Monet Shawl from Handmade Spindles

I ventured into simple spindle making with a few household supplies and tools.   Here's the result of my lightweight chopstick and washer spindles.   Since they're nearly identical, I plied directly off these to make a lovely colorful yarn which I knit into a little neck shawl.





 

The Second Batch of Spindled Yarn

Last November I purchased a few pounds of mill end roving from TheSheepShedStudio.com which I spun last winter.  The wool is a lot sturdier and with a longer staple length than the merino I first tried, but still soft enough to wear. I love how black & white striped roving spins into a lovely dark gray. Though it looks like a cabled yarn, it's a 2-ply. The barber pole effect in the single gives the plied yarn the cabled look. This yarn is a bulky, which I'll probably knit into a hat someday.

The First Spindled Yarns

I've been enjoying making yarn on a spindle. This is the result of my first attempts of single and 2-ply yarns of a silky heathered merino, spun last year in November. Each batch looks different from the last, because I was getting better and more consistent.

I knit a hat from some of this first batch.

My Very First Yarn

Ok, I found it. I found the first yarn I ever spindled, back in fall 2006. Then I never spun again. It just seemed like a whole lot of work for very little yarn. And then when comparing prices :-O it was more expensive to buy the materials than to buy commercial yarn. (I’m still trying to figure that one out.) This is like 20-ish yards of superbulky thick-n-thin yarn from commercial wool top that my spinning friend Kelley gave me and tried to teach a couple of us how to spin using CD-spindles.

You should’ve seen me trying to ply this. My friend was gone, and I had no idea what I was doing. So I unrolled the singles and laid them out, zigzag across my bed. Then I picked up the two ends and plied back onto the CD spindle. Then it sat on that spindle for 5 years before I finally unrolled it and took this photo.

Part of me wants to just keep it skeined as a memento. On the other hand, I have the urge to un-ply it, un-spin it, and then spin it again to pull out the thick slubs. What would y’all do - keep it or modify it?

Learning to Spin in 2006
 

My First Spindle

I said I would never spin yarn. Not that I don't like it, but I just don't have much room for more craft supplies, nor do I need any more yarn. But try walking into the Yarn Barn of Kansas and NOT get tempted by their wares. My first intent was to buy a small ball of luxury yarn. Instead, I came home with a Schacht 2.2 oz Hi-Lo Whorl and 8 oz. of Merino Mulicolor Top. After a few awkward batches, I finally got the hang of it, and can spin a fairly even and thin yarn to be plied into a thicker yarn.