I promised to show you how my first handspun came out, so here’s making good! It’s beginnerish, for sure, but seems knittable. I’ve actually gone on to make about fifty yards of some even more beginnerish Shetland/silk/mystery wool; I tried for thicker and more softly spun but ran into trouble. I was pinching so hard my hand cramped, the twist kept getting into the fiber supply anyhow, and then I botched it once and for all by underplying. Practice and learn!
Happily, someone in the Pocket Wheels group on Ravelry mentioned the existence of a Jacey Boggs Craftsy class. Even though I know next to nothing about spinning, I know the name of Jacey Boggs, for she is a renowned badass in the world of wool. I think I left burned rubber on the internet as I peeled over to Craftsy to sign up. It’s all about drafting, which is what I chiefly need to understand, and I’ve already watched the first episode on short forward draft spinning. Darn, do I feel educated! Feeling your way is fun, but kind of heavy on the sweat and frustration. Watching an expert show you what to do and why… that’s a delicious ice-cold cocktail after the exertion. Off to roust out some bits of combed top to practice holding my hands farther apart and drafting across the fiber!
Looks great! Granted, I don’t know much about spinning . . . but this looks so fun to knit with!
Your handspun looks great! Isn’t Craftsy wonderful! I love the fact that now classes in crafting are available 7/24 through websites like Craftsy & Annie’s Online.
Sarah, I do so love your blog every time I wander over here (despite the attendant guilt I feel for casually abandoning my own, lo, these many months), thank you for keeping things going and baring your new skills. And you call that a first yarn? Pffft. I have seen many a first yarn in my day, and let me tell you how many of them had lumps and warts and kinks that leave yours for dead. You’ll just have to content yourself with the excellence in craft that appears to be your birthright, however it may pain you. Keep doing what you’re doing, and thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Sarah,
I’d like to ask you something about the wonderful Zilboorg buttonholes, but I can’t find your email address. So I’ll ask it here. I have finished a v-neck cardigan and want to do these buttonholes. I am assuming that I’ll do her method from the point of the V down. But what do I do around the neck? Ribbing like at the hem? Do I connect them at the point of the V? Or leave not connect them, thinking that an empty triangle will appear like on men’s jackets. Am I explaining myself clearly? Thanks so much!
Never fear the underplyed yarn. Run it back through and ply it again, adding more twist where needed. Just remember to get the wheel going in the same direction as when you plyed the first time! If the ply is uneven, just pinch the yarn below the underplied area, let twist into that area, then quickly feed it onto the bobbin and keep going until you get to another really underplyed spot. Took me a long time to realize a spinning wheel is just a machine you control to add twist to fiber.