Spinning fast and loose

I had an attack of the spinning bug this weekend.

The only prepped fibre in my stash was the green, yellow and brown in this photo from the UK indie dyer Chopped Tomatoes (it is the only before picture I have). I broke this out, got my new Start spinning book and warmed up the wheel.

I wanted to work on my spinning technique with this project. Reading through the book I think I usually do a short backwards draw, dividing the top down into very thin sections before spinning to minimise drafting.

Instead I split the top into lengths (about a foot long) then divided these into three. Each section was predrafted, working end to end then back. I need more practise at predrafting as I sometimes pull too hard and end up with a thin section. Working back and forward, doing less on each pass helped to reduce this. 

Using the instructions in the book I tried to work a short forward draw. This worked quite well but I did slip into a backwards draw a few times. I am happy with the end result which is what matters more to me than the actual method.

I used a fairly low amount of twist, drafting thicker than I usually manage. This made the spinning go really fast, after an very enjoyable couple of hours (it was about the length of two films, so I guess a little over three hours) I had finished the 100g length of top and had a stuffed bobbin.

The colours are fairly accurate in these pictures.

Next week I will share my plying adventures, I need to take some more photos first.

I only have unprepped fibre left now, I need to either do some carding or some shopping.