WIP Wednesday - Spinning Practise

I had a much needed day off yesterday, and decided to spend my uninterrupted free time doing a bit of spinning practise. A while ago, I acquired some free unidentified wool, and I though, rather than using my nice stuff for beginner spinning, I'd use this, then I could have a play with dying as well.

I'm going to ply it with the unidentified wool and linen blend I also received, and see how the two take up dye differently. My aim was to have an even single that wasn't too thick, so that hopefully the two ply would be around fingering weight and I could make hexipuffs from it. I have no idea if that will work, but the single is relatively even. It was quite sticky wool, I think it still had some oils on it, and so there are a few lumps at the start, where I was getting used to it, but the rest seems to be ok.

I'm still trying to figure out the brake on my spinning wheel. Who would have thought a millimetre difference on a wooden peg would change the bobbin from not picking up anything to splitting the yarn that's being spun. Any suggestions on how to tell how tight the brake should be?

In terms of books, I've just finished Crewel World by Monica Ferris, which is the first in a series of needlecraft mysteries. This was a great example of "cosy crime," a very light read and enjoyable to pick up in a few spare minutes and then put back down. I really enjoyed it, but there was not much plot development. I was surprised when I looked back at how little actually happened in the book, considering that it doesn't seem to move slowly when you are reading it. The characters are enjoyable, they're well portrayed and you can see exactly the type of people they are. I also like the needlepoint references, the author clearly did some research to write this book. Overall, I would recommend it for a bit of light relief. It won't change your world, but if you like mysteries or fibre crafts (which I assume most people reading this blog do,) you'll probably enjoy it.