I've been trying to portion out my crafting. In the morning and during the day, I've been cranking out a mystery project for a book. If I told you more, I'd have to kill you.

I save my evenings for spinning. Remember my new roving? It's 100% merino in a colorway called Vineyard. Well, I decided to take it for a little spin.

When I pre-draft, I actually pull off a section that runs the entire length of roving so that all colors are represented. I really didn't want to have skeins with some colors and not others, I wanted to see the whole colorway worked together.


And here she is. That's about 22 grams of yarn and it's a little thicker than my previous two skeins. I would say it goes from sport weight to worsted weight in areas. I really like that the plies contrast so much. To me, that's just cool looking. I will probably knit this up at some point to see how it really looks. I'm not entirely sold on that particular shade of green, but I adore all the other colors.

But I'm not committed to just this roving, I have more, MORE! The selection is so fine, it's hard to know where to start, and even harder to stay faithful to just one.

This may look unassuming, but, wait to you hear what it's made of.

It's an airy, softer than anything blend of Soy Silk and Cashmere. I picked up a couple ounces for me and a couple ounces for Julia while I was at Black Sheep in the San Diego area.

But boy-howdy, did Julia return the favor. Look what she got me.

I can't stop ogling it. It's just so beautiful. It's a blend of 80% Merino and 20% Bombyx Silk. It's dyed by Chameleon Colorworks, though the site wasn't functional when I posted this.

As soon as I got my Vineyard singles plied, washed and hanging, I started some of this stuff going.


I haven't spun much, but what I have done looks amazing to me.

I wanted to answer a couple of readers' comments here as well.

Christine said:
Beginning spinner? Surely you jest. That yarn looks absolutely fantastic!

Well, I don't want to be accused of being disingenuous. I would certainly consider myself a novice in the same way I'd consider someone who had been knitting for less than a year a novice. I appear to have the basics under my belt but I don't have much of a skill set beyond the most basic of spinning functions. I wouldn't be able to make a "balanced" yarn if my life depended on it. Oh and *blush* thanks.

Stefanie said:
...And your yarn looks so nice, too...mine usually has too much twist. I guess it's time for me to take a class! (and spend more time spinning!!)

Well, mine definitely has too much spin, but I actually like that, again, see my novice status mentioned above. I'm sure when I get a better eye and hand for all this, I'll be displeased with my tightly spun yarn, but for now, I like its definition and it's ability to not just drift away from itself and break.

Sara said:
...your gorgeous rovings are making me pine for my very first wheel (which comes in 10 days)! i'm going to have to order some of that spunky electric roving!...

Ok, I'm jealous. I am not ready to commit to buying a spinning wheel, and heaven knows, Leo and Panda already have to step around enough of my stuff, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want one to magically appear in my living room, or heck, in my office at work, it'd make those conference calls seem simply delightful.