Romney 2012

Before you click away, let me assure you that this post is in no way political -- I'm not talking about that Romney, I'm talking about this one:

Specifically, this is the cleaned and carded fleece I bought at Maryland Sheep & Wool -- well, about 30 ounces of it, anyway. Although I'm starting a day late due to our late flight home last night (we didn't get in until after 9, and by the time I had unpacked, gotten Rainbow to bed, and sat down to eat dinner, it was 10:30, so I wasn't about to start in on the spinning then), I am once again doing a sheep to sweater project this year. You may recall that I did this last year with some mystery wool I had inherited. It wasn't the best fiber to spin or knit, and while I love the sweater it became, it's not my favorite to wear because it's on the scratchy side. This year, I have this lovely cream-colored Romney to work with, and I know itching won't be an issue because I spent a good 10 minutes with my bare arm submersed in the box of wool when it first arrived from the carding mill and was quite comfortable.

Although I'm more or less following the same guidelines as last year -- spin all my singles first, then mix them up to ply for consistency -- I am making one big change. Now that I have the miniSpinner with its WooLee Winder and bobbins, I can spin a lot faster and can do much larger skeins. Rather than spinning an ounce at a time, I'm spinning two ounces at a go, meaning that the finished three-ply skeins will be six ounces, more or less. I managed to do about an ounce a night last year on my Lendrum, so I think it's reasonable to think that I can do at least that much on the miniSpinner this year. I've already started the first ball of fiber and am loving it. Here's to a new year of spinning!