Spinning Report and FO's

The Journey to Yarn:

Above is the hand-dyed top from Interlacements. Top is a very thick rope of prepared fiber. It is pretty much impossible to spin from unless you spin from the fold, but I am not experienced enough yet and have not tried that. So, I split the top into halves or even thirds or fourths and then I....

Pre-draft. Above you can see that the colors have softened a bit, and the strand of fiber is thinner. This is now spinnable. Just for comparison...

Above is a section of the top with its sister section pre-drafted. I doubled up the pre-drafted fiber to match the color changes in the original top so you can see how much longer it gets. Sort of. Next comes....

Singles. Here is the pre-drafted fiber spun into singles. I was really going for a softer, thicker yarn this time around. I got better at the softer, thicker thing as I went along, and here is what I came up with after plying:

It reminds me of Colinette Prism-a thick-thin hand-dyed confection that combines a very thin binder yarn with a softly spun core yarn. I am happy with it, even though the other yarn I've spun from this top is totally different. I'll combine it somehow and it will be great fun.

As for FO's, I finished the dead-easy Transitions jacket this past weekend at the cabin. The yarn does the talking, and I've already gotten tons of complements on it, but for the dinero that yarn set me back, I don't know if I'm happy enough with the finished item. I am actually considering ripping it out and doing it over at a smaller gauge or making a smaller size. I have finished 3 blocks for Erin and Michelle's project, and I've pulled out all my "circus colors" for Afghans for Afghans. Click on the link to see what their latest need is. I teach Big Easy on Wednesday. I decided to leave that where it is so I can show people how it will look when it is divided for the fronts and backs. I also finished the scarf I started for my stash project. I am very excited. So far the stash count for balls of yarn used in appropriate and beautiful ways: 3!