Dream Spinning and How I Got My Groove Back

Attending SOAR was a great way to get reimmersed in fibers and spinning. Without family (as much as I love them dearly), phone, business and other interruptions, I got to play with different fibers and techniques for nearly a week. I've been jazzed to the point that I have been spinning every day ever since, even if only for a few minutes at a time.

I brought home lots of braids of handpainted tops and roving, some I had dyed myself and some I purchased from other vendors. My personal new favorite spinning fiber has become BFL... it's easy to spin, the preps have been nearly perfection and it takes dyes brilliantly. The resulting yarn is soft, lustrous and a bit of fuzziness, making it a nice choice for those for whom mohair is too scratchy.

That was, until this past week, when I started spinning this amazing pile of dreamy goodness...

This is Walk on the Wild Tide by Blue Moon Fibers and is described as 15 micron Merino. Best as I can tell, that's Optim, the mechanically stretched merino that makes it incredibly fine and without much crimp. This is a fiber prep that's new to me, and it will definitely be on my list of things to do more with and to bring into the shop. I could spin this into a fine singles in my sleep, my definite 'in the groove' spinning!

I have to say that this is the stretchiest merino I've ever spun, unbelievably soft and the drafting is smooth and effortless. Colors are different... on the wild side!, so I can't wait to see how it works up. Here are my singles on the bobbin -

I haven't decided yet if this will be a 2-ply or a navaho-plied yarn. I think I will use it to knit a shawl. I haven't used by handspun to make a knitted shawl in quite some time, so this will be fun. Now to decide on the pattern... oh, maybe I should wait to know how much yarn I am going to have, huh?