Spin Cycle

No question about it: I am on spin cycle. After finishing the "confetti" yarn, I went digging in my cedar chest to see what I wanted to do next. Several ounces of blue "Charm" (a Merino/bamboo blend) came to the top of the list. I found a smaller packages of it as well, something I remembered setting aside to do with a drop spindle. I spun it all up and thought I was done until I checked the box of drop spindles where I found one more small package and a nearly full spindle which fortunately, I'd spun at the same diameter as the rest of what I'd just completed. Plied, the lot gave me 436 yards.

Then came my reward. I'd promised myself that when I got the "Charm" done, I'd try spinning cotton on the Minstrel. I'd become fairly adept at spinning cotton with a tahkli or on my book charkha, but it's quite a different procedure on a standard spinning wheel. As it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised. Using a very short forward draw, I was able to produce a uniform, fine thread. The 62-yard skein you see here is my first attempt. There are a few lumps and bumps which occurred as I tried to determine the best technique, and now I am well into spinning another much larger skein with far fewer irregularities. In fact, I might get it done in time to put in the Puyallup Fair!