft and very easy to spin evenly. I tried to spin this one a little bulkier.

And then a soft blend of Merino, Targhee and Ramboulette than I finished plying last night.
Here it is on the bobbins still in singles... Then hanging perfectly balanced after being soaked. I hung this without any weight and was really pleased with the balance of the 2-ply.

and here it is in 2 skeins. The total yardage came out right over 500 yards and 4 ounces.

The verdict: I really liked spinning the Merino and it didn't seem hard at all like I'd kept hearing. The BFL was my favorite to spin. Corriedale is easy but to me a little scratchy but the spun single is really airy and springy. The blend of Merino, Targhee and Rambouilette is exactly the colors I had planned. I love the blues and I like the yardage I got. The blend is really soft but the dyed fiber had tiny little noils all through it that I wasn't sure if I was supposed to get rid of or not. I'm such a beginner. I really have no clue what I'm doing most of the time but I just keep spinning in hopes that I'm not practicing bad habits.

Okay, here is what I started yesterday. I picked up the Spinning for Softness and Speed book at the library, read the whole thing and decided to spin this uber soft 100% Rambouilette with the long draw one-handed method. It gives me pain in my shoulder -- probably doing somthing wrong -- but the single is so light and fluffy that it kinda makes up for the pain. I'm enjoying spinning this fiber a lot. I don't think I'll put it up in singles like the book suggests, but 2-ply it since my singles might not be strong enough to knit with as they are. As it is, I think I need to send this back through the wheel once to add a little more twist...it doesn't quite pass the tug test.

Well, this is a very long post and I think it needs to end. If you've read this far and still have the energy, I would very much appreciate a comment! :o)