I have a lot of "well duh!" moments, which would be "Aha!" moments if they weren't so obvious. One of those moments was when I realized I had everything I needed to determine the yardage I'm getting with my spinning.
Here are two skeins of my soft and lovely yarn spun up from the roving my brother gave me. Before this weekend, I would have told you that I had no idea how many yards were in there, but the answer was obvious all along. To make my skeins, when done plying, I wrap the yarn from the spindle around my calf, from foot to knee. the long way. To find out my yardage, I wrapped the tape measure the same way, found out my length and multiplied it by the number of times I wrap the yarn around my leg. Well duh!
More gratuitous yarn shots after the bump.
I'm really pleased with how this yarn looks and feels. It's not busy or distracting, just a nice heathered purple.
You know, before we go any further here, I really need to go on record to say that I do not force my doggy into photo servitude, she quite willingly inserts herself into photos, most likely because she finds me looking at and focusing on something other than her.
It was a pretty dreadfully rainy weekend here in LA, and there wasn't much sun to be had, so when it peaked through the clouds, I grabbed the one spot I could find a ray of sunshine.
Panda just plopped herself down for some lovins and I kept snapping away.
Ok, ok, maybe she didn't quite willingly pose for this one, but, come on, don't we all suffer for art?
Panda asked me to send Caia a message. She says, "The eagle flies at midnight."
Huh, I wonder what that means. Nothing to worry about, I'm sure.
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Comments (15)
I love the Panda shots, they are so cute!! My dog is black so she doesn't photograph as well as miss Panda:)
Posted by beth | January 8, 2006 10:57 AM
Posted on January 8, 2006 10:57
happy 2006! and i love that you use your legs for skeining your yarn ;) too cute.
Posted by andrea | January 5, 2006 2:07 PM
Posted on January 5, 2006 14:07
Panda is oh so very sweet and adorable! I'm pretty sure the line about the eagle is nothing to worry about too ...
Your yarn looks lovely. What will you be knitting it up into?
Posted by Samantha | January 5, 2006 10:25 AM
Posted on January 5, 2006 10:25
Wow!
You're inspiring me to keep up with my spindle spinning despite my current wheel obsession. Both are actually very different and I'm craving my beautiful little Golding. I love how those skeins came out!
And MAN, can Panda BE any cuter????
Can she?
LOVE her. She needs her own blog. ;-)
Posted by paula | January 4, 2006 8:58 PM
Posted on January 4, 2006 20:58
i have a real niddy noddy (from my days with the fiber co-op), but i don't have a swift. so i use my computer chair if i feel like standing, or my knees if i don't. i've only asked once for someone to hold my yarn, and my fiance was watching tv at the time, so it was no hardship.
yarn looks mahvelous!
Posted by minnie | January 4, 2006 7:07 PM
Posted on January 4, 2006 19:07
Before I got my niddy noddy, I used my boyfriend's stretchers (used for stretching canvas for painting) and they worked out pretty well. I never thought to use my legs, but maybe it's because they're short, ha ha!
You know, a niddy noddy comes free with the Lendrum........... ;-)
Posted by MJ | January 4, 2006 4:20 PM
Posted on January 4, 2006 16:20
That picture of Panda with the (beautiful) yarn on her head?? Made me chuckle out loud. Silly dog!
Posted by --Deb | January 4, 2006 3:36 PM
Posted on January 4, 2006 15:36
well, your leg method is certainly cheaper than buying a mcmoran! (which combines both the weighing and the measuring aspects of what you and julia are doing :-)
Posted by sara | January 4, 2006 3:12 PM
Posted on January 4, 2006 15:12
You spun yarn is gorgeous. It isn't easy taking pictures of the color purple, so you get Kudos there, too. Oh, and very cute doggie poses. :)
Posted by Wendy | January 4, 2006 1:44 PM
Posted on January 4, 2006 13:44
I agree with Julia that a kitchen scale can be really useful when trying to estimate yardage. It's not anywhere near as accurate as measuring with your leg or a niddy-noddy, but it's fast. I keep a kitchen scale near my yarn stash to weigh leftover yarn to guesstimate how much is left on the skein.
Posted by Roxie | January 4, 2006 11:46 AM
Posted on January 4, 2006 11:46
You're a human niddy noddy! :)
If you'd like to try a DIY yardage meter, I have plans for one at my site. http://www.twosheep.com/blog/?p=273
Posted by June | January 4, 2006 10:11 AM
Posted on January 4, 2006 10:11
Hee hee. I think we may be crossing some line by having our dogs link to each other and send messages, but I'm game! (And scarily, I think I started this!)
I had a similar revelation about yardage yesterday. I've also realized that I can weigh the skein and start to figure out about how much yardage I can get out of the whole roving. Sometimes I am so brilliant I can hardly stand myself. A true rocket scientist. Ha!
Posted by Julia | January 4, 2006 9:04 AM
Posted on January 4, 2006 09:04
Photos of your yarn are never "gratutitous"!
Posted by jpt | January 4, 2006 9:02 AM
Posted on January 4, 2006 09:02
I recently saw a 'ghetto niddy noddy'. it was a board with two nails three feet apart so that every wrap completely around it was two yards of yarn. now you've figured out how to do it without the board, but this might be an alternative if you don't feel like wrapping your leg with yarn :)
Posted by Hanna | January 4, 2006 8:56 AM
Posted on January 4, 2006 08:56
I love photo's of your panda, I also often post photos of my dogs, don't tend to get to many comments, so I wanted to take the time to comment on your panda and say how cute cute cute he/she is :)
Also of course, your handspun looks beutiful, I like how it's not to tightly spun, it reminds of me the skeins of noro, the silk solid colors that they don't put in balls.
Posted by pixie | January 4, 2006 6:58 AM
Posted on January 4, 2006 06:58