Spin up the Crazy!

I’m crazy about yarn and fiber, and can’t bear to throw it away (cheap acrylic excluded from that ).  I even save the little scraps from sewing in ends, little tangled bits of fluff, what I clean off the drumcarder, etc.  I’m not the only one — in fact, these little scraps became the subject of a spin-along in the ravelry “Novelty & Art Yarn Spinners” group.  The group moderator, Studioloo (www.studioloo.com) made yarn from her collection of scraps, and coined the term “spin up the crazy” to describe it… thus inspiring a “spun up the crazy” spin-along.  Follow as I spin up my own collection of crazy:

Here’s a shot of some of my raw materials:

I have lots of yarn bits, some odds and ends of spinning fiber too little to do anything with on its own.  Some of the group members were spinning straight from their scrap box, but I decided to send my stuff through my drumcarder.  I first cut any strings down to a few inches so they wouldn’t get too tangled up on the carder drum, then tossed a mix of yarn bits and fiber on the tray and carded away:

I made a stack of about six thin batts, which looked like this:

I wasn’t trying for a smooth consistent blend, I just wanted to get everything jumbled up and meshed together so I could spin it.  Here’s a close-up of this crazy batt:

Batt complete, I went to my Mach 1 spinning wheel (www.spinolution.com), set it for the lowest ratio and started spinning.  The Mach 1 has an open hook instead of a orifice, so it can handle lumps and clumps of almost any size.  It uses guideposts on the flyer, so the yarn is less likely to get caught winding on.  And the bobbin holds eight ounces — perfect for making big clunky funky yarn like this!

I spun up my crazy, and wound it into a skein.  Soaked it to set the twist, and left it overnight hanging by a heating vent.  This morning it was ready — 3  1/2 ounces, 50 yards of some pretty crazy yarn:

And that is how I spun up MY crazy.  Here are some close-up pictures so you can see the total random wildness of this yarn better: