Cashmere

By request . . . this is my cashmere sample for my Spinning folio. I normally try to spare you too many pictures of white yarn, but I am rather proud of my efforts on this one.

I can't take a proper action shot, since I only have two hands and when one is operating the camera, that only leaves one to do the spinning. So this is my left hand holding the fibre and you can see the spun single on its way to my wheel. That's my thumb in the picture to give an idea of size. The background is my purple track pants.

Cashmere is a down fibre--it's the undercoat of the goat--so it's soft and fuzzy and very warm. I prepared the fibre on my hand carders and spun it worsted, controlling the way the fibre joins the single by pinching it between my right thumb and index finger--at least that's what I would have been doing if I hadn't been using that hand to take the shot.

I've actually finished this sample now--it's had its little wash after being plied and is hanging in the bathroom waiting to be labelled and put away. Today's task is a camel-wool blend. I've got that carded and waiting to be spun. I only need to spin it to a medium thickness, though--not fine like the cashmere, so it won't be as demanding.

Seasonal

I'm still making the effort to walk most mornings, though yesterday it was lunchtime before I managed to get out the door.

I came home with these: Rosehips! I don't normally think of roses as fruiting plants, but there they are. And to compensate for these grey cold days, they are so warmly coloured.

I don't know if my walk will happen this morning. It's been raining steadily for the past half hour, though I can see a bit of blue sky coming across. As for spinning, I've been working on a fine cashmere yarn for my folio. Spinning it feels like some sort of fairytale challenge: it's as if I'm spinning in miniature, but with my own hands--which feel enormous compared to the fine, light fibre. And like a fairytale challenge, the task seems to go on and on! 25g of fibre doesn't sound like much, but it is a LOT of very fine spinning. The only magic I have to look forward to is the yarn itself. I have several more hours of spinning before I'll get to enjoy that.