1st finished #tourdefleece yarn: Hog Island 3-ply spun long draw with more twist (for socks!). 4 oz, 243 yards, 22% shrinkage post wash. One single was suuuuuper skinny so I chain plied the leftovers of that — no yarn left behind!

#wamakeyarn #stashdashers #spinsky #handspinning #se2se

#wamakeyarn #stashdashers #spinsky #handspinning

There was a lot that happened during my time off so being able to give the wheel a whirl daily ended up being huge progress! I’m fine with that.

Current stats:
- 6 sheep breeds
- 1 “other” fiber
- 16 ounces spun
- 2,242 yards through the wheel (singles + final length after plying)

8 skeins of handspun yarn lined up in a row. 6 are small “sample” skeins, while 2 are larger full skeins. The colors range from golden brown to gray-brown to creamy white.

I promised near-daily #tourdefleece content and then life happened. Today marks the first day back to work from my staycation, and while I had hoped to have spun much more, I did manage to spin every day.

Love that gray cormo unicorn fleece!

I also realized I’m sampling for quite a few different potential projects all at the same time. It may be a high prep, low spin year, but I decided to embrace the chaos as that’s where my brain seems to want to be!

Day 2 results from #tourdefleece:
* drum carded 1.5 pounds of deep stash commercial top to see if it makes it more palatable (not really)
* carded 100% Shetland for sampling
* carded 2 blends of Romney + Finn for sampling
* started spinning samples

#wamakeyarn #stashdashers #spinsky #handspinning

Louet s10c spinning wheel on a deck with a bobbin half full of creamy white singles

Good morning #tourdefleece day 2!

Yesterday greeted me with a long internet outage and limited data (because everyone wanted their internet), but expect near-daily spinning content starting today!

First up on the wheel is some carded Hog Island.

#fiberart #stashdashers #wemakeyarn #spinsky

Noice! I’m excited to hear more about your cormo!

I have my scouring buckets set up and ready, but it’s raining and cold today after a weeks long dry spell. 😂

A piece of a lavender wool and sari silk fiber batt rolled up with an orange support spindle resting across it. The support spindle has a single of yarn wrapped around the shaft.

About an hour’s worth of the batt spun yesterday. So. Much. Texture. But it’s smooth and easy spinning!

I did stop early at one point and debate switching to my wheel to spin thicker, but ultimately committed to supported spindle. This will be a fun journey!

#spinsky #wemakeyarn #supportspindle

An unspun fiber batt in a purple/lavender color with a rainbow of sari silk texture throughout. A bare orange wood support spindle rests across the batt. A tag also on the batt shows the fiber contents and reads: Hand Washed Wool "Lars" Herdwick x Romney Lamb Loch Lomond Livestock, SK blended with 20% recycled Sari Silk

Fresh spin, all the possibilities.

Fiber: chaos batt from @mellyknits.bsky.social

Spindle: Spanish Peacock

#spinsky #supportedspindle #handspinning #handspun #supportedspinning #handspunyarn #supportspindle #wemakeyarn

4 support spindles of different shapes and woods lined up. All are wrapped with about an ounce each of gray wool & silk singles. Perspective of the photo is lowered with a focus more on the spindle points.

4 support spindles of different shapes and woods lined up. All are wrapped with about an ounce each of gray wool & silk singles. Perspective of the photo is more from the top down.

Still here, still slowly spinning.

Left spindle is from Nov ‘24, right 3 are from the
#peahennostressspinalong. And now that I’ve taken glamour shots, I’m free to ply this weekend!

#supportedspindle #handspinning #handspun #supportedspinning #handspunyarn #supportspindle #wemakeyarn

Two Spanish Peacock wooden support spindles. One has a shaft full of a gray and lightly white textured single of yarn and the other is still empty. The tips of both spindle shafts rest on an unspun pile of fiber. A pillow spinning bowl from Straddle Creek sits on the background

One spindle down for the #peahennostressspinalong AND halfway through this batt. Onward to a new fluff pile and a new spindle!

#springspinalong
#supportedspindle #handspinning #handspun #supportedspinning #handspunyarn #supportspindle #wemakeyarn

A zebra wood support spindle on a rustic wood background. The spindle has a single of gray textured fiber wrapped around the shaft.

Day 4 / April 6 results for the #peahennostressspinalong. I had aspirations to finish my 1 ounce set aside for this spindle, but slow & steady progress is still progress!

#springspinalong
#supportedspindle #handspinning #handspun #supportedspinning #handspunyarn #supportspindle #wemakeyarn

I love Targhee, also! I’m finding this one to be a very Gotland-forward cross sheep with a lot of the drape and sheen of Gotland. It’s been a very unique and fun spin!

A zebra wood support spindle with a gray singles yarn just starting to be wrapped around the spindle shaft.

My Day 3 / April 5 results for the #peahennostressspinalong. I burned the midnight oil and got some good kid-free spinning time in! 🥳

#springspinalong
#supportedspindle #handspinning #handspun #supportedspinning #handspunyarn #supportspindle #wemakeyarn

Makers:

@mellyknits.bsky.social batt of a Gotland x Targhee (from a farm not too far from me!) & Bombyx silk

@thespanishpeacock.bsky.social zebrawood ninja support spindle that I snagged during a Halloween night shop update (bloodbath) WHILE pushing a stroller one-handed on a crowded sidewalk

A zebra wood support spindle with a gray singles yarn just starting to be wrapped around the spindle shaft. The entire support spindle rests on a wound up piece of carded fiber that’s mostly gray with some white texture from silk blended throughout.

Oh hey, there! Still here in my little corner of the world, slowly, surely spinning and knitting things.

Here’s my latest. A support spindle WIP started Nov 2024. Maker details in next post 👇

#peahennostressspinalong #springspinalong
#supportedspindle #handspinning #handspun #supportedspinning

Thanks! Someone told me to “trust the process” so I’m going to continue and hope I love it soon 😅

A hank of light warm gray yarn, a hank of multicolored yarn in purples, blues and maroons, and a cake of a warm white yarn. All are in a row on a wood background

And then I have this lovely purple blue & maroon Falkland from Edgewood Garden Studio I want to also use for a #gridgambitcowl.

Last night I was feeling the warmer gray more for that one, but now maybe the white. Decisions decisions

#knitting #knitsky #handspunyarn 🧶

A small knitted triangle made from white and green yarn on a red cable knitting needle. Above the knitting is 1 cake of white yarn, 1 cake of multicolored yarn, and one hank of a light warm gray yarn.

I burned the midnight oil casting on a #gridgambitcowl in stash handspun I had no plans for.

White is mystery SE2SE (Tunis?) and color is “Rivendell” Targhee from Greenwood Fiberworks.

Though now I’m debating the white vs a warm light gray CVM as the main. 🤔

#knitting #knitsky #handspunyarn

A handwritten list of individual skeins of yarns with the number of noddy noddy strands counted and unwashed inches skeins measure at

And a note to self for next time: Maybe avoid advents or lots of tiny bits for the sake of totaling things up. I did not factor in how much extra time winding off and tallying tiny skeins would take! 🫣

#Spindy500 #teamstrandedbythesea

A Louet S10c spinning wheel outside on a somewhat sunny deck with a pile of bobbins full of spun and plied yarn

FINALLY tallying total yards & plies from #Spindy500, which ended a week ago. Blame my day job. 😅

My total count was 5,564 “Spindy” yards at 27.6 oz. Now to wet set & get those “true” knittin’ yards.
#teamstrandedbythesea #handspinning #handspun #handspunyarn #spinningfiber #wool #spinningwheel

A tangle of spun single of wool on a cloth with a hand holding a kid’s car that has some of the single wrapped around it.

Yup, we’re doing this, makeshift car bobbin and all. You better believe I want to claim my total yards for #Spindy500. 🤣

Yup. This reminded me why I avoid center pull plying.

Center pull balls for plying and I have had our disagreements over the years, but this just hurts my feelings.

#Spindy500 #teamstrandedbythesea #handspinning #handspun #handspunyarn #spinningfiber #wool #spinningwheel 🧶

Awwww, thanks. I usually fall smack in the median of the volume spinners, so I’m just aiming for that. 😂

10 spinning bobbins holding spin wool of different colors and textures, all laid out haphazardly on a deck.

Less than 24 hours of #Spindy500: 24 oz total spun.

My strategy now is to spin another 2 oz until dinner, ply ply ply after dinner & in the morning, and then spin a single until the noon end time.

#teamstrandedbythesea #handspinning #handspun #handspunyarn #spinningfiber #wool #spinningwheel 🧶

Now the pressure is on! 😂

I should ask my baby for tasting notes while I’m at it. There were a few run ins with a small fluff piece here and there. Day 5 and Cola was definitely a baby favorite.

There was a qivuit + Corriedale for the last day of True North and that blew my mind!