No. Way.

I made yarn! Please look at it all wound up in its cute little yarn ball.

This guy is actually just one of three yarn balls I've made so far, using some fiber that I've had sitting around in my yarn closet for a number of years now, waiting to build up the courage and the free time to really give this a go. 

These are the balls from days 1 and 2 (l and r). You'll notice that day 2 is better!

The fiber is Bluefaced Leicester wool, dyed by Adrian over at Hello Yarn.  I have thoroughly enjoyed knitting with her patterns, including the pirate mittens I made back in 2006 (old entries here and here!), and working with this fiber has been just as wonderful. The colorway is called "fairy fingers", and it's a great blend of turquoise-y blue, apple green, golden orange, and a pinkish purple.  

I'm using a Louet wooden drop spindle with very cute sheep printed on it. Their fluffy and stoic faces are very encouraging when I have moments of frustration.

Here is day 3 hanging up in the shower to dry.

The learning curve for spinning seems to be pretty steep. I am noticing progress every day; drafting is getting easier, I have fewer overspun and underspun sections (they're still there, but there are fewer of them), and I'm able to do a bit more spinning before I totally mess up and get frustrated :) Ideally I'd be able to cool my apartment to work with the wool and the spinning and the lifting and the winding without running a giant box fan that also tries to blow the fiber all around the room, but I'm having fun anyway! I can easily see this becoming a complete addiction.

The final product, days 1, 2, and 3 (l to r):

I am just loving the thrill that comes with learning a new creative process, especially one that is so directly related to an art and a skill that I already enjoy so much. What have you learned lately that made your day?