Winter Thaw - Sweet Georgia Yarn fibre club March 2014

The March 2014 Sweet Georgia Yarn fibre club is a delicious 4 oz/100 g braid of Superwash BFL in greens, blues and browns. I spun it up on my Houndesign spindle, and plied on the spindle as well.

I divided the colour way into lengths that went from blue to brown to green. The plan was to further split them into pencil rovings and spin one spindle starting with the blue, and then fill a second spindle starting with the green. My thought was that when it was plied I would get a two-ply yarn that would have blue/green sections and full brown sections. 

Didn't quite work out as my pencil rovings were of dramatically varying thicknesses. But the finished yarn is lovely and I can't wait to find a project for it.

Here's what it looked like in progress. 

Taking a well deserved break. . . . .

 Two spindles full of just plied yarn waiting to be wound off on the niddy-noddy into skeins.

And here's the freshly plied yarn - total of 310 metres, or 286 yards of fingering/sport weight. Can't wait to see what's in store for this lovely yarn.

Introduction to Spinning with Drop Spindles: workshop

Another announcement about workshops being offered at Fibreswest 2013.  Sign up before March 8th to make sure you can get a spot.

Introduction to Spinning with Drop Spindles, Diana Twiss. Saturday, March 23, 2013, 9am-1pm. $45.00. Class held at Shannon Hall, at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds.

In this introduction to the spindle as a tool for making yarn, you will learn about the properties of wool as a protein fibre for yarn. You will also learn drafting techniques, and how to spin, ply and set yarn. 

In this 4-hour workshop, you'll be introduced to basic spinning techniques for suspended spinning. These techniques will allow you to further explore making a variety of interesting yarns with these noble tools. This class is for absolute beginning spinners or for those who know how to spin with a wheel, but not with a spindle.

Supplies:

• Suspended spindle, top or bottom whorl. Spindles available from instructor for $45.00 (Top Whorl Spindle from Houndesign). 
• Any fibre preparation equipment that you may have, such as hand carders or wool combs. 
• Empty shoebox – to be used as a Lazy Kate and to hold your materials.

You will be supplied with all the fibre (and more) needed for the workshop – there will be a $10 materials fee to be paid to the instructor.

For information about registering for this workshop and to see a list of other workshops, please visit Fibreswest 2013.