Late March already? How did that happen? Tonight, another spring storm is set to roll in. The forecast is for 10-20cm (4 – 8″) of snow. There are already snow piles in our yard that are taller than me. It’s been a long winter. As usual when the pressure is changing, I’m restless and achy at the same time – which is why I’m writing a post at 3:46am. Winters like this, it’s hard to feel guilty about spending your time inside on comfort projects.

Our local knitting/spinning group is having a WIP-along – where we work on Works in Progress and cheer each other on to finishes (or at least more progress). It will go from March 1 to May 31st. Yesterday, I chose to abandon one of my younger WIPs. That’s progress of a sort, right?

Why? Not because I wasn’t enjoying the spin (the fibre was a little compacted and tough to draft – I dealt with that though by carding it into rolags. ) No, I abandoned this project because it’s orange. I don’t have a good relationship with orange. Back in 2019, when I lost Stormi, I was in the middle of an orange/pink spin. I was in the middle of this spin when Bandit got sick in December and when I picked it up again last week, he threw up again. That was one of the symptoms that sent us to emerg in December, one we’re supposed to be on the watch for and one we’d previously had under control for 3 weeks. I decided I really didn’t need to finish this spin that badly.

I didn’t stop spinning/knitting/crafting completely though. Since the WIP-along started, I’ve had one finish. That was a spin I started in January and spun during the February Spin In on the Team Spinner’s Study FB group. It was my first time using the second spindle I’d turned on the lathe. Part way through this spin, I opted to reshape the tip of the spindle. It gave it a more pleasing shape to the eye, but more importantly, I think it spins a little better as well. At the same time, I added a bit of a beeswax finish to the top and bottom of the spindle. I opted to leave the center unfinished so the cop would grip better.

I didn’t expect to like the spindle at all. It’s heavier than I thought it should be and a little extra full in the middle. The tip is a little pointier (OK til you find yourself trying to catch it when you knock it over and stabbing yourself in the palm with it!) and tapered than I like. Strangely, of all the spindle projects I could have spent my time on in the past 2 months, it’s been this spindle I reached for first. When I started this project on January 16th, I said to Ryan “I’ve just made a rather large commitment to this spin… ” And it was – 30g on a supported spindle most suited for spinning lace weight yarns. I envisioned a 6 month spin as I taught myself to use the spindle and picked it up only when I was in the mood for a “picky” spin. 6 weeks later, I was plying. That took 3 days and a guesstimate of about 8 hours – just to ply the yarn. That was my first confirmation that I was going to get some good yardage out of this spin. Just over 6 weeks after I started, I was setting the twist in the yarn.

The geeky details for the yarn are: 2ply 29g (or just over an ounce), 262yds (roughly 828m to a 100g) which is a grist of 4100 yards per pound. 22 wraps per inch. That’s a new personal best. The yarn was spun mostly supported long draw from rolags (made on a blending board) that used black merino and tussah silk. The silks added the colour and were blended from primary colours only. I named the colourway “Ember”*. The 2 singles were wound into a plying ball and plied together on one of my 3d printed cross-arm spindles. Now to find a pattern for it. This yarn told me it wanted to be a shawl from the moment I began spinning it.

*Originally I’d called the colourway “Beach Bonfire at Midnight” but as I huddled in front of the woodstove on the cold days in January and February, Ember seemed more fitting.

There’s just such a satisfaction of making something from scratch and even making the tools to make that thing. Sometimes I hear that I spend a lot time “getting ready to do things”. That includes sometimes collecting or making tools. There’s a method to my madness though. This whole project was made with tools I’d made. Never let it be said I don’t use what I make! 29g of yarn spun on my second ever turned support spindle, plied on one of my 3d printed spindles, rolags (fauxlags? I can never remember) blended on a handmade blending board (that I made this past summer).