Wednesday 12 September 2012

Take 2

I have been meaning to show my second attempt at handspun for a while and now my friend has finally got her birthday package, I can.


This skein was a Shetland braid that another crafter gifted me to play with and I'd been told Shetland was pretty easy to spin so I pulled it out with the intention of spinning it into a birthday gift. I wasn't wild about the colours as I'm just not a pastel girl but there were some bright pops of pink and yellow in there that I decided was a challenge. Could I get them to pop in the skein too? I wanted to spin as consistently as I could for my friend so I commited to the Shetland to help with that and away I went.

This time I worked the braid differently. For the first half of the braid, I spun it as it came to me and filled the first bobbin. For the second half, I tore the braid in half again to muddy the colours and make shorter colour repeats to fill the second bobbin. 


I feel I had some success although I really need to learn how to join the fibre back in once it's broken as I just end up with big fluffy parts. I found it harder to get the Shetland as even as the BFL which could either be due to using a single treadle wheel this time or the fibre itself. It felt a little lumpy rather than fluid like the BFL I first spun. I don't have enough experience to know if that's the case with all Shetland though. 

I'm pretty pleased though and I love spinning. I just need a magic fairy to bring me a wheel now...

4 comments:

Deb said...

Very pretty! I know nothing about spinning and am afraid to learn. I already have more yarn than I could possibly knit, I'm such a slow knitter. But it sounds/looks like so much fun!

Tina said...

Very pretty. Good job!

Anonymous said...

I think that's gorgeous.

Jennifer said...

i love spinning. so much fun. you are doing great for a beginner. i'm impressed. be forewarned, spinning doesn't help with stash reduction!