What a long weekend!

Well, I'm finally done plying the Apple Blossom and there are 422 yards - whoot! Plenty of yarn to knit up socks, and it looks like the yarn is a fairly consistent fingering weight. Wow. I have to say, it turned out better than I thought it would. It's almost as consistent as my 2-ply Cormo. I'm no big fan of Navajo-plying, even though it's great fun to do, but I really dislike the way a Navajo-plied yarn does not like to ply nicely right up against the next loop. It's gets loose and "ugly" (imo), even though it won't show up in the actual knitting. I added in quite a bit of extra twist just for that reason, hoping there wouldn't be too much. Will wonders never cease?...there isn't. Another reason to celebrate! Here's the finished product:

I also discovered a woolen-spun, 3-ply (not Navajo-ply, but the 'real McCoy') worsted weight skein I'd spun up early this year (January, I think), squirreled away in one of my fiber drawers. Good Heavens. I remember being so impressed with myself that I'd gotten a whole 425 yards (before fulling). I ended up with 397 yards after fulling. Not bad, but I'm going to quit fulling my yarn :-) Everything but the kitchen sink went into this one, but all the fibers were soft - even the Shetland.
I was going for a next-to-the-skin, if i could manage it. I stuck with all natural colors, using black Merino, brown/grey Shetland, cream and brown Finn-Lincoln (VERY soft and fluffy) fleeces, and (I think!) some of my oatmeal-creamy Bluefaced Leicester. Heaven only knows what else I found to throw in there!

It all turned out quite nicely, much to my amazement. At the time, I was a new spinner of only 2 months, and felt that everything I did looked crummy and had a 'why would anyone want to buy that junk'? mentality.