Finishing #the100DayProject 2020

I’ve joined up with #the100DayProject this year with the goal of spinning every day. Writing down a daily log of my progress is an easy way for me to stay accountable, follow though, and plan what to spin next during this project.

If you’re just joining me:
Here’s how I prepped for the project and spent the first week.
During weeks 2 and 3 I finished the first single and started spinning the second.
Weeks 4 and 5 I embraced the slog of being in the middle of something.
Weeks 6 and 7 I finished spinning the singles and started plying.
Weeks 8 and 9 I finished my first skein of handspun and started the second.
Weeks 10 and 11 I finished the second skein and jumped into spinning the third.
Weeks 12 and 13 I worked my way though spinning the singles for yarn number 3.

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Week 14

July 6 - 7 (Days 91-92): We’re in the last few days of this epic project now. I’m not feeling particularly retrospective at the moment or like I need to tack on a big goal to finish. Keeping it simple and just spinning everyday has served me well so far so I’m going to keep going to the end.

July 8 (Day 93): Had a couple of sections where the single just kept breaking. Turned out that the fix was pre-drafting more of the fiber. Spinning is a smooth process again. And in other good news, I’ve started on the last ounce of the fiber!

July 9 (Day 94): The bulk of today’s spinning happened outside while my spinning buddy ran off some energy. There were a few breaks to procure a snack and clean up spilled bubble solution, but lots of new yarn went on the spindle. I even managed to get past the section of fiber where the roving had split into two parts. Holding those together to spin and preserve the color sequence was a pain.

July 10 (Day 95): Got a good chunk of spinning in this afternoon. Maybe I’ll finish the single this weekend.

July 11 (Day 96): Yes! I finished spinning the second single for yarn number 3! I’m giving the twist some time to rest so I can wrap the plying ball tomorrow.

July 12 (Day 97): I wrapped up the plying ball this morning and it looks good. My very rough plan was to make a 2-ply yarn and generally have the colors match up between the two plies. I was reasonably successful. There’s going to be a lot of marling, but there are big chunks where the colors line up just right. At least that’s what the grapefruit-sized plying ball showed me.

Got a start on the plying in the afternoon. The yarn is a little fuzzier than I’m used to spinning, but still really fun. I can’t help but think that this would make a good Christmas stocking or wall art.

Week 15

July 13 (Day 98): I wasn’t able to get as much plying done yesterday because holding the fiber and twisting single up above my head has definitely irritated by arm. So, today I’m switching things up and working with my other arm. It’s awkward, but I’m still plying.

The plying ball is shrinking much faster than I expected. This morning the ball was the size of a grapefruit. By lunch, the ball was smaller than a peach. I might not even have to push myself to finish plying tonight.

July 14 (Day 99): Yes! I finished plying the yarn this morning! It feels so awesome to finish this last yarn with one day left to spare. Of course, this success didn’t come without a little irritation. As I got to the last few yards on the plying ball, the singles just kept snapping under the weight of the full spindle. I joined the plies back together once, but didn’t do it when the plies snapped again. Instead, I pulled out another spindle and plied the remaining singles to make a mini-skein. Works for me.

Broke out the swift and wound the yarn into skeins. Ended up with about 300 yds between the two. I was aiming for a sport weight yarn and there are definitely sport weight sections. It’s looking a little closer to a worsted weight though which is totally good too. Won’t know for sure until after the yarn is washed and dried.

Now that I got a good look at on the swift, the colors blend together beautifully. Even when there’s a barber pole effect, the colors share a similar value so they don’t jar the eye.

July 15 (Day 100): It seems fitting to end the project with finishing the yarn. I followed my standard method washing for each skein. First step is filling my too small bathroom sink with cool water and a squirt of Eucalan (<- affiliate link) then putting the skein in the bath for 20-ish minutes. Then I squeezed out the water and rolled them up in a towel so the yarn was damp instead of soaked. Before hanging them up to dry, I snapped the skeins around my arms to help even out the twist. That’s it. Good thing too because my shoulders definitely need a break from holding stuff above my head for long stretches of time.

Now we’re in the after. It took a few more days than I expected, but the yarn is finally dry. Every skein has absolutely exceeded my expectations. They’re plump and soft and wonderful. I’m not sure how much the yardage shrunk since setting the twist, but the weight definitely changed. The third yarn had the most dramatic transformation of the bunch. It seemed limp and fuzzy when it came off the spindle. A bath helped it perk up to a balanced and plump worsted weight yarn that I really want to knit. Not sure into what but I’ll come up with something.

Which bring up the question of what am I going to do with the rest of this lovely new handspun. No clue. The light blue superwash will probably become something for my spinning buddy. A new hat and mitts for winter will probably be a thing come September. As for the rest, I’m not sure. Gifts? Maybe. Something fun and off the wall? Also a possibility. Until I figure it out, I’m perfectly happy keeping them on a shelf where I can see them and give them a little pat from time to time.

Now the numbers and the TL:DR. 100 days of daily spinning turned 13 oz of fiber into 3 skeins totaling an estimated 1,053 yards (963 m). I didn’t spin the purple yarn during this project but I did take this opportunity to to wind it up. So it gets to be a buddy skein. I also put together this quick video that covers 99 days of spinning (would have been 100 days, but I accidentally deleted one). Here’s the last 3+ months in action:

What’s next? I’m trying to work that out. My shoulders need a break from spindle spinning. I do miss having something easy and accessible to reach for during the day that isn’t my phone so that might be the deciding factor. Maybe 100 days of sock knitting will be the next thing. Or I could tackle a few other short projects that last a month. Still thinking but I have no shortage of fiber and projects to choose from.

Thank you for following #the100DayProject along with me! I started with the goals of getting back to my spinning, making yarn, and showing the kiddo how yarn is made. The past 100 Days accomplished all those things and I’m happy I followed through. Pretty sure I’ll do another 100 Day project again next year. Or sooner.

*This post contains an affiliate link which means, if you decide to buy through that link, I’ll get a small commission. Thanks!

#the100DayProject Weeks 12 and 13

I’ve joined up with #the100DayProject this year with the goal of spinning every day. Writing down a daily log of my progress is an easy way for me to stay accountable, follow though, and plan what to spin next during this project.

If you’re just joining me:
Here’s how I prepped for the project and spent the first week.
During weeks 2 and 3 I finished the first single and started spinning the second.
Weeks 4 and 5 I embraced the slog of being in the middle of something.
Weeks 6 and 7 I finished spinning the singles and started plying.
Weeks 8 and 9 I finished my first skein of handspun and started the second.
Weeks 10 and 11 I finished the second skein and jumped into spinning the third.

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Week 12

June 22 (Day 77): Added another yard or two to the spindle. Wasn’t able to get much in the way of spinning time today but a few minutes is better than nothing at all.

June 23 (Day 78): Today I finally reached the point in the current spin where it seems like I’m actually making progress. Until now, I’ve been spinning yarn but the piece of fiber never seemed to be getting any shorter. I know that’s not true but the illusion of it definitely contributed to feeling like the past few days of spinning have been a slog. Glad I stuck with it.

June 24 (Day 79): It’s nice to see the fiber turning into yarn and the spindle filling up one wrap at a time. I have no idea if I’ll finish plying by the end of this project or even finish the singles in the next 20 days. It’s good to be spinning though and I’m not going to add any extra rules to this project that’ll make it harder to keep the yardage coming. Just going to keep spinning.

June 25 (Day 80): It’s day 80 of #the100DayProject and my 80th day of spinning yarn is a row! How cool is that? I've got the skeins I've spun these past 80 days as well as the two I got off the bobbins because of this project in a pile on the shelf. It is so great to look over and see them stacking up. Looking forward to adding the current yarn-in-progress to that stack.

June 26 (Day 81): One of my goals for this project was for the kiddo to see me spinning. As a result she has definitely become more interested in my fiber and spindle. That’s a great thing but I have to keep the pair on a top shelf now. Otherwise she’ll push a chair over to a shelf, climb up, grab the spindle, and mix it in with all her other toys. Thankfully, the current roving is hardy stuff or it would not have survived the excursions.

June 27 (Day 82): Turns out that today is the start of Tour de Fleece. Glad it’s still happening even if the Tour de France isn’t. I’m not making any specific goals for Tour de Fleece or planning on joining in this year. I’m just going to keep spinning until I finish this latest skein of yarn.

June 28 (Day 83): Got a decent amount of spinning complete today. It’s nice to be able to see the colors change over the course of a day’s spinning vs. 4 days of spinning.

Week 13

June 29 (Day 84): Ran errands today so not much time or spare energy for making yarn. Did enough to cross it off the to-do list though.

June 30 (Day 85): The single has been breaking a lot lately. I’m not sure if I’m not keeping the spindle spinning long enough or if the fiber I’m working with needs more prep. So I’m doing a little bit of both: paying more attention to the spindle and pre-drafting the fiber just a touch.

July 1 (Day 86): Taking it easy today with the spinning since my rotator cuff on the spindle holding arm is feeling irritated. Don’t want to push my luck and hurt myself so close to the end of this project.

July 2 (Day 87): Yes! It took me a day’s spinning but I finished the first single for yarn number 3. It’s a little fuzzy and lumpy but the color changes are nice. Had to put the spindle in the freezer again to get it to pop apart.

Hmmm. The last single took me 15 days to spin and there are 13 days left. I could probably finish the last single in that time but probably not plying. I’m okay with that.

July 3 (Day 88): Started the second single! I didn’t get much spinning done today but it was good to start.

July 4 (Day 89): Trying something different with this half of the fiber. Because it got so squished in storage, pre-drafting is really helping to make a more consistent yarn. Spinning is also going faster too because of it. Just have to be careful not to pull things too far apart.

July 5 (Day 90): More spinning today. The turtle isn’t growing quickly, but it is growing.

#the100DayProject Weeks 10 and 11

I’ve joined up with #the100DayProject this year with the goal of spinning every day. Writing down a daily log of my progress is an easy way for me to stay accountable, follow though, and plan what to spin next during this project.

If you’re just joining me:
Here’s how I prepped for the project and spent the first week.
During weeks 2 and 3 I finished the first single and started spinning the second.
Weeks 4 and 5 I embraced the slog of being in the middle of something.
Weeks 6 and 7 I finished spinning the singles and started plying.
Weeks 8 and 9 I finished my first skein of handspun and started the second.

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Week 10

June 9 (Day 64): I left the finished single on the table after taking photos and my spinning buddy did a little inspection. The good news is that only some of the wraps pulled up from the turtle and the beginning of the single didn’t snap. Whew.

The rest of the day’s spinning went just fine.

June 10 (Day 65): Joined the last bit of fiber to the single! It’s looking so good and I can not wait to get to the next step of making this yarn.

I’m trying to spend less time on my phone because playing the random match-three game should be a fun break instead of what I do when I’m too tired for anything else. Endless scrolling isn’t helping me either. So I’m trying to keep my spindle and books close at hand. There’s been a noticeable uptick in my spinning the last few days because of it too.

June 11 (Day 66): There was a good bit of spinning time today. So much in fact that I was able to reach the end of my last bit of fiber! Well, close to it. There was only an inch or two of roving left, but the single just kept breaking. I called it done and good after the single broke for the fourth time. So, yeah, tomorrow I’m winding a plying ball.

June 12 (Day 67): Didn’t have any trouble taking the spindle apart today. Once I knew I’d have a chunk of time to wind stuff up, I got to work wrapping. The singles only broke apart once but one did tangle badly enough that I had to break it to remove the knot. Still, not bad at all. The plying ball ended up about the size of a large onion and took about 25 minutes to wrap. One of the singles was longer, of course, so I found the end and finished wrapping with it as the other ply.

June 13 (Day 68): I started plying!

June 14 (Day 69): More plying. There are a few more lumps and bumps than I’m used to working with in my handspun thanks to my unfamiliarity with superwash wool, but I am loving what I’m seeing so far.

June 15 (Day 70): Still plying but now the plying ball is about the size of a peach instead of a giant onion. I don’t want to get ahead of myself and say I’ll be done plying tomorrow though it isn’t unlikely.

Today is the 70th day of #the100DayProject which means there’s just a month left of daily spinning. I’m not sure if I’ll keep the spinning going afterwards or transition to a different daily project. There’s an appeal to both of those ideas. In the meantime I think I can manage most of another skein of handspun.

Week 11

June 16 (Day 71): I finished plying the yarn today! Really pleased with how it turned out too. The thickness varies between sport and worsted and the colors still remind me a fun watercolor.

I tried a different tack when wrapping the spindle this time. Instead of covering all the shaft, my goal was to fill up the top section and leave myself some room to twist the spindle at the bottom. Worked pretty well since I was working with 4 oz of yarn instead of 5 oz.

June 17 (Day 71): Set up the swift today and got to work winding yarn. This time I put the spindle between the handles of a basket which worked really well. The spindle was able to turn freely and I only had to pop it back into a place a few times. In the end I ended up with about 259 yds of sport to worsted weight yarn. It’s so pretty.

Since I’m not one to let some perfectly good spinning time go to waste, I prepped my next project. The bump of Greenwood Fiber weathered BFL was right next to me, so that’s what I picked. The fiber had a pretty clear repeat that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with. Eventually I split in half for a 2-ply yarn and split it again along it’s length. Then I wound up each piece into a nest with the colors running in the same direction. There’s no way the colors will match up perfectly but I’ll still get a cool marled effect.

June 18 (Day 72): After working with the fibers for a bit I decided to aim for a sport weight yarn. Aiming for a weight on the finer side of things means I might not finish it before the end of the #the100DayProject but that is totally okay.

June 19 (Day 73): I keep trying different methods of wrapping the spindle. This time I tried 2 under, 1 over - basically the reverse of 2 over, 1 under. Not a fan. Went back to my usual wrap. The search continues.

June 20 - 21 (Day 74 - 75): A little bit of spinning on both days. I’m finding it harder to drum up the same enthusiasm I had for this project as I did in the beginning. The slog is definitely creeping up on me.

#the100DayProject Weeks 8 and 9

I’ve joined up with #the100DayProject this year with the goal of spinning every day. Writing down a daily log of my progress is an easy way for me to stay accountable, follow though, and plan what to spin next during this project.

If you’re just joining me:
Here’s how I prepped for the project and spent the first week.
During weeks 2 and 3 I finished the first single and started spinning the second.
Weeks 4 and 5 I embraced the slog of being in the middle of something.
Weeks 6 and 7 I finished spinning the singles and started plying.

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Week 8

May 26 (Day 50): Today was the day, the yarn came off the spindle! Looks good too.

I set up my swift and put the spindle in a big bowl to roll around in while I skeined the yarn. Didn’t work as well as I wanted it too though. One, the bowl wasn’t heavy so it fell over a lot and spindle made a break for freedom under the table. Two, my spinning buddy requisitioned the bowl to fill up with rubber salad. Oh well. I ended up pulling off lengths of yarn and winding it onto the swift one section at a time. Finicky? Yes, but doable. I’ll rig up a more reliable solution for next time.

Now for the details. I skeined the yarn at a circumference of 72” and got 247 wraps. So, I have a very rough estimate of 494 yards, that’s about 452 m. It ranges in diameter from a fingering weight to sport to worsted. I’m sure that measurements will change after washing, but it’ll be enough to make my spinning buddy something cute to wear this winter.

May 27 (Day 51): While I had my swift set up, I skeined up yarn I had sitting on the bobbin from 2018! The yarn snapped in the middle so I ended up with 2 skeins totaling about 224 yards of worsted/aran weight yarn. We’ll see how it changes after soaking the twist. My spinning buddy really loved this yarn. I’m probably going to set it aside to make something fun for her. A new hat and mitts?

At the beginning on this project, I picked out 2 bumps of hand dyed fiber. The one I saved for later was dark and muted. Pretty, but not what I’m in the mood to spin now. So, I went digging through the stash and found a fun speckle dyed bump of from Hummingbird Moon. Spinning her fiber always seems like magic which is just what I want right now. There’s no discernible repeat, so I split the length of fiber in half for a 2-ply yarn. Then I split each piece into thirds along it’s length because that’s the fiber wanted to do. I’m still very much at the beginning of this new spin, but the fiber is a pleasure to work with.

May 28 (Day 52): The new fiber I’m working with is definitely taking some adjustment. The color is wonderful, the feel silky, and the wool superwash. I haven’t spun much superwash wool and it’s taking some adjustment. The fibers just don’t hold onto each other like a non-superwash wool does which means my spindle is dropping way more. I need way, way more twist.

Hmm. I was attempting to spin this fiber into a fingering or sport weight yarn, but a worsted weight might be a more achievable goal with this fiber and spindle combo. Maybe I can try spinning a fingering weight superwash on my wheel later.

May 29 (Day 53): It was long day and I didn’t get to my spindle until after my spinning buddy had gone to bed. I spent several aggravating minutes with a single that kept falling apart every time I tried to wind more yarn onto the spindle. I’d fix the break, spin more yarn, try to wind it up, and it would break all over again. After the fifth time everything fell apart, I called it quits for the night.

May 30 (Day 54): Had better luck spinning this morning than I did last night. I’m sure some of it had to do with getting a few hours of sleep, but here’s what else I switched up. One, I’m very definitely making sure that I’m twisting the spindle counter-clockwise. A week’s worth of plying clockwise was apparently enough to reset my fingers and now I need to do it again. Two, I’m aiming to make a thicker yarn than my default. The goal is a worsted weight 2-ply and I’m seeing some success already. Three, I’m spinning shorter lengths before winding the single onto the spindle. By keeping things short I can catch the spindle before it starts slowing down or hitting the ground.

May 31 (Day 55): I seem to finally be finding my groove with this fiber. The yarn turtle is growing and the spindle is dropping much less.

June 1 (Day 56): Finished spinning the first section of fiber today which means I am a third of the way finished with this first single. Feels like this spin might be moving a little faster than the first.

Week 9

June 2 (Day 57): Managed to spin a decent bit this morning and a little in the afternoon. My spinning buddy still thinks it’s really fun to poke the spindle and make it stop moving. Silly kiddo.

June 3 (Day 58): Got in a lot of spinning time this morning which was great. I finished spinning the second section of fiber and joined the third and last piece needed for this ply!

June 4 (Day 59): I wasn’t planning on finishing the first single today, but I did! This yarn is definitely on the lumpy and bumpy side of things and that’s okay. I don’t have much experience spinning superwash fiber so I’m just happy to have figured out enough to make something that holds together.

The color of this yarn is wonderful. There’s some barber-polling in spots, but the speckles and flecks of color have generally combined into a flowing spectrum. The wound up turtle on the spindle reminds me so much of a watercolor.

It is taking all my self control not to pop the spindle apart right now and get started on the next single. Having to put the spindle in the freezer again to take it apart definitely slowed me down a little.

June 5 (Day 60): Started the second ply today! The first order of business was tying a new leader with a long tail. The long tail is important because it’s easier to keep out of the way while wrapping the spindle and easier to grab when searching for the hidden end of the single.

June 6 (Day 61): I’m more used to spinning superwash wool now than I was a week ago, so my fingers are trying to spin a fine yarn which is not the plan for this handspun. Making myself spin this single for a worsted weight 2-ply.

June 7 (Day 62): Only got a little bit of spinning done this morning before getting out of the house. All my afternoon plans went out the window when I hurt my back bending over to pick up a toy. I’m too young for this.

June 8 (Day 63): Spinning continues today so long as I’m standing or sitting up straight. Slouching is a no go. With that in mind, I’ve made decent progress. The first piece of fiber for the second ply is spun and the second joined. It’s looking good.

#the100DayProject Weeks 6 and 7

I’ve joined up with #the100DayProject this year with the goal of spinning every day. Writing down a daily log of my progress is an easy way for me to stay accountable, follow though, and plan what to spin next during this project.

If you’re just joining me, here’s what I did to prep and the first week of spinning. Weeks 2 - 3 are here, and weeks 4 - 5 are here.

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Week 6

May 12 (Day 36): Dropped the spindle a lot today, but joining the single back to the fiber wasn’t hard at all. I gave my spinning buddy the leftover bits and pieces which she had fun pulling and smooshing and balling up in her hands.

May 13 (Day 37): So often these past few days, when I stop spinning is decided not by having to do something else, but by how sweaty my hands are. Trying to spin a definitely damp lump of fiber is not fun, not easy, and not doable. So I get a few minutes here, a few minutes there, and call it good.

May 14 and 15 (Days 38 and 39): Spinning in bits and pieces these past few days. Those minutes added up too! I’m much closer to the end of this piece of fiber than I was at the beginning of the week.

May 16 (Day 40): Got a lot of spinning time in today while my spinning buddy watched Frozen and the Muppets.

May 17 (Day 41): I’ve been able to practice drafting worsted when it’s cooler and my hands aren’t so sweaty. The difference between the worsted style drafting I can do with dry hands and the woolen style required when my hands are sweaty is massive. The yarn is way less fuzzy and doesn’t need the same amount of twist. Wish I could spin like this more often, but that requires more environmental management than I care to do throughout the day.

May 18 (Day 42): I finished spinning the second single! Feels so good to be finished with this part of the project, and I am so looking forward to starting the plying process tomorrow.

Week 7

May 19 (Day 43): I was so excited to take the single off the spindle that I started right after breakfast. The only problem was that I couldn’t remove the center shaft. Putting the whole thing in the freezer for 20 minutes helped loosen up the joint. Seems like all those times it fell during the spinning jammed the pieces together a little too tightly.

I’ve been thinking about how I wanted to ply these singles for a few weeks. I considered spinning them directly from the turtle, but didn’t want to have to fix breaks on a seconds notice or untangle knots. Also on the list was winding them both to bobbin from my wheel, putting said bobbin on a kate, then plying on a spindle. I didn’t want to have to deal with moving even that much of a setup. Eventually I decided to fall back to old favorite, the plying ball.

I wound both singles together onto a ball which was accompanied by most of the major plot points in Frozen. The final ball ended up about the size of a softball or a grapefruit. The singles only broke in two spots at the my joins which I’m calling a win. I was also reminded of one of the reasons I love working with a plying ball. You get a lovely sneak peak of how the colors are going to mashup in the finished yarn. There are some really beautiful sections waiting in there.

The second single was much longer than the first so I cheated and held the end of the second single together with the end of the first and kept wrapping. No leftovers here. I don’t always fake a ply like this, but it’s a good trick to have.

May 20 (Day 44): Plying continues! It is so fun seeing the yarn finally come together after 43 days of work. There has been one hiccup though. It is taking conscious effort to make the spindle spin clockwise for plying. Feels so weird making my hands move in a slightly different direction that I have to double check it’s twisting correctly. Thankfully, it’s very evident in the yarn when I’m twisting the plies in the wrong direction.

May 21 (Day 45): The ball is about the size of a medium onion. Of course I had to take a photo for scale. My spinning buddy has been way more interested in the plying ball than the unspun fiber. She’ll pick up the ball and carry it around the house while I’m trying to ply which somehow has worked out without any hiccups or breaks.

May 22 (Day 46): Today’s adventures in plying saw my spinning buddy leading me around again , not by the nose, but by the plying ball. Whenever I put the ball and basket on a low table, she’s going to grab the ball and take me on a merry chase down the hall and back. No yarn was harmed in the process. It was pretty fun chasing after her while keeping the spindle spinning. :)

May 23 (Day 47): Day 5 of plying and my old tricks are coming back to me. The reason I like a top whorl spindle for plying is that I can use my feet to give the spindle a kick start when the yarn needs more twist or a restart. This has been especially handy because my spinning buddy thinks it’s funny to poke the spindle until it stops moving. I like hearing her giggle which means I’m not complaining in the least.

May 24 (Day 48): Not much spinning today, but I did get in a few minutes here and there while my spinning buddy was playing outside.

May 25 (Day 49): I broke my own rule tonight - the one about not spinning after my spinning buddy goes to bed. This thing is that I really, really wanted to finish plying this yarn before the halfway mark, day 50. So that’s what I did. It took about an hour to get the last of the singles plied and on the spindle, and it was a trying process. The spindle was much heavier, absolutely packed, and there wasn’t much of a spot to grab to get things moving. I did it though. Here’s the spindle with my next 4 oz of fiber for scale.

There’s still the finishing work to do - skeining, washing, drying, and measuring - but I can do that in between spinning up the next yarn. While this first yarn isn’t technically complete, it still feels good to have bulk of the work done so I can start fresh for the second half of #the100DayProject.

#the100DayProject Weeks 4 and 5

I’ve joined up with #the100DayProject this year with the goal of spinning every day. Writing down a daily log of my progress is an easy way for me to stay accountable, follow though, and plan what to spin next during this project.

If you’re just joining me, here’s what I did to prep and the first week of spinning. Weeks 2 and 3 are here.

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Week 4

April 28 (Day 22): Usually the videos I take of the day’s spinning capture just a second of what I do. Today’s video caught just about everything. The only part it missed was the single breaking and the spindle hitting the floor. The first chance I had to pick up the spindle was after the day’s chores were done and my spinning buddy was in bed. My reserves were gone and I didn’t have the energy to try again when the single broke in the first 20 seconds of spinning.

I tried, that’s good enough for today.

April 29 (Day 23): While I’m enjoying the fiber I’m working with, I don’t want to spend all of May spinning it. So, I’m aiming to spin more than I have the in the last few days. Shouldn’t be too hard considering I only spun for 5 - 10 minutes at a time. Today’s spinning time probably clocked in at around half an hour, and the spindle looked much different when I was done. Feels good.

April 30 (Day 24): Got a nice chunk of yarn on the spindle while my spinning buddy enjoyed the daily showing of Frozen and Frozen II.

May 1 (Day 25): Long day today running errands. Spinning was almost an afterthought, but I got in a few minutes before calling it a day.

May 2 (Day 26): Spinning was an afternoon activity when I realized I hadn’t spun during the morning. I squeezed in a few minutes while my spinning buddy rearranged the living room.

May 3 (Day 27): I got to spin outside today while my spinning buddy dug holes and covered the patio with chalk. It was a nice change of pace. Had to cut my spinning time short though to add my own chalk scribbles. :)

May 4 (Day 28): Surprisingly, I got a lot of spinning done today. My spinning buddy wanted to snuggle up and watch Frozen so that’s what she did. At the same time, I got to make yarn. A lot of yarn.

Week 5

May 5 (Day 29): I am so close to joining the last piece of roving! Probably could have done so today if my afternoon time hadn’t been eaten up my other things. Definitely tomorrow.

May 6 (Day 30): Okay, so I haven’t started on the last section of fiber yet, but I’m getting close. There’s just a few inches left. Definitely tomorrow, for real this time.

May 7 (Day 31): Yay! I finally made it to the last length of fiber for this single! Getting to this point has been a bit of slog at times, but I’m still making yarn a few yards at a time.

I wasn’t sure when I started how much yarn I would end up making at the end of the 100 days, but I did have the rough idea of a skein a month. Here I am, a month in to 3.3 month project, and I’m not even plying the first yarn yet. I’ve never been the fastest spindle spinner though. Ah well. My goal was never to spin all the yarn or clear out my fiber stash (that’s the work of years at the rate I’m going). The goal is to spin yarn and get back to doing something I love that got lost in the shuffle of motherhood. Even if this yarn turns out to be the only skein I finish, #the100DayProject will still be a success.

May 8 (Day 32): More spinning today during the daily showing of Frozen, and in random bits here and there.

May 9 and 10 (Days 33 and 34): Not so much spinning this weekend, but I still turned more fiber into yarn.

May 11 (Day 35): The only real rule I’ve been sticking to for #the100DayProject is doing it every day. I don't set a 15 minute timer. I don't do daily updates on Instagram. I don't take photos every day.

What I have done is make this project work for me. I keep my spindle and fiber out where I can see them. When I have a free moment, I make yarn. Some days that means I spin just a minute or two and some days I get 45 minutes. Instead of daily photos and Instagram posts, I take a quick video and compile them with the 1 Second Everyday app. The video isn’t even a minute long and covers over a month of spinning, but it’s something that I can come back to easily. And I keep this log, more or less daily, with no pressure to care about how an algorithm might share it. That’s the most freeing part.

#the100DayProject Weeks 2 and 3

I’ve joined up with #the100DayProject this year with the goal of spinning every day. Writing down a daily log of my progress is an easy way for me to stay accountable, follow though, and plan what to spin next during this project.

If you’re just joining me, here’s what I did to prep as well as my first week of spinning.

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Week 2

April 14 (Day 8): Yep, still spinning. In an attempt to make drafting a little easier, I fluffed up the roving by pulling it out to the sides. It’s still all in one piece, but isn’t compacted. Way easier to work with now.

April 15 (Day 9): Had the thought that, if I was working with my wheel, I’d be plying right now instead of still drafting the first single. That’d be in a perfect world though with no interruptions. In this world, past experience has shown that I wouldn’t be spinning at all. I have a new found appreciation for all those women who made a living spinning yarn and knitting garments and keeping the home going while taking care of children.

April 16 (Day 10): Spent most of my spinning time with a lovely section of teal. Well, I like the color. The single kept snapping and pulling apart which I’m not sure was on me or the fiber. Maybe a little bit of both. Today probably takes the cake for the most breaks and joins (not all successful) since Day 1.

April 17 (Day 11): The single on the spindle looks so different from day to day! Even on days where I only get a few minutes to spin, the color and wrap changes so much that it’s like picking up something new to work on. This is not to say that I don’t occasionally get bored and wish the process was going faster. I do. So it’s definitely a good thing I picked fiber with a bit of variety or I’d seriously be thinking about switching things up right now.

April 18 (Day 12): I kept looking at the quickly shortening length of roving and wondering if today would be the day I spun it up. Nope.

April 19 (Day 13): Yay! I finished spinning the first single for the 2-ply this morning. I probably should have paced myself and spun in smaller chunks throughout the day because my shoulder hurts now. Most of today’s spinning was accomplished while sitting cross-legged on the ground which doesn’t leave much height for a lengthening single. So I held my drafting arm way up over my head, and that’s not the most ergonomic of positions. But it’s done. I’m taking a break for the rest of the day. Prepping a leader and removing the spindle can wait until tomorrow.

April 20 (Day 14): I needed that mini break last afternoon and night. My shoulder feels better, but still a little tender. Fine to draft more yarn though.

Pulled the spindle apart and out of the cop, which took more effort than I expected, and finagled the leader out of the center. The cop looks good and is mostly holding together besides from a few fly away strands from the last wraps. I’m hoping it’ll hold up to being a center pull ball during plying...and that the joins will hold up too.

I put the spindle back together and tied a new leader using sock yarn. Then I spun a few yards and only a few yards. The bulk of today’s crafting time went to finishing a last minute baby knit that I need to get in the mail ASAP. Kept the streak going though.

I feel like this would be the time to say something profound about completing another week of #the100DayProject. I got nothing. All I’m doing to making it easy for me to spin in bits and pieces every day without adding too many rules or expectations. It helps that kiddo is my spinning buddy now.

Week 3

April 21 (Day 15): Spent half the time I would have been spinning sewing buttons on a baby sweater. Turned out so cute. I did get a few more yards wound on the spindle in the afternoon.

After spinning the past week on a very full spindle, the last two days have been an adjustment. I have to be way more careful to keep the spindle turning because it doesn’t have enough weight on it to keep spinning as long as it did with an extra ounce or when it gets jostled by a stray toddler foot.

April 22 (Day 16): I got to spin for a few minutes outside today while my spinning buddy dug holes in the dirt. Good times.

April 23 (Day 17): Twist, draft, wind, twist, draft, wind... I am feeling very firmly in the middle of this project. Not the halfway done middle where you have the ending to look forward too. It’s the beginning is over and the end is still a long way off kind of middle. The same could be said for this half spun fiber. If the past few weeks are any indication, I have at least another week of work spinning this single before I can start plying. One day at a time and it’ll get done.

April 24 and 25 (Day 18 and 19): Doing all the things these two days - from grocery shopping to virtual hangouts to lots of cooking - tired me out and didn’t leave much space for spinning. I got a few turns in each day and called it enough. If the single broke, the single broke and I was done.

April 26 (Day 20): Places you can spin - social distancing edition:
1. At the kitchen table while your spinning buddy finishes breakfast.
2. At the kitchen table after lunch to get a quick video.
3. While sitting in the bathroom waiting to assist in grouting tile.
4. Pacing through the living room while your spinning buddy creates sculptures of rubber food.

April 27 (Day 21): Got a few minutes of spinning in today. Just enough to say that I hadn’t skipped a day. It’s going to take me way longer than a week to spin the rest of this single at the rate I’m going now.

#the100DayProject Prep and Week 1

I’ve joined up with #the100DayProject this year with the goal of spinning every day. Writing down a daily log of my progress is an easy way for me to stay accountable, follow though, and plan what I want to do with my next spinning projects during this time.

Last week of March: Decided to do #the100DayProject and committed to daily spinning around the kiddo. Set a few rules for myself to make things easier too.

April 3: Got my spindles off the shelf and picked the Jenkins Turkish Swan to spin on. Also sorted through my more recent fiber purchases and picked out 2 bumps to start with.

April 4: The first half of the fiber is in the bag with the spindle and the other is waiting on the shelf. Ready to go!

I prepped 5 oz of hand dyed Polworth to spin. I couldn’t find any discernible repeat to the colors so I split the roving in half lengthwise. Then I pulled those bumps in half at the midpoint.

The colors are even more varied now that I can see more of the individual fibers. Staple length is around 3” which leaves lots of room for color variation even in that space. So the plan for this fiber is simple: Leave the roving as it is and spin 2 singles for a 2-ply yarn. I’m curious to see if the colors will turn muddy or transcendent.

April 5: I know I’ve picked the right project because I am so excited to start. Waiting eagerly for April 7th over here.

April 6: Put my eager energy into baby gift knitting. So much closer to being finished with that baby sweater.

April 7 (Day 1): Day 1! I was actually somewhat eager to get out of bed because I knew today was the day! I pulled out my spindle and fiber after getting breakfast for kiddo. She was really interested in what I was doing. When I asked her if she like watching me spin, she gave me an enthusiastic “yes!”. That was awesome.

It is very obvious to me that it has been a long time since I’ve spun on a wheel or a spindle. The first hiccup was that I forgot to prep a leader to get started. That sorted, the good news is that my hands still know what to do, but it took me a few yards to find my grove. The spindle kept dropping because I wasn’t letting the spindle spin enough to add the right amount of twist to the single. Might by over twisting now, but we’ll see soon enough. Oh, and kiddo made sure to point out the discarded bits I pulled out to save my sanity. Not helping kid.

I did make one split second decision about this project which was to try to keep the cops pretty as I wind them. Makes the wrapping slow going, but I’m in no rush nor have I really attempted this before. Good thing it’s photogenic.

April 8 (Day 2): Ugh. I’ve hit my first real obstacle in spinning reasonably consistent yarn and enjoying the process: sweaty hands. It’s not even hot outside and my hands are already damp. This makes the fiber gets damp which prevents the roving from drafting smoothly. They get caught on one another and bunch up or pull from farther back in the roving instead of the tips. It’s not enough to felt, but it makes the single lumpy and fuzzy. This problem was easier to deal with when spinning on the wheel because I had a little more leeway to dry my hands. Not sure what the fix is going to be now.

On the upside, kiddo was interested in the spinning again today. She watched me working during her snack (but was was more interested in her cereal). Later, when she wasn’t in her high chair, she came up and gently touched the single as it hung and twisted. So cute!

April 9 (Day 3): Still spinning along. Kiddo’s been way more interested in the spinning today. She made a grab for the fiber so I pulled out a piece from the end for her. It held her attention for all of 3 seconds because the big chunk mom was working with was way more interesting. Later, after I’d finished winding the cop, she wanted to take a closer look. Seemed like she enjoyed it because she laughed and smiled all while poking the yarn and spindle. I had to keep her from scratching at it though. Now if only I could keep her from walking straight into the spindle while I’m spinning.

April 10 (Day 4): Not as much spinning time today, because I had to figure out a comfortable face mask and go grocery shopping. The few minutes I did have sitting in the sun later with my spindle were pretty nice though.

April 11 (Day 5): Finished the first piece of fiber! Now I’m halfway through the first single for this yarn.

April 12 (Day 6): I’ve been giving the kiddo the random bits of pulled out fiber. She’s way more interested in what mom’s doing than what mom’s making.

April 13 (Day 7): One week finished! With 93 days left to go (about 13 weeks), I’m really happy I picked spindle spinning. It’s versatile enough to let me spin when I can in bits and pieces throughout the day, and the kiddo likes watching me spin too. It’s a win for everyone!

Here’s what one week of spinning looks like. It might not look like much now, but it’s going to keep growing.

#the100DayProject 2020

I thought up a few different ideas for 2020’s #the100DayProject. Drawing every day. Learning to play the ukulele. Daily journaling. Consistent pattern design work. Recommitting to my other preexisting daily projects. In the end, I decided to go with the very first idea I had: making yarn everyday.

Spinning has been sorely neglected around here. I spun my most recent skein of yarn in 2018 for Tour de Fleece. I’m writing up the first draft of this post in the lull of cooking cauliflower for dinner and can’t remember if that skein ever made it off the bobbin to set the twist. Ugh. So, April 7th is the day I start spinning again.

But not on my wheel, on my spindles. I need a project for during the day that I can do around the kiddo. I need to be able to pick it up and put it down quickly. It needs to fit in a bag that can go on a shelf out of her reach. So the spindle wins over the wheel. Plus, kiddo needs to see mom doing something that isn’t staring at her phone/screens and that thing should be something mom likes to do.

There was one other big deciding factor as well. There’s not enough time during naps or after she goes to bed for another project. Those hours are full, and I do have to sleep sometime. It’s also a big help that I already have the tools and materials too.

So I’ve picked out my favorite spindle, a 33g Jenkins Turkish Swan, and a few bumps of fiber that have caught my eye. First up is 5 oz of organic Polworth that I picked up at the Handweavers of Boulder Guild Show and Sale last year (I think it was last year). Looks like the second project will be 4 oz of heathered BFL from Greenwood Fiber Arts.

Aside from making yarn everyday, I haven’t attached many constraints to this project. I’m not spinning for a project (at least right now), and I’m not using it clear the stash (though it will). Mostly, I’m just hoping to make spinning a part of my routine again and refresh my muscle memory. As for the posting every day on Instagram part of #the100DayProject, nope. I’m thinking about doing a weekly check in to hold myself accountable and show off my progress. Something simple so that it doesn't feel like a chore.

I took the opportunity on Saturday to prep my fiber and spindle. So I am ready. Are you tackling the project this year? It not too late to join or start, even if it’s way past April 7th when you’re reading this and social distancing is wearing thin.

A Handspun Sock Update: 2.5 Years Later

In 2016 I spun yarn to make a pair of socks. I used Louet Northern Lights Roving, which is a neither soft nor scratchy 100% wool, to spin a sock yarn with an opposing 3-ply construction. The one ply that is spun in the same direction as the plying twist is thought to add elasticity and durability because of the extra twist. I wanted to test this idea for myself. Would an opposing 3-ply be more durable than the traditional construction? I knit the yarn into a pair of socks for The Bearded One and they’ve become one of his favorites. They have seen constant wear during the chillier months for the past 2.5 years.

So how are these two and a half year old socks holding up? Really well. There are no holes or thin spots threatening to become holes. The bind off at the cuff shows no sign of fraying or extra wear and tear. The soles may be more felted in spots, but overall the stitches are still distinct and can be stretched apart.

The only real difference that I can see is how much the yarn has pilled on the inside. So far, this pilling doesn’t seem to affected the sole’s durability. If anything, the “loose” wool is making the socks more cushioned and insulating. The only other sign of wear is that the surface of the socks that rubs against pants and slippers aren’t as smooth as they used to be.

As for how the socks are washed, I treat them no differently than any of my other handknit socks. They get a 20+ minute soak in warm water with Eucalan. Then I roll them up in a towel and squish out the excess water before hanging them up to dry.

2 years ago I was curious if an opposing 3-ply sock yarn would be more durable than a traditional construction. I even shared an update showing how the socks were wearing after a few months. Comparing the then and now photos shows that the socks have held up wonderfully. I expect that it’ll be a few more years before I need to make any significant repairs. This is a major difference from thick house socks that I’ve knit from 100% wool commercial yarns. I’ve got a whole pile of them with holes in the toes, soles, and heels that I’ve been meaning to repair for years. It’s refreshing to see a pair of 100% wool socks that are still going strong after years of dedicated wear.

If your interested in spinning your own wool sock yarn and ditching the nylon, check out the Tuff Socks Naturally project which aims to knit a sustainable sock without nylon or superwash wool. The #tuffsocksnaturally tag on Instagram has some beautiful and interesting examples.

I still can’t say if an opposing 3-ply yarn is more durable than a traditional 3-ply because I haven’t spun a traditional sock yarn yet. I’m definitely considering giving each construction a try so I can make a pair of handspun socks (or two) for myself.

Finally! Soft Alpaca Handspun

After many long months and countless other projects, I started feeling the itch to get back to spinning yarn. I hadn’t sat down at my wheel since the end of Tour de Fleece in 2017! Pretty sure my Sidekick was starting to feel a little lonely, and I can’t have that. My last project was 4 ounces of alpaca that I’d turned into batts on a rented drum carder. I spun the batts during Tour de Fleece and set them aside to let the twist relax a little before plying. I just never got to the plying part so the singles have been looking pretty on my shelves since then.

Since the singles were the closest thing at hand and the easiest thing to spin (plus I had to clear my bobbins), they went on the wheel first. Not wanting any leftovers, I decided to ply each single with itself which meant winding each into a center pull ball. Happily, not one of the single broke during winding, and I wasn’t particularly gentle with them either. I’m not going to lie here - I was worried that the plies had too much twist because they didn’t pull apart. Weird thought for a spinner to have, I know, but my previous attempts at spinning 100% alpaca didn’t turn out great.  At least this batch of alpaca was still soft at this point.

My last alpaca handspun turned out wiry and over-twisted which I did not want to repeat. After all, I only had this fiber in my stash for 10 years because I didn’t want to mess it up. So that I’d have to work to add too much plying twist, I went with a slower ratio for me, 5.7:1. Even though the drafting twist had been resting for several months, which could have skewed things a bit, I still aimed to line up the individual fibers and create a balanced yarn. Mostly pulled it off, and the newly plied yarn was soft and not wiry at all. Whew!

I didn’t wash this fiber before turning it into batts which I probably should have because I was cleaning up dirt and VM, and washing my hands every step of the way. I did my usual 20 minute soak with Eucalan and the water was so dirty that I couldn’t see the bottom of the sink. There was no missing that dirt ring though. It took 3 soaks for the water to finally run clear. After squeezing out the excess water, I lightly snapped the yarn but skipped thwacking it against the shower wall because it already had enough of a halo.

The yarn looked pretty limp and sad when I hung it up to dry, but that changed fast. I suppose this is the reason why you spin samples first.

All 4 skeins bloomed into an airy, plump, and positively luscious yarn. Not one of them was wiry or prickly or over-spun. There’s definitely some thick-and-thin spots but it’s reasonably consistent overall. Plus, getting rid of all that dirt made the yarn even softer which I didn’t think was possible. Washing and setting the twist had some other side effects too. Before washing, 2 of the skeins were a DK weight and 2 of the skeins were about worsted weight. All of them plumped up to a light bulky weight of about 7-8 WPI. Of course, this changed the yardage too. The 313 yds I started with turned into 264 yards, a difference of about 15%. Totally not complaining though.

So now what? I’ve finally spun soft alpaca yarn which is a first for me and a long time goal. Definitely going to knit it into some sort of cowl or small shawl because there’s plenty of yardage to play with. Maybe something based in garter stitch with a simple lace pattern. Or I could just keep wearing it as is. :D It is really soft after all. I’m also thinking about submitting the best skein of the 4 to the handspun competition at a local fiber festival - that is if I can figure out all the rules and requirements.

3 Tips for Easier Plying from a Center Pull Ball

Knowing how to ply from a center pull ball is a handy trick to know. It’s great for plying those leftover singles on a bobbin or spindle. It’s great for when you don’t want to have any leftover singles/plies at all. You could even ply yarn from 2 separate center pull balls, not just the ends of one ball.

All that said, you have to use the technique carefully because if can affect the original drafting twist of your plies. This post from Jillian Moreno shows why. Still, there might be cases where you want to affect the twist. Maybe your plies have been sitting for months and the original twist isn’t as active. Or you want to add more twist because there wasn’t enough during drafting.

Personally, I haven’t noticed a huge difference in yarns that I’ve plied from a center pull ball vs. yarns that I’ve plied from bobbins. But I’m not spinning lace weight. In fact, some of my favorite yarns that I’ve ever spun have been plied from center pull balls. So here are my favorite tips and tricks for plying from center pull balls that I’ve learned over the years.

Use something as a center support for the ball.

As you work, the ply that formed the center core of the ball is being pulled out and moving onto the bobbin or the spindle. When enough of the center is gone, the ball will collapse on itself which means tangles and knots and aggravation. Putting something into the middle of the ball when it comes off the winder gives the ball a core of support which prevents those frustrating tangles.

And even if the ball does collapse on itself, like mine did in the photo above, the core will keep the ball open enough to work from and help prevent knots. I was able to ply the rest of this yarn instead of calling the whole thing a loss.

The center core doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just make sure that what you use is long enough to stick out from both ends of the ball.

• Rolled up pieces of paper, like shown in this tutorial, work just fine. They’re also a good option if you’re taking a class or don’t have anything else close at hand.
• A simple nostepinne is a great option for larger center pull balls and I'm using one in this example. They even come with a handle which makes holding onto them even easier.
• And don’t forget about chopsticks, long handled spoons, or straight knitting needles. Whatever you’re using as a core doesn’t have to be big around, just smooth so it won’t snag.

Keep your hands farther back from the orifice.

How close you keep you’re hands to the orifice during plying seems to come down to personal preference; however, working farther back makes things a little easier. Keep your front hand about 8 - 12”, or 20 - 30 cm, from the orifice.  The extra space gives you more room to properly tension the plies and sort out tangles before there’s a problem.

Working farther back from the orifice also means that you can add twist at a slower rate since the twist will build up over the distance from the orifice to your hands. Then you’ll have a little more time and wiggle room to correct any issues.

One hand controls the plying twist, the other hand tensions the plies.

A post shared by April Klich (@aprilklich) on Apr 3, 2018 at 9:11pm PDT

I’m using my left hand, aka the front hand, to control when the twist enters the plies, and my right hand, aka the back hand, is holding the center pull ball on the nostepinne. Use which ever hand you prefer for each task.

The front hand only has 2 jobs: control when twist moves into the plies and to feed the yarn onto the bobbin.

The back hand holds the center pull ball and does all the work of keeping the plies evenly tensioned. You mainly want to hold the core support and just keep a thumb and a finger or two on the ball to hold it in place. The outer strand will be able to move more freely than if you’re holding it without the center core. Using this hold, I can angle and move my hand back and forth to evenly tension the plies. Think of it a dance you’re doing with the yarn.

The ball can sit farther back on the core so that the center ply wraps and feeds out slower. If the ball is closer to the tip, the center ply feeds out faster. One position isn’t better than the other. So experiment to see which spot works better for you and the yarn.

17 Fiber Arts Things That Made 2017 Great

I’ve enjoyed making lists since I was kid and I don’t see that changing any time soon. I wanted to write up a 2017 review, but couldn’t muster up the energy or motivation to write about in paragraph form. So, I’m taking a page from Austin Kleon’s blog and making a list of the knitting and spinning that made 2017 great. Somehow the 2017 list was 17 items long without any extra help from me.

1. The Bearded One and I going to our first fiber festival, Estes Park Wool Market.

2. Completing 100 Days of Spinning where I spun and worked with handspun yarn for almost all of those 100 days.

3. Putting in the work to design more knitting patterns. Most of them didn’t make it past the layout stage, but they’re so close to being released in 2018.

4. Releasing the Melded Scarf, a free pattern for a striped reversible scarf, in February.

5. Knitting a Boneyard shawl with my own handspun yarn.

6. Mostly staying on the sheep and being more conscious about my yarn and fiber buying. The stash is still worthy of the name Yarn Fort, but it hasn’t taken over any more space.

7. Spinning along with Tour de Fleece for the 5th row in year.

8. Pushing my spinning boundaries to try new batts and more textured yarns.

9. Going to Interweave Yarn Fest.

10. Finally playing around with the drum carder and figuring out how to use it.

11. Digging into my fiber stash and spinning a beautiful gradient from one giant batt. 8 matching skeins!

12. Taking my first ever spinning class about different ways to spin color with Maggie Casey.

13. Going to meetings and being a member of my local fiber guild.

14. The KIS hat and Mosaic Sisters patterns being used to teach classes on color work and mosaic knitting respectively.

15. Getting a whole room to use as my studio where I can work and get to all my art supplies, yarn, books, and notions. Wanted this for years so it’s great, but scary too.

16. Developing a new appreciation for hats knit with fingering weight yarn.

17. Wearing and enjoying my own hand knits. And seeing the Bearded One wearing and enjoying his hand knits too.

A Handspun Boneyard

I’ve wanted to knit a Boneyard Shawl for years. Not with the burning desire that makes you drop everything and head to the yarn shop, but when I eventually found the right yarn. Eventually is the key word. I wanted a variegated yarn that’d be fun to knit and fun to wear. I’d know it when I found it. I didn’t find that perfect yarn because I ended up spinning it during the 2017 Tour de Fleece. It’s a thick-and-thin variegated mix of greens, blues, and browns. The skein is one of my favorite yarns that I’ve spun this year, and was thrilled that I had enough yardage to make something big out of it. Well, bigger than a hat anyway.

With 260 yards of aran weight to work with, I knew it was finally time to cast on for a Boneyard Shawl. So I did, and it was a fun knit. The shawl was so hard to put down because it was good auto-pilot knitting and I wanted to see what color would come next. The only change I made was to switch out the m1’s for lifted increases.

The only trouble came when I was trying to figure out how much shawl I could knit. There were still a few yards left and I didn’t want to waste any of them. So, the Boneyard sat on my desk for months, mocking me, while I worked on other projects. The shawl would probably still be sitting on my desk too if I hadn’t needed a break from all my holiday gift knitting. I’d knit 7 ridges already and decided to start the edge and see how far I got. A few tv shows and an inch of garter stitch later, it was time to bind off. Why did that take me so long to do? Ugh! At least I made the most of the yardage.

It may have taken years to find the right yarn and also a good bit of procrastination, but this Boneyard Shawl is just what I imagined. It's cosy, just the right size to wear under a coat, and special. Also, it feels good to knit with my own handspun in the same year that I made it. Who knew?

The Details
Pattern: Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West
Yarn: 253 yds 2-ply aran weight handspun
Needles: US 9 (5.5 mm)
Dates: August 20 - December 2, 2017
@Ravelry

Tour de Fleece 2017

And that's a wrap! Another Tour de Fleece is behind us. If you spun along this year, I hope you enjoyed yourself and made handspun you can't wait to use. 

While I didn't spin every ounce of fiber I pulled from the stash, I'm still pleased with what I did accomplish. I started spinning just for the fun of it with the rough goal of making a heavier than a sport weight yarn. Definitely succeeded on that count. The first skein of the Tour is a textured bulky yarn and the closest I've come to spinning art yarn in awhile. It's 158 yards of Shetland Wool, Alpaca, and Silk Noil. You can read more about the technicals of how I spun it here. 

The second skein started as 4.2 ounces of hand painted top and turned into 260 yards of aran weight. I split the top in half down the middle. The first ply I spun as is and second I split in half again. It made a nice lazy fractal that I really want to knit. Pretty sure I've got enough yardage to make a small Boneyard Shawl if I knit at a loose gauge. 

I spent the last chunk of Tour de Fleece doing some challenge spinning: 4 oz of alpaca batts. Plus, I got to check "Spin a batt I made myself" off my goals for this year. My previous attempts at spinning alpaca turned out wiry and over twisted, and I wanted to do a much better job with this batch. Obviously, I haven't plied it yet but I'm pleased with what's on the bobbins. It's got a reasonably smooth surface and is still soft. Seems like it's got enough twist to hold together during plying too. I'm cautiously optimistic about getting a soft, cushy yarn that'll do justice to the 10 years I've been waiting to spin this precious fiber. 

What I didn't do much of was play around with my drum carder. I got 2 batches of fiber through for one pass each. Then I hit a snag. The locks I'm working with are a bit felted. Teasing them open helped get them onto the main drum, but a good quarter of the fiber stayed trapped in the tines when I peeled the batt off. Got any tips for picking the fiber off the drum? I haven't found a good solution that doesn't involve teasers and a lot of time. 

Drum carder snag aside, this was a good Tour de Fleece. I enjoyed spinning everyday - even on rest days - and spun just for the fun off it. I joined a few teams and had fun sharing and talking to other spinners. I’m pleased with all my new handspun, and even have a few ideas of what to do with it. So I’m calling this Tour a win. 

How did this Tour de Fleece go for you? Did you learn something new or try a new fiber? Spin a lot or a little? Make yarn you can’t wait to use? 

Tour de Fleece 2017 Challenge

I admit that I haven’t really been keeping track of the day to day calendar of Tour de Fleece. When are the rest days? No clue. I’ve just been spinning every day and having fun with it. The only reason I figured out Sunday was a challenge day was because I happened to check the forums that day. By some random happy coincidence I just so happened to have some challenging spinning.

If you’re not familiar with Tour de Fleece, or Tour de France, there are 3 challenge days when riders tackle mountains with steep grades above 10%. Spinners get to set their own challenges. I was fairly sure that I was going to tackle some sort of art yarn construction. Instead I pulled 4 oz of alpaca batts out of the stash. I haven’t spun a lot of alpaca, and my last attempt had so much twist that it was a wiry, prickly beast. So I’ve been hesitant to try again. Making the mental hurdles even taller is that fact the Bearded One gave me this fiber when we were dating many, many moons ago. I’d had it for several years and it was scary enough to put the fiber through a rented drum carder in 2013! 

Let’s do a little math. The shearing date on the label says 2007. I turned the alpaca fiber into batts in 2013. Now it’s 2017. I’ve had this fiber stashed away for 10 years! To cut myself a little slack, I was only just getting into spinning in 2007 and didn’t truly learn for several more years. Still, 10 years is way too long for such beautiful fiber to be hiding away in my stash. 

The batts are 100% alpaca and one solid color. Since there was no need to preserve color sequences, I split the batt into strips and started spinning. I wanted a smoother fiber and went with an inch worm worsted draft and an 8.0:1 ratio to keep from over twisting the fiber. 

I finished drafting the first batt yesterday, and it was much simpler than I expected. Could be that my spinning has improved in the years since I last attempted spinning alpaca. Could be that my brain made things much harder than they had to be. Sometimes the mental hurdles are the hardest to jump. 

This fiber is special and I don’t want to waste a single bit of it. The batts aren’t all the same so I’m going to spin each one separately and ply them back on themselves. Sure, it’s more work, but I could use the practice. And I can’t help but picture how cute 4 little skeins are going to be. 

And in non-challenge spinning, I finished plying the 4.2 ounces of hand painted green top! I know I said the galactic handspun was the most yarn I’d ever packed a bobbin, but this skein beats even that. I hand wound a good chunk of the yarn onto the bobbin, and don’t think I could get another yard on there if I tried. Really curious about how much yardage is packed on there because I’m tempted to turn it all into a Boneyard Shawl.

The End of #100HandspunDays

Wednesday, July 12th, is the official end of The 100 Day Project. I have spun yarn, swatched with said yarn, and fiddled around with my drum carder to prep fiber to spin into yarn. There was one day at the beginning when I completely forgot to spin something until I was tucked into bed, but the other 98+ days have not lacked yarn or spinning or fiber. 

I started this project with 5 goals that I thought would be easy to do over and over again for 100 days. 

1. Sit down at the wheel and spin! - This part was pretty easy and what I did for most of the project. 

2. Fiber prep counts. So taking a few days (or weeks) to learn how to make batts or practice hand carding is encouraged.  - I didn’t do as much of this as I thought I would. My lofty idea that I’d be churning out batt after silky batt didn’t happen. I did pull out some locks and start figuring out my drum carder’s quirks though. 

3. Work out of the fiber stash and see just how far it’ll go. - I have bought the occasional bump of fiber and gotten samples to spin from classes, but the bulk of my spinning has been from stash. The stash bins do look a little emptier.

4. On busy draining days, reading about fiber, breed characteristics, and yarn construction is a-ok. What good is having a spinning reference shelf if I never use it? - This didn’t happen outside of my usual blog reading, which I do regret. Maybe my next bookshould be Yarnitecture by Jillian Moreno? 

5. Share the day’s spinning on Instagram and in blog posts. I’m using #100HandspunDays to keep things organized.  - I shared some of this project on IG, but my attempt at this really fell flat. I did share a lot about #100HandspunDays here though.  Thanks for following along!

I took Maggie Casey’s class You Can’t Tell A Braid By Its Color and learned about different ways to spin color.

I spun lots of little sample skeins.

My creative mojo came back.

I finished spinning a long purple gradient that had been lingering on the bobbins for far too long.

Then I started a new big project, 500+ yards of fingering weight yarn. Learned to love spinning sample mini-skeins too.

And I spun just for fun with batts and other little stashed treasures.

All these months of spinning made it a lot easier to plan for Tour de Fleece.

I somehow tricked myself into thinking #100HandspunDays ended last Sunday. So these last few days seemed like a surprise bonus. When I thought that the project was over, I was surprised at how strongly I didn’t want to stop. I want to keep spinning and to keep learning more about spinning. Besides from getting me a lot of great new yarn, #100Handspun Days has shown me that I’m not ready to give up on my wheel and making yarn. It’s something I still enjoy and want to do. Sure, there will be times where this need will ebb and flow, but it’s not going to dry up over night or over a couple months. 

Once #100HandpunDays is officially over, I’ll be putting my spinning motivation into Tour de Fleece. The past week’s project has been 4.2 ounces of hand painted top. I split the top in half down the middle and spun the first ply. I split the other half in half again to create shorter color segments for the second ply. Almost finished with the second and then it’ll be time to ply. I’m curious to see how the yarn comes together.

Off to the Races - Tour De Fleece 2017

Tour de Fleece kicked off on Saturday! What’s Tour de Fleece? It’s a giant, international spin-along that runs along side the Tour de France. This is my 4th year spinning with the Tour, and I wholeheartedly recommend joining up if you’ve been on the fence. It can be a personal challenge or a team affair or both! It’s still early and not too late to start.   

I’m not setting a ton of complicated goals this year, but keeping things simple. Spin every day. Work from stash. Spin a few batts I’m going to make on my drum carder. Anything else is a sparkly bonus. 

I tossed my fiber stash out of its bins a few days before the Tour kicked off and it looked like a wooly explosion. There was roving on my desk and couch. There were batts on the floor and chilling in the corner. Hand dyed fiber everywhere. By the end of it, I’d picked what I want to spin and better organized the fiber stash. Here’s what I’ll be spinning for the next few weeks. 

• A giant 8 oz batt. Not sure exactly what I’m going to do with it yet, but it was taking up too much room to keep hanging around.
• 4 oz of Dudley Spinner hand painted top. I fell of the sheep last week and bought this to spin during the Tour. Totally counts as spinning from the stash since I got it before Tour de Fleece right?
• A bundle of 100% alpaca batts I made several (maybe 4) years ago on a rented drum carder. Way past time to see how these spin up. 
• A Fiber Preparedness Kit from Wild Lily Artisan Fibers. It’s got punis, dyed locks, and random bits of dyed roving. Thinking this will be challenge day material. 
• The Epic Green Spin is also on the list. Still working my way through sampling and swatching, but I hope to start the final yarn during the Tour.
• 4 oz of top that just looks fun to spin. 

I wanted to kick of the Tour with something fun and easy so I started with the 4 oz of carded roving. It’s a blend of shetland wool, alpaca, and silk noil. Just looking at all that silk noil, I knew there was no way it would turn into a smooth, even yarn. So I drafted long-draw and occasionally double drafted the larger chunks.

I ended up with 2 almost overfilled bobbins that I plied last night. Not even the bulky flyer with a jumbo bobbin was big enough to get all this yarn on by itself. Once no amount of tension would feed yarn onto the bobbin, I had to do it by hand. It went something like this: ply as long a length of yarn as my arm would allow, wrap yarn around my fingers, turn bobbin to slowly feed yarn onto said bobbin, and repeat. Not a quick process, but I got all the yarn plied. No mini-skeins here! And the bobbin is absolutely packed with bulky yarn. Can’t wait to get wound into a skein and see how much yardage I have.  

I also pulled out the drum carder, and I’m starting simple with this too. The carder is new-to-me and I haven’t used it until a few days ago. Before I get into making complicated multi-fiber art batts, I wanted to see if the carder had any quirks. Last year I bought 4 oz of dyed wool locks to try out the carder, so I started with them. The fiber is slightly felted so it’s more difficult to process than I expected. And taking way longer to process than I expected. I’ve been putting on a little bit at a time since Friday afternoon, and I’m about halfway through the first pass. I’m pleased with what I’m getting off the carder and plan on putting the fiber through at least once more to smooth it out. Maybe by next week, I’ll have a few new batts to spin. 

So that’s how my Tour de Fleece is going. What about your Tour? Keeping your spinning simple or doing something big? 

Intentional Spinning vs. Playful Spinning

I’ve really enjoyed spinning and working on the epic green yarn. It’s pushed me to be more consistent with my drafting. It’s made me be more intentional and focused on the details because I can’t spin 500+ yards of fingering yarn otherwise. On the whole, the project is going well. I’ve finished the first round of sample skeins and I’m in the middle of swatching to see how they knit up. Then I’ll spin another round of sample skeins if I need to make changes. Which means at least another round of swatching before starting on the final skein. Glad I’m not on a deadline because this handspun is not a quick project. 

In the downtime between steps for the epic green yarn, I worked on a few smaller spinning projects too. The main goal of my #100HandspunDays project is to spin every day, and quick projects I don’t have to continually measure and refine let me do that. Plus, I get to play and spin to see what happens instead of working towards a specific result. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy playful “spinning for the joy of it” as much as “spinning for a specific project”. Each of those projects scratches a particular spinning itch. Sometimes I want to play and see what happens. Sometimes I want to take notes at every step while I spin a specific yarn for a specific project. These two opposites feed and encourage each other. I’d get bored only doing one or the other. What about you?

I’ve spun a few skeins (and a few mini skeins) when the green sampling wasn’t filling up all the bobbins. The first started as a wild batt that I bought in 2016, and didn’t get a good luck at until I opened it up this month. The colors moved from yellow, to orange, and then pink with random bits of sparkle mixed in. Sunset, anyone? I wanted to preserve the colors so I split the batt into strips, pre-drafted the fiber, and spun it in order. After spinning so much time working towards a smooth, fingering yarn, it was hard to let the fiber do its thing. I picked out the veggie matter, but didn’t do anything else. The ply was thick and thin with random clumps. Chain-plying only magnified those qualities. 

A post shared by April Klich (@aprilklich) on Jun 26, 2017 at 6:54pm PDT

I talked my self out of taming the yarn so many times, and I’m glad I did. The 74 yards of more-or-less bulky yarn are so fun to look at. I’m glad I didn’t take the life out of this yarn. Now I get to figure out what to do with it.

One of my other small projects is much closer to what I normally spin. One ply is a wool/silk blend of blues, purples, and grey. I paired it with a solid grey to get more yardage. The colors are subtle, but the silk pops and catches your eye. I had leftovers of the wool/silk and plied it with itself to make a mini skein. I want to use the two yarns together for a project and the combined 160 yards gives me a lot of options. The pair might make a nice hat or fingerless mitts with extra long cuffs. 

I’m still swatching the sample skeins for the epic green spin (really like what I’m seeing too). I’ve got time to spin a few more small projects, but I’m going to switch things up a bit to prep for Tour de Fleece. #100HandspunDays officially ends on July 4, and one of my goals was to learn to make batts on my drum carder. I haven’t even touched the thing yet so this week is all about playing and making batts. Then I get to spin them when Tour de Fleece kicks off on July 1. Sounds like a good plan to me. 

Sampling To Spin With Purpose

A good friend of mine has said for years that she’d like to knit with my handspun. I kept the request in the back of my mind, but didn’t really take it seriously until I was able to consistently spin the kind of yarn she liked to use. That would be fingering weight yarn. We settled on 2 choice skeins of 100% cashmere as equitable bribery, I mean compensation, and I got to work.

The first step was finding the right fiber. My friend likes to knit complicated lace shawls and wants to make one with this handspun. So right off the batt, I had a clear set of requirements to meet:

• The yarn should be a 2-ply fingering weight.
• The final yardage should be between 500 - 600 yards.
• The colors need to be similar in tone and hue so they won’t distract from the lace. 
• She likes to work with wool and wool/silk blends.
• Preferred colors are dark blue or emerald green. 

I’m happy to have these very specific requirements, because they take a lot of the guesswork out of the process. Instead of constraining me, knowing the end goal for the yarn makes it easier to spin. I get a clear vision of what I’m working toward from the beginning which is rather freeing. As much as I enjoy spinning for the fun of it, finding something to do with that “just for fun” yarn can be frustrating. 

It took me a few months of looking around online, in stores, and at festivals before finding fiber I thought would work. After getting an okay on the color, I ordered 8 oz of Dreaming in Green, a BFL/Silk blend from Three Waters Farm. I’m not going to need all 8 oz for the handspun, more like 5 or 6 oz. Those extra ounces are for sampling. Before I dive straight in to spinning 600 yards of fingering weight handspun, I need to make sure I am. It’d be an expensive failure if I made 400 yards of worsted weight by accident. Sure, the yarn would be pretty, but not what we want. 

Sampling will help me figure out the right ratios and tension for my wheel. I’ll be able to fine tune my worsted drafting for a wool/silk blend. Equally as important, I can try out different methods of handling color to find what works for lace. Then I can wash and set the twist on the sample skeins to see how that changes the yarn. I’ve spun many a yarn that looks like a sport weight when it comes off the bobbin and blooms to an aran weight after setting the twist. That cannot happen this time.

So I pulled off 2 oz to experiment with. There’s no deadline and I’ve got time to answer any questions that comes to mind. I might even knit a few swatches. Time to get sampling.