Drop Spindling

Part of the work I have to send in involves a skein of yarn created on my drop spindle. I have been practising to try and get it down. On Saturday I got this beautiful new 'Tom Forrester' drop spindle at the Waterloo County Knitter's Fair in Kitchener on Saturday. It is a beauty, a bit heavier than my Tracy Eichman spindle, also a beautiful one, that I got from Ted. They are both really nice spindles, and I am beginning, I think, to get the hang of it, but I admit that I do tend to overspin. However here is a picture of the singles I just spun from 'Norah'. I am planning on spinning a contrasting yarn and then plying the two together. I still have trouble controlling the grist of the yarn, it is all over the place, from heavy to gossamer thin. Although, I think I have begun to feel a little more in control of things the last couple of days. Its about time. :-)

In my spare moments I like to do some small mindless knitting like these socks I am working on. It is 'Regia' sock yarn in one of the new Kaffe Fassette colourways. I like them a lot. Since my feet are so big, and I dislike short socks, there is never enough yarn for me in the standard 100 gm. of sock yarn. Thus I often knit the heels and toes in a solid contrasting colour in order to stretch the yarn. I kind of like the affect. I admit, as well, no matter how often I do them, I still get a thrill a turning a heel, as here. There is really something magical in the way the heel cup begins to form as you short row back and forth.