I've been spinning some Cloudlover Rambouillet in Iris on the drop spindle and some Gritty Knits Merino on the supported spindle. I love the colors in the Merino but since it's so similar to the color of the spindle, I found it a little boring and the drop spindling is tough on my back since I most often do it sitting down and spend most of the time with my arms raised high trying to get a decent length before winding, so I've decided to put away the drop spindle for now and concentrate on the support spindle, with the rambouillet. I did spin almost an ounce onto the drop spindle though so I'm very happy to have made such progress. It really is amazing fiber.
Since I got home from family events for the Fourth of July (Independence Day here in the United States) I have been wheel spinning too. I'm mostly working on my Cloudlover Shetland Decay. I really love this color and it's so unusual for me to love these colors together.
Browns, orange and some bright blue. It just looks great. I originally split the braid down the middle to spin into a two-ply. It's spinning very well and I'm not making any effort to make it super fine so I think it will be a sport weight if I two-ply it. Did you catch that? It was kinda subtle.
The truth is, I'm not sure I'm going to two-ply it. I just don't know how useful a two-ply sportweight will be in Shetland. I wouldn't knit a shawlette out of it since it's not the softest fiber and I have several hats and mitten sets, do I really need another? (I know, I live in Minnesota, I can always use another but let's gloss over that for the moment.) I'm considering changing my mind, making a three-ply and knitting bulky socks for the winter. The question then becomes should I chain-ply or traditional 3-ply. I have a little bit until a third of the fiber is actually on this bobbin so I will consider. Because I love the colors together and not necessarily individually, I'm leaning toward a traditional 3-ply but that will look completely different as yarn and then knit into socks so maybe a chain-ply will be fine. The color repeats appear to be long enough and then I wouldn't have to find extra bobbins somewhere in the office. Maybe now I'm leaning more toward chain-ply. You can see the trouble I'm having.
I'm also trying to go easy on the wheel-spinning because I managed to overdo it last week and my ankle is hurting. It's an old sprain that was never really given proper time to heal (long story involving a very bad doctor I couldn't change because it was a workman's comp issue. He retired soon after.) So I'm just trying to spin with my right foot which is fine as my Matchless is a single-treadle but I'm accustomed to switching to the other foot if one gets tired and I can't do that right now.
Maybe instead I'll just go knit this ball of handspun into an Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief.
It is calling to me. That's why it's wound up and ready to go instead of in a skein like it was before.
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