I have been spinning. I really enjoy spinning – so much that sometimes after a long day at the computer – my new day job – I don’t feel like blogging. I just spin. And the next day, I’m working on all these intense problems at the day job and when I get off the computer – I just spin. Then, a week goes by – I just spin. And, another week, and suddenly it’s a month since I’ve posted.

But look, I’ve been spinning and look what I made!

Here are three skeins of handspun alpaca yarn. I’ve been playing with color. The base fiber in all three skeins is what alpaca people call dark fawn. You can see this in the center skein which is a two-ply with both strands spun from the same fiber. This particular fleece is a little on the cool side of the fawn color spectrum – not that fawn alpaca is ever really a cold color – I’m talking subtleties here.

The skeins on the left and right are “barberpole” yarns. That is, they are two ply yarns with each ply a different color. The black and tan on the right is very obvious. Even though the fawn looks darker in the black and tan skein that it does in the middle skein, it is exactly the same color, exactly the same source, same animal, etc.

I took these pictures by handing the skeins from a coat hanger and hanging the coat hanger from a hook on the apartment deck. It’s a good way to get accurate color by handing the skeins in full sun. I’ve got to wonder, though, what the neighbors thought of the objects – and the photo process.

The skeins are about 100-150 yards each, and fairly fat. The fiber is soft. The yarn is squishy. I’m thinking this yarn will make some wonderful hats or maybe short, thick scarves. I don’t have a project in mind, I’ve just been spinning.

I’ve got another skein in process. I’m working with some very smooth black fiber – tremendous texture, but a little slow because it’s rather short and slick.

Anna’s fiber is in process and I think that may be my next spinning project. I’ll have to vacuum everything thoroughly as I switch from black to bright white.