Baby Steps

 Here is the first bit off yarn produced off the Minstrel spinning wheel here at Home South. I am a beginner at this, having spent only a little bit of time spinning on the antique wheel at Home North this past summer. This fibre was given to me by two friends and some was washed and some wasn't. The more greasy fibre had lumps which translate into the poofy bits you will see below.
 I washed the Romney wool after it was plied, and most of the grease and other junk came out no problem. In this second photo the two hanks are drying outside. I am learning about fibre preparation now and next time I will do the prep all before hand. That will make the fibre easier to spin. I found carding combs at an antique store and made my own hackle for blending and aligning fibres.
 The final product of the gifts of Romney wool. It's about 166.5 m and 113g. It is very soft and after washing and whacking against the wall (really) the resulting yarn has bloomed nicely.
And the drumroll...............Here is the first project made with my own wool homespun. Now let's hope for some cool weather so we can "road test" this hat. It should be very very warm.

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