Guild day - time to spin - yippee!

Had a great day today at my spinning guild meeting . The morning was an excellent talk by Val Hughes, showcasing her water, ice and snow collection. Words can't do these amazing felted, stitched and embroidered evening dresses justice, so if you get the chance to see Val's work at one of the stitching shows, be sure to go along.

The afternoon was spent spinning (in between catching up on the news). I spun up some silk samples I bought yonks ago and then andean plyed it into little skeins. I used the cute double whorl spindle (the middle one), which I got (and the two other ones - sheepish grin - ) from Anne Campbell many moons ago. I love it because it's so light yet beautifully balanced.

Here's my mini-skein close up.



Then it was off to the other extreme to spin some combed Wensleydale locks.

I found these locks when I opened my apron (blushes). Immediately wishing I'd brought my wheel, I stubbornly decided that I'd give them a go on the handspindle. Why stubbornly? Well, as you can just about see, the staple is about as long as the spindle (12") and my arms weren't really long enough to get a decent draw. I love handspindling, but this was a bit much, even for me. But I persevered and here are the original locks, the locks after being dog-combed and the small sample I made. Not as bad as I expected but I think one for the wheel next time : )

Came home brimming with spinning ideas and keen to wash a fleece I've been harbouring for a while now to dye up and pop in the shop. Freckles junior is a gorgeous, white shearling Ryeland and I'll be natural dyeing her lovely, soft first clip (altho' I may do a bit of synthetic dyeing too....)