March’s fibre club sat on my teaching chair as I came into the studio at the beginning of the month. It had been a long week, even though it was only Thursday, because we’ve all been sick most of this year. So far, I’ve had three head colds, which is not like me at all! Seeing the club sitting there with my name on it from Misty significantly lifted my spirits. And we went on to have a wonderful, handspinning-filled and laughter-ridden evening!
© Rachel Smith /
SweetGeorgia Yarns 2016
The colours this month are ones that I wear on almost a daily basis so I began dreaming immediately about fingerless mitts and socks. As I read Ray Tse’s touching note about his Grandfather, I found myself examining the colours just a little more and contemplating the colours I would use if I were to put grief into colour. This is a thought that has stuck with me due to my work in End-of-Life care within a complex, critical care environment. But I digress …
© Rachel Smith /
SweetGeorgia Yarns 2016
In her note on how to spin this braid, Felicia wrote,
“With these gorgeous and complex blues and greens, I would avoid doing too much splitting up of the fibres to prevent all the subtle hues from being too blended together to give a homogeneous result.”
I have made this exact mistake before. In my stash was a braid of Superwash Targhee that I had been ‘coveting’ for many months. Never covet your fibre! It begins to feel un-spinnable – as if nothing you do with it will measure up to the vision in your mind. I made this mistake with a 100 gram braid by deciding to spin it as a traditional 3-ply, knowing the analogous colours would blend and lack contrast to preserve the brightly coloured neon shades. The remainder that I Navajo- or chain-plied was incredibly pleasing and I immediately regretted my decision.
© Rachel Smith /
SweetGeorgia Yarns 2016
These 100 gram braids give us an opportunity to sample and compare results — split the braid in half, creating two 50 gram skeins, and compare a traditional 3-ply to a Navajo-plied yarn. The results may surprise you!
© Rachel Smith /
SweetGeorgia Yarns 2016
How you are spinning your Club and other SweetGeorgia Yarns’ fibre? Share with us in the Ravelry group — we’d love to see your results! And if you share your projects on Instagram, use the hashtags #sgyclub #sweetgeorgiayarns for everyone to see and like.
Until next month,
Happy Spinning!
