SKEIN I
Ply | Three
Yardage | 236.22 m
WPI | NA (Fingering)

SKEIN II
Ply | Three
Yardage | 167.64 m
WPI | NA (Fingering – slightly thicker than Skein I)

Fibre | Superwash merino in Two Tone Down Under from JulieSpins
Tool | Serenity Wheel on [5:1 ratio]

My entry for the Tour de Fleece – I had plans to spin another two braids but considering that I had to pack for the move, finish up my knitting…maybe three braids was overdoing things. Still, I’m glad to have finished working on this fiber – a day AFTER the end of the TdF. The colours were a joy to spin up, transitioning from golden to deep yellow and royal to deep and very dark blue as well as a mix of both (a resulting emerald to deep green). But what I love about it was the feel of the resulting handspun; very springy and soft.

Am currently knitting up a pair of toe-up socks using this yarn and I’m loving the feel of it! With any luck, I should have pics of the sock in progress; it’s currently on DPNs – I know, Second Sock Syndrome but I have a plan for it which is to cast on the second pair on another set of DPNs! Kekekeke.

So yes…w00t to handspun yarn goodness! In the meantime, it’s back to packing up Eva’s cloth diapers and finishing up my assignment on adult diapers (and no, you’d be surprised at how many people use them and why – absolutely nothing to be ashamed of!).

Ply | Three
Yardage | 219.5 m
WPI | NA
Fibre | Superwash BFL
Tool | Serenity Wheel [5.5:1 ratio]

I bought this fiber on a whim together with a braid of a yummy dark wine berry roving and proceeded to spin this up immediately after working on that awful two-ply. Needless to say, I’m glad to go back to some three ply handspun. While I love the outcome and how the colours turned out, trouble is that my spinning has become rather inconsistent because of the lack of practice. Some parts are beautiful spun and plied up whereas some are, well, need more work – they aren’t bad, they just aren’t perfect.

I definitely need to spend more time in front of the wheel. *sigh* Do I sense a burn-out of hobbies of some sort coming up or is it just the flu bug talking?

Ply | Two
Yardage | 501.4 m
WPI | NA
Fibre | Merino-bamboo
Tool | Serenity Wheel [5.5:1 ratio]

All I’ll say is I hate two-plying! It’s fiddly, it’s annoying and well, I just hate it. Gimme Navajo any day, any time, PLEASE!

When I was spinning this up in singles, they were gorgeous and the colours were perfect; it was from my own handdyed stash. Unfortunately, as I plied it, my admiration and love turned into slow boiling rage and hate. By the time I wanted to stop and change my mind, it was already too late. So here it is, two plied yarn that looks like swirls of berry jelly. O’well…

Ply | Three
Yardage | 280.4 m
WPI | Fingering
Fibre | Merino-Silk
Tool | Serenity Wheel [5.5:1 ratio]

Spin spin spin…that’s all I can say. LOL!

Sometimes I really run out of things to say about my handspun yarns. I guess it’s due to the fact that I go through one fiber after another and then a longggg pause during the spinning process that I forget whatever it is that I’ve been facing with that particular project.

But one thing is for sure – spinning regularly helps to keep things even! So now that that is out of the way, it’s back to the wheel for me!

Ply | Single
Yardage | 461.8 m
WPI | Lace
Fibre | 75/25 BFL-Silk
Tool | Serenity Wheel [5.5:1 ratio]

My very first singles that are not overspun OR underspun thanks to adjustments to the tension and the threading (I can’t go at it as if it were spin-on-treadmills)!

I love how the colours came out – exactly as I envisioned it to be – but more importantly, I love love love the fact that it just took me two nights to spin this up! AHAHAHAHA! Now in terms of yardage, I would have liked to have something more substantial to work with but the 450 over meters will be good for a small-medium sized lace shawl. I guess I just need to find the right pattern now.

But yes, singles are amazing things to spin up! *grin*

Ply | Three
Yardage | 236.22 m
WPI | Thin fingering
Fibre | SW Merino-Tencel
Tool | Serenity Wheel [5.5:1 ratio]

I had initially intended for this to be available at the store for socks or even a nice smallish shawl/scarf but due to some “accident” with my spinning, I ended up losing quite a bit of yardage on this while plying it. Gah. So in the end, the resulting yardage was too little for anything else but one skein projects.

Note to self – 50-50 merino-tencel blends can be fiddly to spin, especially for someone who has been out of the spinning shape for a longggg time! Over nine months, mind you, and with all the running around, Jack Georges reviews and a baby…gah. I am actually quite surprised that I managed to squeeze in some spinning time before the babysitter showed up!

But hey, at least I managed to get this done. The resulting yarn is utterly yummy and shiny; it’s just a pity that the yardage is soooo little. Hai.

Ply | Three
Yardage | 330.7 m
WPI | NA (Fingering)
Fibre | 50/50 alpaca/superwash merino
Tool | Serenity Wheel [5.5:1 ratio]

This is actually one of my own self-blends – I didn’t want to spin up alpaca on its own so I settled for blending it with some unddyed superwash merino. The result was some candy-striped and heathered yarn that is subtle in colour but still very yummy!

I’m still undecided about putting this up for sale because it wasn’t done as well as I would have liked it and if I have my doubts about it, chances are, it won’t see the store shelves any time soon. Still, no problem. I can always use this for some ankle socks…or something. *grin*

In the meantime, I’m awfully tempted to rebrand my store but that would involve an overhaul on EVERYTHING, from name cards to site banners, names, labels, etc. Talk about finding cheap online printing services! So nah, I guess the name is for keeps for real. XD

Ply | Three
Yardage | 361.2 m
WPI | NA
Fibre | Superwash Merino (my own handdyed)
Tool | Serenity Wheel [5.5:1 ratio]

This is up for sale at the store but just to let you know – I’m in love with this dyeing technique! The resulting effect time and time again is a mix of solids and stripes but get this – they are heathered not so much solid per se as you can see in the picture above.

I’d love to try this out with some of the rovings I dyed up using the same technique for the store…but the stash comes first. Must destash, destash and destash.

Yes, I bet by now, you know that my knitting is somewhat non-existent. Aiiii…

Ply | Three
Yardage | 394.7 m
WPI | NA
Fibre | 70/30 Superwash Merino-Seacell from juliespins.etsy.com
Tool | Serenity Wheel [5.5:1 ratio]

Earlier today, I said that I would put this up for sale and all after plying since the colours are amazing and all, but after setting the twist and all, I notice that it bleeds a little. And while it’s okay with me personally, I am hesitant about selling a yarn that may add a slight orange tinge to water when rinsing.

Now, before anyone jumps to the wrong conclusion, bleeding is normal when the colours are intense and with certain blends – I ought to know. The merino-tencel I dyed up a while back bled like crazy and it took me a while to get a clear change of water without compromising on the colour brightness. So after buzzing Julie about it to check what her recommendation was to avoid future bleeds (read: wash/block in cold water only), I decided there and then that this was the perfect excuse for me to hang on to this.

At least now I can say that I have some handspun of my own to use!!!