Spinning and Dyeing

I've had a lot of fun lately with my newest fiber arts.  I have two drop spindles and I really like spinning.  It is quite relaxing and I am really looking forward to getting a wheel.  I'm trying to decide if I should go through the hassle of getting my Dad to make me one, or just go ahead and buy one.  If I do end up buying one, it will most likely be an Ashford Kiwi, but I really like the look of another wheel called a ladybug.  

So I have made two 100 gram skeins of yarn using my drop spindles so far.  The first was a 100% wool and the yarn I got was probably comparable to a chunky yarn on average.  I made a two ply by making a ball with both ends held together.  When I was finished spinning, I found a cowl pattern and decided to dye my 

                                                      yarn a purple color.  It has bits of 

                                                      red and blue too though.  

My second skein was from 80/20 merino/nylon.  It is also a two ply using the same method and is somewhere around the dk/worsted category.  I haven't done anything with this one yet, although I think it would make a good hat when I find the right pattern.  

Halfway through this spinning project, I finally got a hook put on the end of the spindle and boy did that speed things up.  By the end, I was getting  a lot more confident and decided I wanted to do more spinning.  

Then I ordered a fiber sampler from essential fiber and it has been interesting so far.  I love looking at all the colors and petting them.  I started with the red sample as you do, and went from there.  I have only finished three as I don't want to binge and then be sad when its all gone.  Also, I'm a bit nervous about the more slippery samples that are towards the end of the rainbow.  

The past week I have decided to spin some fiber that I dyed a while back.  It is mostly still bare with patches of royal blue to sky blue.  It looks kinda funny as singles, because there is still a lot of white, but I hope it will kinda even out when I ply it.  i can't decide if I want to chain ply it, or if I would rather have a thinner yarn, so a two ply.  

As far as dying goes, I have tried several different techniques and have been pretty successful except for this bit of roving that seems to be infected by bad luck.  I dyed it a while back and the colors kinda broke and blended and I got a lot of white spots, so I tried acid dyes for the first time today and overdyed the entire bunch with emerald green.  It looks like I didn't put enough vinegar in, so a lot of the blue color washed out when I rinsed it.  After rinsing for a while I decided to cook it in the microwave again with some more vinegar hoping to set the dye better.  Its still quite hot now, but hopefully it will help.