My bluebird of happiness does not fly. In fact, it doesn't even have wings! Or feathers! And it only has some blue in it [laughing]. But, it is adorable, soft and loves to be petted.
So, to unravel the mystery....towards the end of August last year, I received a lovely little plait of roving from Alana. She brought it back for me as a souvenir from the West Coast of Canada. I’m not quite sure whether it’s Corriedale or BFL, all I really know is that it had lovely 6in long staple length that was great for a beginner spinner like me!
The roving was already dyed beautiful shades or turquoise, grass green and mauve – really pretty. Yes, I should have taken a photo!
I used the Turkish Drop Spindle my Dad made for me for my birthday. Hours and hours later, I had it all spun up – not the most brilliant bit of spinning, but my first true attempt at making yarn. I had piddled around a bit with spinning before, but had never spun more than an ounce.
Once it was spun, I needed something to ply it with. So I chose some bare Louet Corriedale Top Roving I bought from Shall We Knit last year.
Once plied, I had to set the twist in hot water for five minutes and then dry my little skein of happiness!
And here’s the end result:
I call my skein Ozmium (get it??.....ozbambi…..ozmium….) OK…LOL.
Osmium is found in nickel-bearing ores of Sudbury, Ontario. The metal is lustrous, and bluish white – hence the name :-) Get it now?
I’m going to knit a hat from this skein, and since it’s only 134 yards (2.9oz), I will start at the top with some bare yarn, then do as much as I can with my Ozmium, and then the rim can be bare yarn again….or something like that anyway!
The roving was already dyed beautiful shades or turquoise, grass green and mauve – really pretty. Yes, I should have taken a photo!
I used the Turkish Drop Spindle my Dad made for me for my birthday. Hours and hours later, I had it all spun up – not the most brilliant bit of spinning, but my first true attempt at making yarn. I had piddled around a bit with spinning before, but had never spun more than an ounce.
Once it was spun, I needed something to ply it with. So I chose some bare Louet Corriedale Top Roving I bought from Shall We Knit last year.
Once plied, I had to set the twist in hot water for five minutes and then dry my little skein of happiness!
And here’s the end result:
I call my skein Ozmium (get it??.....ozbambi…..ozmium….) OK…LOL.Osmium is found in nickel-bearing ores of Sudbury, Ontario. The metal is lustrous, and bluish white – hence the name :-) Get it now?
I’m going to knit a hat from this skein, and since it’s only 134 yards (2.9oz), I will start at the top with some bare yarn, then do as much as I can with my Ozmium, and then the rim can be bare yarn again….or something like that anyway!
It's all fine and dandy to spin, but if you never knit anything from your handspun, then you'll never figure out whether you need to add more or less twist!
Oh and earlier this week, I cut my hair off! What was below my bra strap for the last ten years is now curled on my shoulders. My spring do! I love it – so easy to manage; don’t need to tie it up; no big tangles; faster to wash and dry; no scooping hair out of the drain, and it is light as a feather! It’s quite amazing how much hair weighs!
My next blog post will hopefully have some pictures of Karlia’s backpack. I’m just joining the bottom of the bag to the bag itself, and then I’ll attach the straps. Once that’s all done (hopefully by the end of the day) into the washing machine it’ll go for felting!
Oh and earlier this week, I cut my hair off! What was below my bra strap for the last ten years is now curled on my shoulders. My spring do! I love it – so easy to manage; don’t need to tie it up; no big tangles; faster to wash and dry; no scooping hair out of the drain, and it is light as a feather! It’s quite amazing how much hair weighs!
My next blog post will hopefully have some pictures of Karlia’s backpack. I’m just joining the bottom of the bag to the bag itself, and then I’ll attach the straps. Once that’s all done (hopefully by the end of the day) into the washing machine it’ll go for felting!
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