Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Look what I made!


Yep, it's actually yarn. This is 3-ply spun from the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Top in colorway "Gold Hill" that I purchased back in September.

I started spinning it over the Christmas break, but I ran into problems with my new Schacht Ladybug wheel. It became increasingly difficult to remove the whorl and change the bobbin. The whorl was so tight that it was almost a two-person job. I thought, "that can't be right... spinning is supposed to be a solitary activity." I took the flyer assembly and whorl back to The Mannings and they agreed that something was off. The problem was definitely with my pieces - the ones on the studio models there were fine. We also noticed that while the whorls on the Schacht Ladybug and Schacht Matchless are interchangeable, they are not identical - the fitting on the inside of the Ladybug whorl is made of nylon, while the Matchless whorl is metal.

They sent my parts back to the factory in Boulder, CO, where they filed down the nylon on both whorls. Apparently the wood bobbins swelled a bit and caused the fitting to become too tight. Wood may shrink again when the weather changes, but nylon does not. The parts fit much better now. I hope they will hold up.

I got my parts back two weekends ago and vowed to begin a new discipline with spinning - at least 15 minutes/day. I've been doing a pretty good job, too. See? I made yarn! It's not perfect - I didn't spin the singles tight enough in places (top can be so wispy) and it's not even - but I like it anyway.

What can I do with 129 yards (108 g) of this bouncy 3-ply yarn?

4 comments:

  1. This looks great! I was just looking on through all the One Skein projects on Ravelry. The "Spiral Rib Bag" might be a cute choice for this yarn. Check it out. A no-brainer might be a baby hat for one of the infants that will soon be entering your extended circle of friends.

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  2. If you want to look through this website, they have 653 patterns (and counting) for 300 yards or less. It took me longer than it should have to realize that the weight of the yarn is listed next to the yardage. "Oh, what does ww mean?" I wish I could blame it on Monday but unfortunately it is Thursday!

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  3. Beautiful! I'm in awe of the spinners I know. You're quite good at this -- as I knew you would be.

    All I can think is "hat." I can't be more specific at this time.

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