More spinning...

OK, so now I'm a beginning spinner. But my first yarn was overspun and (I think) unusable. So I set out at lunchtime today for some expert advice. I head over to my local yarn shop. The owner was a TREMENDOUS help and promised to stop by the blog and look at my first try.

While I was there I picked up an Asford top-whirl spindle (for some reason, all the beginner demos use those, rather than a low-whirl like the one I already have) and some new roving. Chris recommended ALPACA (I'm feeling very luxurious tonight) and it damn near killed me to get through the rest of the day. I couldn't wait to get home to give it all a try.

So, after my children were legitimately impressed by the fact that mommy was spinning "llama hair" into yarn, I got to it. And I'm much happier with the results.

I'm honestly not sure whether it's the practice, or the fact that I think I have the process a little more under control, or that alpaca is extremely loose and airy compared to the wool, but I think this is more uniform and less overly twisty. I might actually make something out of this...

Just how much yarn will 3 oz of alpaca give you, I wonder ...

Oh, and before anyone thinks that the socks were abandoned, here they are completed:

The spindle is posing next to it because that alpaca is just so very photogenic. I actually finished the socks on Monday ... and then cast on another pair to squeeze in before the Olympics. Already turned the heel on #1.