Sinnin' and Spinnin'

Naughty Blogger!

Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It's been several days since my last blog posting. Forget the Hail Mary's though, my penance will be some knitting and some spinning, which I learned yesterday under the patient tutiledge of Louise from Lou Knits (see sidebar if you want to see her blog). I'm almost too ashamed to take pictures of my efforts, but it'll serve as a wonderful illustration of what you don't want your homespun yarn to look like. I'm going to work on it, though. It's very addictive, so, how could I not? I'm not wealthy enough to purchase a spinning wheel without first knowing that spinning is something I'll stick with, so I got a little drop spindle. It takes some practice to get used to the technique, but it's really fun trying. In case you've ever wondered why they call it a drop spindle, it's not really because of the motion of spinning and dropping the spindle to make it spin the yarn. You probably thought it was, and if you've never done it, that would seem logical. The real reason, though, is that when you're learning, you frequently drop the spindle on the floor, beating the heck out of the tip of the stick. Ay, how painful it is to thrash a brand new toy, err, I mean tool. There is a certain almost meditative feel to the repetive action of spinning with a drop spindle, though, and I love it. Hurts your arm a bit, though.

Anyway, as a bit of a sneak preview to the picture of my homespun, I'll describe it a bit. It was some roving that still has some guard hairs (not the soft ones) in it that Louise was willing to part with (thank you, by the way, Louise, you have provided me with hours of fun). So, the wool has a bit of a grey color to it, and with my shoddy workmanship, it looks remarkably mop-like, hanging in a skein. My thought is that I'll continue on my merry way and dye it all when done. I've got a couple hundred grams of it, which should make a little felted bag. I figure felting it will make its flaws stand out a lot less. I could call it the First-Timer's Bag.

I've also gotten a bit of work done on the baby blanket I recently started. It's not looking too bad, if I do say so myself. I know, I know, modesty is a virtue, and I'm not saying it's without flaws, but I like the way the stitch patterns I've chosen go together. There's not a lot to show yet, because I've gotten only two repeats done, but when I get a few more done, I'll post a picture of part of it (it's too wide to get any detail on a picture of the whole thing). So, you'll have to wait for that - patience is a virtue too, you know.