July 11: Day 12

This morning I spun up some more skinny Romney singles, using my super-cool, good-as-old high-speed pulley. So, that would be a pretty boring photo. I made my 20-minute goal and still had time to go upstairs and work out on my stationary bike. I spun and spun some more!

But, I want to show you what I made on my (also borrowed) spindle last night. Instead of going to the spinning guild, I met a friend at a coffee shop and she spun gorgeous black alpaca on her wheel as I spun with the spindle. We shut the place down! (Ok, so they closed at 8, but doesn't that SOUND cool?)

I recently heard about a technique where you spindle-spin for about 36 inches, then Navajo-ply the yarn back on itself right away.

It's a nice idea because you don't have to worry about having another spindle (or wheel) handy to ply later...and you don't have to ply later. Presumably, when you're finished spinning that yarn, you simply wind it off of the spindle and go on with your life.

I like it, especially since the first time I tried to wind my seriously overspun singles off of a spindle, it didn't go well at all. This way, I'm aware right away if I'm overspinning or underspinning, and I know that the yarn is strong enough to ply.

The only drawback is that it's easy (for me, at least) to get mixed up about the direction the spindle should be turning. You turn one way for spinning, and the other way for plying. At least once, yesterday, I accidentally spun the yarn in the wrong direction and had to unspin and respin it.

Anyway, I really like the results, even if they are a little lumpy, and it was fun to try a new technique. I love using a spinning wheel. But, if I'm really serious about wanting to have post-apocalyptic skills, a spindle seems like a better bet.