Sunday, July 7, 2013

Spinning with Mary and Books 170-171

A couple weeks ago my good friend Mary stayed with me for a few days during a dance workshop weekend.  After the workshop was done we had a whole day to relax and hang out with each other.  She really wanted to learn how to make books, so we did a little trade.  I taught her how to make books, and she taught me how to spin yarn!  It was awesome!  I MADE YARN.
I've had a drop spindle for years, but had never learned how to use it.  Mary brought me all kinds of fibers including alpaca, silk, and yak.  I started with just plain wool while I got the hang of drafting the fibers and adding the right amount of twist.
We didn't make it all the way through our projects that day, so she came back later in the week and showed me how to ply the yarn.  While the plyed yarn was soaking, Mary showed me how to work with the silk fibers.  It is a lovely purple silk and so easy to spin.  I'm looking forward to finishing it up and knitting with my own yarn one of these days.
In return, I taught Mary how to make a small coptic journal and a small case bound book.  I made one of each along with her and ended up with books 170 and 171 out of 365.
This means I am right where I should be for my 365 Books in 2013 (for the first time all year!)  I've been trailing behind where I should be, so it feels really good to be caught up.

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