Some recent handspun, offered without comment

Yet more Bright as Hell Handspun

It's rainy here (what with it being Spring time in Portland, Oregon). As a countermeasure, I seem to be leaning towards the craziest of bright, riotous color combinations, of late *see previous post for further evidence.

In this case, I kind of threw all my favorite colors into the carder: jungle green, acid green, teal, bright orange, pink, yellow and some white, chocolate brown and black to keep the whole thing anchored.

And so, here we are: mohair, merino, BFL and alpaca, all eye-bleedy and beautiful.

Isn't she beautiful? (and a 'lil more spinning)

I bought my Kromski Minstrel spinning wheel used on Craigslist right after we settled in Portland. The nice lady and I met in an IKEA parking lot in the pouring rain. Peter came with me, and her kids were waiting in the SUV. It was shady (parking lot! downpour! cash exchange!) and wholesome (spinning wheel!) all at once. A glorious moment.

Not only do I have no regrets--it was best decision I've made in some time, despite the queasy feeling that, for me, always accompanies large cash outlays. 

I've been spinning on a drop spindle for years, but upgrading to a wheel was a revelation. It's so much faster, so much easier to manipulate. It opens up a lot of new options, for sure, and I've been availing myself of those quite a bit. Plus, I've moved forward on the scale of human invention and progress--from a glorified top (spindles have been around for, like ever) to an actual (non-electrified) machine. The Kromski website describes it as perfect for Historical Re-encactors. Sold. 

 And here are some more recent spinnings--a mix of materials and techniques that I'll describe in more detail at a later date (probably when they're listed in my nascent Etsy Shop). 

Been spinnin' up a storm

Hand-painted barber pole wool. This photo's a little on the older side (the yarn has already become a hat).

Self-dyed merino (pinks and greens), plied with respun recycled wool (blues)

Recycled orange wool plied with light and dark green wool; self striping. 

A mix of recycled and respun lambswool, in purples, greens, blue, and mustard yellow.

Setting the twist, and drying some freshly dyed roving.

Fire star, merino, wool and mohair locks, plied with recycled and overdyed alpaca/cotton yarn.

Hand carded--local (Oregon) wool, dyed in pinks and purples and pink silk noil; plied with gray Corriedale.  

And the collection/inventory grows.