Friday, November 03, 2006

Charley the Horse and Nappy the Camel

Old Business: I found an interesting discussion on the price of the Socks That Rock Sock Club. Everyone who did it last round seems determined to do it again and thinks the price is reasonable. So I'm sold.

New Business: More spinning.

I finished up another skein last night. And, now, I'm not sayin' it's SanDeE*'s fault (you know I love you, baby), but I woke up in the middle of the night with the most ferocious charley horse in the history of ferocious charley horses. I was actually crying, real tears, and writhing around. There was no assuaging this damned horse. Travis woke up and sprung into action (as much as he is capable of springing at 3:14 a.m., that is) and tried to stretch my heel down to release the muscle. Nothin' doin'. He had to massage my calf for almost a full minute to get it to release (all while I'm lashing about like a trout on dry land). It's still sore as hell today. So you better appreciate these photos!

First and least: Camel Hair.

Ugh.

Ugh ugh ugh.

Find someone with a bad perm. A bad, fried, chemically-damaged head of hair so coarse and miserable, it could be used to scrub pots.

Yank the poor woman bald. Spin hair.

You just spun camel.

Hanspun Camel

If it looks like rope....well, it feels like rope, too. Hair rope. Gross. (I have baby camel yarn in my stash, and it is fabulous. I think there is a marked difference between camel hair and baby camel down.)

I spun this a few days ago. It's an ounce and measures about 36 yards. There, now that horrid crap is out of the way.

This is the one I just finished last night. Two ounces of a wool/angora blend. Something was up with this roving. It wasn't not roving, but it wasn't roving either. Basically it really needed a good carding...but I can't fork over for a drum carder just yet, and I refuse to buy sixty dollar cat brushes hand carders. The roving was maybe a bit felted, with clumps of angora....but I just drafted it as best I could and let it come out slubby, and I actually like it.

Handspun wool/angora

It's borderline novelty, but still a good weight at 134 yards....about DKish.

Close-up, wool/angora

Still haven't accomplished sock weight yet, but Tuesday night I finished up this beauty:

Handspun Wool Top

The singles were looking promising on the bobbin:

Single, Wool Top

And sure enough, after plying, I had 179 yards in 1.9 ounces (56 grams). That's sport weight! It's feasible for socks! Woot! I definitely still need to work on my spinning's consistency, but I'm pleased that it only took me four days to get down to sport weight. And this fiber spun beautifully. Which would figure...

Close up, handspun wool top

Since I didn't get it at SAFF, I don't really remember for sure where I got it (Earth Guild?), and the bag only says "White Wool Top". Wool? Wool???? That's like sending a chef a box full of something only marked, "Food". So I loved spinning it, it spun like a dream...and I'll never know what the hell it is.

I should have that other Bells & Whistles sock done any day now. Honestly, I do still knit a little.