Weird Week

This week has been ... atypical, owing to many expected things (mostly related to the start of the academic year) as well as one key unexpected event (an ankle sprain in my family). Hence, a week's gap since my last post.

That's not to say that there's been no knitting, though. I motored on through the Slow Burn Hat (mostly during meetings at work) and finished it. This one is going to be sent to the 7 Long project organized by Stash & Burn's Jenny. The colors are pretty bright, but not quite as garish as they appear in this photo. I took this on a rainy morning and could not prevent the flash from going off. The turned-up cuff is knit in uneven rib and the rest is pretty self-explanatory. The yarn is superwash merino and should be very soft on some child's head in California.
I mentioned last time that I bought some Coopworth roving at The Mannings after my spinning class last week. The bag I chose was a light, neutral gray. It's so different from the other wool I've spun so far. This was stickier; you can see the crimp when you pull off a piece. This quality makes it far less likely that the thread will break during spinning. Or, maybe it's that I'm getting better at not letting it break? I don't think I've had a single break so far with this fiber! Here's how it looks on the bobbin:

I still don't understand how to change hooks often and regularly enough to get a nice smooth bobbin fill like other spinners do. Do they need the WooLee Winder to achive that? Or just a wheel with a sliding hook system (like Majacraft and Lundrum wheels have)? Or, will I just get better in time? Weigh in if you have an opinion.

I need to read more of The Joy of Handspinning website. There is a lot to explore. This is what it says about Coopworth:

Medium / Crossbred Wools

These wools are best for beginning handspinners to use. They are a good all purpose wool, which will spin into a medium-thick yarn, for knitted, crocheted, and woven, garments and fabrics.

Blue Faced Leicester, Border Leicester, Coopworth, Corriedale, Jacob, Romney
Crossbred with Merino wool
Moderately soft
3 - 5 inches staple length
Easy to spin for beginning handspinners
Good for felting
Spin medium-thick yarn
Spins woollen or worsted

One final shot of the fiber and the thread outdoors. This was taken on the same rainy morning and so the flash washed out the shot a bit. I'll try to get better photos on another day. I refuse to complain about rain - we need it desperately here. My blog comes after local crop health!