Loop Bullseye Bumps all spun!

So when I first started spinning, I met Steph Gorin of Loop. Many eons ago, she lived in a suburb of DC, and held spin-ins! I was lucky enough to go to one of her spin-ins when she was living close by. Loop Fanatics now know she has upgraded to an amazing studio in New York. And by amazing studio, I mean AMAZING. I've only seen photos, but it's drool worthy.

She creates these amazing little bullseye bumps. They are center-pull mini-bumps of crazy-cool, color-changing fiber. The colors don't repeat, so depending on how you spin, you end up with a gradient yarn. The first Bullseye Bump I recently spun was titled "Starry Sky." 

Here is a before-photo from her listing. 

I saw this bump and I. Almost. Died. Right there in Outback Steakhouse. Yea, I was stalking her page because I knew there would be an update. Don't judge. I saw this color way, and it screamed "Amanda!" I'm a huge fan of dark purples and blues, so naturally I had to have it. (Props to modern technology which allows me to make Etsy purchases from my phone.)

I was really excited to spin this because I love spinning what I call "classic yarn." No art yarn, no crazy plies or beads or coils or sequence...just a classic 2 or 3 ply yarn. I've spun some crazy yarn with Loop batts, but this one wanted to be a classic yarn. I started by spinning very thin, very even singles. I knew I'd want to do a Navajo Ply to keep the color gradient, so for that to work, the singles needed to be consistent. When I spin this way, it takes a LONG time. It took me about a week of spinning singles to spin the 4.5 oz bump. 

This gives you an idea of the color-way progression. Eventually I had a very full bobbin of singles. After a few more hours of meticulous n-plying, I had a lovely skein of fairly even, slightly over-twisted 3-ply yarn. I'm not worried about the slight over-twist, though. I plan an intense whacking session to smooth it out. I'll probably hang on to this yarn...it'd make a beautiful gradient shawl! If you head over to Loop's Ravelry page, you'll find oodles of ideas for patterns!

For some reason (probably because I was too excited to start a new blob of fiber), I didn't photograph the skein on my knitty-noddy. :( But the above picture is the completed n-plied yarn on my Kromski jumbo bobbin. I'm excited by the sparkle! 

Another Loop Bullseye Bump I recently spun was her Camoflauge color way. 

I loved the muted colors. Part of me is still afraid of super bright color ways, but I'm working on branching out when it comes to that. Anyways, this bump was so much fun to spin, and again, it took me over a week to complete. A week for the singles, and then 2 days for the n-plying. I work full-time, so the majority of my spinning happens on the weekends. So when I say it took me a week to spin, keep that in mind. I spun VERY thin singles, and ended up with a 3-ply gradient lace/light fingering weight yarn. Honestly, I don't think I'll spin this thinly again. I actually had a couple breaks as I plied, and had to splice the broken ends together. It was not a fun task. However the finished product is beautiful, and I'm really really happy with it.