Knit by Nora

Compulsive ~ a strong, irresistible impulse to act (i.e., to knit) and Obsessive ~ to occupy the mind excessively (thus this blog)

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Today’s Knitting News

Here is a list of topics I will be blogging about this week:
• My trip to Sheep Fest! -- See Monday, August 2nd.
• My first drop spindle experience!
• New tattoos
• Making stitch holders
• And what I have been knitting and spinning!

Here is a photo of my beginner’s drop spindle. While it is not pretty, it is highly functional. The arrows on top visually cue me on what way to spin the thing. Barbara encouraged me to use a stop and start process to control the spinning.

Last night I spun the sample yarn – let’s just say it is a lovely thick and thin novelty yarn! I found I put so put spin on the fiber; it likes to twist up in a ball (perhaps “knot” is a more apt description). I probably will make a small book mark or something that I can keep handy in real life to see my first yarn.

After a while, I stopped rushing the process and let the fiber spin more naturally so it did not over-twist. Needless to say, I am addicted!

My plan is to spin each day for at least a half hour until all of my existing fiber is used up. And with the amount I purchased, hopefully that will be at least three months. I feel the best way to learn is repetition.

I goggled “drop spinning” to see what resources were on-line. I found a nice guide with spinning terminology! What I think I need to know a bit more about is getting the fiber prepared to spin. This guide had a nice overview of plying and the post-spinning task of setting the twist.

I plan to send for a book recommended ages ago by Marta called Spindle Spinning from Novice to Expert by C. Delaney. I also have some fiber she sent ages ago to spin but I will wait until I can keep an even tension.

I am also excited to say that there is a new web ring for Pittsburgh knitters. I am the fifth participant and I alerted two other local knit bloggers. I just received my code to add; it still needs activated. Since I have started spinning, I will start reading more fiber-related blogs to see if that is a ring that would fit with my other fiber interests.

posted by Nora | 2:12 PM

Comments: Post a Comment