Spinning some art

When I first got interested in spinning the first book I got was Lexi Boeger's Intertwined. I hadn't even got a spindle yet but the yarns in this book were so cool and unusual that the book was great just as a coffee table book. I checked out the art yarn spinners group (RavLink) on Ravelry and loved everything I saw there. People like Studioloo, Insubordiknit and Velma Like Velvet have made some really inspiring stuff.

Since I'm getting better at normal spinning I thought I might have enough skill to attempt an art yarn without it turning out looking like something the cat got at.



I got a lovely batt from Rockpoolcandy for my birthday but was too scared to spin it in case i made a mess of it. I finally decided to core spin it, this involves drafting the yarn sideways and wrapping it a core yarn. Ask The Bellwether has a great tutorial about how to do this. It turned out well for a first go, the batt was really lovely and I hope I did it justice.

I loved the results of the core spun wool I decided to try out another technique from Intertwined this time supercoils. Having loads of alpaca fleece to play with is handy for trying out things like this. I had this green merino which was too green for me so I carded some of that in with the alpaca. Mixed with white alpaca it turned a pleasing minty green colour. I also used pieces of lilac merino for the coil parts.



Supercoils are fun and look fantastic when the yarn is done but they take ages to do. The yarn also has a normal part to it as well. When I finished the coil part I navajo plied the remaining single. I'll knit it up into a scarf so there will be normal fabric then all the mad supercoiled parts.

Here's some more spinning. This time normal stuff. It's this merino I got from Scottish Fibres, it's lovely and soft but I wasn't so keen on the colour of the roving. Magically when spun up and navajo plied the colours mixed and I now like it. I think this yarn would make a nice pair of mittens or a hat. It's worsted weight and there's about 84 metres of it.



More photos here.

One of my crochet projects and I have broken up. The seasilk shawl and I just weren't getting on. I wasn't sure if we were compatible for the long term partnership needed to finish it. If we could just get through a couple more pattern repeats then my doubts over whether the yarn suited the pattern would go away. My feelings about the drape not showing off the silk well enough weren't real were they? There were too many doubts, I wasn't sure. I started looking at other patterns, ones with more drape, ones written especially for seasilk. So we split. It was for the best. The shawl was frogged before I was too far in, too committed to it to turn back. The yarn is now being turned into Montego Bay Scarf.

Blog News:
The lack of blogging recently was caused by me needing to upgrade my picasa account so I could have more pictures. I'm also hoping to upgrade the template and make it all look a bit prettier in the near future.

5 Responses to "Spinning some art" (Leave A Comment)

Kittiwake Design says
August 30, 2009 at 2:39 PM

im totally in love with the supercoils...

Sinéad says
August 31, 2009 at 1:01 AM

I love the Scottish Fibres merino and I agree that I think it would make some yummy mittens. The supercoils is mad! It will make a really fun scarf.
Sorry to hear about your breakup with the Sea Silk shawl, but having made a Montego Bay Scarf myself I can testify that it is fun and very pretty and oh so yum to wear around your neck.

Skuld says
September 3, 2009 at 3:03 PM

Luke sent me on this link because I mentioned I was learning to spin (I got a drop spindle for my birthday).
Wow, you've got mad spinning skills! How did you get started on spinning (if you don't mind me asking)?
Ah, I hate it when you're crocheting something and every row or two you look down and think to yourself "Is this working? Does this yarn go with this pattern? Or will it hang in the cupboard, looking at me, and I'll still be thinking, does that work? I should really wear that sometime..." Ok, well maybe you wouldn't think all that every row (crochet projects can be lengthy enough), but yes, I know the feeling! My sympathies.

P.S. I'm Luke babiest sister, Michelle.

Bionic Laura says
September 9, 2009 at 12:32 PM

Thanks for the nice comments everyone.

@Skuld Welcome to the blog. I went on a try spinning weekend in the woods. There's a post here somewhere about it. I actually thought I wouldn't like spinning and was surprised that I loved it. As you can see an obsession was formed.

Catherine says
September 28, 2009 at 6:33 AM

Wow - Love the yarns!

Catherine