Three Stages of Yarn

I've been quite energized lately about burning through some of my older fiber stash. I hope I communicated well last week just how much fun I had spinning a thicker yarn, and I've decided to stick with that theme for the time being. You saw the beginning of this yarn last week, and it only took me a few days to spin up two bobbins of singles and then ply them for this fun, funky art yarn:

I encourage you to click on the photo to embiggen it so you can see the sparkle and the texture of the sari silk. It was a lot of fun to spin, particularly as I really let go in spinning the singles and didn't worry much at all about consistency. The yarn ranges in thickness from fingering to worsted or even bulky, but overall I'd say it's in the DK range. I have about 176 yards from 3 oz. of fiber, and I have absolutely no idea what I will do with it. (One of these days I need to figure out another solution for selling handspun now that FiberCrafty is no more, because I honestly have more of it than I will ever use.)

Earlier this afternoon I finished up the third bobbin of singles for my next spin, which was some mystery fiber -- the label on the bag literally says "International Wool of Mystery" -- that I received as a Tour de Fleece prize from the Southern Cross Fibre team back in 2015. It looked to me a lot like a colorway that David created for a big spinalong earlier that year, but I can't be completely sure. All I know is that it's very dark (I had dark hands after spinning from some excess dye rubbing off on me) and very soft. I will be ready to ply tomorrow.

And finally in our backwards progression of how handspun is made I present the fiber for my next spin, also Southern Cross, this time some luscious South African Superfine Merino. This was the club fiber from January 2018, when David was doing a series of colorways inspired by artists. This one is Fragonard, and I look at it and immediately think of The Swing.

As with the International Wool of Mystery, I split the fiber into thirds, with no rhyme or reason, so it will be completely random how it turns out. This was a colorway I didn't love, but I have a feeling I'll be pleasantly surprised by its transformation, as I always seem to be. And if I still don't like it, I'm sure someone will!

And now I am off to make a big meal. Yom Kippur starts at sundown, and I'll be fasting, so no food or drink after dinner until dinnertime tomorrow. I've spent most of the day drinking as much water as possible (and then, as you can probably guess, visiting the bathroom). This is something I do every year, but normally we'd be spending a good portion of the day tomorrow at our synagogue. Services will be mostly online this year, although I will be helping out with some in-person services as a member of the board (my first time in the building since early March). It will be strange, but I am so thankful that we're still able to observe the holiday and that I will do so with my family close by. Wishing you an easy fast, if you're observing, and a good start to the week!