Sunday was simply gorgeous. It was a balmy five degrees Celsius and things melted in a big way. I’d say, judging by the trunks of the trees on the front lawn, that we lost a foot of snow. It was fabulous.

We did a bunch of household things (emptying compost, hacking snow in the driveway, drinking coffee, relaxing, etc.) and then Katherine and John went out to make a snow trench and I decided to fiddle with making a spindle.

Linda had given me some wooden wheels used for making toys and I needed dowel of the right dimensions to fit into the holes and caps to put on the end (wooden ones) into which to screw small cup hooks, which I already had. $2.98 and a trip to Kent (hardware store) later, I had the bits. Cut a 12″ shaft and stuck the works together. Put the cup hook into place and ta-da! A drop spindle. Two, in fact, of slightly different sizes.

The next step? Well, supper, actually. Clubhouse sandwiches made with roasted chicken, roasted red peppers and back bacon. Very well-received.

Back to spinning, though. I attached a leader, drafted some fibres and got started in changing the sliver below into usable yarn.

The before picture:

The progress shots:

The results, after plying together (still damp – the skein has to be wet and weighted to hang and set the twist):

It’s lumpy, it’s uneven, but it’s usable, beautiful and mine and I made it myself. I’ll post a better photo after it finishes drying and I can rewind it properly. It took surprisingly little time, once I got the hang of it. I’ll try for thinner singles (strands) next time, I think. I was actually quite tempted to leave this slightly bulkily-spun yarn as a single-ply, but figured that trying out the plying thing was part of the experience.

Katherine thinks its beautiful. She also thinks it’d make a nice hat for her. I have such a supportive family.

a quickr pickr post