Mari 
@bouncinglime@spanner.worksfiber arts friends - I have another friend who's interested in getting back into spinning. she's shopping for fiber, and I want to direct her to cool folks to get fiber from! she's currently using a drop spindle, and looking at kick spindles, so is also interested in second-hand / cheaper ones.
please send me links to pass along!
@jtphillipsmnr@mastodon.artI have a LOT of handspun yarn to use. A LOT. Did I say that before?
Some of it is older and bulkier. I rarely use bulky anymore...
I have been spinning DK because all the sweaters I want to make are that weight. 
@jtphillipsmnr@mastodon.artDoing a variety of crafts is helping me right now, mentally.
I think counting down my stash (and counting up handspun skeins) is helping me to work towards a goal of continuing to use my stash.
Numbers and comparisons are fun sometimes. But at the moment, not so much. Maybe I'll show stats in the future?
Watching other folks process and spin their fiber helps right now too.
@jtphillipsmnr@mastodon.artI've been tracking how much yarn and (crochet) thread I use in my fiber arts notebook.
(Yes, I bookbound my own notebook but it doesn't look pretty yet so no pics. 
)
Since 2022? I never calculated how much I used up per year. I don't have time. But seeing myself actually using up my acrylics and sweater quantities, while actually making progress towards spinning up these fleeces is nice.
Idk if I should actually calculate the numbers like an actual "stash down".
I've been dyeing some new wool using several shades of kool-aid. This is 8 oz of blue-faced Leicester. I doubled the strand of roving, and poured my dye to make a long gradient. Image hidden because it looks like it could be a pan of guts, but it's just wet wool. Very pretty once you know what it is. #spinning #handspinning #handmade #dyeing #Koolaid
Spinning Frigg Vintage Fairytale Pin: A beautiful vintage brass pin of a woman with her distaff and spinning wheel. Pin measures just over 1 3/4" (4.5cm) wide.
Frigg is the Norse Goddess of spinning-- it is said that she spun the clouds and you can see her spinning wheel in the sky as the constellation known as Orion's Belt.
https://feralstrumpet.com/products/spinning-frigg-vintage-fairytale-pin
Doing this a third time since I migrated to gamepad dot club (yay!) ....
I have a passion for all things #art, #knitting, #spinning (fiber), #books, #gaming, and of course #cats - I have #multiplesclerosis and often forget I cannot do all the things.
Below are some pictures of stuff I've done:
(For the Horde mittens, electric Daedalus spinning wheel, and a digital drawing done in Procreate on my iPad)
@terri@social.afront.orgToday is the last day of the 100-day spin a long thing I've been doing, so here's the current state of my drop spindle. I'm on the last single for this project and I likely won't finish it today but maybe soon?
Every new #spinning method I have learned has helped me become a better spinner overall. Years ago i never got the hang of a drop spindle. But after getting an EEW 6.1 - I learned the basics of drafting. Spinning on a wheel taught me even more. Finally I learned enough to understand finally how to really use a drop spindle (my choice is Turkish). and now using the supported spindle I understand so much more about long draw, woolen versus worsted, and fiber prep. #HandSpinning #fiberArts
A gift for me on March 8 (my first spindle)
This is one stage of #spinning yarn, the plying. After making one long strand, called a single, I wind it into a fat cake so I can put my finger through thru the center to wind both ends together at the same time, making a 2 ply yarn. This is more yarn for my ongoing blanket I'm making with fur from my kitties. See alt text for more details. I'll post another progress pic in a few days. #handspinning #handmade #handcraft
@jtphillipsmnr@mastodon.artI get it can be gross for most people to clean fleece with their bare hands.
It is why some folks might prefer using commercial top/roving/other fiber. Washing fleece is definitely an acquired taste. But thus far, I'm not allergic to all the VM that comes off of a fleece (seed pods, pollen, hay, etc)
Commercial top is just easier. I have a bunch. But Top does come with that markup because of the extra work of carding/combing, blending special fibers, dyeing...
#spinning #crochet #knitting
@jtphillipsmnr@mastodon.artI mean, shepherds & shearers don't use gloves. They (usually) skirt the fleece and use their hands to rip them short spots and other undesirable parts right out of the fleece.
I wash my hands often in my daily life anyways. I wash my hands well after working with raw fleece. (The lanolin does moisturize your hands.)
I've had some 'poop tag' incidents, where some was missed in the skirting. 
It's gross, but I just pull it, throw it out, and keep washing.
@jtphillipsmnr@mastodon.artWatching fleece scouring videos. (basically people cleaning their wool fleeces.)
Using gloves is probably a good idea. But for most crafting things... I kinda... don't. As long as my hands aren't injured (like I have a cut), I just put my hands right in that fleece. I don't use boiling water, I use hot water for cleaning the fleece to melt most of the lanolin.
I leave a lot of lanolin in, actually. I can control my spinning better with lanolin in the wool.
#supportedSpindle #spinning Day 12: my yarn is done drying, skeined up, and wound into a ball, and I have made my first hexiflat out of handspun for my beekeeper’s quilt. Took about 3 gms of yarn. This is really more a sport weight yarn and the other Hexiflats are fingering so it’s a little puffier and bigger than the rest but by the time I have enough of these to make a quilt I’m sure I’ll have lots of variation TBH. #Handspinning #FiberArts
One sock down. The handspun yarn is a bit thick and uneven, so these will be the warmest socks ever. I’m pleased this one fits well with a 2 row boomerang short row heel, and a ribbed back side in the arch and calf.
Solace lace socks by Kelene Kinnersly designs, Exmoor sock fiber by John Arbon (handspun 2ply).
#The100DayProject #knitting #handspun #spinning @fiberarts #SpoonieCrafts
I split each of my four braids into nine pieces, and then collated them into a gradient of little nests. Each bundle has three pieces to it, so it goes AAA, AAB, ABB, etc. There are two of AAA and DDD, because I couldn't figure out how else to do this. It's not a problem though :)
The plying's done, and this morning I wound the yarn into skeins so I can wash it. 8 ounces of three-ply yarn, 924 yards before washing. (The yarn will almost certainly floof and lose a few yards in the wash, which is desired. I'll re-measure when I wind it up to knit with.)
My next project will be a gradient spin.
I've been testing out some #spinning Discord communities and the two I've visited recently have had very Mommy Blogger vibes with a side of fangirling various tool/fibre providers. I'm not a good fit for communities w/these qualities.
Are there any #handspinning communities out there on the interwebs for cranky woke #fiberarts people? 
(please don't explain how to use Mastodon/hashtags, thanks!)
[boost ok!]
