The lure of the spindle

I am not a spinner.

I respect it as an art form in itself, I follow the spinning adventures of others, and I have even taken an intro to drop spindle spinning.

However, I am infinitely satisfied with commercially-available yarns, I have no problem with paying the price for a nicely spun product, and I have yet to find a project for which there was no commercial yarn for my taste.

The Knitpicks lace weight in my stash has been bugging me for some time now, so I thought I'd try to make it into something I might actually use.

With the advice of a Halifax girl, some Googling and a bit of trial and error, I am Navajo plying via drop spindle.  People, I'm plying my ass off!

First hank was a great experiment.  I found myself pulling out frequent and short loops (something about being a reformed crocheter, my own dirty little secret).  The colourway remained largely intact, with a few areas of overlap.

Next time around, I purposely pulled out much longer loops.  Less work and more colour mixing.  By pulling out 12+ inches at a time, I had many areas where all three colours mixed, and relatively few single-shade areas.

First skein:

Helper with second skein:

Unplyed Shimmer on the left, next to my new creation.

 

I suppose it's a light sportweight.  I think it will become hats or other small projects.

In sock club progress, #1 is done, and #2 is coming along.

Le Sock:

Gussets and transition to leg:

Garter stitch heel flap:

 

I added a bit of 1x1 rib for the cuff.  I found myself with a bit of yarn left and wanted to use it all, but I didn't think another pattern repeat would make it over my foot.

I still have the herringbone backpack on the needles.  I dug out some old straights from my late grandmother's stash to work the straps.

Me and straight needles?

 

Still not good.

Comments

[Pat]

I wish I had added that bit of 1X1 ribbing at the top of the cuff!
I am impressed with your navajo plying skills - you have made beautiful yarn from that lace weight!

[Moe]

So cool with the Navajo plying! I haven't tried it yet....I think I will have to sometime!

[Doll]

What beautiful yarn you've spun!! Have fun with it. Awesome socks as well!!