Spinning update!

I love it! Here's my first project with the alpaca sample that came with the spindle.

Yarn that I spun.

I took more pictures of the process but they are on my camera which is at home. This was taken awhile back with my phone (that's why it's not the greatest picture.)

Well, I spun up the yarn, set the twist (soaked in hot water) and let it hang dry. Once it was dry, it sat around for awhile until I decided to crochet it into a small bowl.




It is very small and I felted it a little bit to make it really fluffy. Just to let you know that alpaca fiber, when wet, smells like dirty wet dog. Now that the bowl is dry you can't smell it unless you put it rightupto your nose.

But the bowl is cute and fuzzy. I have it sitting on my sewing table with scraps of wool yarn and fuzz in it.

So, my first project, from fiber to finished object is done! So exciting. And, I ordered some more fiber from Paradise Fibers in Spokane and started more yarn! It's merino top, undyed and SO soft and fluffy! And, my yarn is getting more even. We'll see what I can make with this!

I did some greening this last weekend!

First of all, I bought enough reusable bags to take on a normal grocery shopping trip. Can I just say that I LOVE them? So much easier to carry than plastic ones.

And I also bought Dr. Bronner's and mixed up some all purpose cleaning solution. No more soft scrub in my house! Now I think I will need to start buying the giant bags of baking soda at Costco since my little box in the cupboard won't last long!

I'm also contemplating buying flour and sugar in bulk like that. Less packaging, less waste. And it stores for awhile. I just don't know where in my house I would store it. I don't have any pantry space...

In other news, I bought a spindle. Actually, I bought this:



On Etsy. I don't know why, but I have this fascination with homespun yarn and decided I might as well try to make it myself. Strangely enough, I feel like I've spun before... I wonder if my mom did it as a craft project for us children before. I'll have to ask her.

Well, it came in the mail this morning, dropped off at my work. Thankfully, I went home for lunch so I started spinning... and it's yarn! It doesn't look perfect, but that's the beauty of handspun yarn, isn't it? I'm just working with the alpaca fibers that came with the spindle for now. But, I've been researching places online to get wool fibers. I found a real store in Spokane that sells spindles and supplies so the next time the husband and I get up there I'm going to track it down.

Even though I only spun for 30 minutes or so, I'm itching to get it in my hands again! I think I'm addicted. I just really want to spin up the rest of the fiber so I can finish it and make something with it! What to make? I might dye it first (it will be my first time dyeing yarn too!) I don't have any idea of how much yarn the fiber will make. I'll post a picture of the process once I get something finished. Maybe a cup cozy or a scarf. Or some baby booties... who knows?