Cinnamon Twist

Day 62: I'm loving my cinnamon twist, and we're not talking about bakery goods here. My current spinning project is moving along rapidly. The finished yarn is two-ply, slightly lighter than standard worsted. One ply is white Corriedale and the other, a cinnamon-hued lamb's-wool I refer to as "honey-lamb" for want of a more specific or descriptive name. The Corriedale fibers are long, straight and silky, while the fluffy cinnamon has a medium-grade crimp with a glossy finish. The second skein is still on the spindle, waiting to be measured and hung wet to set the twist. The first skein weighs 4.3 oz. and contains 167 yards of luxuriously soft yarn. Unlike most of my hand-spun wool, the future of "Cinnamon Twist" has been preordained. It will become a sweater for my personal use.

A Twist On Honey-Lamb

Day 47: After assessing the cinnamon fleece I bought last weekend at the Ashford bazaar, I decided I'd put a twist on "honey-lamb" (as I'd taken to calling it as I was spinning it), extending the amount of yarn it would yield by plying it with soft, sillky Corriedale. The result is one of the prettiest yarns I've ever spun, warm brown and creamy white wrapped around each other like the stripes on a candy cane. There will definitely be enough for a sweater when I'm done, perhaps a matching hat and mittens, or even a scarf. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a "fiber fascist." With the exception of rayon (which, if it comes right down to it, is actually cellulose), I want nothing to do with manufactured materials. Give me cotton, silk, linen and wool in natural colours, and pitch that nasty polyester in the bin!