That photo was taken with a 2.5 second exposure time. In camera terms, that's a fairly long exposure. And yet, no blurriness for the kitty was so very not interested in moving. Even our heat-loving Bengal was starting to wilt today.
But neither heat nor humidity nor barking dogs will keep me away from my consignment spinning, and voila, I am done! The first batch was about 2 oz. of Kerry Hill wool, and it was definitely a pleasure to card and spin. While there were a few second cuts in the bag, they were easy to pick out and the fiber was smooth and lovely. I ended up with a sample skein which I did not measure the length of, and the full skein of about 280 yards, 14 wpi. Yum yum.
The second item was a small bag of Portland wool. I carded that up and spun it woolen as well, but it wasn't quite as nice as the Kerry Hill. More second cuts, more bits of hay and grass, and a small bit of scurf. Second cuts - the little clippings that you can get when someone is sheering a sheep and isn't being careful - aren't a big deal when you're carding and going for a woolen yarn, but mostly I try to not include them. They make the yarn lumpy, and while some folks are in to that kind of thing, I'm not one of them. This 1 oz. bag of wool spun up at 125 yards, 9 wpi. More of a light worsted weight, I'd say.
And that's been most of the spinning I've been doing for the past two weeks or so. Consignment spinning has been fun - I got to work with two types of wool I hadn't experienced before, and frankly I was a bit jazzed that I'm at the point I can take on this kind of project with confidence. Still, I am looking forward to getting back to some of my own spinning. I've got this idea of spinning up a really awesome bit of silk that's dyed in dark jewel tones and plying it with gold thread, and I'm just waiting for the time to work on it.
I do however have one more assignment to finish, and that's a group knitting project I'll post more about later. I've finished half of it, but now I need to spin up the yarn and finish the other half, and I have to finish it before next Monday. I know what I'll be doing after work this week!
This coming week is going to be interesting. I plan to do a bit more in the way of after work exercise in the form of riding a bike for a minimum of 5 miles a day (big deal for me, not so big a deal for a friend of mine who completed the Death Ride last weekend) and then spinning after work to get that assignment done. And then, week after next is...
I can't wait! I'm going to be taking a class with Judith MacKenzie-McCuin on spinning and exploring how yarn works up in different arts - knitting, weaving, and so on. I'll also be taking a class with Darlene Hayes on natural dyeing. I hope to expand on what I learned in the natural dyeing class a few weeks ago with Kristine at A Verb For Keeping Warm.
I will of course take lots of pictures, but the location has no internet and barely any cell phone coverage. Posts and such will have to wait until I get back. I can't wait. :-)
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