October 1, 2008

The learning curve

Well, it seems that my beginner's luck has dried up. This week has been full of ups and downs, with a series of frustrating dyeing experiences.  As it turns out, the trouble I kept running into has more to do with the nature of two particular dyes (and the rate that they like to jump onto the fiber, or not) than anything I was doing. But a whole lot of roving ended up being kind of strangely colored while I went through the process of figuring this out.


Always learning.

I've been trying out some new things with my spinning. First, orange. 

pumpkin3

And then a single ply:

Twilight in the swamp

I really like how the single ply turned out and that's definitely something I'll be doing more of, soon.

Also - there's going to be a pretty exciting (for me at least!) announcement here in the next few days, so watch this space.

6 comments:

Christy said...

Orange is one of my very favorite colors. What weight is that?

Vilde said...

It ranges from a light sport to a worsted weight - it is handspun after all, eh? ;)

I love hearing who in my life loves orange. I can't explain it but it surprises me every time. (what do you mean you love orange? But it isn't the least bit green *or* blue!)

Shana said...

I love orange too! But of course you knew that already! :) I almost bought an orange couch, but it wasn't comfy enough, so I went with a purplish brown.

Love the single ply. I still haven't tried that. What did you learn about doing it?

Monica said...

I love it, Vilde!!! Beautiful stuff!

Vilde said...

Thanks, Monica!

Shana, you? Like orange?
Just kidding.
Bummer that the orange couch didn't work out, but comfort seems way more important in a couch!

About the single ply: what I learned was that you really have to slow down treadling, and set your wheel up for quick takeup and low twist. In my case that meant using my normal ratios, but turning the tension on the drive band waaay up. Then I drafted like crazy and let it out of my hands as soon as I had it drafted. Super slow feet, super fast hands.
It's really fun, and I think you would really like result! It may be the softest yarn I've made so far.

Lisa @ The Plain-Spoken Pen said...

Vilde, your yarn is gorgeous. I wish I knitted, just so I could buy some from you!