I know back in this post I said I’d post pictures of spinning on Instagram every day, but I realized during the course of the week that spinning the same fiber on the same tool (wheel, spindle, what have you) looks pretty much the same from day-to-day. Spinning is one of those things that takes time to see progress. Therefore, I’m now going to aim to post my spinning progress at least once a week with the hashtag #weeklyspin. Feel free to join me!

3″ Golding Cherry Ringspindle

Soon after I received my first spindle (Golding starter spindle) one or two of the little wooden ridges on the shaft that make it so easy to grip and spin started to peel back. It functioned just fine but this always irked me a little, like a nails-on-the-chalkboard feeling when my fingers or fiber would catch on the jagged edges. I finally asked if the shaft could be repaired and it turned out it was not a problem! They fixed it cheaply and mailed it back in just a few days. It felt like a brand new spindle when I got it back and I couldn’t resist starting a new project.

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Camel / Merino / Silk, colorway Spring Dreamin’

The fiber I couldn’t resist is the third shipment of the BMFA Rockin’ Whorl Club and it is just dreamy. It’s a blend of 40% baby camel, 40% Merino wool, and 20% silk. It is soft and fluffy and the colorway is amazing. I swear, I’ll never get over the things Tina does with color. I gravitate towards cool colors but I am still somehow so in love with this golden, warm braid. Most people just think of Socks That Rock when they think of Blue Moon but they have a surprising selection of fiber blends (and other yarns, for that matter) and I love that this club allows me to try a bunch of them.

Colors! Pretty!

It’s taking me a little bit to get the hang of the spindle again. For some reason, I can’t seem to successfully draft worsted-style (short forward draw) on a spindle, I can only manage spinning from the fold and doing a sort of forward draw/longdraw hybrid for a semi-woolen yarn. It’s strange. For this spin, I split the 6 oz. braid in half right across the middle, then split each of those halves lengthwise. I’m planning to just do a basic 2-ply but might decide to chain-ply my 2-ply afterwards (for a faux 6-ply!) if I want a thicker yarn and seem to have enough yardage. What’s your default drafting style like? Do you notice differences between the spindle and the wheel?