Marnie, speak! Good girl.

While at Stitches, I got myself some lovely light sage green merino/silk blend roving. I bought it from the Angora Cottage booth. The first day, they had a sale and I got this roving for a great price.

I've been spinning it up on my 0.9 oz spindle, working the singles into about a fingering/DK weight with hopes of having a light worsted when I'm done.

I am finally feeling comfortable spinning slightly thicker weight yarns. I'm not sure I could do a big chunky yarn yet, but it's getting better each time I try.

Let me tell you, though, I've been acquiring roving at a pace I can't imagine ever catching up to with my lovely little hand spindles. Janel of both Spindilicity and Cameleon Colorworks fame, sent me 3 gorgeous servings of her hand dyed roving.

I got two of the Merino/Silk dyed in colorway "Catalina".

This was the same colorway I used for this pattern.

And then there's this:

The colorway is Indian Wedding and the fiber is Merino/Tencel. I'm not sure why I've been so drawn to warm tones lately, but this color is decadent. I've never spun a Tencel blend before, so we'll have to see how that goes, but if it's anything like spinning a silk blend, I think I'll like it.

And if that's not enough roving to add to the bunch, I'm awaiting an order I just placed with Amy for some of her Almost Solid Series roving.

Since finishing my shawl, (pics coming soon) I've been spinning a lot. It could be the influx of new roving that has me excited or maybe it's seeing something I've spun worked up into something I'm proud of, but whatever it is, I just can't seem to stop.

First, I spun up some of the merino/tencel I got from Janel. The colorway is called "Indian Wedding." It beautiful, though I found it harder to spin than some of the other fibers I've used. I want to try again with a different spindle and see if that helps. The final product is so soft and the sheen is so nice, I know I'm going to want to spin it all up.

I also got my order from Spunky Eclectic. I ordered two batches of Amy's Almost Solid Series.

I. Love. This. Stuff.

It works up into a yarn that looks a lot like the Twisted Sister Monochromatic Variegated yarns.

I got myself a batch of Corriedale in Sunflower.

And worked it up into a big ol' skein. My new spindle has allowed me to make much larger quantities of yarn in a go. Why on earth I chose yellow, I don't know. I certainly can't wear that color alone and the other colors I have don't really go with it, but it makes me so happy to look at it. Don't get me wrong, I think yellow is an amazing color, I'm just not so sure it's a logic choice for me.

I also bought myself a batch of Merino in colorway, Red Maple. I think the color is really more like Plum. It's got a warm red undertone, but it's a pretty deep purple overall.

I'm spinning this much finer than the yellow, which is between a sport and worsted weight. This is going to be more like a sock weight, once plied.

From some of the sweet comments I've been getting, I am starting to think that we might need a "Knit Your Handspun Along," because there are a lot of you who don't seem to ever do anything with the yarn you create. Julia suggested that to me a while ago, so I can't take any credit for the idea, but I'd love to know what folks think.

While in India, I spun the aptly named Indian Wedding fiber I got from Janel.

The first time I spun this fiber, I think I was using a death grip of some sort because I recall having trouble drafting the fibers. This time, no such issues. It was pure delight to spin. I think the colorway is now discontinued not currently in stock but available by request. I'll have to think of something small and special to knit with what I have. As you can see, this is a fiber that loves the camera.

Here it is all plied up, using the always reliable Andean Plying method, to produce a soft 2-ply yarn. The results are about a DK weight or a touch lighter.

Here it is. in skein form, lounging about.

And what's that I see?

Ahhh, soft enough for a baby girl.

As much as I love my wheel, there's something truly satisfying about spinning yarn on a spindle, and my spindles are quite lovely, don't you think?

I wanted to play around with combining colorways and pulled out some variegated orange and pink fiber as well as some warm vivid red, both merino/silk blends. I thought the solid red would dominate. It's so intense on its own, but the finished yarn really just looks like an intensified version of the variegated fiber.

I'm thinking it'd be pretty knit up into some sort of lace. I've only used about a third of the total quantity, maybe less, so I should be able to get a decent amount of yardage out of my stash.

Stats

• WPI: 22
• Ply: 2
• Yards: 130
• Fiber: Merino/Silk
• Colorways: Red (I think from Chasing Rainbows, but I'm not sure) and Indian Wedding from Chameleon Colorworks
• Red singles spun on 0.9 ounce Golding Tsunami spindle
• Indian Wedding singles spun on 0.95 ounce Le Fleur spindle
• Plied on 1.9 ounce Golding Celtic Knot spindle.

Any other Wallace and Gromit fans out there? And if so, did you know that Shaun has spun off his own series?

How is this even remotely related to my ostensibly craft themed site? Here's how:

4 ounces of Spunky Eclectic Wennsleydale Longwool in colorway, Perfect Storm. That's right, Wennsleydale, as in Wallace's favo[u]rite cheese and the one thing that keeps him from true love. I get it, Wallace: cheese is full of the awesome.

This fiber was a gift from my dear friend, Julia, and it's my first interaction with Wennsleydale Longwool. Wow, what a delight to spin. It's a little courser than the types of wools I usually choose but not unpleasantly so. It'd certainly make for a great layering piece and it's a dream to spin. I spun it semi-worsted, but man alive does it have some loft going for it. I bet this stuff would keep you mighty warm in the winter.

This is about 170 yards of 3-ply using a chain ply method to maintain the color shifts. After washing, this poofed up to nearly a worsted weight.

But this is only my most recently finished yarn. I also spindle spun another 130 yards of the merino blend, I posted about before.

And I spun 2 ounces and 150 yards of Mongolian Cashmere/Silk in a three ply as well.

Let me tell you, silk is soft, cashmere is softer, but the two are just naughty when combined. I don't think there's another word to describe how soft they are. It's a warm glassy smoothness with a bit of sheen. Heavenly.

And just because I can, more of all three yarns.

1. All my recent handspun yarns, 2. All my recent handspun yarns, 3. All my recent handspun yarns, 4. All my recent handspun yarns
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