Fiber Arts Friday ~ Coils

Well at least I'm attempting coils....only time will tell.  I've been devouring my Intertwined book and decided I'd have a go at coils.

Since I was helping Miss Wonder Why Gal at the Fiber Expo last weekend, I thought this would be a good time to try this technique.  I took a couple of my hand carded batts using suri, merino, silk and angelina intending on mixing them together.......

but when we were setting up the booth out came this wonderful Halloween batt that Andrea had created.

How fast can you say SWAP?.......I couldn't say it fast enough!   Andrea's batt is a blend of alpaca, merino, bamboo, silk, nylon and glitz.

Hmmmm....don't they look like their getting cozy?

So off I started on my new technique......what a challenge this turned out to be.  The only way I could make the thick parts was to completely stop spinning, draft out a larger amount and then start spinning again.  But I figured whatever works, right?  Actually this gave me the perfect opportunity to explain to people that even if you've spun for a while....new techniques can still be a challenge.

A fellow spinner, who'd stopped to watch, told me it would be easier if I was spinning from top instead of batts.   Oops..already committed....



First bobbin complete



I was hoping to get both bobbins filled so I could try core plying them this week.  Didn't meet that goal...working shows can be sooooo exhausting.  But this is what I had spun by the end of the show.

I thought no problem...I can get that second bobbin filled in no time.  As luck would have it, while unloading the car, my drive band got stuck on my suitcase and snap went the band.  Of course I didn't have any bands on hand so there sits my almost filled second bobbin.  Hopefully, the new bands will arrive today so I can get this bobbin filled and move on to trying my hand at core spinning.  With luck I will have my yarn complete by next week so I can share.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!