Hrrumph...

The Great Drop Spindle Experiments of '07 have gone swimmingly to date. I found a spindle that appeared to have been crafted with just this Sheep in mind, discovered that I can, in fact make yarn happen on a spindle and was even able to successfully spin singles in front of live witnesses without the whole kit 'n kaboodle crashing to the floor and rolling away under some random piece of furniture. All good. I didn't get cocky or anything, though. I've had enough fiber-related drama in my life to know that it is in my best interest to keep a little of the healthy skepticism on hand just in case. But things were going well enough that it was not unreasonable to think that I might have a real, live skein of yarn on my hands in the near future.

Spindling is one thing. Plying is another altogether...

There was the tangling of the singles, the places where they barely clung to one another let alone resembled anything that could really be called, "plied" and, finally, the inevitable breakage. I did, however manage to get enough so that I could pull together an eenie-weenie widdle skein for your viewing pleasure:

Black wool shows off this yarn's plying in the best possible way...poorly.

But, if we all just remember that this is the first yarn I've completed on a spindle in at least five years, then I think we can call it acceptable. I made it to about the half-way mark before one of the singles decided to give up the ghost so I have a bit further to travel on this learning curve before I can honestly say that I have completed my first of the spindly-spun. But I'm still taking a little bow for my efforts to date. In my humblest of opinions, it ain't half bad!

There has been a bit of other fiber related activity as well. The Boxy Jacket now has completed bands and hems and the collar has been picked up if not knit. Next up: setting in the sleeves. This never goes well... You can all settle in for some sleeve-related ranting in the very near future, I fear. I'm also thinking that this garment might be just a bit on the small side. I'm a horrible judge of my own size so I may be going all angsty for naught, but I'm not really seeing the "boxy" in this sweater. In fact, it is really looking a bit more "fitted" and that was not our agreement when I cast on for this. And, if you recall, I began the project as a way of breaking the "I Started A Blog And Now I Can't Seem To Knit Sweaters Anymore" curse. While there have been no real issues with this knit thus far, I can't help but wonder if this is really going to be the sweater that shatters this curse. In the end, it may still prove the rule, I fear.

I'm not going to think about it. I'm going to think about my mediocre spindle-spun yarn that is blocking in the shower. That makes me happy...

SA