spinning my wheel
I’ve gotten four Jayne hats done in the last two days, so I’m now about caught up again. This means that the people who ordered in Mid-February and got a four to five week estimate will now actually get their hats on schedule. That’s a good thing. I work very hard to stay on top of my Jaynes.
That didn’t come out right.
Aaaaanywho, with that more under control, I felt justified in spending a little time practicing with the spinning wheel!
I decided to ply my first skein to try out the plying bobbin and skeinwinder that come with the wheel. The first single was really twisty, so I thought plying it might help that. Nope. It was still about as balanced as a Fox News broadcast. I wet it and hung it to dry (no weights) and that might have helped just a little. So I tried another skein yesterday, and that one was more even, and plied up to be better balanced.
Then last night I spun a thinner brown single and this morning did a thinner gray one, and plied them together. I’m definitely improving in terms of consistency. 
The first one is on the left, the second one is in the middle, and the third one is on the right. It’s still pretty slubby, but it’s fairly balanced. (“Balance” refers to the amount of energy stored in the yarn, generally manifested in its twistiness. A garment knitted or woven with unbalanced yarn can have oddly slanting stitches.) I’m still trying to figure everything out, and criticism is always welcome. I’m hoping to have a spin-in with illiane and Turtlegirl on Sunday.
I’m enjoying the wheel to the point that I will probably get it, unless my iPod battery continues to drain after 20 minutes like it’s been doing, in which case I’ll get a new one of those. The iPod motivates me to exercise. The spinning wheel motivates me to sit on my keister. I can tell you which one I need more.
Back to Jayney business. I’m almost out of shipping boxes, so I need to order another 200. They go a lot faster than you’d think. I’ll also be writing Jayne notes and knitting Jayne hats and some felted purses that are also in line. While doing this, I’ll be watching Spiderman 2. I don’t know why Spiderman, the mood just struck me!
Knits up for: OH, UK, and NC