Year of Projects, Year 2: Spinning, Take 1
I had a bit of a cliffhanger in my last Year of Projects update (you might have missed it since it was hidden between pictures of yarn): would I be able to take the Basic Dropspindling class at the North Jersey Fiber Arts Festival?
It turns out that there was room for me. But, um… well, you can be the judge.
Is that what you call handspun?
Clearly, I have a long way to go before I can actually spin some yarn that anyone (myself included) would ever use. While I did resist the urge to buy a stunningly beautiful hand made drop spindle from Hearthwise, I couldn’t stop myself from getting some super cool roving. You know, for that day when I’m an accomplished spinner and stuff.
Yum.
So from here on out, I’ll be relying on these spinning teachers: Abby Franquemont (via Respect the Spindle
If these don’t help, there’s always Drucilla Pettibone‘s Craftsy class. I think spinning is something I’ll need to set aside a fair amount of time for (since a 90 minute class was definitely not enough!). That probably means that my next self-guided spinning lesson will take place over Thanksgiving weekend or the break from work between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
This seems as good a time as any to share an update on my general YOP progress so far.
1) Crochet 52 granny squares for charity. I’m furthest along here. I have 25 blocks finished (I made 26 but one was frogged).
2) Knit my first complete pair of socks. It appears I’m not a sock person. My socks have stalled since the end of the Ravellenic Games.
At this rate, they should be finished during the 2016 Olympics.
3) Make my mom a special bedspread for her milestone birthday. I might need a little help here. I already started working on these squares…
… and then I realized there’s a Tree of Life crochet pattern. I started thinking maybe I should switch to a Tree of Life project? What do you think? (If it helps you decide, the yarn is a little more cream and less yellow than it appears in the picture.)
4) Learn to spin. See above for update.
5) Design my own Bruges lace pattern. Done! I released Visit to the Kantcentrum this week. If you’ve never done Bruges lace crochet before, there is a photo tutorial inside. As a thank you to all my YOP friends for your support, you can download it for free on Ravelry with coupon code BrugesYOP (or by following this link) through October 31.
Visit to the Kantcentrum, a Bruges lace crochet pattern with a photo tutorial for newbies.
6) Learn overlay crochet. No progress yet.
7) Create my own hairpin lace pattern. No progress yet.
8 ) Try double knitting. No progress yet.
9) Try domino (modular) knitting. I’ve looked over the book, and even had a false start. Perhaps I should make a charity domino square?
10) Make a small project inspired by Pop Knitting: Bold Motifs Using Color & Stitch
11) Learn knit entrelac. No progress yet.
12) Design a crochet lace shawl pattern or recipe for my DC 37 crochet class students. As I’ve mentioned before, this is actually finished. The design has even been tested and edited. You’ll just have to wait until it is ready for release…
For more Year of Projects posts, visit Come Blog-a-long on Ravelry.
I’m blogging daily throughout October. Visit I Saw You Dancing for more Blogtoberfest bloggers and CurlyPops for Blogtoberfest giveaways. Search #blogtoberfest12 on Twitter.
I would so use the yarn that you spun for a comfy squishy cowl, just call it art yarn! And I really like the crochet squares, but I think I like the tree of life better, it’s amazing! I guess it depends what your mum will like
Haha, I will start calling it artyarn, Emma. I’m not sure what my mom will prefer, I’ll probably need to ask my sister.
Oh my, I can see why you’re tempted to change to tree of life, that’s awesome. I might have to put that in my que. Looks like it would take forever though. Good luck with the spinning.
That’s a good point, sandy. I may have to save it for a future project.
The tree of life is absolutely gorgeous!!
I think so too, Debra J.
I truly love the tree of life afghan. But would it be done in time? It would not be a project that you could take with you on the go either. Oh, I am so glad I am not in your shoes having to make that decision.
Good point, Marsha. Maybe it is too late to switch the project.
I think drop spindling is practice, practice and then practice some more. I took a class, then played with it on my own for a while, and then took another class. Things really started to click for me in that second class. I overcame my fear of drafting too thin, I got good at rejoining and I got a real feel for the right amount of twist. Of course I’ve had my drop spindle for at least 3-4 years now
I guess I’m about the only one who doesn’t like Tree of Life. Not sure but those branches just look thorny to me.
Thanks for the encouragement, Minding My Own Stitches. Hmm, I don’t want to give my mom any thorny branches…
I can’t imagine learning to spin in only 90 minutes! I’m sure with some time as you said you’ll get in the grove!
I love the tree of life pattern and in fact added it to my queue for someday. If you think you can get it done I say go for it. It really does have that milestone quality to it!
And finally, thank you for the coupon for your scarf pattern. Learning a new kind of lace is on my YoP list – and your scarf may just be the perfect project for me!
Keep up the good work on your projects!!
Yay, I’m glad I could help you out with your YOP list, Robin!
The tree of life is nice, but I’m a bigger fan of the square, thanks for the coupon and I’m sure you’ll master spinning with some practice..
I hope that my next spinning effort will be more productive, mary. Thanks for sharing your opinion on the blanket.
[...] Year of Projects Participants. I did a post exploring what everyone was doing for their participation in the Year of Projects. It was fun to see who was working on crochet, who on knitting and who on both as well as to look at all of the projects that they had chosen. My favorite was Marie of Underground Crafter who chose to work her way through the advanced techniques in the Crochet Master Class book. Unlike me, Marie is participating in Year of Projects again this year and taking on new fiber arts techniques including spinning. [...]