Spinning Wednesday

Wednesdays are for spinning. Meet the ladies at the Aloha Grange and spin for on average four hours. Back in January when I went on the Seattle-PDX Yarn Crawl, I bought some Jacob at Dublin Bay. It was a pound and just over $13.

It languished while I spun other things. Then when I had the drum carder for the first time I ran the Jacob through and made batts out of the mass that it was. I don't remember the batts causing me any problems, other than running through the drum carder.

I started spinning some of the Jacob Tuesday night and noticed that my tongue got a prickly feeling and my face felt itchy. I have found dirt bits in the batts and some grass and some wirey stuff, but I don't think this is what is causing the allergic reaction. I think its the dye. It's similar but not exact to the reaction from Noro Kureyon - that was more extreme.

So I was working with the Jacob again today. It's definitely an allergy reaction that I'm getting. This stuff is also very coarse and would definitely be outerwear. I'm trying for a thicker single and was thinking of trying for a three ply worsted weight yarn.

The question is - do I really want to deal with this stuff? Spinning is supposed to be fun and relaxing and this is the second stuff that is not enjoyable. I'll be able to knit something nice from the cormo, but this I'm already thinking that its destined to become something that would be felted up.

So bag it up and offer it up in the Spin-Cycle trade? Does anyone else want this? Here is what one bobbin kind of looks like:

Gail shared some free fiber she received from the Louet guy at SOAR (I gave her a little back massage). I've figured out that it must be their Merino/Silk 80/20 blend. It's 2.4 ounces of a pretty red. I think that I can do a nice lace weight and  get enough yardage for a pretty scarf or cowl.

I divided them into one ounce bundles.

ETA: the swapped skein of yarn I got on Monday? It's a thick & thin skein. Did I mention that? It so won't work for the Diamonds & Pearls shawl. It may just become a "Three Cornered Scarf" out of "The Intentional Spinner" book. Or! I just found this pattern - what do you think I should do?