They said it's a sharp learning curve

And they're right. It's amazing how much progress a new spinner can make in only three classes. I think I've spent a grand total of about 7 hours spinning now, and I've made pretty big strides.

Here's my second-to-last skein.

And here's my last skein, made by plying two skeins together. Plying is a wonderful thing. It goes a long way toward evening out all the lumps and bumps. Plus, when you ply a color with white, it looks like a candy cane. I have a sort of half-baked idea to make a big Dr Who scarf showing the progression of the yarn's quality. Still thinking about that.

Black & White

Last weekend I finished a scarf for my friend Raquel's birthday (only 4 months late). It's a deflected double weave, which basically means that as you weave, the black and the white parts are totally separate from each other. In other words, it's magic. It was fraught with peril, this project, and completely unlike anything else I've ever done, but I'm quite pleased with the result. And it looks just like the original!

First yarn!

So I'm taking a spinning class. My husband's aunt has an alpaca farm, and she gave us on long-term loan all the accoutrements for spinning yarn. I had my first two classes this week, and I can report that I am the suckiest spinner who ever sucked. I was totally frustrated and despondent after the first class. I dreaded going back. But then in the second class, I learned that I'd been going about it all wrong. Turns out you're supposed to pull on the fleece with the front hand, not the back. This made things easier. The white skein is my first attempt. The white and orange is the second.


I think what's most surprising to me is what a fast process it is. There's no time to linger. Lingering leads to deadly kinkage:

Old and new

Here's a little something I threw together over the last couple of weeks. It's basically the first four or five rounds of the tablecloth, but made with a larger hook and a larger wool yarn.

And here's something I did last spring. I call it The Sleeves. It was on the cover of one crochet mag or another. I can't remember anymore. The Sleeves are great if it's hot out but the A/C is blowing right on you. I can't wear them outside though because as you can see, in the middle of the project, the yarn's color changed completely. That is not a shadow. I was not a happy girl.