Spinning Saturday

In keeping with my fiber production goal for the weekend, I started my day early. I sometimes get early morning insomnia. Recently I've used that as an excuse to get in an early morning jog. This morning happened to be one of those days. I got on the treadmill by 6:30 a.m. (early for a Saturday of a holiday weekend anyway). I only went 3 miles because I knew I had barn chores to get done (those count as exercise too). We had rain on Thursday and Friday, so I haven't scooped poop at the boys' barn in several days (I typically do it on Thursday evening). If I get it twice a week (every 3 days) I can get by with only doing one trip of poop each time. With the rain, I hadn't scooped it since Sunday evening, almost a week. Also, due to all the rain, the moisture adds weight to the loads, so I can't haul as much (it is hard wheeling the wheel barrow that 1/3 mile back and forth from the boys' barn). I had to do two trips this morning. But, I got all the poop scooped by the boys. And that counted as a second work-out :) Then I did another load of girl's poop (that one doesn't have to be hauled nearly as far). I fed all the alpacas, and swept out barns. Water buckets were scrubbed and filled, hay tubs filled up. The animals were all set.

I took a shower, and got something to eat. By 10 a.m. I was settled down to spin up some yarn!



I managed to spin up one strand of yarn by 12:30 p.m. Then I began flicking the second batch to spin into the other strand. Everything was falling into place ahead of schedule.

By 3 p.m. (add in a couple breaks throughout the day) I was done flicking the second batch, and started spinning that second strand.



As it turns out, I flick the batch in about the same amount of time it takes me to spin it into yarn. That's a good time frame to keep in mind. I don't know how much fiber I have in these batches (J weighed them out). Once I find that out, it will give me a good frame of reference for how long it takes me to spin up yarn.

It is now almost 5 p.m. I'm about 1/2 way through spinning the second strand of yarn. I am going to take a bit of break, and will pick up more spinning this evening (I'll wait to post this until this evening for a final update). It looks very promising that I can get that second strand of yarn spun yet today. This will mean I can ply on Sunday morning, wash it, set the twist, and let it dry. I was thinking I'd be spinning the second strand on Sunday, and plying on Monday (since you should wait a day to ply). I'm way ahead of that plan. I'll be starting on a new batch for another skein by early Sunday. I could possibly get 2 skeins done this weekend!!

Saturday evening update:

I managed to finish spinning the rest of strand #2. Now I have two strands, ready for plying (tomorrow, after it has overnight to set):



J confirmed that these are 3 ounce batches, so it will make a 6 ounce skein. He figures this will be more than enough to complete a scarf he plans to make.