Second Handspun Yarn

I finished my first handspun last month and started working on my second one shortly after.

It's 2 ply, 8-9 WPI (worsted-aran weight), and about 35 yards. I dyed it with Kool Aid - Ice Blue Raspberry.

I love the colors. I just want to keep it in a skein.

First Handspun

My first handspun yarn since my attempt at spindling years ago! It's a super bulky thick and thin yarn (3-5 WPI). I spun about 26 yards. I think this might be more fun than crocheting/knitting!

In a previous post, there's a photo of it on the spindle and here is the skein after setting the twist:

 
Then comes the dyeing! I've only dyed yarn once before with one color.

For this one, I really wanted to make something similar to those fancy kettle dyed yarns. I looked up tutorials like this one: Tutorial: Crock Pot Yarn Dyeing! by leethal as well as some Youtube videos.

I used Kool Aid in Strawberry, Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade, and Lemonade:



I was in a rush since mister baby was going to wake up soon. I put in too much of the red and didn't wait for it to spread.

The red turned the blue into purple and when the red got to the yellow, it turned to pink. There's also little spots of blue, white, yellow, and brown. It's not quite what I was going for but it still looks nice.

Here's it knitted up using US#11/8mm needles:

I couldn't wait to spin more so I got more fiber. I want to make a blue/green yarn and maybe try plying.

Craftsy Spindling Class

Last month I mentioned I was taking a Craftsy Spindle Class~! I'm about halfway through the videos. I got some BFL fiber shortly after and finally got a drop spindle a few days ago!

I really wanted to make a drop spindle with a wooden toy wheel but it turns out the stores in my area don't carry those anymore. They have wooden boxes, letters, dowels, bird houses, rocking horse... but no more toy wheel stuff?

I'm already thinking about getting other kinds of spindles like the Turkish one:

(Photo credit: Weekend Knitter)

It took me a while to get the hang of spinning and I reviewed the videos to see what I was doing wrong. It was a bit difficult for me to draft when spinning so it came out too bulky and lumpy.

I predrafted the rest of my BFL and started over. It's a lot better than before! Here's what I've got so far:



I need to finish the rest of the Spindling videos and then I'll take Spinning Dyed Fibers class. I don't think I'll find time for a while to actually dye the yarn but it'd be fun to learn anyway!