I've been spinning--and reading galleys at the same time. So if the fiber is a little uneven, that's my excuse. Actually, I like this thick/thin yarn, and I am really glad that I can spin it, because last year at this time I couldn't. It's merino, and slick, and I didn't have enough skill to make it work. Now (even though I haven't done a lot of spinning this year), I seem to be able to do it, at least passably.
The fiber itself is really lovely, rich browns of all shades, with gold and green and orange threading through it. Here, I've plied it with itself. I've also plied it with orange and with green. The blue in the photo are bits of blue yarn I used to tie the skein--should have taken it out before I took the picture, I think. The spindle is one Bill made for me. I have a wheel, one of those inexpensive Babe plastic models, which I bought used because I wasn't sure whether I'd stay with it enough to warrant investing in a really good wheel. Turns out that I actually prefer spindling, because it's portable. I can even do it while I'm writing at the computer. And when I do wheel spinning, my yarn is waaay too even, and what's the fun of knitting with something that's as predictable as what I can buy?
And yes, I was spindling while I was reading galleys of BLEEDING HEARTS (the next China Bayles mystery) which I've been doing for the last three nights, 100 pages a night. Ack. Reading galleys (the printed pages of the book before they're bound) is easier than reading copy-edited copy, because the pages are much cleaner. There wasn't much to pick at in this book, but sure as shooting, somethng will have gotten past me and the copy-editor, and some sharp-eyed reader will find it when she opens the book. Like the time I described a good-looking steer as a "stud muffin," or when my fingers put the Golden Gate Bridge into a scene set in 1902. (My fingers must not have been connected to my brain at the moment.) Oh, blush. And I wasn't spindling on either of those occasions, so I can't blame my lapse on multi-tasking. Unless maybe I was chewing gum.
Reading notes:
Your best teacher is your last mistake.--Ralph Nader
You know you knit too much when there is a knitting project or yarn in every room of your house, including the bathroom.--Sephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much