Swappity Swap

I came home from vacation to find my Spinning Roving Swap package. Yay!



Isn't it lovely? Kaity, my wonderful secret pal, sent 4 oz. of merino in "Fall Squall," blues with hints of brown. There's also a large bag of soysilk, which I'm very excited to dye and try spinning. Kaity even sent a beautiful skein of Claudia Hand Painted Yarns' merino fingering in "Just Plum," which I love. It's such a pretty colorway. Not pictured are the Reese's Bites, which my husband broke into last night, and a copy of Madge from Knittyspin. What a haul! I'm looking forward to trying the pattern.

I sent my pal's package today:



The green fiber is BFL I dyed especially for my pal. There are also a few other things for her to try: some smaller amounts of llama, kid mohair, cotton, a cotswold mix, a bit of romney, and a little sample of sari silk to mix in with something else. Hopefully she'll have fun with it. I also took the opportunity to get spinner's control cards for my pal and for me. I'm hoping these will be faster to use on the fly than actually measuring wpi.

I'm allowed...

...to indulge in the occasional random baby picture on my fiber blog.



My baby.

Dyeing, Spinning, Knitting

I've finished both socks made from my own handspun -- woohoo!!!



The other one looks much like this, but I was standing on that one. The wool is anonymous gray wool.

Fingerless gloves made from my own handspun -- woohoo, too!!



The pattern is from Alterknits. The wool is Cotswold mixed with silk and sari silk.

I had some dyeing fun this past weekend:

BFL for the Spinning Roving Swap:



Various uncarded fiber:



Coopworth roving in red/orange/pink, greens, and light blue:



And finally, One-Shoulder Tunic from Teva Durham's Loop-d-Loop:



I've also assembled everything I need for my Spinning Roving Swap partner: the green BFL above, some other fibers to play with, a spinner's control card, and a back issue of Spin-Off with a fun glove pattern. I just need to package it up.

Spinning Roving Swap

I've signed up for the Spinning Roving Swap, and heard from my pal almost immediately (thanks for that).

My answers to the questionnaire:

1) How long have you been spinning?

Almost a year

2) Are you a beginner, novice, or experienced spinner?

I'd say somewhere in the advanced beginner or intermediate range

3) Do you spin on a drop spindle or wheel, or both?

Mainly a wheel, with occasional spindling

4) What types and weights of drop spindles (or what type of spinning wheel(s) ) do you currently own?

I have a Schacht Matchless DT wheel. For spindling, I have a Schacht hi-lo, and I just got a Bosworth mini. I also have a tahkli.

5) What type of fibers have you spun with before?
Wools, silks, alpaca, and very small amounts of a wide range including soy silk, cashmere, mohair, bunny, and doggy. I've spun mixes of fibers, and textured stuff can be fun, too.

6) What fibers do you prefer to spin with?

Soft fibers, silky fibers, lustrous fibers, fluffly fibers. I also like to play with unusual things. (I spin cotton on my tahkli and I'm getting a charkha, but I do already have a lot of cotton right now in the stash.)

7) What fibers do you dislike?

I don't much like rough fibers, although I recently got some linen and hemp to try for fun. I'm not a big fan of dog fiber.

8) Do you prefer natural colored fibers, or handpainted/dyed fiber?

It really depends. I mostly spin dyed, because color is so much fun. But sometimes natural colors are gorgeous, too.

9) Would you prefer all one type of roving or smaller amounts of different types to sample?

I would prefer enough to make something out of, rather than samples.

10) What are you favorite colors?

Tough one. I like lots of colors: blues, greens, reds, pinks. I tend to like color mixes inspired by nature.

11) What colors do you dislike?

I don't tend to like yellows, or greens that have a lot of yellow in them. Anything that could be described as "flourescent" is probably not a good match either. I generally don't like mixes that are very rainbow-y either.

12) What would you like to do with your handspun yarn, or what do you plan to do with it?

It depends on the fiber, really. I like to knit a variety of projects -- lace shawls or stoles, armwarmers, gloves, scarves, hats, sweaters (not that I'd expect that much fiber, of course), socks. It's just a matter of finding something that works with the fiber. But I've been knitting for a long time, and I think I can handle most patterns.

13) What spinning projects are you currently working on?

I just finished spinnig up a bunch of sock yarn, and I'm now making the socks. I'm not sure what I want to spin next. I just got a carder, and I've been playing with some fleece, Lincoln and Cotswold. I'm intrigued by the idea of spinning enough for a sweater, but I'll probably do some smaller projects first.

14) Do you have a wishlist?

Yes

15) What are your other favorite hobbies?

Knitting, dyeing, reading, watching movies

16) Do you have any allergies (pet, smoke, food, fiber,etc...)?

Cigarette smoke

17) What is your preferred shipping method (USPS, UPS, FedEx)?

No preference