Week 8 – A Little Columbia Lot of Fun!

Week 8 – Columbia

Officially two months into the 52 Weeks of Sheep adventure and I’m still loving every minute of it.  The breed study, washing, carding, spinning, plying, photo taking – I’m loving all of it.  The camaraderie between everyone on the Facebook group page (which is https://www.facebook.com/groups/52WeeksofSheep2017/ in case you haven’t joined us there yet) has been uplifting and fun.  People from all over the globe spinning a different breed of sheep or type of fiber each week – or when they can, because as I’ve said all along – this isn’t a stressful endeavor, just a lot of fun, a great way to learn, and meet other fiber addicts. (yup – I called us all addicts 😉 )

With all of that said, this week I spun Columbia.  A friend who is local to me and along for the 52 Weeks ride shared her stash with me (and in return I shared some Portland fleece for one of the weeks in May).  I started with approximately two ounces of this lovely cream-colored roving and decided I was going to shake it up a bit and NOT spin thin.  I won’t lie, once you’ve been spinning thin and lace-weight, going back to a thicker spin is, well, um, different.  On the plus side, when you spin a little thicker, the bobbin fills quicker – so I may have to re-think this whole thin spin thing (except that I really like to knit with lace and sport-weight yarn).  A dilemma to ponder another day…

So, I spun a little thicker single, filled the bobbins more quickly, and ended up with 116 yards of a gorgeous two-ply sport to worsted weight yarn.  The wool itself was super easy to spin.  It’s a little rougher than the Merino and Alpaca I’m naturally drawn to, but, I really liked it.  It has a little bit of a sheen to it, and just look at that skein – it’s beautiful!

How did week eight go for you?  Did you spin Columbia or a different breed?  Did you decide to just follow along this week and see how everyone else was faring?  If you did spin, what were your thoughts?  Is it a fiber you might like to spin again, and if so, what would you want to spin it for?  Please comment below and tell us all about it – or better yet, post your comments and pictures to that Facebook link above!

Next week my list takes me to Coopworth.  What about you?  Won’t you join in the adventure and spin something too?

Have a wonderful week nine and as always – Happy Spinning!

~Tammy