No picture today. I have been spinning. I'm still making the goal in time, but productivity is nil. I think it's because I'm becoming more persnickety about my spinning. That, I consider to be an excellent step forward. I have been working on washing my fleece, but now it's too humid for it to dry, so that's on hold. I got a new DVD by Deb Menz about Fiber Prep and am hoping to watch it this weekend and learn bunches more about drafting and blending colors. Hope everyone else to doing well.

Keeping on keeping on

It's not a pretty picture, but it is a much better spinning job than the past two tries. I'm feeling a bit more confident and that is helping me to work at the twist.

I have spent about 5 hours spinning this week which more than catches me up to my goal. I'm hoping this week to spin a bit more and see how it improves (or not).

Update - Still Keeping to my Goals

I'm still managing to keep to my goal of spinning at least 5 hours per week. I keep up with most of the details on my blog, so don't forget to check there for the updates. I've been so inspired by everyone's posts! All the yarn look wonderful!

I'm currently spinning some white Blue Faced Leicester. Boy is that lovely to spin....it goes quite quickly. I'm a slow spinner, and usually spin Merino, so I've been quite pleased with the "speed" I've attained. I'm almost to the 3rd skein of this already! I want to finish this 1 1/2 lbs. so I can then try spinning some wool that I have with flakes of shredded blue jeans in it....I think that would make a really fun yarn.

I'm Jazzed

Wow. This challenge is an education. I'm enjoying everyone's posts and pics. I follow the links when applicable and marvel at everyone's abilities and spinning quests. I have been spinning so much this week. I'm on the second bobbin of a two ply that I'm working on. This is not a completion goal. This is a consistency goal and I'm getting there. It's slow going, but I am getting there. I will post a pic on my blog (which has changed to knitwonpurltoo.blogspot.com) as soon as I can get it finished. I actually have spun over 4 hours this week. I do believe I'm getting caught up. It's still hot, but not horribly so, so it's not an issue anymore.

I also bought a Turkish spindle yesterday at my LYS. I haven't even gotten out of the bag, yet, but I'm excited. I sure hope everyone else is doing well and enjoying it.

Exceeding My Goals - Finally

I spun for 7 whole hours this week! I'm jazzed. I'm averaging 4 hours each week, which is right on my goal. Four of the seven hours were spent spinning at my Guild's Sheep to Shawl event. This was only my second time spinning in public and I loved it.

I've 'regressed' to inchworm spinning on my latest project. I'm working on black Merino laps and the only way I can control the fiber is to inch my way along. It's frustrating - it's difficult to keep the fiber from breaking - and my hand starts cramping after just a short time. So rather than quitting after only an hour or so, I set up my Lendrum for "fun" spinning. I'll work on two projects at once; when I get frustrated with the Merino, I'll move over to the other wheel and spin something more colorful and easier on my hands.

Has anyone ever heard of 'laps'? I was told it is what's left on commercial drumcarders when the batts are removed. Each section of fiber is about 4" wide and 12" long. I had never heard of them before. I'm wondering if my spinning trouble is because the fiber is Merino or if there is something about 'laps' that makes them more difficult to spin. Anybody know? Or have an opinion?

Pictures are on my blog. Happy spinning! (Oh, and Kristi? If you extend the challenge, as was discussed in the comments earlier, I'm *definitely* in. This has been a lot of fun.)

Back on Track

I'm back on track. I spent over 3 hours yesterday spinning and washing fleece. I have 2/3 of a bobbin of pretty fine yarn spun. I'm very pleased with it and I am finally feeling like I'm making headway. I thought about getting out the spindle and working on it, but at this time I want to enjoy the spinning that I can do. I think I need to put the spindle back for a little bit. I really want to conquer my ineptitude on the spindle, but don't want to bite off more than I can chew during this Summer Spinning Challenge. So, I'll wait until the challenge is over to pull out my spindles.
I have a picture of Grant's fleece in the sink soaking on my blog at knitwonpurltwo.blogspot.com. No spinning pix as of yet, though. I'm having trouble getting good shots of the spinning with my new camera. OK. I can't really blame the camera. I'm a crappy photographer. Can't wait to hear from everyone else.

Fair Spinning

I met my goals for the last 2 weeks; on average, I'm well ahead of my goal of spinning 2 hours each week.

On Wednesday, I spun for 3 hours at the county fair as part of my Guild's booth. This was my first demo and I found that I really enjoyed talking to people and answering their questions. It was a lot easier than I anticipated - probably because I love spinning and would be thrilled if I could tempt someone over to the 'fiber side'. I'm also participating in my first Sheep to Shawl event tomorrow, so that will count toward my goals for next week.

And best of all, the skein I entered in the fair took an Honorable Mention. WooHoo! I've only been spinning for a year, so I'm very excited. Details are here.

Happy spinning!

Still Meeting My Goals!

Week 6 ended and I'm still keeping up with my goals! This week I managed to work in 8 1/2 hrs. of spinning. I think I have some lean weeks coming up though, so I may have to rely on "averages".


The multi-blue Merino for my mom's scarf is all plied! I'm a bit disappointed that I managed to spin 2 different weights.....I like the skein I finished this week the best (it's the one on the left). The skein on the right is the one I completed a couple of weeks ago. Other than that, I've continued to spin the brown Blue Faced Leicester (on Lennie 2) and the white Blue Faced Leicester (on Louie). I'm almost ready to ply a skein of the white....I have two rather large bobbins nearly full. I only have one bobbin about full of the brown. Next week I hope to have some plied BFL to show!

Update for August

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to say that I've posted about my Summer Spinning progress and goals in today's entry on my blog. I've actually met all my goals now and am looking forward to continuing with them for the month of August.
Carole