Not Bad

I don't seem to be wasting any time actually LEARNING how to spin. Yesterday I went on a "yarn crawl" with my friend Jennifer and bought some more fiber to practice with. Then my mom and I decided to dye the fiber. So we did, using the koolaid-and-microwave method. It turned out, in my opinion, pretty darn cool. It looks like tie dye right now, of course, but will look nothing of the sort once it's spun up.

While we weren't dyeing, I obsessively made 120 yards of 2 ply swalesdale wool. It's very coarse, but made my first marathon spinning session very easy. The fibers are very long and draft easily, making them a good choice for a beginner to learn with.

As I was told to expect, the yarn is not terribly even - there are thick and thin places in the yarn because I'm not experienced enough to keep the twist distributed evenly throughout the fiber as I go. The skeins (I made two) range consistently from DK to bulky worsted. I have read many suggestions that this yarn should not be discarded, but labeled "Designer Yarn" and sold for a high price. At first I was Appalled by the quality and was going to stash it under the bed and try to forget about it, but my husband encouraged me to knit a swatch.

Here is the swatch:


I have revised my opinion. The thick-and-thin texture, once knitted, is not appalling after all. It is darling. The astute will notice that the swatch has become a man's sized mitten. We will not call the mitten "darling" once I give it to Dug. We will call it "masculine" and "rugged".