Finished finishing

I have about 4 pounds of fiber hanging from any available rod in the bathroom - shower curtain, towel rod, shelves, plus some cormo fleece laid out to dry. I dyed 3 batches of fiber this weekend, and I've been slacking on finishing the yarn I've spun in the past month. That's why there's been a dirth of pictures. Once it dries, I hope to take lots of pictures. I've got yarn in about 10 different colorways, several different fibers. Some of it's for me, some of it is for specific others, some is for the shop, and some is for giveaways and samples. I am yarnful.

There's some green BFL (I think) that I'm super-happy with. I can't think of anything to make with it, so it'll be off to another happy home somewhere. In addition to the Etsy shop, the Minnesota Weavers Guild has a Fiber Fair in November, and I'm signed up to sell there.

You'd think finishing yarn would be when the spinning is done, but it's not. The yarn has to be washed and "whacked." I prefer the harsh finishing method. I wash/rinse the yarn 4 times, alternating hot and cold water. This isn't recommended as a general rule for items made from wool, because most people don't want to turn their knitted or crocheted items into felt. But for finishing the yarn, a little bit of felting is helpful - it makes the yarn a little stronger, a little less splitty. Whacking the yarn (snapping it or twirling it) gets some of the water out of it and evens out the twist of the yarn.

So I finished yarn tonight for about 90 minutes - filling and refilling buckets of water for all the skeins of yarn, then whacking and hanging it to dry. Finishing is pretty tiring.