Monday, August 25, 2008

CMF redux

I've gotten into the habit of spinning fiber in 4 oz. lots. After all, fiber is very often sold in lots that size, and that amount of fiber will fit comfortably on my bobbins. It makes sense. However, the system breaks down somewhat because I'm also in the habit of buying fiber in 8 oz. lots. Very often I lose interest in spinning the second 4 oz. by the time I've finished the first.

Crown Mountain Farms sells many of their fibers in 8 oz. lots, so it isn't surprising that I had a couple of half bumps of fiber lying around. I decided to take pity on them and spin them up.

cmf bfl s2 swirl
Fiber: Crown Mountain Farms Bluefaced Leicester, "Shala"
3 ply
390 yards
105 grams

cmf bfl s skeins
I absolutely loved the first skein I spun out of this, so I actually started on the second skein within a few weeks of finishing the first. Since I had spun the first skein a bit thicker than I really wanted, I didn't try to make the second skein match in weight. It's a good thing, too, because they're definitely fraternal in color. Skein #1 is undeniably blue and brown, while skein #2 is also blue and brown, but with an almost purplish cast. Both are nice hanks of yarn, but they're more than subtly different.

Next up is some Corriedale I spun in response to a request.

cmf cor fr2 skein
Fiber: Crown Mountain Farms Corriedale pencil roving, "Finding Rainbows"
2 ply
536 yards
110 grams

cmf cor fr2 swirl
I gave the first skein to my friend Angeluna for her birthday in July. When I casually mentioned that I had more of the same fiber, her eyes lit up, and she asked if I could possibly spin up the rest for her. Well, I can't say no to a friend, so when my spinning queue became empty last week, I immediately thought of this.

cmf cor fr2 strands
The problem, of course, is that this second skein is a bit finer than the first (420 yards vs. 536 yards from the same weight of fiber). This is what I get for spinning this immediately after doing a fine 3 ply yarn. What do you think, Angeluna? Still interested?

8 Comments:

At 8/25/08, 6:31 PM, Blogger Jodi said...

Gorgeous!! Esp. the "finding rainbows" -- Angeluna's very lucky.

 
At 8/25/08, 6:46 PM, Blogger Bea said...

Very Pretty!

 
At 8/26/08, 1:06 AM, Blogger Angeluna said...

Oh Micki, I can't believe you spun it up. I am indeed as Jodi said, very lucky. Why don't I bring my other skein on Tuesday and see if they are very different. I wanted to do a scarf to "show it off". We can figure out if it will work. I had always wondered about the 4 oz from 8 oz deal.

 
At 8/26/08, 1:18 AM, Blogger bockstark.knits said...

is it possible for a spinning queue to be empty? huh - had no idea that could happen! ;) gorgeous handspuns as usual!

 
At 8/26/08, 1:10 PM, Blogger Opal said...

I think it's awesome how two skeins of the same fiber can look so different.

Your spinning, as always, is beautiful. Although the mention of an empty spinning queue scares me a bit.

 
At 8/26/08, 7:35 PM, Blogger peaknits said...

Nice job again on some beautiful spinning! What a lucky friend!

 
At 8/29/08, 5:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

An empty queue? Really?

I just love seeing all the beautiful yarn you spin. I'm letting my CMF fiber marinate a bit longer in my stash until my spinning skills are a bit better. I don't know how you could improve yours. Everything is gorgeous!

 
At 10/24/08, 2:12 AM, Blogger Knitting Bandit said...

ohhh...love the Finding Rainbows! You have very lucky friends.

 

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