Got my spindle!

My drop spindle spinning kit came in the mail Friday, and I played with it over the weekend some. Bevin gave me some beautiful wool roving to play with, so I have (right now) a very lumpy length of teal-colored wool yarn. I'm loving it!

The drop spindle isn't hard to use; my problem seems to be the "drafting" of fibers to get a consistent width of yarn. But I'm not worried about it -- I keep hearing people say it just takes practice. The library had several books on spinning, an a video on using a spinning wheel. I don't think I'm in much of a hurry to actual buy one now, though. I kind of like the simplicity of the drop spindle.

I'm taking the whole kit with me to Atlanta (and probably a knitting project or two as well) so I might get something accomplished in the 13 hours on the road.

Tank Top: my first real garment

This turned out not too terribly horrible. I wore it to work today and everyone thought it was pretty. It's a little big. I know I didn't have the gauge right, but I'm also thinking I might have measured my body wrong. But at least it's not too small! My first garment, and it lay around the house in two pieces for two weeks before I got up the courage to actually block it. The blocking went pretty well -- I shaped it exactly how I wanted it, and it looked good, stuck with 100 pins. The only problem was the cat, who seemed to think she had to walk, literally, ALL over the pieces. I had to smooth out cat footyprints three times! Next time I'm going to stick some pins in the towel with their points up. Then maybe she'll get the message. METHOD: Made from Caron's "Jewel Box" yarn on #9 needles, I didn't actually get the gauge right, so I'm making another one in the proper gauge to see how it fits. AND WHAT DID WE LEARN? This fabric is a little too thick, but it still feels okay. I should have put some kind of band at the bottom, because it really wants to curl up. The shoulder parts curl in too, and look more narrow than they should. I think if I make another one, I'll do it in seed stitch, and see how that looks. The chenille got kind of wormy. I'm wondering if I wash it and dry it again if that will help the chenille even out. Finishing this piece, sewing it together, was a NIGHTMARE! I ended up taking out the bound-off stitches in the shoulders to graft them together, which doesn't look too bad. But the side seams are uneven, and I think I really need practice on sewing seams. Or maybe I can just pay someone else to do it! Edited to add -- I wonder if you can just thread the yarn through the edges, in mattress stitch, and then wait until the end to pull the thread tight? Hmm ... that would make everything MUCH easier.

Spin spin spin!

This isn't a knitting entry, but I just decided I absolutely HAVE to learn to spin!

I went to the spin-in at Borders yesterday, and met some new ladies, and some I'd met at the last kint-in, and Chris showed me how to use a drop spindle, and I'm FASCINATED! I could watch them spin on their spinning wheels all day long.

I want a spinning wheel! Wah! But they're expensive. Mayhaps I'll start with the drop spindle...