This Is NOT What It Looks Like - Really!
I did not, I repeat, I did NOT rush out and buy more spinning fiber! I bough some (very nice) new bobbins for my Bea and in, I thought, a very helpful gesture, I included in my order some very pretty packing material to help the seller package them securely. The plan worked exceptionally well, as you can see, the bobbins arrived safe and sound. The seller was so grateful, in fact, that she included a little extra packaging material of her own as a bonus - the 2 oz navy batt in the center! A huge "Thank-you" to Katrina's Wool World at Etsy! All the fiber is from her own Romney sheep and it is spectacularly soft and fluffy without too much crimp, just the way I like it!
Now I know you've probably gotten a bit tired of hearing me mention my big spinning project and not give you any more details. It's not like it's a huge secret or anything, it's actually almost boring. It started out as a pound of superwash wool I bought on eBay called Blueberry Sherbert. Nothing unusual here. I really liked the color and wanted to do something special with it. That was about 2 years ago. Since then, I bought another pound from the same seller when it was on sale for 40% off (nice!) and to my surprise, ended up with yet another pound when I bought a box of miscellaneous spinning fiber, sight unseen, from a student trying to raise money to buy her university course books. So the grand total reached 3 pounds which, when separated and pre-drafted a bit, looks like this tub - times three!
I appreciate it doesn't maybe look like too much, given this photo, and the fact that the tubs spent a considerable amount of time stacked one on top of the other waiting for me to get my rear in gear, compressed everything down making it look like even less fiber. Let me assure you, it fills a lot of bobbins!
In fact NINE so far and counting! One more on the wheel is nearly full and you can see how much is left in the tub! I suspect it will actually fill all 12 of my bobbins ( 12 x 4 oz bobbins = 3lb) which is why I haven't tried spinning the Romney (above) yet. I have dug in and told myself no more spinning "detours" until that last dern tub is empty! Although I readily admit it has been pleasant to have the odd bit of something else to spin occasionally since I started this project in JANUARY. It is a testament to how precious little time I have to commit to spinning. Having said that, I am still enjoying spinning this blue. What's more, having a real "sweat shop" job like this on the go means I have really honed my spinning. I can fill a bobbin much faster now than when I spun the first one back in January. My singles are fairly uniform and I'm spinning them quite fine too which takes even more time, because I want to make this a 4-ply cabled yarn - one of the reasons I wanted some more bobbins for my Bea.
Cabled yarn is basically two 2-ply yarns plied together in the opposite direction. I really didn't want a chunky when I was done so I needed fine singles to make just a worsted weight. I'm actually pretty excited. This is my first try at cabled yarn... ya, I'm not much of one for a timid first! LOL!! Hopefully in another week I'll be making the 2-ply onto the Bea bobbins - I'll tell you all about it! Cheers!
Cabled yarn is basically two 2-ply yarns plied together in the opposite direction. I really didn't want a chunky when I was done so I needed fine singles to make just a worsted weight. I'm actually pretty excited. This is my first try at cabled yarn... ya, I'm not much of one for a timid first! LOL!! Hopefully in another week I'll be making the 2-ply onto the Bea bobbins - I'll tell you all about it! Cheers!
Posted by Gloria Patre at 4/7/2010 4:56 PM 
Categories: Yarn, Spinning
Tags: Romney fiber Bea Bobbins Bea Spinning Wheel
Categories: Yarn, Spinning
Tags: Romney fiber Bea Bobbins Bea Spinning Wheel
So smart of you to include the packing material, I mean really, you had to ensure the safe delivery of your bobbins! I totally get that!!
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