New Handspun: Atlantic Pools

In the 10 months since my daughter was born, my craft time has peaked and troughed in extreme ways. Breastfeeding a 3 month old baby? More knitting time than I ever could have asked for...the cardigans were flying off the needles! Spinning...not so much. 6 months old and teething? No crafts. No hobbies. NOTHING. Crying, sleep deprivation, long, long walks in the woodlands carrying her on my back (note: start of chronic baby carrier obsession).

Well, it feels like I'm slowly clawing back a little hobby time now my evenings are a little calmer. However, not knowing if or when this time will end means that I have to work hard not to let my crafting time be tinged with a panicky desperation to Get Things Done before the next 'Wonder Week' arrives.

Anyway, I digress. I recently completed the first skein of handspun yarn since before A was born. My borrowed spinning wheel is stowed away under the stairs (and besides, I never really got the hang of it), so I dusted off my beautiful IST drop spindle (pictured below with some grey alpaca)...


...dug out some long-stashed World of Wool fibre in the Tranquil colourway (an incredible blend of merino and tussah silk)...

...and spun like a woman possessed for about a week's worth of evenings.

Pre-baby my spinning was all about producing beautiful, perfectly even and incredibly fine singles with a view to creating some kind of amazing laceweight yarn. Post-baby I want results fast and somehow the part of my brain that cares about getting things 100% pefect (or even halfway there) has been moderated, so I spun this thick and thin, enjoying every minute of it.

I even managed to get on and ply it - my least favourite part of the spinning process and the reason the bottom of my wardrobe is covered with bobbins filled with endless yards of sad, lonely single ply yarn, waiting to one day be plyed into something useable. I called it Atlantic Pools for want of something better. It's SO squishy, incredibly warm, surprisingly light, and above all, soft.

I'm pretty pleased with the result <3

Here it is being knitted into a new hat for A. I'd forgotten how ridiculously exciting it is knitting with your own handspun yarn. And...::dusts off own trumpet::... I think it's knitting up pretty nicely!