FO Friday...but not the usual kind :)

It's that time again: FO Friday!

Buuuuuuuuut........it's not going to be a "normal" FO Friday. First of all, I finished my Super Seeeeeeeeekrit Swap Project (well, one of them, anyway) but, since it's for a swap and I haven't sent it out, I can't exactly show you. You never know, my swapee might be stalking my blog.

Or not.

So, there's that finished.

Also, I've been doing some other things...like spinning. Okay, let's be honest: I haven't spun in at least a couple of weeks. However, with that said, I have some spinning to show you because I finally got around to soaking yarn and hanging my handspun yarn....and planning to soak more of my handspun yarn.

So, here it is...my great handspun soaking adventure (or some approximation thereof).

During the first soak

There's little to no chance you can tell what color this yarn is supposed to be. But, trust me, it's mostly blue...and some green...but mostly blue. The fiber was from Yarn Hollow that I picked up at the Madison Knitters' Guild Knit-In last year. I picked up a 4 oz braid in a color called Celtic something or other and another 4 oz braid in a color called Irish something or other (seriously, I can't remember off the top of my head and I can't seem to find the fiber bands for them - I know I still have them though). Anyway, I spun the first one on two bobbins, the second one on another two bobbins, then plied them together. Nothing fancy...I'm going to assume that I was spinning in the "worsted" style on my wheel but I don't really know.

Anyway, that was during the first soak. This is after four subsequent soaks. Yes, four...and I was still squeezing blueish-green dye out of it. Perhaps I'll use a vinegar rinse on the last one, just to try to help set the dyes. 

Approximately 310 yards...of something in the neighborhood of worsted weight...I'll know more once it's dry.

You can kind of see the actual color if you look toward the top of the above photograph but the next  photo is a more accurate representation of the colors.

This is a soaking photograph of my first handspun yarn. It's a superwash merino (I think) that was white and purple. Okay, mostly purple...I bought it the same day I bought my wheel which was about a year ago now. It was actually the fiber I learned to spin with and Susan gave me a deal on it for buying the rest of the bag to take home and practice with. Luckily, I was somewhat of a quick study so for a first-time handspun, it's actually pretty good. Yes, it has some problems...it's thick and thin, there are breaks in the plies that I had to *ahem* fix somehow but, really, it's pretty good.

Not that you can tell any of that from this photograph.

This one, too, was spun however I felt like (which was probably also worsted). It, too, took four soaks and rinses and it was still oozing purple dye.

If I remember correctly, this one is approximately 190 yards worth. I have a couple more skeins of this that need to be soaked and dried...at least one that was hanked on the same Niddy Noddy and one that was hanked on my smaller Niddy Noddy (I'll probably re-hank that one). The purple is also currently hanging in the bathroom but I didn't photograph it.

Oh well.

So, there you have it.....a FO Friday with something to show for it (even if it isn't a finished knitted object).

For more FO Friday love, visit Tami.