Spinning Eureka!

Spindle breakthrough!  I wrote in a previous post that I have been having trouble with yarn unwinding from underneath the whorl while I was spinning.  I stumbled upon an old message board post where people were discussing this common (whew! It's not just me!) problem when using notch-less spindles.  People suggested either wrapping the yarn around the shaft several times before passing the yarn through the hook, or leaving the leader yarn on the hook throughout the spinning process to create a ridge on the edge of the whorl.  I finished up my first spindle-full the other day, and wound it into a ball to wait for plying.  When I started spinning again I left the leader on the hook.  It worked!  I had no slippage this time, it went very smoothly.  I can feel myself becoming very addicted. 

Today I finished my five ounces.  I had intended to ply this first batch, but I may just finish it as a singles (this seems so, so grammatically wrong) yarn.  I don't think I would have enough yarn to make anything if I plied it, but then again I thought I might keep this first beautiful batch around as a souvenir of my five-ounce accomplishment.  Oliver is going to make me a niddy noddy tomorrow out of PVC pipe that he has. 

Next time I will buy cheap, plain Corriedale so I can play with Kool-Aid dye.

Other craft news:  I'm still truckin' on my ambitious purse project.  It's going really well, and I'm really proud of what I have so far, considering I learned how to knit a month ago!  This is my first circular project, first knitting pattern project and first time crafting with real wool instead of acrylic (thank you Hobby Lobby sale).  Here's a shitty picture that kinda-sorta shows my progress.  The color is really bad--in reality it's a dark burnt red-orange tone.

 

I plan to forgo knitting the button holes because I know it would be beyond annoying to have to unbutton three buttons every time I want to open my purse.  Instead I am going to sew on three adorable buttons for-decoration-only coupled with a magnetic closure.  Also, my sewing machine needs to come live with me before I get ready to sew in the lining.