Spin spin spin spin spin

Ever since I got a new wheel things around my house have been tornado-tastaic. (Spinning up a storm!)

I think I mentioned I got a new spinning wheel a while back, it's an ashford joy (cue squealing), and its little bitty and travel friendly.

there was a little bit of a learning curve, switching from the old creaky wheel I learned on. Turns out I was treadling WAYYY to fast, and also the parts needed oiled so that the yarn would pull on correctly. :)

Incorporating a little of the festus-de-Estes...Here's what I did last night!

 

It's 1 oz of angora (that I bought at wool festival 2011) I spun up myself, and plied with sparkly silver thread and BEADS!!! Its lucious....I might just go pet it some more.

I have about 108 sparkly magnificent yards. Its a light sport-weight (baby yarn). Any project ideas?

For those of you who are perpetually searching for spinning tips, like I am, I spun it semi-worsted. I went with a from-the-fold drafting method and then inchwormed the bejesus out of it so that it wouldnt go all fluffy riffic and fly apart. I OVER spun the single, so that I could ply it with thread and not have a finished product that came apart in my hands. Plying with beads is TRES easy heres what you do:

1-string beads onto a STURDY thread. (something that will hold up to lots of bead rubbing across-ness)
2- tie one strand of single and thread that beads are on in a knot
3- begin plying as normal
4- every so often, slide a bead up to the drafting triangle, and pop that bad boy in!
5- keep on a spinnin.
6- continue until you are out of thread/beads. Tie a knot between thread/single whenever you break it, so your beads don't run off

some tips- be sure your beads fit through your wheel's orifice. (it makes me giggle too, but is rather important)