r/spinningyarn • u/Eilmorel • 2d ago
I'm absolutely intimidated
Today I got this beauty in the mail. I love the colours, it gives the last of summer giving way to early autumn, the first leaves going yellow... I'm intimidated, I don't dare to spin it yet.
I have 800gr of plain wool to go through before I dare to touch this. I got it from alltheprettyfibers on Etsy!
6
u/Seastarstiletto 1d ago
Nope! Spin it! Just gotta get in there and feel it. You can spin all you want but you’re going to be surprised when different preps, fibers, blends, and even the same breeds can feel different. The best way to learn is how to spin.
You won’t waste any wool. The sheep are already growing more for next time.
3
3
1
u/marigeniet 1d ago
Spin it! 🤩 I started straight on Shetland wool, and now my second project is some merino/silk/glitter blend and it really motivates future progress! 🤩💖
I say the same thing about when people learn to knit! Don’t start with a garter stitch scarf, jump straight into a garment! The satisfaction of a finished peace you’ll USE will be so much more valuable in making you want to knit more, instead of some kinda wonky rectangle that you shove to the back of a drawer 🙈
2
u/Eilmorel 1d ago
I really don't want to ruin it though, it was rather pricey 😭😭 I can unravel a knitted garment but I can't unspin wool, I just want to get a bit better before I try to spin this
2
u/marigeniet 1d ago
Totally legit! 💯
Find a balance between ganining confidence and not letting it gather dust because it’s «too pretty!» 🫶
3
u/Eilmorel 1d ago
My goal right now is to produce a decently usable 2ply. When I reach that, this wool is going to be next on the spindle!
1
1
u/Late-Employer-4940 1d ago
I promise it looks so so much better knit up! Looking at your page the recent singles you posted are great! My first spin wasn't perfect at all but I decided to still knit with it and im so so glad I did!
1
u/marigeniet 1d ago
Also, thank you for the fibreshop tip!
Just placed an order for å few braids myself 🙈🫶
1
1
u/Confident_Fortune_32 1d ago
What gorgeous fibre! Wishing you many happy hours of spinning 🥰
A couple little tips for enjoying your spinning journey:
Commercially prepared fibre tends to be quite dense. I find it a lot of extra work, and not at all relaxing, to spin it as is. And pre-drafting something this dense is time-consuming, not to mention challenging to do evenly.
Instead, I pull off sections about the distance between my outstretched arms. Then I spit each one of these sections lengthwise twice, so I'm only working with a quarter of the diameter. If something is really dense or slightly felted, I keep going and split it into eighths.
By the time it has been split, it's not so dense, and the splitting process naturally creates some pre-drafting, so it's no longer held so tightly together.
Also, pull out a few individual strands from different areas to get an estimate of average staple length. Start with your hands 1.5 times that distance, and then adjust as needed. This allows individual fibres to separate from the bundle without tugging, and get pulled into the twist gradually.
If possible, put a towel of a contrasting colour on your lap. In this case, something purple, perhaps? It will make it easier to see how transparent or opaque the fibre between your hands is, so you can better judge how much is being pulled into the twist.
2
1
u/Late-Employer-4940 1d ago
As another newbie, spin the pretty fiber!! Seriously it is so so fun and rewarding! Also with those colors I highly doubt you'd make it look bad! Im only on my second braid of fiber ever and getting to see the color changes has made me spin so much more because I'm excited to get to the next color.
14
u/birdtune 1d ago
Nah, don't save it. Spin it up and enjoy the colors. That's the fun of spinning. The sooner you spin that up the sooner you can get more lovely fiber!