More Spinning Today

 Just a quick note on today's Tour de Fleece progress:  Since I had finished the last bag of roving, I went to the walk-in closet in our bedroom and pulled out a bag of Thetford Roving and took it downstairs where the wheel is currently located.

When I had done a little cleaning of a downstairs closet, the kitchen, and the dining room table, I rewarded myself with a while at the spinning wheel. (And you will notice I said, "A LITTLE cleaning...!). For the first time I thought I would measure out and weigh the roving before spinning so I could get an idea on how it would go.

Today's spin was 107 grams of the roving.  I did get it all spun.

This is the resulting spin:

This bobbin was almost half filled before I started spinning today.  I finished it.  There is probably a hundred grams of today's fiber on the bobbin in addition to probably that much more.  I will have to weigh an empty bobbin so I will know for sure how much singles I spun.

This bobbin was partially filled before I finished up the 107 grams--probably about 7 grams added to this bobbin.  There was just a small amount of roving still in the fiber basket so I decided to keep spinning even though I had really had just about enough spinning, and everything else,  for today.

One new thing today--instead of removing my shoe and spinning stocking footed, I decided to see if I could spin with my clodhoppers still on my feet.  I could!  I was so pleased.  It is all due to the kind instruction of one of the Columbia Spinners at the Tour de Fleece group meeting last Saturday.  I also learned how to chain ply last week.  I need to get another bobbin together so I can practice the chain plying before I forget.

This Saturday the spinners will be at the Revolutionary War Park spinning but also instructing on how to spin cotton and flax.  You can be sure I will be there to learn that.  There are many many cotton fields within a few miles of our home.  Every fall when the cotton harvest happens I drive along the roads by the fields and see many cotton fluff balls lying beside the road.  Two years ago I stopped and picked some of it up.  It was pretty grimy and since I did not know anything about preparing to spin cotton, I just left it alone.  If I learn to spin cotton, I will have to take the bull by the horns and ask some farmer if I can glean his fields after the harvest.  It is a nice thought anyway!