The shop has been updated with a few new skeins of handspun! Go have a look! Then come back and read some more….. 😉

Someone asked me the other day what wool spun from the lock looks like.  I suppose it can differ quite a bit, since the fibres (their staple length and quality) and the spinner throw huge variables into the equation. Here are a couple of the skeins of aran to bulky-weight wool that I spun from the fleece that was washed in the lock.

I really liked the process and the results, since I was hoping to get a chunky-feeling wool. It feels like something between a worsted and a woollen spun. When the tips are flicked and the wool is drafted, the fibres more or less stay in their original alignment, although there is some inevitable shuffling. I spin these from the tip, ending with the butt of the lock and starting the next lock again at the tip. It was amazingly fast and fun to do and endlessly satisfying.

To completely counterbalance the bulky, I finished up some lace-weight spinning as well. Holy Toledos, what a contrast! This is 80% Merino wool, 20% silk, hand-dyed in my Seafoam colour-way. It’s so light it feels like air and strong, to boot. I had to continuously stop myself from drafting too finely, since it’s entirely possible to spin this fibre at a cobweb weight quite easily. I got 430 yds out of this batch and have secret plans to work it into a larger project.

Now, back to the spice mines! There’s a huge new box of fibres that has just arrived and is waiting for me to magically transform them into saleable items!