Spring Spinning...so far

 For the past few weeks, I've been on a spinning kick, mostly because I haven't been in my weaving studio as much because of bad weather here in the Southeastern U.S. (tornadoes, thunderstorms, flooding, etc.). I've had to cancel multiple classes, which is a bummer, but it has given me a chance to start processing fiber from my raw fleeces and spin yarn again.

I started scouring part of a Shetland fleece last week on one of the clear days we had before the storms started up again. I bought this Shetland fleece (and another) from Ballyhoo Farm & Fiber Emporium in May 2019 at the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival. Both fleeces were washed, but I waited to scour this particular fleece because we were in the middle of a move. Hand picking and carding has begun on this section of fleece, but it's a slow process, so I don't expect to start spinning this fiber for a few more weeks.

In the meantime, I've spun a small art batt (about 24g) that I put together when I visited Claire Cabe of Lucca Dot Yarn in Sewanee, TN several summers ago. Because it yielded so little yarn, I'll probably use it in a scrap yarn woven scarf at some point.

I spun another 100g of the Shetland/Silk hand painted roving from Hearthside Fibers (of the 200g) that I bought during the 2020 Deep South Yarn Hop from Haus of Yarn in Nashville, TN.

I also ordered more fiber last week from Hearthside Fibers so I can start a British & Scandinavian Wool fiber study series at my weaving studio for those who might be interested. My first order arrived on Friday, and I started spinning immediately. I ordered 100g each of Swaledale Top, Black Welsh Mountain Carded Sliver, Icelandic Top, Finnish Humbug Top, Norwegian Top, and 200g of Manx Loaghtan Top. In a separate order (arriving today), I'll have 200g of North Ronaldsay Wool (seaweed eating sheep wool).

So far, I've spun the Finnish humbug (white & brown mixed) top and the Black Welsh Mountain carded sliver. The Finnish top was amazing in the hand, practically drafting itself (and a little slick), while the Black Mountain Welsh (a TRUE black wool) was a little trickier to spin and had a fair amount of VM and kemp to pull out. All in all, I'm happy with the results. Now, I have to decide what to make with each skein that I've spun so far.