I’m a new spinner.  As such, the idea of using my hand spun for actual knitting or weaving is a bit daunting.  I want things to look good and not scream “homemade”.  Lumpy, bumpy hand spun… uummmmm.  However, like any stash, spun yarn seems to reproduce itself in the closet and needs using up to maintain any organizational order.

I started with Romi’s Taygete Shawl back on 5/15/12

My hand spun is a wee bit under spun… as in not enough twist in the ply.  This means my Taygete shawl could end up being a little fragile in the long run.  But, it means that I also know more what under spun yarn looks like… just by knitting with it with it.  And, if it starts falling apart I know that my washing machine felts things VERY well.  It can then become fabric that I cut and turn into something else entirely.

The hand spun has some subtle striping both in the body and in the lace.  It draws you in to find all of the delicate color combinations.  What amazed me a bit was realizing that your eye tricks you into smoothing out the yarn visually.  If you were to knit with this yarn, you would see and feel that there is quite a bit of variation from one inch to the next… but you don’t see it when you look at the shawl as a whole.  It’s kind of like pointillism in that regard.  Very cool.

In the beginning I was nervous using the home spun.  There were a lot of hours put into just the spinning and I had no clue if the yardage was sufficient.  But, how beautiful is it stuck in a box somewhere?  And really, why not play with your fiber?  I was very surprised and pleased with the results.  The yarn worked structurally and visually.

If you spin, what did you make with your some of your first hand spun?  Was there anything about the process that surprised you?