22 April 2008

Some spinning

Well, the day after I posted my "To Do List", I actually sat down and read the spinning book which I borrowed from the library, and learnt a lot of valuable information. The most useful of which was that once you have spun your wool, you actually have to 'set the twist' before you knit it. So that is why I had so much trouble with my first spinning attempt!

So I sat down, and spun the second lot of very expensive wool from Spotlight (that I bought before I found my new wool stash). I think I did a lot better this time, the wool was much more even, even if it did keep breaking, which it didn't do the first time! It was still very curly when I wound it off the bobbin, but I now know this is how it is meant to be!

So carefully following the instructions in the book (which is "Hands on Spinning" by Lee Raven, don't know how it compares to other books, as it's the only one I've read so far), I let it slowly sink into some warm, soapy water, then rinsed it in some warm clean water.

Then I gently pulled the ends to straighten out the kinks. There are still a few, but on the whole, it is much straighter, and I'm sure will be MUCH easier to knit with!

While I was washing the wool, I thought I'd also wash the slipper I knitted with the last lot of wool, which is why I needed the second lot of wool. It's a bit softer now. I just have to knit the second one (hopefully I'll have enough wool, this one pushed the envelope a little), and then spin a little of my new wool to put a crocheted frill around the top, as the heal is a little short. Then to see if DD will actually wear them.

Edited to say, this is the first ever post I've written where the spellchecker has come up with NO errors! In fairness to me, sometimes the errors are just disagreements between me and the spellchecker.

2 comments:

han_ysic said...

Hey there,

I have recently been learning to spin. It looks to me as though you have not ply'd your wool. This is when you spin two bobbins and then spin the two of them onto a third bobbin the opposite way (wheel turning) Hope that makes sense, then it will not come undone and will be stronger. Let me know if you need more info, or if I am telling you something you already knew. I highly reccomend checking out your local spinners and weavers. I joined mine and they are so helpful.

Rinelle said...

Hi. I'm a totally beginner spinner too. In fact, that was only my second ever bobbin of wool, and unfortunately there wasn't enough to ply it. I do plan on practicing plying with the next lot though. Thanks, and good luck with you spinning!