Spinning Batts

This was so incredibly fun and unique an experience for me. Having never spun a batt of course I had to try it! First I took the natural batt and layed it out on plastic wrap and sprayed a little with vinegar then poured on some dyes I carefully wrapped it and steamed it. Now seeing as I'd spent all that time laying awake trying to figure out how to rinse my dyed batts without scrunching them all up, you can see it was 2 hours in the the middle of the night well spent. I did, in fact, successfully keep that batt completely flat while it rinsed and dried. Please excuse the horrid picture... like the dolt I sometimes am, I photographed a nearly transparent piece of wool fiber on a wooden table resulting in a very dark photo. I think you get the idea though. The entire batt is one ounce and measures about 14 inches wide by about 30 inches long -- very thin.

Now on to spinning. I'm a little compulsive and a bit of a perfectionist (shut up, Mia) so this was a stretch for me to spin this curly stuff. Being the beginner spinner I am I mostly spin from combed top. This stuff was thin and loose and really fun. I spun half the batt on a bobbin and then spun the other half on a different bobbin. Pretty clever, huh? Then I plied the two together. (The previous explanation is for those who, like me, had not spun anything before except a child on a swing.) I really like how it turned out. It is really thin and really strong -- since I finally learned to put enough twist in my singles.

Funny story: I've been having a hard time making yarn the doesn't want to pull apart and since I can't seem to spin anything thicker than fingering weight it needs lots of twist. I asked my friend who is kinda teaching me to spin (in 5 minute bursts once a month or so) and she told me to add more twist. Silly me, I wanted to know how to accomplish that particular instruction. She replied, "just hold on to it a little longer before you let is wrap on to the bobbin." Duuhhhhh!!! Now this might seem obvious to those of you who aren't beginners. But to me it is sheer torture to hold on to that yarn any longer than absolutely necessary because I am just a tad impatient. I'm learning. Maybe this newfound patience will transfer over into some other areas of my life.

So there you go. I love my dyed batt. I love spinning my dyed batt. And my yarn is pretty darn good if I do say so. I'm still dyeing batts so if anyone has a special request for a color or two leave me a comment and I'll try to make you something pretty for $2.50/ounce.