I'm posting a picture of my spun singles on the bobbin today. I'm using a corriedale cross wool; a corriedale sheep crossed with some other sheep to produce a medium-weight, medium-length wool. It's quite easy to work with, and the color is a pretty natural brown.
It is called"combed top" which means it has been carded and then combed so that all the fibers are laying the same way, next to each other. When you buy the fiber it looks eerily like a long, thick human ponytail that has been hacked off and wound into a ball. Very smooth, straight, and even.
Okay, for those of you who have been asking how this works, here's an extremely oversimplified explanation: You pedal the treadles of the spinning wheel with your feet, causing the flyer of the wheel to twist the fiber you are holding in your hand. You control how much fiber is spun, and you control the amount of twist by the speed of your feet. The spun fiber is called a single and winds around the bobbin, shown here. The bobbin can be removed and another put in its place. You can then spin both bobbin-fulls of fiber (called plying) to produce a yarn.
I know that's a pretty simplified explanation, but I hope it gives you some idea of what I'm doing. There is a lot more involved in it than I have stated here, but you get the picture.
Edited to add:
In her usual style, my sister-in-law is interested in what my spinning can provide for her. She wants me to spin some cotton or silk, and crochet or knit her a bikini. *sigh* Anyone know of a good knit/crochet bikini pattern? :)
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