Grey Day
Today my spinning and the weather outside had a similar theme: they were both on the grey side of things. We really had one of those flat grey days where everything seems just a little bit duller and it's easy to move without really paying attention to things. I almost missed my bus stop coming back from downtown in the afternoon. One of those kinds of days.
My spinning, on the other hand, was a little more interesting. Even if the color theme was still a natural sheepy grey. Sheepy grey is a dynamic color, too me. Grey sheep usually seem to have all these wonderful variagations. And the Coopworth that Liz gifted Julie and I with was no exception.
I finsihed the single ply while we were in Michigan, but didn't hank it up on my niddy noddy until I got back to Chicago. Since I was planning to ply it from two ends of the same center pull ball, I decided to give it a bath to set the twist.
I plied the single after breakfast this morning to create 68 yards of simple 2 ply.
This Coopworth was interesting stuff. I had spun some Coopworth before (I know in the post I call it Corriedale, but now having spun both in natural form, I am pretty sure that it's Coopworth and not Corriedale), but it was Coopworth without any character, and I didn't much like spinning it. This stuff, however, was incredibly soft and lofty in the batt, and much nicer to spin, but it developed a less soft quality after I spun it. It also likes to grab onto itself -- you can see from the two ply picture that there's a bit of a halo. I think the adjective I would use to best describe it now would be "wiry". It's definitely has a lot of springiness in it, but it is not against the skin soft. I think it would make excellent outerwear, especially in this gorgeous natural tweedy grey. I could easily see a three ply of this yarn making a beautiful cabled sweater for a guy -- as long as he had a nice thick turtleneck underneath.
Another interesting note about this yarn. When I need to pause in my spinning, I usually wrap the single around the end of the orifice hook. When I did that with this fiber, even for just a few minutes while I prepared another bit of batt to spin from, I found that when I unwound the single, it had incredible memory for having been coiled. It was like the single now had a little coiled spring in it.
Thanks again to Liz for sharing something lovely with Julie and I. With what I have, I can definitely make a couple of swatches for a sheep breed blanket sampler that I am thinking about embarking on.
But it wasn't all grey around my house today.
My poor under sun-fed peony has finally provided me with some absolutely beautiful blooms. The color is so vivid and intense, it was the perfect pick-me-up this afternoon to take my camera out front and snap a few closeups. Nothing like a beautiful vivid color to chase the grey away!
Pink goes very nicely with grey!
I think a tweedy gray cabled sweater makes any guy look more handsome. And that's a beautiful gray.
Oh, and on an unrelated note, plans to make a simple child's table loom are in the process of winging their way to my home. Yes, you are partially responsible.
The first thing that comes to mind is this if this is the only sweater you had. Itchy and stiff. What our ancestors had to deal with! On the plus side, your spinning is beautiful!
Gorgeous - the spinning and the peony!
I've had really great Coopworth and really bad Merino to spin, so it's also about how it's been processed for spinning. I love Coopworth. And yes, there's something about natural fleece colors that's fascinating!
I like to comb Coopworth and spin it worsted. A good fleece will have a lovely sheen to it and incredible staple strength. I've found it's easy to spin a very fine 3-ply, which isn't always true with the medium grade and coarser wools. Ganseys, nearly indestructible gauntlets to wear over qiviuk liners, and exquisite tapestries. Doesn't Sarah Swett use Coopworth?