What I Learned

Right now my alleged lace weight yarn is plied and resting comfortably on a jumbo bobbin. I took a picture of it next to a regular one so you can see the difference. The smaller bobbin contains some merino yarn donated by my friend Sojourn Knitter ("real" lace weight that was my practice piece).

So, after days of plying I finally filled the bobbin and I was proud that I managed to fill both bobbins almost equally. That little scrub of yarn in the picture is all that was left after plying. I was pretty pleased about that.

Spinning is always such a joy for me, I love it like crazy. It gives me time to think, and the rhythmic motion of it give me peace, not a thought in the world other than what I'm doing at that moment.

However, I was spinning this time so that I'd have the lace weight yarn I need to make the Dianna shawl. Spinning a specific yarn weight it hard enough, and spinning lace weight - for me - was darn near impossible. That said, here's what I learned about me while spinning:

1. Desire and enthusiasm does not make it a done deal. Seems to me that if I say I'm going to spin lace weight, it should have been that easy. I didn't know I'd need nerves of steel, the patience of a saint and the hands of a surgeon.


2. The next time I think I want to spin lace weight, I'd better give myself a huge chunk of time. Even the plying took a long time.


3. No matter how hard I tried, spinning for hours for something specific is not as much fun as spinning and taking what I get, which is my usual method of operation.


4. Sometimes my spinning is done with me before I'm done with it. There were clear and distinct "flubs" where I should have KNOWN to take a break!


5. After the dip, whip and dry is done, if I don't have lace weight yarn there will be no second attempt to spin lace weight again in my immediate future.

That said, tomorrow I'll finish preparing this yarn and maybe by Tuesday or Wednesday it'll be ready for use.


All I have to do is teach myself reverse knitting by then and I'm good. The designer of the entrelac pattern is left handed and knits in reverse.

This is going to be quite an experience.