Baby It's Cold Outside

One of my favorite holiday songs (even though it has nothing to do with the holidays other than inclement weather and the possible abuse of certain alcoholic beverages (is it just me or is the man in the song a selfish whiny lush?) My favorite version, with Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer, kicks all others to the floor.

It's around 35 tonight - baby it's cold outside! The heat is on and I had a flash of brilliance last night, or at least, common sense. I had previously bought several tension rods for the doorways to hang extra curtains to help keep the heat where it's needed and not heat empty rooms, but haven't gotten around to buying the actual drapes/blankets/whatnot yet. But what I do have are two extra sets of flannel sheets.

Duh.

I hung the straight sheets on the rods, one secured with the drapery clips I got at Target and the other held on with clothespins. One is hanging in front of the front door and the other is in the doorway to my room (so I can have the heat on in there at night but keep the door cracked so the cats can come and go). It doesn't have to look nice, right now all it has to do is preserve heat. And it does help. I need to get my ducks in a row and order those heavy duty drapes!

In the meantime, I've still not progressed on Henley, or the new clown car multicolored item, but I did spin a little:



I know the yarn on the spindle is under tension, the yarn on the ball is not, and the yarn in the hank (chain-plied) is "finished", but it amuses me to see the difference. Chain plying was interesting, but I don't think I'd do it a lot, at least not right now (and there's no reason to think when I get "better" that I'd go back to it). In places where the singles are uneven the chain bumps are somewhat apparent, and the radical unevenness of my spinning is not masked by averaging over separate strands but highlighted by the fact that thin parts are right next to other thin parts and thick parts right next to other thick parts. I haven't measured it since washing, but it was about 30 yds previous, and it's thick stuff - about 7 wpi I think (on average, again, thicker and thinner in spots). It's comprised of the first quarter (~1 oz) of the Allspunup roving.

My spindle is pretty heavy, so I am pleased with how this newest batch is going. It looks like the Allspunup fiber is going to be all spun up - as samples! I may try plying the stuff on the ball into a 2-ply (from both ends of the ball) and see if I can't spin all the rest as thin as what's on the spindle and ply from 2 separate balls. Oh, the bit on the spindle is spun from the fold, and I love that technique, more than pre drafting and more than splitting the roving. You just rip, flick, and away you go! I find it much easier to spin a consistent single this way, and feel like I have more control. I've also backed my hands out more and let the twist extend past my right hand (I'm a right-handed spinner) and into the drafting triangle, which I wasn't doing before. It is so much easier when I allow the twist to pull the fiber from the wad of fluff in my left hand than trying to do it myself! I'm sure someday I'll look back and wonder why I ever did it the hard way.

posted by Carrie @ 11:21 AM