Handspinner Spring competition 2011

This is my own (non-qualifying) go at the handspinner spring competition. The brief is to make yarn inspired by the cherry blossom photo provided. There's a good prize on offer, so please have a go. More information is in the March newsletter.

I think this is my fattest yarn since my very first go at spinning, which was not intentionally fat.

I could picture those colours in a squishy arty scarf, made on large needles - cool in spring and warm in winter.

The blue is a mix I call Cirrus, merino and silk. I split it lengthwise so not very much drafting needed.

While looking for suitable light and dark natural colours, I noticed that Ashford's silk / merino mix in peppercorn is pretty much what I wanted to achieve, so I used that, split lengthwise to try and preserve the colour changes and spun thinly.

The result is looking a little under-plied. I didn't want a very spirally plied effect, so was afraid to go too far. It's not set yet, I'm hoping it'll fluff up a little more after a wash.