My recent spinning

I've been doing some spinning the last little while, trying to go back to making a thicker single. Working with two materials, East Friesian, a coarser downy type wool, which I'm plying and making into a foot rug, and merino - I don't know what I'm doing with those singles yet.

The first yarn I made for the rug was a bunch of colors, with a predominance of green and browns that was then plied back on itself
after a few more yarns were spun, this is the rug so far
a bit lopsided in this shot, but it tugs out to a more normal shape well, so blocking should help :)
The two green balls here are the next yarns to be plied and crochet into this rug - but I still haven't decided If I should overdye before or after plying. overdying will set the twist, so dying after plying should be better that way, but aesthetically I think I'd like a higher contrast between the plies.
The pink and blue is a merino roving that was originally supposed to be a bluebird colorway, but I just couldn't wait to pour the dye on. sigh. so instead of a bit of red, there is a lot of pink, however I'm quite happy with the spinning, 6oz of a lovely thick and thin using longdraw teqniques, testing out the spindle I sent to my8kidsmom, of course.Prior to this pink and blue, I also spun up some other merino in the same fashion, on a slightly heavier spindle, and I like the colors much more! and its oh so smooshy! <3
lastly, heres some of the merino/cashmere/nylon top (the same material I sent to my swap partners) I grabbed, It was an absolute dream. I also spun this on the spindle I sent to my swap partner. You know, see if it was half decent for a thiner yarn as well as a thicker one :3 Its less than an ounce, but I didn't want to stop spinning this lovely material. I'll have 2oz of this same colorway up in my store soon, along with a coordinating color soon.

I'm also currently crocheting a cardigan that is gorgeous, but I'm finding the pattern could use a lot of work unfortunately, so I have to keep redoing and altering parts. I should take a photo soon!

SWAPS

Finally, both my swap partners have received their packages, and I can post! :D

For the "in the dye pot" swap I sent:
a skein of 50/50 merino/silk "Anna's Hummingbird"

photos of this bird can be found here and here (these are female, or juvenile, as they lack the rose colored iridescent throat/head)

6oz of cashmere/wool/nylon "Blue Crowned Motmot" - here
Two sets of stitch markers, blue yarn and a cat set (this swap partner has a pet cat)


As we had talked some about wanting rabbits, I of course had to make one! This piece is pretty open ended use-wise, it could be a pendant or toggle, or something else :)
I also made another cat

Both of these ended up needing post-baking surgery! their weight smooshed their faces a little when baking, and made some very interesting expressions!



The other swap I participated in was a handmade polyclay spindle swap! This swap was a chain-style one, rather than a back and forth between two people. I'm waiting for my package (It has to come all the way from Singapore!)
I sent my swap partner:
Fiber to spin, also cashmere/wool/nylon, this time in a Goldfinch colorway
a gorgeous shot of a stationary goldfinch is here and the inspiration to do a goldfinch dye here

A spindle of course - it was just under 2oz, and oh, does it spin lovely! I didn't want to send it away - I spun up a little test sample to see how it span, and just didn't stop for a while! :3

Red yarn stitch markers (with golds and bronzes dusted on top)

And two toggles (or large pendants, etc) as blackface sheep, one silver on pearl and white fleece, and one gold on brown and gray wool