Spinning bliss

Spinning the rain away!

It had been raining all weekend. In fact it is still raining as I write this Monday morning. But who cares? I was spinning the weekend away. First I fixed the spinning wheel so that it no longer squeaks. Then I finished my entrelac socks.

Very nice. I like them very much. I am ready to cast on another entrelac sock. This time a smaller one to fit me. Then I admired the loot from the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

From left wool/bamboo top roving for socks, grey corriedale roving, blue merino roving (for more socks) and white merino roving. Sweater quality for the grey and white. I only got four ounces of the wool/bamboo to try out. It spins up nicely.

I was able to spin it quite thinly. I will ply this and try a swatch for socks. The grey corriedale flew off my fingers. It spins like a dream.

I had two bobbins full in no time at all. These should ply into a light-worsted weight yarn. I can't wait until the spinning workshop on Tuesday when I will try out my new Majacraft jumbo spinning bobbin. New toy!
What's so exciting about a bobbin? This baby will hold two regular bobbins' worth of plied yarn. You free up two regular bobbins for more spinning. Just as you never have enough knitting needles, you never have enough bobbins when spinning!
I did pick up some yarn at the festival. I got sock yarns (they don't count as stash.) and all the willpower melted away when I saw this at The Fold:

From Blue Moon Fiber Arts, the people who bring you Socks that Rock, this is Peru -- a blend of alpaca, merino and silk -- in worsted weight. And it is in blue. The colorway is In in Navy. It had my name on it. I did not have a choice. This is my Nantucket Jacket.

In the meantime I cast on a sock. This is the new Prism sock yarn. At $31 a skein, it is pricey, but very nice merino with a very soft hand and of course incomparable Prism colorway. This one is denim.

Last but not least, my quest for the perfect cotton sweater continues. I have been swatching, casting on and ripping so many that I was about to give up. Then I came across the Blue Sky organic cotton. Just one more try.

The gauge is right. The color is right. The fabric feels great after a wash. This might be the cotton Central Park Hoodie I have been searching for. I bought just one skein from my LYS. I will cast on and do the ribbing and see. I can get the yarn tomorrow when I go spinning. This might just be it. I will keep my fingers -- or cables -- crossed in the right direction!