Corriedale Skirt

It’s funny how it takes me so long to start a project. It’s also funny how once I begin I can’t seem to think of anything else.

The good thing about this project (or the bad thing) is that Spinzilla came right near the beginning. It was good because then i had an excuse to focus and do almost nothing else for the whole week of spinning. The bad part was that I was supposed to be preparing for a few upcoming classes and travel to Rhinebeck.

Another good thing was that I found out how much spinning I can actually do when I focus.

The current skirt I’m working on is another that is exactly the same as the one I just finished. I know that sounds weird but I’m weaving it on a rigid heddle loom rather than a floor loom. I’m going to compare how the fabrics might be different from each other due to loom differences. You can see the rigid heddle skirt progress on the Schacht Blog. Jillian and I are talking there about spinning for weaving and using the yarn on a rigid heddle.

So the Columbia for the rigid heddle skirt was already spun so it was time to start the yarn for the third skirt. Corriedale. I thought I’d use dyed wool for this one because some people think that perhaps my love afair with white might be boring for the general population. We’ll see. The Corriedale was dyed by Amy at Spunky Eclectic. The semi-solid is Dijon and the multi-color is Squash Blossom.

I started with 2 pounds and in the seven days I was able to spin 24 ounces. 

In the end I had spun 3460 yards of 2 ply. Which means
my total total 7920 yards of singles. That’s not much less than what I’ll need in total yardage for the finished fabric.

All of the yardage was spun on the 30 inch Schacht Reeves on the smallest whorl. I was using short forward draw for this yarn ratheer thna the supported long draw I had used for the Columbia skirts.

So there is the whole of the yarn. None of the skeins have been washed yet. Hopefully in the next week I’ll be able to finish off the last 8 ounces and then I can get the loom warped.

One last thing. I have a new video that is available now on the Interweave website. It’s called Spinning to Get Even. It is one of my most popular classes about how to improve the consistency of your yarn with lots of information about wheel adjudtments and tips and tricks to do with your hands and feet to improve your smooth yarns.