Spindle!!!
Ok so today I took a little trip to a place that I didn't even know was located near me. Paradise Fibers is paradise indeed. The couple who owns the place, are the nicest people ever. I will for sure be going back. 
In any case I went to get a drop spindle since none of the yarn stores around here carry them. I ended up getting a small Ashford one that weighs just over an ounce. I also got some ingeo(corn) fiber in a light ice blue, and some really ultra soft rose pink merino.
Here are some pics! I have been practicing with some of the wool I already had that was cheaper (the blue green one in my first post), in preparation and I must say I caught on rather quickly. I'm already pretty good at getting it laceweight and that is with the wool that is not very slippery, it is rough to draft. 
So I should be spinning up shawl yarn in no time! Oh and I bought the spindle to hold me over until my Spindolyn arrives. Yes, I ordered one, and I can't wait to get it!
I have a question too, how do I know how much yardage I have??? I just don't know how everyone else is calculating theirs. I don't have a swift either so I don't know if that is how or what. I'd appreciate any suggestions for how I should go about that!
6 comments:
Your icey blue fibre looks stunning. The merino looks so inviting, I would like to jump into a pile of it. Are you goint to ply those two together?
Usually most people use a niddy noddy to wind the fiber into skeins off of the drop spindle. Usually one wrap equals one yard. You could use a shoe box with holes cut into the side to hold your spindle when you unravel it.
You're going to have to wrap that yarn around something in order to get it into a skein. Don't have a niddy-noddy? Then wrap it around the back of a chair or something. Just get your tape measure out and measure that, (E.g., one pass around the chair=36")then multiply by the number of wraps. You've got your yardage. After you've set the twist, weigh that lovely little skein and you've got both grams and length.
Thanks everyone!
I will look into the niddy noddy, and until then I'll find something to wrap it on. :)
I wasn't planning on plying those two, but it would be pretty huh? I've got a little bit more roving on the way so I'm waiting for that to decide what I'm going to do for my shawl. :)
PVC niddy noddy are easy to make and you will find your self using it for many things.
Great instructions for making one are here http://www.doctordirt.com/blog/niddy.html
And here shows you how a niddy noddy is used among other spinning stuff ;-)
http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/yarn-niddyNoddy.shtml
Very pretty color choices! I measure using a niddy noddy but recently my sister bought one of meters that you clamp to the table to see how much yardage you have while winding it on a ball winder. Not sure how accurate that would be with a laceweight yarn though.
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