I am a spinner!

Yes, my friends, I can finally call myself a spinner (not to be confused with a Spinner—I won't be there for a while). Behold, my very first handspun.

I spun this yarn from some very coarse undyed Icelandic top that came with my wheel. It made for some pretty easy spinning for a beginner like me. This 2-ply skein is about 150 grams, 350 yards, 15 wpi (approximately sport weight). It's hardly soft and cuddly, but I could not be more pleased. I made yarn!

some leftover singles added for scale

Actually, I finished this nearly a week ago, but I realized almost immediately that I had overplied it. (Ack—beginner's mistake!) After mulling it over for a day or so, I decided to run the yarn back through the wheel to remove some of the twist. No one could have been more surprised than I that it actually worked. The yarn is now fairly balanced.

It's so hairy!

With that yarn finished, I decided to treat myself to something from the other end of the softness spectrum. I'm now spinning up some Ashland Bay merino I bought at Heritage Arts a few weeks ago.

my blue period continues

Wow, after the Icelandic wool, this stuff is like buttah! Oh merino, how I love thee.

And now for something completely different... Here's a shot of the flowers the Professor gave me for our anniversary.

They have nothing at all to do with spinning, but they're so pretty! How could I resist?